Roger flinched when the female specimen had fired. His eyes closed tight. He thought sure that Charles had been killed, and felt rage when he opened his eyes and saw the bastard still alive.
“I’ll just have to kill you myself.” He said as he moved up into the tunnel further. The girl had moved away from the wall and he could see her clearly now. A couple of more steps, and he would have a clean line of sight to take her out. He knelt down, raised his gun, and rested it on his arm. He could see the outline of the gun sight, and slowed his breathing as he watched the upright bar of the front sight sway in between the frame of the rear sight. One shot could end this, he thought, as he gradually increased the pressure on the trigger. The flash was sudden, and in the darkness it was blinding. The boom echoed through the tunnel, as he blinked, and eagerly tried to clear his vision and see the results of his shot.
Gabrielle instinctively dropped to a crouch at the sound of the explosion, as she heard the bullet whiz past. It ricocheted off of the door behind her. She had seen the flash from the tunnel, and quickly returned fire. Bright flashes also erupted from Jonah’s position. Explosions rocked the tunnel, with flashes of blue that sparked up the walls. Gabrielle fired again and again, as fast as she could, and saw explosion after explosion in the tunnel. She noted that the man that had called himself the Chancellor had dove for cover with the first shot.
“Gabby!” Jericho said from behind her. “I need you!” She fired again, then turned and ran back up to Jericho.
“What?” she asked.
“Try it now. Hurry.” He said. She laid her hand over the panel, and tried to block out the repeated explosions that came from the tunnel. She knew that Jonah had whoever was there pinned down.
Charles landed awkwardly on his side, and it knocked the breath out of him. He rolled to his back, and stared at the ceiling of the cavern, as he tried to make his lungs work. He was thankful that he had made it behind the cover of the closest stack. Then he heard the unmistakable gunshots from Roger’s handgun, three in quick succession. With every ounce of strength he had, he rolled back over and came to a crouch.
Jonah felt, rather than heard the bullets striking the boxes just above his head, and quickly aimed for the flashes of light from the tunnel. He pulled the trigger on the small metallic gun, saw the flash from the muzzle and there was another explosion in the tunnel.
Amelia closed her eyes even tighter as she lay on the floor beneath the confusion of boxes. With every explosion, she couldn’t help but tense. She had closed her hands into fists, but still felt them shake uncontrollably.
Jericho took the gun from Gabrielle, and edged towards Jonah’s position. He heard the rapid fire shots from the tunnel, and partially saw Jonah’s return fire. He crouched, and came up on the other side of Jonah’s hiding place, and fired two quick bursts.
Roger had rolled to his right after his last shot, as he anticipated the return fire, but was not prepared for the intensity of the explosions. The last had peppered him with shrapnel from the tunnel wall. He could feel the blood as it ran from his temple, but was too afraid to move, or even to wipe it away.
Gabrielle heard nothing, as her hand hovered above the control panel, and though at first there was nothing, now she felt something. She began to see the sequence illuminated in her mind on the keypad. With a shaky hand, she very carefully began to key in the sequence that she saw. She punched the first button, hesitated, then the second, paused and then the third. The panel turned green. There was a loud clank, then a groan. The door separated in the middle, and the sides began to slide apart with a great groaning sound that vibrated the whole cavern. Brilliant beams of light shone into the cavern.
“Jericho!” She yelled. He fired again into the tunnel, and then turned to see the huge panels of the door slide apart, and a great shaft of light stabbed into the room. His face lit up with amazement.
“Hey, Jonah!” He yelled. “Let’s go!” He didn’t wait for a response, as he turned and ran for the door. Jonah, also fired a last shot. Then jumped up from behind the stack he had used for cover, and ran towards the door. Gabrielle approached the door with caution, as her eyes blinked from the brightness. She approached the opening, and paused and looked back at Jericho. She stepped through and disappeared into the light. Jericho ran through, without hesitation. Jonah, brought up the rear, and ran as fast as he could. His heart beat so powerfully that the sound pounded in his head. He approached the opening. With his left foot already through the opening, he glanced back towards the tunnel and saw Roger standing in the open. He saw his face covered in blood, and then realized that Roger aimed directly at him. He felt the dull thud that hit his shoulder just as he passed through the doorway and lost his balance, as the gunshot echoed in the room behind him. He flipped to the side, and slammed onto the hard ground. His gun clattered away. Suddenly the sensation of dullness in his shoulder flashed into hot searing pain.
