by Jenika Snow
Lifting his hand and adjusting the scope range on the goggles, Gage zoomed in, taking note that although no lights were on around the perimeter, the faint trickle of light could be seen through one of the boarded up windows. He scanned the outer perimeter of the compound again, not seeing any movement now, but not being fooled into thinking it wasn’t still being watched. He switched his goggles back to night vision only and checked his weapons.
Standing, he kept to the shadows, weaving his way between the thick shrubs until he was almost right next to an opening in the fence. He kept close to the Joshua tree as he scanned his surroundings. He swiftly moved toward the fence and crouched behind a creosote bush. The opening of the fence wasn’t big enough to allow him in, so he grabbed a pair of wire cutters and deftly cut an area through the chain link for him to fit through.
Movement at the corner of the building caught his eyes, and he stopped working, giving his attention to the guard that was making his way around the building. He held a rifle cradled in his arms, his eyes scanning the area but clearly oblivious to Gage’s presence. Gage reached behind him and pulled out a handgun with a silencer attached. Death would be certain for these assholes, because no way would Gage just wound them.
Gage waited for the guard to make his way closer. The guard stopped not more than twenty feet from where Gage was stationed, head moving back and forth across the terrain. Training his gun right between the asshole’s eyes, Gage pulled the trigger. Even from the distance, Gage could hear the distinct sound of the bullet slamming into the fucker’s skull. He fell to the ground, and Gage slipped the gun at the small of his back and slipped through the opening in the fence. Making his way toward the guard, Gage pulled the lifeless body out from the main path and into a small alcove.
Gage pressed himself against the wall, listening for any sounds of more guards approaching. Silence greeted him, and he made his way around the building, stopping at the edge. The small mirrors built into the goggles allowed him to see different angles at numerous times. Three guards stood close together, their rifles trained at the ready, but obviously none of them aware that he’d infiltrated the perimeter. He drew his gun again, and aimed. The darkness crept up, and filled every part of him.
As one of the guards moved forward, obviously still unaware, Gage aimed right for the back of the prick’s head. He waited until the man was around the corner before he fired off the shot, the military grade silencer making this a clean and quiet kill. He grabbed the man as he fell to the ground, and moved him to the side and out of the way. The other two guards were saying something softly, maybe having heard the activity, but it didn’t matter because they were dead, as well. Gage rounded the corner, and in a matter of seconds had a bullet in each of their skulls.
He moved to the other edge of the building and adjusted his goggles again so he could get a clear shot of the other side. Satisfied that everything was all clear on that end, he stayed close to the wall, his body pressed tightly to the decaying building as he moved swiftly. The wind picked up, blowing dirt around and partially obstructing his view. When he stopped at another corner, he saw five armed guards pacing. They all looked pretty fucking relaxed.
Without thinking and just using that darkness, that need to take out the assholes that thought kidnapping a defenseless woman was acceptable, Gage moved out from the side of the wall and started shooting. It took a few seconds of precise and trained aiming, but all five men were now dead on the ground, their blood looking black because of the goggles he wore. He scanned above him, seeing if there were any cameras, but from this vantage he couldn’t make any out. That didn’t mean he wasn’t already made, and that there was a whole fucking army waiting for him.
But good, because that’s what he was born for, and situations like this were what got his blood pumping.
He moved toward the bodies, scanning the area to see if there were any openings or entrances. Gage immediately took note of a small window about seven feet above him on the opposite wall. It was boarded up, but looked as though it had been like that for some time. He took a step forward and craned his neck back, seeing a thick outcropping at the top of the building. Pulling out his nylon rope, he tied a knot, and using his rope caster he was able to attach the looped part of the nylon around the protrusion. He gave it a few good tugs, confident that it could hold his weight, and started balancing his weight on the decaying outcroppings and started to climb up. One of the brick outposts started to crumble from his weight, and he swung to the opposite side just as it fell to the ground.
Using his upper body strength to pull himself up until he was facing the window, he already had his leather gloves on and began prying the rusted and half protruding nails out form the wood. Gage made quick work because he didn’t know if he’d been seen yet.
Keeping hold of the board he’d pried off, he pulled himself through the window. Once inside he untied the rope from his waist and looked around the room. He still had his night-vision goggles on and could easily see the room, crammed with boxes, tables, and chairs, along with smell the scent of dust, decay, and mold.
A door stood across from him, no fancy locks or security devices attached, which seemed odd for as much security as they had walking the perimeter.
He went to the door and listened, not hearing anything and taking a few steps back. Gage removed his goggles and grabbed his gun. Still listening for any movement on the other side of the door, he knew this shit needed to be done and done now. The door was unlocked, and he opened it slightly and stepped into the hall. It looked like this part of the building hadn’t been used since it was originally closed down. He held his gun at his shoulder, keeping his breathing even and letting the adrenaline pump through him at the fight that was about to happen.
And there would be a fight, a bloody one.
Chapter Seven
Gage had since moved down several hallways, all having been used as storage, and the dust was thick. But he’d found a door that led further below, as if it took him to the bowels of this piece of shit place.
