The End of the Beginning (Part 1c)

The corridors that lay ahead were dimly lit with small emergency floodlights. I’ve never seen these lights on. The normal generator back up lights was the only different lighting scheme I seen in the facility, and that was only briefly for regular tests of the fail over systems. There must be a battery-operated generator somewhere within the building able to power the illumination. Hopefully it has enough juice to help me through the situation. I began walking away from the bell tower and down towards the main passageway on the floor. If they were going to come upstairs, they will need to come across this area. I kept going over my mental checklist of items I need and wish I had. Do I have everything I need for taking on an unknown amount of intruders? Who are they?

I stopped right at the corner to the main passage and took a deep breath. It was hard to hear the surroundings; my ears were ringing from the indoor explosions. The sounds of high decibel destruction still were resonating off the walls. There could be a nation of elephants stampeding this way and I bet I couldn’t hear it. I decided to be safe and grabbed a small mirror from my vest and sprawled out on the floor. I angled the mirror just enough to give me a clear view of the hallway. Good thing I didn’t run out there like Rambo. One of the intruders was coming down the hall checking the doors. I couldn’t tell what affiliation this guy had. He wore nothing but black from head to toe. I don’t know if it was the lack of lights in here, but I couldn’t see the whites of his eyes. He got closer real fast. Every door he checked was locked. He came up to the corner where I was and he stopped. He positioned himself against the wall just inches from me. I heard him make a couple of clicks on his radio. He must have sent some Morse code signal on his status.

We were so close to each other that I was able to hear his incoming radio transmission that fed through his earpiece. It was a little scratchy, probably from the underground concrete fortress we were encased in. The voice told him to begin clearing the next hallway. He acknowledged with a couple clicks on his radio. I heard him draw his service pistol. I looked up from the ground and seen his barrel peak around the corner. It looked like a .45 from down here. He started to do his lean and was scoping out the area. I didn’t move a muscle. Hopefully the dark shadows on the floor would keep me hidden long enough. The intruder started to come around the corner more and more. The emergency lights showed him a false feeling of assurance that the coast was clear.

He was fully around the corner standing directly over my head. If his foot moved one inch to the right, he would be stepping on my ear. I slowly bent my right arm from the elbow exposing my extension of reach. Past the reach of my fingers was my hybrid night stick/cattle prod. With just the slightest touch, the man above me got the shock of his life. A couple thousands of Watts to the groin would put anyone out of commission. The shock must have taken the breath right out of him. I quickly stood up and I finally noticed the whites in his eyes. They were the only thing I seen in his eyes. They completely rolled into the back of his hide. My lethal extension made one quick backhand swipe to his head sending him straight to the floor in a bloody mess.

I started stripping my target of anything worth value. I grabbed his radio and plugged my earpiece in. It wasn’t long until the incoming voice came back. He was asking for 5C to check in over and over. I could only imagine who 5C was. I started pulling 5C by his boots towards the bell tower. It was a nice dark spot to stash a body. The body slid easily across the linoleum floor. The blood from his head must be serving as a good lubricant for his extraction. As soon as I got the body into the tower, I saw a flashlight heading this way down the main passageway. I quietly climbed myself up the rope I used in the tower and waited for what was going to unfold.

“Sir, no sign of 5C. Wait, I’ve got a blood trail…on it sir!”

I waited directly over the door hanging by my feet. I overheard him and knew I was backed up in a corner. Time almost froze as I heard footsteps rushing my location. Between the charging stomps I heard a small metal pin fall to the floor. I flicked my goggles to the setting Blackout. My vision was completely cut off. No small ray of light was viewable to my retina. My compromising position and lack of time placed my ears in danger. A small canister was tossed in the room and quickly followed with its object of use. The room exploded with an ear-piecing explosion from a percussion grenade. The blinding light of the percussion must have happened to for the force pressed me against the wall, but my goggles shielded my vision. I quickly turned back on my vision and seen the next victim rush into the doorway panning his rifle from side to side. I dropped my rifle and sling around his neck and twisted them in a tight fashion. He quickly dropped his weapon and his hands grabbed at the restraints. He tried pulling me off my rope to the floor. There is no way he is going to succeed. My foot was wrapped in tight and the pulley of ropes above would keep me strapped in. He reached up was able to reach the trigger of my rifle which was pointed right at me. I quickly swung out of the path of rain fire that spewed out the weapon. The bullets tore holes in the structure above including some of the support beams. The clip was finally empty and I still had the upper hand.

