by George West
Adam and the other team members continued to tread water under the docks as Hunter climbed out of the river. The guards were separated now. One soldier patrolled the side of the building while the other leaned on a barrel near the docks. The other team members made a small splash under the wooden dock.
The young soldier heard the splash and stared at the decrepit dock. Wooden planks were missing while the waves from the river made the structure creek. He reached for his AK-47 and slowly stepped toward the water. As the alerted soldier crept closer toward the end of the dock, one of the team members grabbed the soldier’s leg and knocked him off balance. The soldier crashed into the water.
The other guard heard the loud splash and sprinted toward the back of the building. As the guard rounded the corner, he was stopped in his tracks. The soldier immediately felt the air leave his body and looked down to see a knife impaled in his stomach. Hunter was holding the other end. He continued his attack with three more strikes to the guard’s abdomen.
After falling into the water, the other guard managed to keep his head above the surface. Before he could process what just happened, a potent force pulled him beneath the surface. The soldier started panting and gasping for air as he tried to resist, but Adam overpowered him and stabbed his carotid artery. Adam pulled the lifeless body of the soldier to the surface with his knife still stuck in his neck. Adam peered at the face of the person he had just killed. The guard’s eyes and mouth were wide open. Adam then realized his enemy was just a teenager. A young boy. He kept staring at the young soldier’s lifeless eyes while blood mixed with the water surrounding him. The team leader grabbed the body and dragged the corpse underneath the dock, out of sight from prying eyes. The Reapers then made their approach to the doors at the rear. Adam Dawkins pulled out a crowbar while the rest of the team checked their weapons.
Chapter 11
“Go, go, go!” whispered Adam into his earpiece.
Adam’s team breached the door and entered the building. Adam was the first through the threshold and spotted two soldiers reach for their rifles. He raised his M4 toward the first soldier and pulled the trigger. Adam put two rounds into the man, shifted his aim toward the second, and proceeded to fire three more rounds at the other soldier’s chest as he attempted to return fire at Adam.
Dawkins and the rest of his team switched their aim toward other hostiles. The soldiers returned fire, forcing the team to take cover behind some old crates. Adam heard several of the soldiers’ magazines fall to the ground as they reloaded.
“Now!” yelled Adam.
The Reapers proceeded to move from cover and take out the rest of the soldiers. Adam and Hunter approached the fallen soldiers and fired several more shots to make sure that they couldn’t get back up. Adam didn’t care about taking prisoners; that wasn’t his mission. They swung their rifles in another direction as the team heard the doors bust open from the other side of the room.
Guys from both sides of the room started to yell “whoa, whoa, same team!” at one another.
“It’s about time, boys. I’ve been having all the fun without y’all,” announced Adam.
“We had our own fun. We took out six guys in the other rooms. And I count only four dead in this one,” replied John Dawkins with a smirk.
“Fuck off, Reaper 2. I want to see these dead bodies you’re talking about,” replied Adam.
The two brothers started to laugh until John raised his rifle at his brother's head. Before Adam had the chance to move out of the way, the two bullets whizzed pass his head. Adam spun around to see where the projectiles were heading. A man laid dead on the floor with a revolver in his hand.
“So, which team gets to count this one?” replied Ramos.
***
“Private, barricade the door!” screamed Resnik.
The two soldiers locked themselves in a room with the scientist. The third remaining soldier guarded the door from the hallway. Captain Resnik grabbed the scientist and put his pistol to the man’s temple, using him as a body shield. Private Nicolai was shaking uncontrollably as he aimed his pistol toward the door.
“Man the fuck up, Private. Be a soldier!” yelled Resnik.
“Yes sir,” trembled Private Nicolai.
Both men heard gunfire outside the doorway, followed by the sound of their fellow soldier’s body hitting the floor. Private Nicolai wiped the sweat flowing from his forehead while still aiming his pistol toward the doorway. The door burst open and Private Nicolai unloaded a burst of gunfire into the hallway. The frightened soldier fired every round in his magazine, continuing to pull the trigger even after his gun was empty.
Click, click, click.
The private continued to squeeze the trigger to his empty pistol at the vacant hallway until Ramos appeared and fired a single shot. As the team advanced through the doorway, the young private lay dead on the floor with a bullet wound through his head.
“Put the gun on the ground!” yelled Ramos.
Captain Resnik remained silent, keeping the muzzle of his pistol pressed against the scientist’s head.
“Gun on the fucking ground! Or we will kill you,” continued Dawkins.
“I don’t think death is coming for me today,” remarked Resnik.
“Oh, yeah? I think death is already here,” responded Ramos.
“You aren’t getting out of here,” stated Adam.
“We will see,” replied the captain calmly.
Adam tore his focus away from Resnik as he heard the sound of engines roaring from outside the building. Captain Resnik shoved the scientist toward the team and dove out the second story window into the river. Adam sprinted to the window and unloaded a barrage of bullets into the river.
“Fuck!”