He rounded the corner and stopped when he saw light coming through the small frosted glass windows on the steel doors. But despite the light no sound came through. Light in this part of the building was hard, florescent, and wasn’t able to hide anything.
Still he hadn’t come across anyone, or seen any security cameras.
He walked up to the doors and pushed it open. Instantly, the harsh lighting washed over him, and another sterile looking hallway greeted him. White tile covered the floor and ceiling, the smell of bleach and antiseptic strong. He moved down the hallway, but stopped when the hallway forked, and decided to continue left. He held his gun at shoulder level, ears picking up the slightest sound of movements, eyes noting any minuscule changes. Steel doors lined either side of him, and the further he went, the more frequent they became. He could hear deep male voices close by and followed the sound. He came across an open door at the end of the hallway, pressed his body against it, and listened to the sounds of male laughter and lewd comments on the other side.
“You sure are pretty.”
“You sick fucking bastard! Don’t touch me. Just stay away.”
Gage knew that voice, had listened to it countless times from the videos McCarthy had given him. He looked around the corner and into the room that had its door ajar, keeping his gun tight to his body as he watched two armed men grope a tied up Neeka. Her legs and arms were secured to the corners of the stainless steel table. Rage unlike anything he’d ever felt slammed into him. She looked worn, with dark circles under her eyes, and fear coming from her.
“She’s an uppity little bitch,” one of the men said.
“Just leave her alone or Rye will have our ass,” the other man said.
“I don’t give a fuck. We don’t get paid enough to deal with this cunt’s mouth.”
The asshole hit her across the face so hard her head slammed against the table and blood sprayed from her mouth. Gage didn’t waste any more time as
he trained the gun on the first man, shooting him between the eyes and aiming it at the next. The second man looked up, startled, reaching for the gun at his side, but falling to the floor as soon as the bullet pierced his skull. Gage didn’t waste any time as he rushed in the room, untied bleeding Neeka, and carried her out of there. Now he just had to make sure she was out safe, and kill any motherfuckers that got in his way.
****
Neeka’s head was spinning, and she squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself not to vomit. Blood filled her mouth, a sickly iron flavor covering her taste buds. She was very aware of her body moving, bouncing slightly as blood rushed to her head. She groaned and placed her hand on her face, moving her fingers down to her mouth and wincing when she came across a sensitive spot. She opened her eyes, everything around her blurry and disconcerting. She stared down at white tile and drew her gaze up to two huge, muscular thighs and a firm ass. She tried to twist around, hearing a deep male grunt from the man carrying her.
“Stay still, Neeka. I’m getting you out of here, but you have to quit moving.” The man’s voice was deep, gruff, and urgent.
She instantly wanted to obey it. It wasn’t like her, but for some unknown reason she felt in her heart that he truly was taking her away from this hellhole. Neeka looked down at her arm, blood making a slow, red trail down her skin from the puncture site the needle had created. She crooked her arm to stop the blood, and closed her eyes again, breathing through the nausea. Her face hurt from when she’d been slapped, but if she was getting out of here she could suck up the pain.
He kept moving swiftly, taking lefts and rights, and moving further away from the labs and prison cell she’d been in when she first arrived.
“Who are you?” Her words were low.
“Gage Mack. I was sent by your father to bring you home.”
In the next instant, gunshots rang out all around her, and she placed her hands over her head, knowing it wouldn’t stop a bullet but doing it on instinct. Guards swarmed in, their guns trained at them.
“Don’t hurt the girl,” Rye shouted. “I need her alive.”
She spotted Rye standing behind them, the guards acting as a wall of protection for the deranged doctor. The man carrying her ran toward a closed door. Once inside, he set her down and closed it.
“Stay here, and hide.”
He barked out the order, and she stared at him for a second, taking note that he was in full military-type gear—black fatigues, combat boots, sniper weapons, and an array of other deadly devices she didn’t even have names for. She looked at the window, seeing a rope attached to an outcropping right on the side of it.
“There are men trapped in here, men Rye is using for his experiments.” Maybe trying to be a hero wasn’t the smart thing to do right now, but the words tumbled out of her mouth as she thought of Adaym chained up.
“Fuck.” He looked around the room, his whole body standing rock solid. “You’re my priority. I’ll send my crew out here to try to get them out. But you are my concern right now. I’ll try, Neeka. I can’t make any guarantees. My mission was to rescue you, not an unidentified male. Go. Hide now. And if things get fucked up, you leave out that window with the room, understand?”
She nodded and searched for a place to bunker down, and when she turned around he was already out the door. She heard gunshots being fired, shouts ringing out, and she glanced at the rope. Could she really climb down a building?
She moved over to the window, knowing she should listen to him, but afraid to stay in this building, afraid they’d catch her again. Her heart was thundering, her palms sweating, and her body shook.
That’s like, twenty feet down.
More shots rang out.
Jump or die.
How could she just leave him after he just saved her life? And before she could react the door splintered open, wood spraying everywhere. Neeka was thrown against the wall. She threw the shards of wood off of her, feeling the warm stickiness of her blood start to slip down her arm. She brought her fingers to the wound, adding pressure.
