Mercy pulled away from the net, trying to free herself.
Goddammit, it’s caught in my webbing—
Liquid splashed onto her from above, saturating her hair and tunic. She blinked and inhaled.
Christ, gasoline. Oh my god. Move, move—
Mercy dropped to her knees and crawled under the net which had snagged on the MRAP. She managed to free herself and roll towards the side door. A lit Zippo lighter flew down from above, landing on the cargo net. The gasoline ignited, turning the vehicle into an inferno. Flames raced towards Mercy along the gasoline-soaked ground.
Oh—
Mercy’s eyes widened.
This is it—
A hand gripped her shoulder and wrenched her back through the side door into the canteen. She sprawled onto the floor.
Movement, a blast of heat and flame. A figure kicked the door shut.
Adrenaline surged through Mercy, she rolled over and vomited onto the floor.
The figure crouched down beside her. Mercy’s head spun, her vision blurred then settled. She spat on the floor, trying to rid her mouth of the foul taste. A man’s hand holding a water bottle appeared in front of her face. She reached up.
“Thanks, I owe you my—” Mercy croaked.
Her rescuer’s bare arms were fully tattooed.
That’s—
Mercy looked up at the hooded figure leaning over her.
“Seth? Is that Seth? You were at Brody’s briefing. You’ve got family in here?” Mercy dragged the details from her memory.
The figure pulled back his hood, “You’ve got a good memory Dawes, you need a little work on your situational awareness though. I could’ve been militia. I could’ve nailed your ass. But I guess you were due a break… I saw what you did to that flamethrower guy. He was stopping me from getting into the main block. So, my way’s clear now. If you help me bust some prisoners free we’ll call it quits. What do you say?”
He’s obviously disobeyed Brody’s orders. This was not part of the agreed plan. He’s on his own rescue mission—
Mercy glanced towards the main canteen entrance, “My friends are out there, at the exercise yard gates. They’re still there, we’re waiting for Brody to come up with something to draw the tropes away. I can’t leave them—”
Seth stood up and extended his hand, “Sure you can. Like you said, they’re still there, Brody’s not delivered his diversion yet… so there’s nothing you can do anyway. You’re free, you might as well help me, like you just said, you owe me—”
He’s got a point—
Mercy grabbed his hand and hauled herself up. She caught a glimpse of the antique mace and Spanish rapier attached to his belt. “You know how to use those… things, right?”
“Silence is golden, these weapons whisper death… they don’t attract attention. Come on, let’s go—” Seth said, gesturing for his water bottle.
Mercy rinsed her mouth out and took a long drink before handing the bottle back to her new ally.
OK, let’s get this done—
They used the rear emergency doors to enter the alley behind the canteen. Incinerated tropes littered the ground. Mercy stepped over the blackened corpses, following Seth.
Mercy reached out and grabbed Seth’s shoulder, “Stop, there’s a camera up there. I don’t know if it’s live or not but I’m not taking any chances. ”
Seth froze and crouched down. Mercy unslung her rifle and aimed at the camera. She fired twice, hitting it with her second round. They reached the adjoining building, a steel plate door blocked their way.
Seth tried the handle, “It’s locked, goddammit. This is the way into one of the main prisoner blocks. We have to find a way in—”
Flamethrower man—
“Wait, I’ll be back in a minute—” Mercy retreated down the alley and ducked back into the canteen. She stooped over the flamethrower man’s body and tore open the long flap on his fire suit, finding the main zip. She opened the suit and searched his body. A few seconds later she let out a small cry of triumph.
There they are—
She wrenched a set of keys and key cards from the lanyard around his neck then stood up. She made for the door then turned back to the body and pulled out her knife.
Don’t want this fucker turning—
“I don’t ever want to meet you again mister, in this life or the next,” Mercy said, she pierced the man’s temple with her knife and twisted.
She was back with Seth a minute later and they tried the keys on the steel plate door. It opened on the third try and they stepped into a darkened corridor. Seth crept forwards and stopped at the first door. A stained sign proclaimed: BLOCK D OFFICE.
Seth reached for the handle. Mercy put her hand on his arm and brought a finger to her lips. A low murmur of voices came from inside the room. Seth pulled the mace from his belt and looked at Mercy.
Sounds like three, maybe four militia in there, door could be locked. Then again… Either way, we need to neutralise them to get anywhere—
Mercy leaned in close to Seth’s ear and whispered, “You try the handle, go easy, be quiet, see if the door’s open. If it is, open it a crack and I’ll throw a frag in, then you close it—”
The door opened, an armed militia man stared out at them, surprise etched on his face.
Shit—
Mercy reached for a grenade on her webbing. Three other figures in the room turned towards the door.
The militia man raised his assault rifle and squeezed the trigger. Nothing happened.
Safety’s on—
Mercy pulled the pin. Seth brought his mace down hard on the man’s right arm, crushing flesh and bone. The man crumpled under the blow, letting out an agonised scream. Mercy threw the grenade into the room and shoved the man back in. She grabbed the handle and pulled the door shut.
“Down,” Mercy screamed at the top of her voice.
Two, three—
Rounds burst through the door peppering the wall opposite.
Four—
An explosion ripped through the room. For a second after all was quiet then a single scream tore through the air.