“We got six Humvees full of hostiles at the front of the building,” announced Hunter as he peered through a second-story window.
“Chief, we got serious firepower out there. At least 30 hostiles,” stated Ramos.
Adam’s mind was overwhelmed. He had just allowed an enemy soldier to escape and now a small army was preparing to breach the building. Adam looked around the room, avoiding eye contact with his teammates. He thought of MacGyver , but then immediately refocused on the situation at hand. As he looked out the window, his eyes stopped as he spotted something in the water.
“John, how much time can you buy us?”
The team rushed out the rear of the building toward the docks.
“Ramos, get that engine working,” ordered Hunter.
The team was outside the building now, running toward a decrepit fishing boat left tied to the dock.
“If this piece of shit starts, you owe me a beer,” said Ramos.
“I’ll buy you a fucking brewery if this engine starts,” replied Hunter.
As the rest of the team loaded onto the fishing boat, John and Adam Dawkins remained inside the building. John posted his sniper rifle on a table overlooking the parking lot where the Humvees were gathered, while Adam scurried around the first floor searching for something in particular.
“Go to hell.” John fired his first shot toward the hostiles. He identified the commanding officer among the men on the ground and killed him first, then a second shot that pierced the chest of the man standing next to the officer. By that time, the rest of the platoon identified the direction of the shots and returned bursts of gunfire toward the second story window. John dove to the ground, leaving his rifle on top of the table. Bullets whizzed over his head and the men on the .50 Caliber guns from the Humvees were turning the walls around him into Swiss cheese. John pulled his sidearm out of its holster and continued to crawl.
While gunfire erupted upstairs in the building, Adam kept searching for the item he needed.
“Come on, Adam, come on.”
“Here we go!”
He grabbed the dolly and loaded up the palette of fertilizer he found among the cargo. Adam wheeled the substance toward the front of the warehouse.
“Let’s get out of her
e!” screamed John as he aimed his pistol toward the entrance of the warehouse.
“One more minute,” said Adam as he unspooled some fishing wire. Adam started to tie fishing line to the door handle.
“Adam, we’re out of time. We’re leaving.”
“Trust me, brother, I’m almost done.”
The team leader was now tying the other end of the fishing line around a grenade when a soldier appeared in the window with an AK-47. John aimed his pistol at the soldier and fired several shots at him.
“We are fucking leaving, Adam. Get up!”
The two brothers flung open the backdoor as they sprinted out of the building. John and Adam were halfway from the fishing boat when the warehouse exploded. Both brothers were thrown to the ground by the force of the explosion while the rest of their team ducked inside the boat. John and Adam got up on their feet and sprinted the rest of the way with their sidearms out. As the brothers jumped in the crowded boat, Ramos revved the outboard engine and left the building in their wake.
“What the hell did you two do?” exclaimed Ramos as the team and the scientist darted across the Potomac in the small fishing boat.
“I felt that our friends needed a house warming gift,” said Adam, looking at the scientist. All the men smiled as they headed north up the Potomac.
Chapter 12
The tunnels felt like a breath of fresh air to the team. They had parted ways with the fishing boat that saved their lives and were now finishing their journey back to base. Their ATVs soared through the tunnel system beneath the old capital. The sun was beginning to set as the adrenaline left each team member’s system. They had to fight to stay awake. The operation took a toll on the team, and they started to feel the pain. The tunnel was pitch black except for the headlights of the ATVs. Adam was leading the pack of vehicles and could barely keep his eyes open. He knew it was wrong to let his mind drift, but he was too tired to be disciplined. He started to think about Katherine. She was the only thing that kept him from going off the deep end. Without her, Adam knew that he would become a complete savage.
“Our stop is coming up,” announced John over the radio.
Several minutes later, the team clinched the brake handles to their ATVs as they approached a hole in the side of the sewage tunnel. Adam jumped off his vehicle and helped Dr. Eris off the back. Adam switched on his headlamp after shutting the lights off the ATV and waited for everyone else to dismount from their vehicles. Once the engines turned off, Adam listened to the echoes of water dripping from the ceiling of the tunnel. He waited for everyone else to crawl through the basement entrance of their compound as he took in the peaceful and quiet comfort of the tunnel. As he turned around to crawl through the hole, Adam's headlamp illuminated a graffiti symbol: a depiction of the Grim Reaper outlined in red.
Soon, Adam and his team made their way to the Ops Center. Katherine continued to work at her desk until she heard several of her colleagues start to clap. Ramos raised his arms as he strutted towards the empty pool. Katherine searched for Adam and then spotted the team leader. She dropped the papers in her hand and climbed out of the empty pool.
“Well it’s about time, Reaper 1.”
“I apologize. But some person gave us terrible intel,” responded Adam.
“You're an asshole."
“Are you two about finished with your foreplay?” interjected Ramos.
“I missed you too, Ramos.”
“Thank you. It’s about time you said hello to your true love, baby.”
