‘One more step and I’ll blow her brains out,’ Mac threatened. ‘Wallace saved me. He pulled me out of that hellhole, and he gave me more than I ever thought possible. Then you killed him. You took that from me, too.’
‘Wallace was a terrorist. And I didn’t kill him.’
‘Get on your knees,’ Mac said coldly. Sam took another step closer and Mac pressed the gun against Lucy’s head. Blood was trickling from her hair, the blast from the handgun damaging her ear drum. ‘Get on your fucking knees.’
Sam obliged.
‘Can you please just let her go? She has nothing to do with this.’ Sam caught Lucy’s eye and offered her a smile, his undying love for her shining through. ‘Everything is going to be fine. Just stay calm.’
‘Do you know what it feels like to want to die? To dream that today is your last day on this planet?’ Mac asked, enjoying watching Sam on his knees, begging for mercy. ‘Every day I woke up in that cage, I begged whatever twisted God was watching that it would be my last. That when they dragged my naked body out into the sun, they would finally go too far. Do you know what that’s like?’
Sam kept his eyes on Lucy, trying his best to keep her calm. He looked up at his former partner, shaking his head.
‘Mac, I am sorry for what happened.’
‘Answer my question.’
‘Yes. I have. I felt that way for a long time. But like you, I made it out the other side. You don’t have to go down this path, Mac. Put the gun down and let me help you.’
Mac chuckled and then broke into a sinister laugh, his grasp on his composure slowly dissipating.
‘Help me? It’s too late for that, Sam.’ Mac turned the gun back onto Lucy. ‘I prayed for death for seven years. You better start praying, too.’
Lucy’s eyes widened in terror and Sam felt a tear roll down his cheek. There was no coming back from this. Mac was beyond salvation. All he wanted, regardless of the cost, was for Sam to suffer.
To pay for his alleged betrayal.
Think, Sam. Think.
Mac, with his eyes focused on the woman, regrettably straightened his arm, ready to absorb the impact of the gunshot.
‘This won’t make you a soldier,’ Sam spat.
Mac stopped, slowly turning to face his nemesis, his eyes, wide with rage.
‘What did you say?’
Sam, on his knees, knew that he was vulnerable. If Mac turned the gun on him now, there was nothing to stop him emptying the entire clip into his chest. With Mac unlikely to surrender, Lucy would no doubt be blown apart when Mac decided there was no other option.
But Sam had to try something. Anything.
‘I said this won’t make you a soldier. Soldiers don’t kill defenceless people.’
‘This isn’t about being a soldier. It’s about getting even.’
‘Is it?’ Sam slowly got to one foot and Mac spun his arm round, the gun aimed at Sam once more. Sam planted his other foot down and stood. ‘You were meant to be a soldier, Mac. You told me you wanted the life I had. But you ran. You panicked and you ran. That’s not what a soldier does.’
‘Shut up,’ Mac screamed, his eyes watering as he gritted his teeth. Inside, he was battling against his own broken mind. ‘You left me.’
‘No, you abandoned your post. And now you’re showing how weak you really are by killing an innocent woman. If you really want to hurt me, Mac. Show me I was wrong. Prove to me that you were worth saving to begin with.’
‘Fuck you. Fuck you,’ Mac shouted over and again, his hand gripping the trigger. Lucy looked to Sam in bewilderment.
‘You want to prove to me you’re a soldier, then let her go. Give her the trigger, let her walk out of the door and then we can settle this. Like soldiers. You wanted me, Mac. Well I’m right here.’
Mac went frightfully still, his eyes closed. Sam shuffled tentatively, knowing this was the moment of clarity. Either a bullet was coming straight for him, or Mac’s thumb was going to lift off the dead man’s switch. Lucy shook, terrified of the precarious situation.
Eventually, Mac opened his eyes and held the trigger out to Lucy.
‘Take this. Keep your thumb on this button. Now go.’
Mac slide the detonator into Lucy’s shaking hand and slid his thumb out from under hers, locking it in place. Holding it like it was a glass sculpture, Lucy slowly rose to her feet, shot Mac a careful look, and then shuffled cautiously towards the exit. As she passed Sam, she glanced at him, a mixture of sorrow and fury before she continued towards the door. Sam watched her go, knowing the ARU would have assembled by the lifts, ready to burst in once the corridor was safe.
That didn’t give him much time.
He needed to get Mac to surrender. As he turned back, he’d already begun his plea.
‘Mac, we need to…’
A brick like fist collided with Sam’s jaw, knocking him to his left. Sam spiralled and landed on his knee. He spat blood onto the tile and woozily got back to his feet.
‘I’ve been waiting a long time to do that.’
Mac then threw another expert right hook, but Sam ducked, deflecting Mac to the side and then shoved him into the wall. Mac spun on his heel, fists up, ready to engage. Sam held his hands up passively.
‘Mac, I can help you. But you need to stop.’
‘Fight me,’ Mac demanded. ‘You owe me that, at least.’
Mac launched forward again, throwing lefts and rights, his Krav Maga training had clearly been effective. Sam, well trained in a number of hand to hand combat techniques, expertly blocked them with his forearms, before stomping forward and knocking out Mac’s left foot. Off
