Dead Six

LORENZO

It had begun to rain, giant, stinging drops falling like some sort of biblical vengeance.

I was pulling myself around the back corner of the brig when a Zubaran armored car came through a breach in the wall. Soldiers in desert camouflage scurried through behind it, firing wildly at anything that moved. Muzzle flashes were coming from everywhere as Dead Six returned fire.

Really. Not. Cool.

Deaf in one ear, every inch of me hurting, and with two broken fingers, I crouched in the shadows and called for help. “Reaper! Come in Reaper! This is Lorenzo. Come in, damn it!” I shouted into the radio.

“Lorenzo! You’re alive! Get out of there. The army is attacking!”

No shit. “Status?

Carl responded. “The road’s blocked. I can see five armored cars. There’s a company-sized element hitting the compound now, mix of regulars and militia. You’ve got an unknown number of troops sitting in reserve about a click off the gate.”

“What about the dock?” If I could get out the back way, I could swim for it.

Reaper came back. “There’s a couple patrol boats out there now.”

Something whistled off to the side and exploded against Building One. The army was launching RPGs. I ran a few feet to the side and took cover behind a low wall. Hunkering down, I watched the battle between Dead Six and the army unfold. The Americans were putting up a fight, taking defensive positions around the buildings, but there seemed to be an unending stream of fanatical fighters pouring in. Bullets were flying in every direction, some leaving visible trails, the rain was so thick. A few Dead Six ran past, carrying heavy weapons, but they were too preoccupied to notice me hiding in the mud.

“What’s your status?” Carl demanded.

I had broken at least one rib, if not more, and one lung felt like it was full of burning hydrogen instead of air. “Oh, I’m doing just swell. But the exit’s blocked.” Just as I said that, the armored car exploded, lifting and flipping its turret on a pillar of fire and throwing fragments fifty feet into the air. “Damn! Really blocked. I’ll think of something.”

“Lorenzo, be careful.” It was Jill. She sounded terrified.

“Get off the line!” I snapped. There was no time for sentimentality. Off to my right, several grenades exploded around the parked cars, shredding some of the Dead Six personnel. One of the Americans, badly injured, stumbled, confused, in the direction of the enemy, raising his empty hands in surrender and was shot dead on the spot. They weren’t taking any prisoners. “Reaper, can you keep L.B. in the air in this weather?”

“Yeah, chief. It’s all-weather capable.”

“I need you to be my eyes. I’m at the east wall, by the old brig, uh, Building Six.”

“Lots of heat blooms from the explosions. Wait. I see you.”

I had to get out of here. The army was bottlenecked with that APC blocking the hole in the wall and a tank burning in the main gate. As long as they kept trickling through, Dead Six could hold them, but I didn’t want to be out here in the open when either side started getting desperate. Dead Six personnel had moved out of the dorm to hold the gates, so they should be empty. “I’m going to take cover back inside the apartments. Let me know when I’ve got company.” Both sides of this battle would kill me, so it was time to do what I do best in situations like this. Hide.

Slipping through the rapidly growing puddles, I had just reached the dorm when I was forced to dodge into a doorway to hide. Some more Dead Six men ran past, guns held high, faces grim. Once they were gone, I ran up the stairs, sprinted down the hall, and ducked back into the Valentine’s room. At least it was familiar, and I really didn’t want to participate in the war unfolding outside.

“Reaper, status?”

“Dead Six is fighting like crazy, but more Zubarans are inside. You better think of something fast, boss, because they’re coming in force now.”

Plan. I needed a plan. The rain drumming the roof was louder than the gunfire. My eye landed on the bug-out bag filled with my money.

VALENTINE

I looked at my cell phone like I’d never seen one before as it beeped and buzzed in my hand. Tailor was calling.

“Hello?” I said awkwardly, pressing the talk button.

“Where the fuck are you?” Tailor screamed in my ear.

“I’m in the admin building,” I hissed, trying not to make too much noise. “I found Sarah. Hunter, too. Hunter’s dead.”

Tailor swore. “You have to get back here, right now!”

“Get back where?” I asked, exasperated.

“The north side of the supply building. We’ve . . . shit, choppers inbound! I’ll call you back!” The line went dead.

“What is it?” Sarah asked. As if to answer her question, a Zubaran Army Mi-17 helicopter came in low over the compound. It slowed and came to a hover between the admin building and the dormitory. It was so close I could see up into the open back door. I pushed Sarah to the floor and lay on top of her, hoping the troops in the back of the helicopter couldn’t see down into the window.

“Stay down,” I told Sarah over the roar of the chopper’s rotor. I poked the top of my head over the bottom of the shattered window frame so I could see. The door gunner on the left side was constantly firing. The chopper’s hull was pinged and dinged by bullets as my teammates returned fire.

Ropes dropped from the chopper’s open back door. Zubaran Special Forces soldiers, clad in their distinctive blue camouflage fatigues, began to fast-rope to the ground. They were inserting them right in the middle of the compound.

Four soldiers had reached the ground when an RPG rocket punched into the chopper’s front-left quarter, right behind the cockpit, and exploded. The chopper spun wildly once, flinging a soldier out the back door, before going nose down and slamming into the dirt. Pieces of the chopper’s rotor shot across the compound as it landed right on top of the troops it had just inserted.

My phone buzzed again, and I ducked back down. “Tailor!” I said, pushing it to my ear.

“Listen,” Tailor said. “You have to get to the north side of the supply building. We wired up the west wall with explosives. As soon as it blows, we’re going to make a break for it. We’ve got those two trucks, the Army ones. We can’t wait. Another APC just came in through the hole they breached. The chopper wreck will hold up the armor for a minute, but they’ll get around it.” The Zubaran vehicles had to go up the narrow corridor between the admin and supply buildings and the dormitory. The west side of the compound was blocked by the remains of an old stone wall that was part of the original British fort.

“Okay, we’re moving,” I said.

“Val, we can’t wait,” Tailor repeated. “If you’re not here in a couple minutes . . .”

“Leave without me. If I’m not there in a minute, it means I’m dead. Good luck, bro.”

“Good luck.”

Stashing the phone, I quickly outlined the plan to Sarah.

“That’s crazy!”

I agreed. “But it’s the only chance we’ve got. Come on, we have to go. It’s not far.” We had one shot, and we were going to take it. I checked out the window. The Zubarans were still advancing. It was too risky to go back the way I’d come in. Cautiously, I led the way as we entered the stairwell, hoping we could make it to the first floor unnoticed. The admin building only had one set of stairs, and they landed on the first floor right by the east-side door.

We were on the landing between the first and second floors. I held my hand up, signaling Sarah to stop, and