Katherine proceeded to give the bird to Ramos, while he stuck out his tongue.
As everyone in the room greeted each other, a group of people pushed open the doors to the Ops Center. Adam swung around and witnessed a woman striding towards the pool and leading the pack of suits. The woman stopped within feet of Adam and pulled back her blazer to expose a gun and a badge.
"I'm SAC Reyes. Where's my scientist?"
***
Adam and Katherine walked down the halls of the compound escorting the pack of DHS agents to the interrogation room. They soon stopped in front of two guys with weapons who stood guard in front of a door. Adam waived them aside and unlocked it. Dr. Eris sat in a chair in a dimly lit room surrounded by concrete walls. Agent Reyes nodded after laying eyes on the scientist.
“This is a DHS-only interrogation,” declared Reyes as she stood with her arms crossed.
“I don’t know who you think you are, but I have the authority on this base,” asserted Katherine.
“Dr. Eris is under DHS jurisdiction, so he’s our guy,” responded Agent Reyes.
“How about we agree that Dr. Eris is under my protection, since I rescued him,” asserted Adam. “Not to mention that POTUS is a family friend,” added the team leader.
Both women didn’t know how to respond to Dawkins’s interjection. They just stared at Adam.
“I see three people representing this outpost and three people representing DHS in this room. It looks fair to me. Let’s proceed with the interrogation,” stated Dawkins.
“Fine.” responded both women.
Agent Reyes started the conversation, “Dr. Eris, I’m so glad to see that you’re okay.”
The scientist just nodded.
“We understand that you’ve been through hell, Dr. Eris. However, the United States government needs to know everything that happened to you after your abduction.”
The scientist took his glasses off and proceeded to rub the dust that had gathered on them. “Let’s be real here, Agent Reyes. You’re here to assess that I haven’t spilled any secrets to the Global Alliance.”
Katherine shot a glance towards Agent Reyes.
“Fine, let’s get down to substance. What happened after you were taken by the G.A.?”
While Katherine and the other DHS agents started the interrogation, Adam opened the door to a room adjacent to the interrogation center. The room's lights were turned off and Adam could only make out two figures standing in the dark. He stepped towards a window in the room where a faint light flowed into the room. He joined John and Ramos next to the window and stared through the glass at Agent Reyes questioning the scientist.
"What the hell, bro? You never mentioned that you know POTUS?" said Ramos.
"I don't. Do we even have a President right now?"
John and Ramos just smiled and shook their heads as they peered through the two-way mirror.
“I love how politics is our entertainment after all the shit we’ve been through,” said John.
“I feel you, brother. Not even wars can end this shit,” replied Adam.
“What do you think DHS is going to gain from this debrief, chief?” asked Ramos.
“I have no idea.”
***
“Please, Dr. Eris, what exactly did they want with you?” asked Reyes.
“Like I told you before, the soldiers just wanted to take me to their ship. They didn’t say much except that they had big plans for me, but that’s all.”
“Okay, do you know the commanding officer who took you?” interjected Katherine.
“Yes. I think his name was Resnik, Captain Resnik,” replied the scientist.
“Okay, that’s a start," responded Reyes.
Hunter walked into the room with the rest of the members of Reaper team. “What are y’all doing? Some of the guys built a refrigerator for our beer. Let’s go celebrate our latest victory, boys!”
Ramos looked at Adam for permission. “Ramos, you could have been downstairs this entire time.”
“Well excuse me for being a loyal soldier.”
Adam nodded his head toward the door. “John, you should go downstairs too."
“Why? I should be up here," pleaded John.
“Our team needs someone downstairs to make sure shit doesn’t get out of hand,” replied Adam.
The guys headed down to the party while Adam continued to observe the interrogation.
“Dr. Eris, you need to help us understand what the Global Allian
ce wanted with you,” said Agent Reyes.
“Miss Reyes, I am an old soul. That’s what they wanted with me. I know things that none of you young Americans know about our world. Your generation thinks you all know everything, but you only know the tip of the iceberg. I was a scientist before every nation started to attack one another. All of you just reacted and joined the war effort. As much as you all think you understand war, none of you actually understand what’s going on. I look at all of you and I discern that none of you should even be in this situation.” explained Dr. Eris.
“Yet we are in the middle of it,” replied Katherine.
“Tell us what we’re missing, Dr. Eris” said Agent Reyes.
“You’re missing everything.”
Katherine and Agent Reyes sat at the table tapping their feet.
"Where is the man who rescued me? The man in charge of the team that saved me?” asked the scientist.
Adam rolled his eyes at the scientist’s plea.
“We’ll see if we can find him,” said Agent Reyes.
Agent Reyes came back with Adam following.
The scientist jumped up from his seat and straightened his button-down shirt before sticking out his hand. “Hello, young man, I am Dr. Eris. Thank you for saving me from those lunatics!”
“I was just doing my job, Dr. Eris. I’m glad my team made it in time to extract you while you were still breathing,” replied Adam.