With my swinging and the destruction of the bullets, I had a funny feeling in my stomach. Or was it because my elevation was slightly changing. All of a sudden I heard a loud snap and a bell smacked into a beam. Not a good sign since this rope ends at the bell. My body and the other soldier began ascending up the tower while a blunt object was coming down towards us. I could hear the bell getting closer and closer. When it was 5 feet above us it smashed off one of the walls and changed its trajectory. It’s path now headed right for the soldier’s head and met with huge force. The power of the impact was so great that his body is now on a downward direction snapped my rifle clean in half. With the loss of my victim, my upward speed increased. My journey ended with being slammed into the ceiling of the tower sending shingles from the outside straight off the roof. My tossed around body landed on the top platform that I was tossed to earlier.

Two men down and a crushed body later, the battle was just beginning on other floors. I was unconscious for a while after the abrupt meeting I had with a 150-foot high ceiling. I’m not sure if I was out for a few seconds or a good couple of minutes. All I knew was I was awaken by a few more explosions. I quickly switched over to my radio to find out what was going on. All I heard was chaotic screams of help and retreat. I couldn’t piece the ramblings together but it sounded like Jarvis and he was ambushed at the one interior entrance point. Who ever these guys were they knew about the architecture of this building. Jarvis’ radio transmissions eventually ended in silence. I switched over to the other radio and just heard a whole bunch of clicking. Some of the clicks were different pitches and must have been assigned to different men. Who the hell are these guys?

I looked down the tower trying to figure a graceful way down. I took the rope and used one of the beams in the ceiling to use as a pulley. There was not much left up here cause of the crashing bell. After the rope was attached to my belt, I made sure the bell on the floor was still attached. It was. I jumped off the platform and didn’t fall as fast as I would of liked. It was a slow decline. Our weights must have been almost equal. I didn’t fall far that I was able to climb back on to the platform. I started pulling at a loose cinder block in the wall. It came loose and I was back to my mission of descent. I was falling a little faster but still smooth for a graceful landing. I tied the rope off on something sturdy. Who knows, I might need that bell again.

With my feet firmly on the ground, I started looking for a new primary weapon. I found the rifle of the second soldier on the floor. It was a nice modded 30/30 automatic rifles. The clip was half empty so I looked for his body for any extra clips. His body was flailed on top of his fellow soldier, just the body. Who knows where the head was tossed? I started going through the pockets and pulled out 5 extra clips. I took out my clips from my vest and replaced them with my new ammunition.

I ran through the doorway and down the hall. When I got close to the corner of the main passageway, I dove into a face first slide across the hall. From what I seen, the coast was clear for now. I jumped to my feet and raced down the main corridor towards the stairwell. Three voices were heard coming up the stairs. I gently closed the doors to the stairs and pulled out a tear gas canister. I pulled the pin and wedged it between the door’s opening device. This area was going to get hot, so I decided to head in the opposite direction towards the main AC vents.

The ventilation system would give me a quick shortcut to the bottom level and the ability to flank the opposition. I unsheathed my Leatherman and began unscrewing the cover to the vents. Down the halls I heard the tear gas canister hit the ground and emitting its potent gas. There was some choking and a call for gas masks was barked. Two screws were off. I really wish I had a power-operated screwdriver. Time was slim so I grabbed the cover of the vent and attempted to bend it off. I was able to pry a space big enough to escape through. I went in feet first and began plummeting down the shaft. I pressed my feet along the sides to slow my body. I counted the distance in my head as I went down. When I reached the bottom of the shaft I crawled towards the closest opening. Halfway there, I noticed another vent that veered off in downward direction away from the building. This was unusual. Where is this vent leading? According to our maps nothing is documented as being there. I remembered the PDA and the mentions of a secret vault of servers. The vent must have gone down about 10 yards or so. I pulled out my fiber optic camera and guided it down the vent as far as I could. It didn’t reach at first, so I had to crawl in for a closer look. Low and behold it was a room full of data servers. With the help of the camera, I could not see any other entrance except for this small vent.

I decided to get back to my mission at hand and investigate the new room later. I escaped from the vents into a janitor closet. The first level didn’t consist of much except supplies and maintenance items. I started creeping towards the stairs when I noticed a light on in one of the rooms. The door was wide open and one of the men in black was on his knees next to an electric panel. He was cutting wires and bypassing others. I walked right behind him and he must of heard me enter but thought I was someone else. Without turning and looking he asked, “Can you hand me another utility knife?”

My answer to his question was a subtle ear brushing with the barrel of my gun. His face slowly looked up at me in surprise. I was just about to order him to be quiet, but my actions were changed when I felt a slight thumping sensation to the back of my neck. My body dropped like a bag of bricks. As I laid on my back I got a blurry image of what the thumping was, the butt of an M16’s stock. I tried to fight the state of unconsciousness and was in and out.

One of the soldier’s spoke into his radio, “ Sir, we have the last Tango down in the basement…. currently alive sir…yes sir…. no sir…. roger.” He then turned to his comrades, “Frost wants us to wait for him to get here before we kill him.”

Who did he say? I faded out to black and laid motionless on the ground.