by Mike Ryan
“You guys good?” Recker said, looking up. He noticed a small red spot on the arm of Malloy.
Malloy looked down at his arm. “Just a scratch. No big deal. I’m good.”
“Chris?”
“I think I’m good,” Haley answered, not really taking the time to check himself.
Recker got up to his knees, just in time to see the door that led to the hallway suddenly open. “Incoming!”
Recker dropped back down to the ground and saw a few armed men come out. He immediately started firing as Haley and Malloy also opened up. The first Scorpion that came through the door fell to the ground as the men behind him retreated back onto the third floor. The team stayed in their positions for a minute, waiting for more opponents to come through the door, though none seemed to be coming.
“We gotta move,” Malloy said. “We can’t stay here, or they’ll start to box us in.”
Recker knew he was right. Staying in the stairwell wasn’t exactly good cover either. There was nowhere to hide and nowhere to go if they started to close in on them from both ends of the stairs.
“I just wanna make sure we don’t take one in the back after we pass this floor,” Recker said.
The de facto leader of the group with Billings incapacitated at the moment, Bill Cummins, was alerted to the fact that they had a new problem. The voice bellowed loudly over their radio’s.
“We got a problem down here!”
Cummins angrily took the radio off his belt. “What?”
“We got intruders.”
“Well, take care of it!”
“We already got seven men down.”
“What?!”
“They’ve already taken out seven of us.”
“Where are they?!”
“Stairwell. Level three.”
“Cops?”
“I don’t know. Don’t think so.”
“How many are there?”
“I’m not sure. Could be anywhere between two and five. Tough to tell.”
Cummins tried to think for a minute before replying. He looked to his tough-looking, bald-headed friend, Maglio, for some answers and to bounce a few ideas off him.
“What are they doing?” Cummins asked.
“They’re coming for us.”
“I’m surprised. I didn’t think the cops would break in so soon. Maybe we need to shoot a few more hostages to drive them back?”
Maglio shook his head. He seemed to be much more in tune with what was really going on. “They’re not cops.”
“How do you know?”
“Because cops wouldn’t put all these people in danger by storming up the building. They would wait until it was a more advantageous position for them. They especially wouldn’t do it with so few men. They’d have teams all over the place coordinating their hits to sync up with each other.”
“So, who is it?”
“I dunno. Someone who doesn’t like us for some reason probably.”
“We’ll take out a few of the hostages,” Cummins said. “That should drive them back for a little while.”
“That ain’t gonna work. Whoever these people are, they’re not cops, they already know about these hostages, they don’t care. Taking some of these people out isn’t gonna slow them down.”
“Could be just a SWAT team.”
“It ain’t SWAT. I’m telling you now, these aren’t cops. They wouldn’t put these people in danger like that.”
“So, what are we gonna do?”
“They’re in the stairwell? Surround them. Box them off. Make them immobile.”
Cummins nodded. “We’ll come at them from all sides.”
“That’s the smart play.”
Cummins grabbed hold of his radio again. “All teams, we got intruders in the stairwell. Between floors three and four. Block them off in the stairwell and crush the bastards. Keep one man at your current posts, everyone else, take these guys out.”
For some reason, it didn’t occur to Cummins that their opponents could hear everything he was saying on the radio. With three dead men not too far away from them, Recker and team intently listened to the communication over the radio. They knew exactly what they were planning.
“We gotta move,” Haley said. “They’re coming.”
“We could just keep going up,” Malloy said. “Keep marching on and hope we get there before the rest of the guys get here.”
“We still got two more floors to go,” Recker replied. “By the time we get to the fifth floor, they’re gonna be ready for us. We gotta alternate course.”
“But where to?”
Recker turned around and looked down the steps, then looked up. He didn’t hear anyone coming yet, but he knew they were running out of time. He then looked at the door that led to the third floor.
“In there.” Haley and Malloy both looked at him and saw Recker pointing to the door. Recker then looked back at them. “It’s our best chance. Everyone’s converging on this stairway. If we exit on that floor, there’s a stairway on the other side of the floor, we can continue up on that side while everyone’s over here.”
Haley nodded, agreeing it was their best chance at the moment.
“There’s no doubt they’re gonna have more men on that floor already,” Malloy said. “We’re probably gonna have to fight our way to that other side.”
“Good chance,” Recker said.
“That might take away the surprise of making it to the other stairway.”
“Might.”
“Only other option we have is to stay here,” Haley said. “And we know they’re coming from both sides.”
Malloy didn’t have to think long to figure out staying put wasn’t the better strategy. “Third floor it is.”
16
Recker, Haley, and Malloy went up the couple steps to get to the third-floor platform. As the other two men stood guard, each aiming their rifles at opposing ends of the stairs, Recker brought his head up to the glass part of the door. He peeked in with one eye to try and get a view of what they were walking into, making sure most of his head wasn’t made visible to become a target. After a minute, he took his head away to explain the situation.
