by Ryan Garner
“Bombs away…” he then said.
CHAPTER 28
Karina’s eyes were shut tightly, trying to avoid the horror of watching John’s murder when Dudayev fell to the floor in a crumpled heap; blood flowed from a single gunshot wound to his head. John, Chris, and Jennifer looked up in surprise at Darren who had chosen to execute the Chechen warrior instead of John. Before anyone had any time to react Darren spun around and aimed John’s Smith and Wesson at Kamil.
Kamil had no time to speak or draw his own weapon. He managed to take one step towards Darren, but halted when he saw the .45 pointed at him. Upon opening her eyes and discovering the shocking realization that John was not dead Karina gasped.
“You didn’t actually think I was going to give you the opportunity to betray me did you?” Darren said holding Kamil at bay with the firearm. The Iranian glared at his betrayer. He still held the detonator in his hand, if need be he would kill them all right here rather than let this infidel have the weapon.
Kamil shook his head, “I suppose not.” He replied as he tightened his grip on the remote. In order to detonate the bomb it would take more than a quick push of a button, instead a combination of keys would need to be pressed. Kamil and Darren glared at each other while the rest of the group looked on in hushed silence.
“Kul wahad wanasibuha…” Darren said in perfect Arabic, To each his fate.
Suddenly, a cacophony of tremendous explosions rocked the abandoned office building and the surrounding areas as several JDAM bombs struck their targets. John and everyone else were violently thrown to the ground and knocked about inside the room by the massive detonations. Weakened by the heavy concussive force of the blasts the front half and part of the side of the building sheared completely off. They tumbled to the ground below leaving large piles of rubble all around the structure.
Nathan Crawford had the misfortune to be standing on one of the sections that broke away. He managed to let out a terrified scream as he fell down the side of the collapsing building before being brutally crushed beneath the heavy debris that followed him. The blasts were so intense that part of the ceiling overhead was torn completely off, allowing the heavy rain to pour in and cascade down on the survivors.
John’s ears were bleeding and pulsating with a ringing sound. He could barely move; even breathing was difficult. He felt as if he had just been hit by a truck; his bullet resistant vest had only managed to shield him from a small portion of the shockwave and his internal organs were screaming in pain. A nauseating sensation also gripped his stomach, but he knew there was no time for any of that now. This was his one opportunity to help Karina escape. He could see her lying motionless on the ground several feet away from him. He prayed she wasn’t dead. He had to get to her; he had to get her out of here as fast as possible.
Forcing himself to act, he moved his hands below his hips and slipped his cuffed wrists under his legs, bring his hands back in front of him. Pain coursed through his twisted body, but he kept going. Reaching into his left front pocket he retrieved his personal car keys; a set which Dudayev had fortunately ignored when he conducted his search. Attached to one of the rings was a small handcuff key, he always kept an extra one on hand just in case. His eyesight was still fuzzy and before he had the opportunity to free himself he saw Jennifer stumble over him and stagger through the office door, he wasn’t concerned about her right now. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Karina begin to move.
Just then, Darren emerged from out of the darkness. He now held his original sidearm, a Sig P220 in his right hand. With broken weapons and equipment scattered everywhere John assumed that he must have lost the Smith and Wesson in the explosion. Darren grabbed Karina by the arm and jerked her to her feet; she howled in pain when he did this. Still disoriented he clumsily began to drag her around the room, frantically searching for either Kamil or the nuclear weapon. John finally managed to free one of his wrists from the handcuffs; rather than bothering with the other one he closed the open cuff onto the same wrist as the other. Next to him Chris was regaining consciousness. He slid the keys over to his friend.
“Find the bomb!” John said as he pulled himself to his feet and sprinted towards Darren. In the confusion caused by the explosions and the heavy downpour Darren neither saw nor heard him coming. They collided, John striking him at a full on run. Both men came crashing down onto the slick, wet concrete floor groaning in pain and sending a splash of water out in all directions. Darren inadvertently released his handgun when this happened and the Sig P220 went sliding off into what was left of the dark room. The weapon skidded across the floor before reaching the edge of the broken building and fell into the black abyss below.
