“I’m so sorry,” Elna said.
“Nah, you made a combat decision in the heat of the moment,” Fish replied. “That’s what you have to do. There’s no guarantee it’s gonna go your way, and that’s just war. But this…” He held up the plastic device and shook it. She could see that it had a single small switch in the middle. “This is the detonator. This is all we need now.”
She heard a loud bang coming from the sliding door. It was followed by another and another in quick succession, then loud voices.
“They’re forcing their way through,” Malin said. “We have to go.”
“Latch that door,” Fish said, pointing at the big L-shaped metal handle. “They’ll force their way through that one too, but I’ll buy you a few minutes so you can get down the corridor. I want them to come through. I want them in here when it comes down. Take the detonator. Use it as soon as you reach the other side.”
Malin glanced at Elna, and she nodded. She knew she would feel absolutely horrible about this whole situation later—she could feel the seeds of guilt and grief being planted—but in the moment, she was mostly in shock. Malin unlatched the door and stepped over Fish.
“That’s it,” Fish said. “Now, get the hell out of here and don’t look back. Let Prig know I took them all out with me.”
Elna thought she should say something, some comforting words, but she was at a loss. Finally, she gave Fish a gentle pat on the shoulder and started down the steps. As she approached the bottom, she heard a grinding sound behind her—they’d gotten through the sliding door somehow. Crowbar? Sledgehammer? Brute force? It didn’t matter. They were inside now.
25
At the bottom of the steps, Elna saw Selene and her father far ahead of her. She also saw charges taped to the wall. She didn’t know what kind of explosive Fish was using, but it looked to her like enough to bring down the whole island. Malin grabbed her hand in passing and pulled her down the corridor. It was so far—too far. Even shining a flashlight down the hall, she could barely see the end of it, a mere speck at the end of a narrow path.
Above and behind her, she heard banging on the second door. The violent thuds shook the whole corridor, bringing down dust and flecks of rust from the ceiling. The few lights that worked flickered wildly with each blow. Elna ran as fast as she could in the narrow corridor, dodging debris and boxes, but she hadn’t gone far when she heard a tremendous crash. Had they forced the second door open? It sounded like maybe they’d knocked the hinges off. She heard sudden gunshots, shouting and cursing.
“You’re not getting through.” Fish’s voice, followed by two more gunshots, shouting, cursing. Elna couldn’t tell what was happening, but it sounded like a desperate struggle. “I said you’re not getting through!”
One more gunshot, like an exclamation point at the end of a violent sentence. This was followed by the sound of boots on the stairs. Elna had the detonator in her right hand, and she let her thumb wander toward the trigger. There was a chance they would be caught in the hallway. If so, what would she do? What should she do? Letting the mercs into the bunker would be a catastrophe. Prig had made that clear.
You know what to do, she told herself. Bring the hallway down on top of them, even if that means bringing it down on top of yourself.
A ghastly thought. She wasn’t sure she could do it
If they get into the bunker, it’s all over for everyone, she reminded herself.
She glanced up at a spot high on the ceiling, where one of Fish’s charges was duct-taped in place. It looked like a small, green canister and had some white lettering on the side. She saw the word Dangerous in a bold font. Wires trailed out of the top and bottom of the canister, running along the corridor in either direction to the next charges. Fish had wired at least twelve of the canisters in a long line.
When she caught up to Selene and George, she stumbled to a stop.
“They made it through the second door,” she said. “Sounds like they hammered it down. I don’t know. But it didn’t stop them for long.”
“Here, take this,” Malin said, handing her his pistol. “I reloaded. Take a few shots back behind us, just to keep the mercenaries back a little bit. I’ll help Pop here. We’re moving too slowly.”
And with that, without warning George, Malin hoisted him up and draped him over his shoulder. Pop gave a little surprised grunt and grabbed at the back of Malin’s shirt.
“Comfortable?” Malin said.
“Not so much, no,” Pop replied, “but don’t mind me. I can put up with it. Let’s just go, please.”
“You got it,” Malin said. “One express ticket to the bunker. Hang on tight. Here we go.”
He tightened his grip around Pop’s torso and resumed running.
Selene hesitated, gaping back in the direction of the door. “How did they get through? That was a metal door with a metal bolt. Who are these people?”
“It was an old, rusted door,” Elna corrected, “and I’m sure they came prepared for getting through doors, walls, whatever. They were prepared to bring down the whole house looking for this tunnel. Hurry, Selene. They’ll be on us soon.”
She motioned at her, and Selene took off running, chasing after Malin and Pop. Elna glanced over her shoulder and saw the mercenaries appear at the bottom of the steps, saw their bright flashlight beam approach like a wave. She aimed with Malin’s pistol and took a few shots, but that was all
