“Down to the lobby! Gather in the corridor!” she screamed at the shocked faces standing in the doorways.
“What the hell’s going on?” someone yelled.
“Just be ready to move out!” Brunswick yelled back. “Leave everything behind.”
Brunswick completed a sweep of the entire floor and banged her fist against any doors she found closed. Then she went downstairs to join the rest of the team, where dozens of terrified faces in the corridor looked at her and everyone was huddled close together. Brunswick looked over them, trying to determine if anyone was missing.
“Is everyone here?” she said to Shirvan.
“I believe so,” he yelled back.
The gunfire had not ceased for a second. Brunswick carefully approached the front door again. The plume of smoke had settled, and several of the guards lay bloodied on the floor. Members of the intruding army were now halfway through the hall and quickly approaching, covered by a deafening amount of gunfire. She studied the path to the tunnel door, which lay just behind the Neutralaser a hundred feet away. She began trembling again when she thought about going out there. Her teeth chattered uncontrollably. She was now sharply aware of the risk she was about to put her team in, not to mention herself. She closed her eyes and tightened her jaw, gripped by terror and doubt. Time was quickly running out to decide. She steeled herself and sprinted back to the corridor.
“Ok, let’s move!” she yelled. “Make a line behind me.”
The team began shuffling around to queue up behind her, some of them moaning with fear. Brunswick was drenched in sweat, and she brushed away parts of her hair which were covering her eyes. Jittery hands rested on her shoulders. She turned around and found Mona, her jaw slack and eyes wide open. Brunswick nodded and tried to smile, and Mona tightened her face and nodded back.
“Let’s go!” yelled Shirvan impatiently from behind.
Brunswick shuffled forward with the team behind her. There were two loud bangs, and smoke began to seep over the guards’ positions outside. Mona’s body pushed up against Brunswick from behind.
“God protect us,” whispered Brunswick and took off.
They sprinted off with Brunswick in the lead, and she snaked her way around the desks and boxes to maintain cover from the gunfire. There was a loud, sharp thump to her left. A bullet had found its way through. Her body lifted into the air and for a second she lost contact with it. Then she found herself behind the partition wall next to the tunnel door. They had been allowed through there once a fortnight to get some fresh air at the tunnel exit. This time Brunswick was determined that their freedom would be permanent. She moved to the touchpad without looking back and began entering the pin code. She stumbled through the eight numbers way too quickly, unable to control the adrenaline in her body. The screen showed ‘ERROR’ in red. She tried again. Her hand twitched when she was midway through as someone screamed behind her. She spun around and saw a body on the floor. There was blood. Bullets were now crashing into the desks, chairs and boxes behind them and the guards had been pushed right back to the sleeping quarters. Another of her team fell to the floor, then another. The rest made it behind the partition wall and huddled around Brunswick so that she lost sight of those who had been shot. She tried to catch another look.
“Open it!” screamed Shirvan. “I’ll go,” he said and forced his way back through the crowd.
Brunswick’s urge to join him was overwhelming. She was responsible for the lives of her team. She turned back to the touchpad and rapidly entered the code without a thought. The door began lifting upwards and everyone moved forward. Brunswick felt a tiny flicker of relief and turned around to have it sucked out of her. Shirvan was sprinting back in her direction, with the invaders now metres behind him.
“Back!” screamed Shirvan, and wrapped his arm around her as he passed and forced her into the tunnel.
“We can’t leave them!” screamed Brunswick.
“Push the button! Close it!” screamed Shirvan, refusing to let Brunswick out of his grip. Brunswick struggled and screamed but Shirvan held tight. One of the invading soldiers turned in the direction of the tunnel and saw the moving door.
“No!” yelled Brunswick.
She watched on helplessly as the door slid completely shut, and the terrifying sound of bullet fire tapered off.
26
Kalakia’s private jet cut through the clouds over the Czech Republic on the way back to Berlin with Kalakia sitting by the window gazing out. His eardrums were pounding and his fingers were still trembling. His thoughts were in dark places. He was picturing Stirner being tortured and bled dry like an animal, that traitor’s body dissolved in hydrofluoric acid and unceremoniously disposed of. Before that, Kalakia decided, Stirner’s home would be burnt to the ground and his closest family members murdered in unspeakable ways by The League’s most sadistic killers. His assets would be sold off and his legacy erased.
Francois placed a light hand on his shoulder and he flinched and looked up.
“Hmm?” he said, blinking twice.
“I just spoke to Igor.”
He turned his body around and signalled with his eyes to the chair across from him. Francois sat down.
“Tell me.”
“Igor’s men stormed the carpark. You were right. A death squad came after we arrived and took out the security guards. Igor’s men took care of them.”
“Stirner?”
“No sign yet.”
“What about The Council?”
“Igor has taken them into custody. They’re playing dumb.”
Kalakia ground his teeth while tapping his finger on the little table beside his seat.
“There’s more,” said Francois.
Kalakia stopped tapping and looked at Francois.
“They weren’t only going after you. There have been over two dozen confirmed attacks on our soldiers and facilities in the last six hours. New York, Rio, Russia, London, Zurich, Doha, Tokyo, Cape Town. We’re still gathering information, but already dozens of our people have been injured or killed. Whoever did this,