“Jonah!” Yelled Jericho, as he saw him fall. He ran back to him.
“My shoulder.” Jonah managed to grunt. Jericho saw the blood as it poured from the ragged exit wound. Gabrielle ran up beside him.
“Here.” She said, as she ripped part of her shirt loose. “Use this.”
“Leave me.” Jonah managed to get out. Jericho grabbed the fabric strip from Gabrielle and began to wrap it furiously around the wound. “Just get out of here. Forget me.” Jonah said, as he winced through the pain. Gabrielle picked up his fallen gun, and stepped back up to the open doorway, and fired both guns blindly inside. Roger dove for cover.
The stack right in front of Charles exploded with such violence that he was thrown backwards against the stack behind him. He hit hard, then slumped to the floor. He was awake but shaken.
“I’m getting too old for this bullshit.” He grunted to himself. He climbed back up to his feet, and rushed for cover behind the next stack.
“Charles!” Came Roger’s voice from the other side of the room.
“I’m okay!” Charles yelled back.
“I didn’t ask if you were okay, you idiot. After them!” He yelled, as he stepped from behind the stack, and fired towards the door, the glistening handgun rocked back in his hand as it fired. The ejected shell clattered to the ground.
“I don’t have a weapon.” Charles said, as he ran across the room towards him.
“You think I care?” He said, and pointed his gun at Charles’s head. “If you let them get away again, I’ll kill you where you stand.” Charles looked at the Premier with disbelief, uncertain of how serious he may be. “Move, damn it!” Another moment of hesitation, then Charles reluctantly turned and ran towards the door. He cautiously glanced through, and saw the two specimens as they drug an injured man around the corner of the building. Just before she disappeared from sight, Gabrielle turned and fired a volley back at the door. Charles dove away, as the great metal doors exploded inward. They bent awkwardly in their frame, but held fast. As Charles slowly lifted his head, he could see that the explosion had knocked Roger to the ground, and he wrestled to get back up. Then he heard a new sound. An unexpected sound. The sound of a woman.
“Help me!” The voice yelled, and suddenly he remembered Amelia.
“Amelia!” He yelled. “Where are you?” He scanned the room, stack after stack of destruction, and then saw her hand feebly as it waived from behind some of the debris. He ran to her. He ignored the danger from the opening in what was left of the mangled doorway. She lay on her back, her legs twisted awkwardly behind her. There was dirt on her face and tunic. “Are you hurt?” He asked, as he bent down.
“I’m not sure.” She said weakly, as she began to try to straighten her leg. She suddenly howled in pain and grabbed her leg. She closed her eyes tight and squinted.
“Here.” He said. “Let me help.” He began to carefully help her straighten her leg. She continued to squint, and yelled again as it straightened out. She knew that if he did not believe she was injured, she could be
in danger. He gradually helped her to her feet, and helped her to hobble from around the debris. Roger approached them, as blood still streamed from a gash in his scalp. He ignored it. “She’s hurt.” Charles said, as he also ignored Roger’s bloody face, and helped her stumble to her feet. She leaned against Charles, his arm around her as he helped to support her.
“You’re injured, sir.” She said as she looked up at Roger, surprise in her face. He raised his gun, and shot her through the head. Eyes wide open, she slumped to the floor. Charles jumped back, and stared at her as she lay motionless on the ground.
“What the hell?” He yelled, and turned towards Roger. “What have you done?” He stammered in total disbelief, as the look of shock grew with each second that passed.
“What needed to be done. She failed.” He turned and began to walk towards the mangled door. “Now get after them, before I kill you dead where you stand.” Charles stared after him, and looked back at Amelia’s body as it lay on the cold floor. Lifeless. “Move!” Yelled Roger. Charles, shook himself loose from the grizzly sight, and slowly approached the door. “You first, Chancellor.” Roger said with angry contempt. Charles, walked up to the small opening still visible through the doors, and without the slightest bit of hesitation, walked through. Roger waited until he was outside, and after he watched him take a few steps without being attacked, he followed. He blinked in the bright sunshine and walked in a crouch, as he tried to make sure that Charles was always ahead, as his body offered him some type of cover from a potential ambush. If the bastard survived this, Roger thought, he would personally see to it, that it was his last duty as Chancellor. After all, a dead man cannot be Chancellor. That was the law. He smiled to himself, as he turned the corner around the building.
Chapter 39
Immortal Page 38