She stood, looking at her rescuer as he fought with several guards. She wanted to help him, but he was holding his own, and the look he shot at her spoke volumes.
Get the fuck out.
“Neeka, stop.”
She turned to see Rye in the hallway, guards surrounding him as they trained their guns on her. She gave one last look at Gage, his face set hard as he slammed his fist into a guard’s face before shooting him in the head. She didn’t think, just grabbed the rope and swung out of the window, hoping the nylon held. Her hands burned as she slid down the rope, gravity taking her all the down. Finally reaching the ground, she took a look up at the window, and then ran toward the fence.
Her eyes grew wide, and panic started to set in as she noticed how high the fence was, and the barbed wire that was coiled atop it. Dirt wafted around her, the wind blowing slightly and brushing it against her legs. She turned around and looked at the front of the building. There were several bodies of dead guards, and she held back her cry of shock.
She wore a hospital gown, Rye having taken away her clothing until she “learned how to behave”. Her feet were bare, and the pebbles in the ground embedded themselves in the soles. She didn’t care, though, because the thought of being captured again was a horror she didn’t want to relive. Neeka couldn’t help thinking about the man who had rescued her. She wondered if he was still alive, fighting Rye’s goons, or if they had killed him, or even worse, kept him for experimenting on.
That thought alone was enough to make her stumble, but then she remembered the fierce look in his eyes when he’d told her to leave. She ran harder, faster, looking for an opening that would allow her to escape. The front of the gate was made of chain link, the same as the rest of the fence, but it didn’t have the barbwire lining the top of it. It also didn’t look like there were any openings in the dilapidated fencing, not that she could see anyway.
Neeka made a beeline for it, deciding she would climb it, even though it wasn’t in the best location since it was out in the open and obviously visible. She didn’t stop to see if guards were following her, but the sound of gunshots rang out, loud and distinct. Tripping, Neeka caught the fence before she face-planted in the dirt.
She started to climb, looking over her shoulder when she heard a man shout for her to stop. A guard ran toward her, gun trained high. Her heart beat fast, her palms starting to get sweaty at the thought of getting caught again. He grabbed her ankle, pulling down so she stumbled, her leg scraping against the lock on the fence and tearing her skin open. She cried out and gripped the fence harder, kicking at him with her other leg and slamming her foot into his jaw. He cursed and tightened his hold on her ankle.
Her hands gave out, and she fell backward, flailing her arms as she hit the ground hard. The breath left her in a whoosh, stars dancing in her vision as she groaned. The guard stared at her before slapping her across the face, not very hard, but hard enough that it snapped her out of her haze.
“You cause a lot of trouble, bitch.”
He brought his gun up and laid it on her knee, not a killing shot, but one meant to incapacitate her. She kicked her legs out, swinging her arms and running her nails down his face. He growled down at her, blood forming in deep lines across his cheeks as he pressed the gun down harder into her knee, stilling her movements. She had a feeling he was toying with her. Neeka pushed at his chest, able to lift him slightly up and praying for a miracle.
In the next instant, a gunshot rang close by. The heavy weight of the guard was suddenly lifted from her and air rushed into her lungs. She opened her eyes, turning her head and seeing two combat boots take up her vision. She looked up and saw Gage’s hand outstretched, his face covered in blood so dark it looked black. She slipped her hand in his and let him haul her up. The guard that had attacked lay supine in the dirt, a single bullet hole in the middle of his forehead. His eyes stared vacantly up into the night sky, unblinking, as dark blood
spread out behind his head.
“Come on. We don’t have much time before they are out here.” He positioned her behind his body as he aimed his gun at the lock on the fence and shot. Sparks flew and the lock fell off, the gates opening like arms waiting for an embrace.
They took off, Gage pulling her forward, her legs and feet screaming in agony as she continued to feel her warm blood slip down from the cut on her leg and cover her foot. Her eyes started to water, her emotions and the pain finally catching up with her.
She could hear shouts, but they moved faster, and soon the sounds grew more distant. Neeka never glanced back, just kept her eyes trained on the terrain. The moon was bright enough that they could see where they were going, but her feet were killing her and she started to stumble. He didn’t ask what was wrong, just stopped and scooped her up, running forward again as if he weren’t carrying a substantial weight.
She felt as if they’d been moving forever. Never once did they speak to each other, and never once did he stop running. She saw a dark shape up ahead, and her heart pounded wildly. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he turned to look at her. Their gazes held for a second before he turned his attention forward again. She breathed out a sigh when she realized it was a vehicle, and that it was his. He was gentle with her as he helped her into the backseat, mindful of her wounds, before getting in the front and starting the car.
“You better buckle up.”
She swallowed and nodded as she strapped the seatbelt across her body and stared at the high tech equipment that furnished the inside of the vehicle. He pushed several buttons, and the front of the windshield became a moss green color. Night-vision? She didn’t bother questioning him, knowing some things were better left unsaid.
“Is my father doing okay?” It had seemed like years since she had seen him. “I mean, he wasn’t well when I was taken, and that seems like ages ago.”
“You’ve been missing for longer than is acceptable. Your father didn’t look good when I spoke with him, but he’s still alive and eagerly awaiting your return.”