“Mostly just a hallway,” Recker said. “Looks like to the left is some type of desk. Might be a nurse’s station or something. If there’s anyone hiding, they’re probably there.”
“How far away?” Haley asked.
“Maybe twenty feet.”
“You lead the way,” Malloy said.
“Stay down, if they’re there, they’ll probably be shooting high.”
Recker threw open the door, then rushed into the hallway and dove onto the floor. He made sure to make enough noise that he would draw the fire of whoever was waiting there for them. Two men jumped up from behind the desk and started shooting. Since they were focused on Recker, they weren’t aware of Haley and Malloy coming through the door. They immediately picked up on the two Scorpions and instantly knocked them off, each of them taking one shot each to kill the men. Recker got back to his feet, and the three men huddled around, turning to see if there were any other immediate threats. It looked clear.
“Where is everybody?” Malloy asked, assuming there would be more activity going on.
They looked around, but there wasn’t a sign of anyone. Staff, visitors, patients, not a person in sight.
“I figured there’d be people sitting on the floor or something.”
“They probably locked themselves in their rooms,” Recker replied.
“Should we check?”
“No. Doesn’t really concern us at the moment. It’s for the better anyway. Nobody to get in our way.”
They quickly walked down the hallway, though not going too fast and possibly running into an ambush. They kept their guns pointed at every door as they walked past them. About halfway down the hall, they could hear one of the handles start to jiggle. Recker put his hand up to stop the team from going any further, as he kept his eyes focused on the door. A few seconds late
r the door opened up. Recker brought his gun up and aimed, ready to fire. He quickly ascertained the person wasn’t a threat, as it appeared to be a patient or a visitor. It was an elderly woman, in her sixties. He wouldn’t have put it past the Scorpions to have someone like that in their group, just to throw their opponents off and get the upper hand, but Recker could see that she wasn’t armed. Her hands were well out in front of her.
“Are you the police?” she asked.
“Just get inside, ma’am,” Recker replied. “There’s still a bunch of them out here. Get inside and lock the door. We’ll come around again when it’s safe to come out, OK?”
The woman did as was requested and went inside. Recker heard the door lock again.
“Maybe we should give her a gun,” Malloy said. “She can watch our backs in case anyone else comes down here and follows us.”
“Yeah, nothing bad could happen there.”
As they walked toward the end of the hallway, and the other staircase was in sight, the team could hear Jones’ voice in their earpieces.
“How is it going?” Jones asked.
“Can’t really talk now,” Recker answered.
“You haven’t checked in since you got there, at least give me something, so I don’t worry out of my mind.”
“We’re in the hospital, have taken out nine of their guys so far.”
“Are you on the fifth floor yet?”
“Third. We got diverted. We’re trying to make our way up there now.”
“OK. Just check in every now and then if you can.”
“Will do.”
The end of the hallway intersected with another one, which meant they’d have to cross some open space before they got to it. Haley and Malloy knelt down on opposite sides of Recker, peeking around both corners to protect him as he went across. They didn’t see anyone. Recker started to run across when the door to the staircase suddenly opened. A man with a gun, presumably one of the Scorpions, stepped out and immediately started firing at Recker. One of the bullets stopped Recker right in his tracks, the force of the shot knocking him onto his back. Haley and Malloy rose up from their positions and returned fire. Haley went down as well. Malloy was able to drop the man before he did any more damage, though it looked like he’d caused enough as it was.
Malloy briefly looked down at his fallen friends, but then looked back toward the door, waiting, expecting more action to start happening any second. After a little bit of time went by, he assumed the man was acting alone. Malloy took another peek down all three hallways, then crossed over and opened the door to the stairs. He popped his head in but didn’t see anyone else there. With the coast clear for the moment, he turned his attention back to his friends. He rushed over to their bodies, kneeling between the two of them. He put one hand on each of them to check their conditions.
“You OK?”
Haley sat up, holding his left shoulder. “Yeah, I’m all right.”
“You hit? Malloy observed some red spots on his arm, so he already knew that he was.
Haley held his shoulder, then started moving it around. “Nah, I’m good. Didn’t go through. I think it just stunned me a little. I’ll be fine.”
They then turned their attention to Recker, whose eyes were still closed.
“Mike, you OK?” Malloy said, tapping his cheeks. He then checked for a pulse. He still had one.
“Mike?” Haley said, shaking his body slightly, hoping it would jar him back awake.
The two of them checked Recker’s body for holes but didn’t see any. At least there was no blood anywhere.
“Think he just got the wind knocked out of him or something,” Malloy said. “Mike?”
A few seconds later, Recker opened his eyes. With the help of his friends, he slowly sat up. He groaned for a second while holding his chest.
“Whoever made these things sure knew what they were doing,” Recker said. “Hope there’s a special place in Heaven for them. They’re a saint as far as I’m concerned.”
“Well, if we get out of here, make sure you send him a special prayer of thanks,” Malloy said. “Assuming he’s dead and not with us anymore.”