Seizing the opportunity, Kamil moved out of the shadows and sprinted past Karina knocking her out of the way as he ran through the doorway. He slipped into the bowls of the partially destroyed derelict building carrying the duffle bag over his shoulder. Once he managed to free himself Chris scrambled to his feet and quickly gave chase.
“Karina run!!!” John shouted as he and Darren grappled on the floor with one another. She looked at John with her terrified eyes and began to move towards him to try and help.
“Forget about me! GO!!! GET OUT!! NOW!!!” he demanded. Tears streamed down Karina’s face as she took a few steps backwards and then fled from the room.
A much stronger Darren nearly managed to throw John off of him and back down onto the floor. Both men’s bodies were aching and drenched in rain water, but each one forced himself to continue the desperate struggle.
“Seems like your plan isn’t working out as well as you thought it would.” John sneered as he rose to his feet.”
“It does not matter.” Darren stated coldly. “You and your friend can not stop what I have already started.”
“We can try…” John responded just as Darren moved towards him throwing a punch towards his face.
….
Chris followed the fading light of Kamil’s flashlight down the winding hallways of the shattered office building. Dudayev had taken his equipment belt and weapons after he and John were captured. In the aftermath of the explosions there was no telling where anything was in the broken remains of the room where they had been so Chris had nothing to illuminate his own path. He was forced to feel his way through the darkened hallways using only ambient light to guide him. He suspected that the remote detonator for the nuclear weapon had been lost in the bombing; otherwise Kamil would have surely discharged the device by now. He didn’t know where he was going, but he knew that if Kamil were not stopped the man would surely find another way to detonate the weapon.
The flashlight disappeared into an ascending stairwell and within a few seconds Chris was making his way up the broken and partially destroyed staircase as stealthily as he could. Water from the torrential rain poured down the steps creating small waterfalls and the entire structure groaned and rumbled. Chris had to step carefully as parts of the building continued to crumble away, he did not want to suffer the same fate as Darren’s henchman. Chris could just barely see Kamil’s light moving about in the rectangular shaped narrow stairwell; the terrorist was climbing to what was left of the building’s top floor as fast as he could. When Chris reached the same position he carefully peered through the staircase’s exit door and he again saw Kamil’s flashlight disappear into another room; Chris continued his pursuit.
….
John struggled with Darren as best he could, but his opponent was stronger. John’s bruised and injured body was slammed against and pinned to the marred and cracking wall of the partially destroyed room. Lightning flashed and thunder roared. With a large portion of the roof missing, rain was causing free standing water to form above the smooth and slick concrete of the unfished office.
“You are not the one to stop us…” Darren hissed as he reached up with his right hand in an attempt to choke John, “You are not the one to bring me down.” John brought his right elbow up and over striking Darren hard across the
face. The unexpected blow broke the strangle hold allowing John to push off the wall and drive Darren backwards. As they fought Darren spun John around and using his momentum nearly threw him across the room. John stumbled over some loose debris and fell to the hard concrete floor sliding to a halt just before reaching the mangled edge of what was left of the destroyed room several stories above the ground.
“Did you really think you could save her!?” Darren asked as he walked towards John and through the pouring rain. “In the midst of all this glorious anarchy did you really think you could stop any of this?”
John was slowly pulling himself to his feet when Darren spoke again, “Thanks to your interference I will make sure she dies slowly and painfully. I want you to know before I kill you that she’s going to experience the most brutal death anyone can image.”
John’s anger exploded and he sprinted across the room colliding with Darren and wrapping his arms around his waist, lifting him slightly off the ground before both men came crashing back down to the ground. John rained blow after blow down before Darren was able to reached up, grab John by the collar and vest shoulder strap and yank him off to one side. Darren’s weight lifter strength remained an obvious advantage and before long he had regained the upper hand, straddling John, striking him time and time again.
