All nodded no which is what he expected, the concrete was too thick to transmit any heat and if they were a few stories underground their body heat wouldn’t pass through many layers. He paused as he debated if he should assault the garage with the people he had or return to the base and return with an armored vehicle which might help crash through any barriers. Then again, the time spent go back and returning might mean the end of the girls. He decided to go in with the people he had. “Make sure your silencers are attached and your armor is fitted correctly. We can expect to meet resistance. I have no idea how many are in the garage or what they’re armed with. Because we know they use gas, we will all wear our masks and gloves. You know the drill, save the hostages, and take down the tangos. If we locate their leader, try to keep him alive long enough to be questioned. Any questions? No, we jump off in five, four, three, two, one, now. First team forward. Use the flash bangs first.”
The darkness of the first underground level of the garage exploded in light when the flash bangs exploded, they were followed by the soldiers who spread out with their M4s held at the ready. They didn’t find anything or anyone except for piles of FEMA materials and folding tables and chairs, they also found piles of empty rotting old MRE cardboard boxes. The soldiers discovered foot prints in the thick dust, their leader said, “They surely heard the flash bangs explode so the next level we won’t use the flash bangs, we’ll use frag grenades in case they’re waiting for us.”
The soldiers quietly moved to the next level, they tossed ten grenades which yielded some screams, the soldiers smiled, they’d gotten some of them. A third of the soldiers ran down the vehicle ramp while the other two thirds used the two staircases, all three entered the second level at the same time. They discovered twenty-three armed people. All were shot before they realized the soldiers were on their level.
They repeated the plan as they went lower in the garage. They discovered tents and small fires which had blackened the ceilings of the third level. A corner of the level was filled to the ceiling with piles of trash and human waste. The smell was so bad that any soldiers who’d removed their gas masks chocked. “Service everyone you see. It’s time to get creative for the next level. I think the deeper we go, the more people we’re going to find. Don’t take those masks off. Here’s my plan…”
Five soldiers returned to the surface to grab an assault vehicle they’d quickly modified. They’d mounted extra lights so anyone who looked at the front of the vehicle would be blinded by the light. The vehicle was almost silent so the people living in the garage wouldn’t hear it coming. The soldiers stood in the back of the vehicle and silently rolled down the ramps until they got to the fourth level when they turned on their lights which were brighter than the sun. The lights blinded everyone on the fourth level, the soldiers then shot the stunned people. The level was so filled with people the soldiers used the automatic setting on their M4s. The stream of bullets quickly cut down everyone on the level. They didn’t find any hostages yet. They did manage to save three people to question and they learned the hostages were on the seventh level, three further down.
The soldiers were shocked to see the fifth level only had children in it. They decided not to shoot, but when two of the children lit and threw Molotov Cocktails at the soldiers they responded with a spread of automatic fire. Six of the soldiers had to return to the surface and exit the mission because they couldn’t go on after shooting the children who weren’t acting like children. They were replaced with ten fresh troops who were warned of the conditions in the garage. When the ten fresh troops reached the fifth level, they were again briefed by their officer. They got on the vehicle and drove down to the sixth level when they ran into a roadblock mid ramp. People on the other side of the blockage opened fire at the soldiers with the stolen army weapons.
They’d aimed for the lights to turn them off, they managed to hit most of the lights and shatter the windshield enough the driver couldn’t see to drive so he stopped the vehicle. The troops jumped off and were swarmed by a mob of people armed with knives, rakes, and stolen guns. There were twenty soldiers and over a hundred people attacking them. The battle raged for twenty minutes. It came down to hand to hand fighting. Every soldier was wounded, but they had managed to kill every one of the attackers.
Nine wounded soldiers survived the attack. The Lt said they were to pause while two returned to the surface to bring the reserve soldiers. Fifteen fresh men joined the bloodied nine. The Lt thought the last level would be even worse. He knew the hostages were being held there but he also suspected most of the people were there. He didn’t think he had enough people to take the last level, but he had no more people to throw at the attack. “We can’t