“Even if he ain’t,” Haley said.
“We gotta keep moving,” Recker said.
“Sure you’re good?” Malloy asked. “Need a few extra minutes?”
“I’m good. Don’t worry about me. Mia’s the one that can’t afford any extra time.”
Haley and Malloy helped their friend get back to his feet. Recker stood there for a second to make sure his balance was still OK. He nodded to let the others know he was still good to go.
“I’m good. Let’s go.”
With Haley leading the way this time, they crossed the hall and went through the door that led to the stairwell. As soon as they took a few steps, they could hear what sounded like a bunch of men quickly descending the stairs. They stayed put, ready to meet whatever was coming their way. They raised their rifles, aiming for a spot on the wall, waiting for a man to walk into their view. A few seconds later, a group of men came into their view. As soon as they did, Recker and company fired a round, killing the Scorpions out in front of the bunch. The ones behind them immediately opened fire, a hail of gunfire erupting, causing Recker’s team to run for cover. They didn’t want to get caught in a firefight in the stairwell, as it was too easy to get struck with a glancing bullet that could have been going anywhere.
Recker led the team back through the door and into the third-floor hallway. Just in time to see more Scorpions coming from the other end of the hallway, from the stairwell they’d previously been in. Both sides opened up, one of the Scorpions going down, but in the process splitting up Recker and Malloy from Haley, as they each took up opposite corners of the hall for cover. As everyone on both sides ducked for cover, Recker looked all around, not liking the situation they were now in.
“I think these hallways all intersect with each other,” Recker said. “They’ll be able to come up from behind us.”
Recker took a few deep puffs of air as he tried to think of a way out of their situation.
“They’re boxing us in,” Malloy said. “They got us pinned down.”
“As long as we can move, we’re not done yet. Anybody notice how many guys were in that staircase?”
“No, couldn’t tell,” Haley said.
“Me neither,” Malloy said. “Too much going on.”
“You have something in mind?”
“Maybe,” Recker answered. “Either we go back through that door and take our chances with whoever and how many people are on those stairs… or we go back where we came from and try the other steps again.”
“Might work. If everyone thinks we’re on this side and is pulling over here, we might have a small opening to make it up the other way.”
“Not gonna be much of an opening,” Malloy said.
“All we need is something,” Recker said. “That’s more than we got at the moment.”
“I hear that.”
Recker then looked at the door that led to the stairs. “It’s only a matter of time before they come through that door.”
“I’m surprised they haven’t already.”
“Chris, let’s go back through these hallways and meet back up on the other side by the stairs.”
“Split up?” Haley asked.
“I think we have to. You run across back to us and you’re gonna take fire from two spots. Whoever’s behind that door and whoever’s in that hallway.”
“Roger that, let’s do it.”
Haley immediately took off down his end of the hallway, stopping once he got to the corner, surveying what was around it. Recker kept an eye on him as long as he could until he turned the corner.
Recker tapped Malloy on the shoulder. “Let’s go.”
The two of them went down their end of the hallway, keeping their guns out in front, ready to fire at a moment’s notice. Malloy kept turning around, expecting someone to come up behind them.
“Maybe we should duck in a room somewhere,” Malloy said. “They’ll spend a lot of time looking for us. Won’t know where we went.”
“Then we’ll be pinning ourselves down without anywhere to go.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“Plus, it’s still the same problem. Too much time.”
“Yeah, forget I said it.”
Recker chuckled. “Already did.”
They walked down another thirty feet before they both instinctively turned around at the same time. It might have also had something to do with hearing something hitting a wall, possibly part of a gun. In any case, Recker and Malloy turned around and fell to the ground at the same time, all while simultaneously firing their gun. The two Scorpions behind them got some shots in, all of which missed, though they wouldn’t have if Recker and Malloy had stayed upright. Dropping to the ground saved them from a certain death. In the process, they were able to put two more notches on their guns. They got up just in time to see another Scorpion coming at them. Recker and Malloy both drilled the man at the same time, their bullets entering the man’s body only an inch away from each other. They continued walking down their path, completely circuiting their side of the third floor, until they came back to where they began. They saw the three dead bodies behind the nurse’s station from when they first came in.
“Chris, where are you?” Recker asked.
“One more corner to go.”
A few seconds later, they saw Haley stick his head around the last corner.
“I see you,” Recker said. “Should be clear.”
Recker and Malloy moved up past the desk and knelt on one knee, keeping their eyes peeled. Haley started running toward their position. As he was just about there, Recker noticed some movement behind him.
“Drop!” Recker shouted.
Haley immediately hit the deck, Recker and Malloy instantly firing over the top of him, shooting at the Scorpion who was coming up behind Haley. After his friends had stopped shooting, Haley rolled over onto his back and looked at the dead body behind him.
“Thanks,” Haley said.
“Let’s get the hell off this floor,” Recker replied. He then looked to the door that led to the stairs that they were originally on. “I’ll take lead on the steps. You guys keep an eye back there.”