John brought his knee up hitting Darren in the back before forcing his lower body upwards and pulling him off of his torso at the same time. Both men rolled across the ground and through the free standing water struggling with one another. As the fight continued Darren found a loose piece of concrete rubble and immediately struck John with it; he did this with such force that the object actually flew out of his hand after the initial blow. John screamed in pain as a large gash was cut into the side of his face. Blood poured from the wound, but he did not let this stop him from fighting. Before Darren could strike him again John connected with another blow across his face, but this did little to interrupt Darren’s attack. Even though he was fighting valiantly John knew that the battle was rapidly turning inexorably in his opponent’s favor.
….
Karina was doing her best to make her way through the darkened hallways of what was left of the bombed out office building. The first exit stairwell she had attempted to use had been blocked from her floor downward and she was forced to ascend one floor above to continue her search for another exit. She was terrified and disoriented. Her hands were still secured behind her back with handcuffs and she could not wipe away the tears that streamed down her face as she cried. What was happening to John? Was he still alive? What was she supposed to do?
Suddenly, she was grabbed around the waist and pushed against the wall. Karina shrieked in fear, but a hand suddenly covered her mouth, muffling her cry for help.
“Sssshhhhh!! It’s me.” Jennifer said as she pressed Karina against the wall. “You’re alright.” She then added. Karina was in shock and stared at Jennifer in disbelief with glassy, tear filled eyes as the hand covering her mouth was slowly removed. Similar to John, Jennifer had carried a hidden micro handcuff key concealed on her person which she had quickly utilized to free herself.
“You’re okay. Just come with me and I’ll make sure everything is alright. I’ll protect you.” Karina was horrified; she was now completely at Jennifer’s mercy.
“I’m…I’m not going anywhere with you.” She managed to stutter out in a petrified voice.
“Oh, honey…” Jennifer’s tone was openly sexual as she pinned Karina against the wall and slowly caressed the side of her face with her hand before moving it over to her captive’s neck and gently clutching her throat. She could feel Karina’s rapid heartbeat through her jugular artery.
“It’s okay;” she whispered, “I can take care of you. I can make everything go away.” Jennifer gave Karina a sultry smile. “It won’t be long before the NGP drones detect that the nuclear warhead is still active and they hit this place again.” Jennifer was moving in closer to a horrified and trembling Karina who was unsuccessfully trying to struggle against the temptress’s advances, but she could not free herself.
“But, we still have a chance. We still have each other. All you need to do is come with me and I’ll make everything better. We can be happy…like we were before.” Karina was not afforded the chance to respond; Jennifer leaned in and kissed her passionately, tightening the grip around her throat as she did. Several seconds passed as Jennifer pressed her lips against a distressed Karina before finally pulling back. Karina gasped for breath as Jennifer continued to squeeze her throat.
“Go to hell!” Karina exclaimed in an angry voice and then spit in her face.
“You cunt!” Jennifer snapped as her fury instantly overtook her and she angrily bore her hand down onto Karina’s neck, choking her. Karina struggled, but to no avail, she could not breathe.
“You think you can just leave me?” Jennifer hissed as she strangled Karina. “You can’t leave. You’re mine; you belong to me!” she seethed. Karina could feel herself beginning to lose consciousness as her brain was starved of oxygen and blood.
Jennifer leaned in close to Karina, “I’ll watch you die just like I watched Tiffany.” She whispered. Horror gripped Karina as terror filled her wide eyes.
Suddenly, Jennifer violently hurled Karina to one side causing her to stumble and crash to the ground with a thud. Karina gasped for air as she lay in a crumpled heap on the floor. Finally, she managed the strength to look up.
“No!” She cried as Jennifer moved closer to her.
….
Kamil set the duffle bag with the nuclear warhead down on the desk inside the darkened room where he had sought refuge. The only light came from his LED flashlight which was lying next to the bag. Less affected by the bombing than most of the other rooms, this abandoned office space was as good a place as any to carry out his final mission. The situation had spiraled completely out of control, thanks to that fool Darren Siegal; Kamil knew he should have killed that fatherless bastard sooner. Siegal had ruined everything thanks to his obsessions with his whore, but Kamil was not about to let that stupidity stop him from exterminating as many infidels as possible. If he could not take this weapon to Washington DC then Wilmington would have to suffice. He had lost the remote detonator in the explosion so the detonation codes would need to be inputted manually on the keypad. Kamil unzipped the bag exposing the metallic shaped cylindrical tube like device and began to enter the appropriate codes. Soon he would rain fiery Jihad down upon these insects and he would be greeted in paradise by Muhammad and Allah and praised for his excellent work.
