Wright stood still at the doorway, gesturing for Hawk to enter. “After you.”
The holding rooms were clustered along a long corridor that wasn’t directly lit by anything. Each cell had a small light in the corner that was just bright enough that someone could likely make out the contents of his or her cell but little else. Water leaked from pipes up and down the hallway, resulting in puddles throughout.
Hawk trained his gun forward and moved cautiously down the hall. Kejal had warned about the inaccuracy of his timetable when it came to guard schedules and other variables, such as intermittent roaming security personnel. In essence, Kejal promised nothing other than to get Hawk in position to save Blunt and Alex.
As Hawk passed each cell, he glanced inside to find them almost all empty. He found one occupied with a man who wore a headband around his keffiyeh that contained Al Hasib in Arabic. He was huddled in the corner and scraping the floor with a pebble, either unconcerned or unaware of the presence of Hawk and his team.
Hawk slipped past four more empty cells before reaching one with a woman, who looked like she was fortunate to even be alive. Her cloak was bloodied and her face partially wrapped. Her eyes were visible, and the area surrounding them appeared puffy and swollen as if she had been beaten by someone.
Hawk swallowed hard and braced for what he might see when he found Blunt and Alex. He motioned for Wright and Quinn to continue moving. They snuck past three more empty cells before Hawk found his two Firestorm partners.
Alex had a bruise over her left eye along with a cut that had scabbed over. Other than a few nicks on her arms and face, she didn’t look nearly as disheveled as the woman Hawk had just seen.
“Hawk, is that you?” Alex asked in a weakened whisper.
“It’s me,” he said, rushing over to her.
“Oh, thank God,” she said. “I kept thinking they were going to kill us today.”
Hawk glanced across the cell at Blunt, whose body dangled, his arms chained to the wall.
“You all right, boss?” Hawk asked.
Blunt grunted before answering. “These damn terrorists don’t know a thing. I feel like I’ve been captured by the most incompetent people on the planet. They sure as hell don’t know how to treat a prisoner. Hanging me up by my arms? I swear these punks deserve everything they have coming to them.”
Hawk nodded at Wright and Quinn, who propped up the elder statesman. Slicing through the metal bindings, Hawk freed both Alex and Blunt.
“How did you find us?” Alex asked.
“I don’t want to talk about it now because of prying ears, but let’s just say I had some help. Now, I’d love to catch up, but I’m afraid we may not have much time. We need to move right now.”
Hawk motioned for everyone to follow. Stopping at the gate to the cell, he glanced left and then right before re-entering the hallway. One by one, the rest of the crew filed out with Alex and Blunt sandwiched between Hawk and the Delta Force team members.
“Do you have a weapon for me?” Alex asked.
Hawk pulled a gun from his belt and handed the weapon to Alex, never once taking his eyes off the path in front of him.
“Don’t use it unless you absolutely have to,” Hawk said. “I don’t want you signaling the cavalry.”
“Roger that,” she said, grimacing as she moved forward in a crouching position.
They crept toward the door and into the main hallway, stepping over the bodies of the guards. After several turns, Hawk and his team were within a hundred meters of the doorway to the outside, Hawk heard the thunder of footsteps.
“They know we’re here,” Hawk said. “We gotta move out.”
As Hawk led his team around the corner, they were met by a slew of guards. He held out his hand, preventing anyone from surging past. Bullets pelted the walls around them.
“Is there any other way out of here?” Wright asked.
“I’m sure there is, but I wouldn’t know how to find it,” Hawk said.
“So, you’re saying our only option is to go through these guards?”
Hawk nodded. “I’m afraid so.”
“Well, let’s not waste any more time talking about it,” Quinn said as he tossed a smoke bomb around the corner and waited a beat before sprinting to the other side of the hallway.
Wright followed Quinn and before the smoke started to clear, they started chipping away at the men standing in their path. Bodies started to drop in a hail of bullets.
Less than a minute later, the smoke cleared. Hawk peered around the corner to see only five guards remaining. From a sheer numbers perspective, Hawk and his team were still fighting the odds. Despite giving a weapon to Alex, Hawk was sure she wouldn’t be able to withstand much. And Blunt could barely raise his arms, much less aim a gun at someone firing at him.
Across the way, Quinn nodded at Hawk before hitting the guards with tear gas. As the men started to wilt under the gas, Quinn and Wright picked them off until there was nothing left but dead bodies.
Wright looked at Hawk and flashed a faint smile. “Major, Delta Force will need immediate extraction in less than a minute. Stand by.”
They hustled through the lingering tear gas, coughing as they avoided the guards sprawled out on the floor. Hawk ushered everyone in front of him, choosing to take up the flank in case Al Hasib sent reinforcements.
They took another turn toward the final hallway when Hawk stopped, confident that he heard approaching footsteps.
“More are coming,” Hawk shouted.
Everyone quickened their pace as they walked toward the door. Hawk’s head was on a swivel, his gun trained on the unoccupied space behind him.
When they reached the door, Wright tugged on the