As his moment of glory approached, Kamil heard a noise behind him. He immediately drew his sidearm, a 9mm CZ 75B and spun around to face the threat. Chris promptly grabbed Kamil’s right hand and forced it upwards, a round discharged and the bullet was sent into the ceiling. Chris then slammed Kamil’s hand down onto the side of the table as hard as he could. The pain caused Kamil to release his firearm and it dropped to the floor with a metal clank. Chris kicked the weapon away and it was sent spinning off into the darkness.
“Infidel!!” an enraged Kamil shouted as he brought his left hand across the side of Chris’s face landing a punch. Even though Chris was a little bigger and fitter than Kamil it did not stop the madman from attacking the young officer like some sort of rabid animal. Both men dragged each other around the room delivering blow after blow to one another.
Chris finally managed to push Kamil over to one side of the room and slammed him up against the wall. He was just about to perform a leg sweep which would place the crazed Iranian on the ground when Kamil drew a knife from behind his back. Before Chris could react he felt the blade pierce his bullet resistant vest and plunge deep into his midsection. Most vests were not designed to stop the direct attack of a knife blade unless the small trauma plate which was positioned directly over the wearer’s chest was struck. Unfortunately for Chris, Kamil had managed to miss that one area.
After stabbing him, Kamil twisted
the knife forcing the wound open further and causing excruciating pain to course through Chris’s body. He then jerked the blood soaked blade out of the policeman’s body and laughed. With a vicious smile Kamil then drove the knife into Chris’s rib cage. The agony caused Chris to fall sideways onto the floor clutching the wound in the center of his torso as he collapsed.
“All you American’s are the same…” Kamil said in a seething tone as he sheathed the knife behind his back.
“…Weak!” he added as he turned and moved back to the desk where the nuclear warhead sat. Chris lay on his side feeling the strength drain out of him as a pool of dark crimson blood slowly formed around his body. Judging by the pain and the amount of blood loss Chris immediately understood he did not have long, but he still had to do something; he had to keep fighting.
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning from the storm crackled overhead followed immediately by a loud boom of thunder that shook what remained of the damaged building. With that bright flash of lightning the room was momentarily illuminated and Chris saw the silhouette of Kamil’s handgun lying in the shadows just a few feet from him. The pain was excruciating, but Chris forced himself to move towards the firearm; he didn’t have much time, he would soon be unconscious. He stretched out his right hand and grabbed the black 9mm pistol. If this madman wanted to meet Allah so badly Chris would be more than happy to help him.
Chris rolled over onto his back and looked to his right seeing Kamil standing at the desk over the nuclear bomb. Even though it felt as if the gun itself weighed a tremendous amount more than it actually did he brought up his right hand and took aim, focusing in on the front sight of the weapon; then Chris squeezed the trigger and the CZ 75B discharged. Leaving nothing to chance he repeatedly squeezed the trigger of the handgun until all of the remaining fifteen rounds had been fired and the slide locked to the rear.
Kamil had no time to react after hearing the first gunshot before he felt the searing pain of a hail of 9mm hollow point rounds tearing into his body. The first bullet struck his right shoulder; the burning sensation caused him to jerk his body in that direction. The next two rounds caught him in the lower part of his midsection, shattering his ribcage as they forced their way deeper into his abdomen, more rounds followed after that striking him in the upper chest, torso, hip, and finally one round tore through his throat severing his carotid artery. Intense pain coursed through Kamil’s body as blood poured into his throat and lungs. He gagged and coughed on his own blood while grasping at his neck desperately trying to stop the bleeding. His legs buckled beneath him and he crumbled to the floor.