And Beasley wasn't saying a word.
She began to pant and could almost hear the rattle of her nerves as the door swung open, and there he was.
No, that wasn't him. That was his guard. There he was, just behind, turning now to the right.
She gave him just enough lead.
She took the shot, but the round erupted in the earth at Admiral Cai's feet. She cursed as she threw back the bolt and reloaded, never taking her eye off the admiral.
He dropped and began crawling around the building's edge, out of sight, though the red diamond IDing him glowed over the wall.
A green diamond suddenly floated into view.
'Diaz, Ghost Lead here. Hold your fire! I got him.'
Mitchell and Smith had just emerged from the south building and dove forward onto their guts. They had a perfect bead on the admiral, whose guard had dropped in behind him. Mitchell held his breath, about to fire.
But Smith reacted first, cutting loose with his MR-C. The guard and the admiral shook violently as Smith's rounds drummed them into unceremonious death.
'Nice,' gasped Mitchell.
Smith groaned and replied, 'Thanks.'
Mitchell called up Beasley's camera in the HUD, which showed the sergeant dashing across the castle grounds. 'Bravo Lead, I need a SITREP.'
'I'm here, Captain. Brown's down, but he's alive, unconscious. I'm en route to Hume's position. Not sure about him yet. Bo's got Marcus.'
'You need help?'
'I think we're good.'
'Roger that. Everybody else? All targets have been terminated. Fall back on the SUVs! Move, move, move!'
'Yeah, that's easy for him to say,' griped Jenkins.
Sergeant Marcus Brown was still lying in the staircase. Diaz's round had missed him by a fraction of an inch, but debris from the wall had struck him in the head. That, along with tumbling down a dozen wooden steps, had knocked him out cold.
Jenkins had already checked Brown's pupils to see if they were equal and reactive to light, which they were, and he had already checked Brown's ears for any fluids; they were clear. In a perfect world, they would immobilize Brown's neck and haul him out on a portable litter.
In Jenkins's world, he was charged with carrying his buddy on his back, pack-mule style.
He carefully lifted Brown and started down the stairs, the wood creaking and bending with every step. Between Brown's massive physique and his weaponry, it took a blinding amount of force to bring him down.
Outside, Jenkins sloshed forward as more wind whipped through, carrying a fresh wall of rain. Despite all those hours in the gym, the load was now too much. He collapsed to his knees and lowered his buddy to the ground. 'Ghost Lead, Jenkins here. I have Brown, but I need help.'
'I'm going down to get them,' said Boy Scout over the phone, beginning to gun the SUV's engine as though he were about to drag race.
Buddha bit back a curse. 'They're coming up to us. Don't move, you fool! We keep protected. We have the only rides out!'
'If they all die down there, they will not need us. Let's get in there and get them out.'
'You heard what I said.'
'Sorry, old man. We don't play it safe.'
Suddenly, Boy Scout threw his SUV in gear and roared off ahead of Buddha, who wrenched open his door, climbed out, leveled his pistol, and began firing at the kid. The SUV's rear window took several holes, glass splintering, but the vehicle headed up and over the hill, gone.
'What are you doing?' cried the kid. 'Stop firing!'
Buddha screamed into the phone, 'Get back here! Now!'
'No, you fat cow. You come with me!'
Throwing up his arms and screaming, Buddha returned to his SUV and threw it in gear.
After sending off Smith to check on Beasley and Hume, Mitchell sprinted off to help Jenkins.
As Mitchell headed north, a vehicle — one of those Chinese Brave Warriors — suddenly raced through the central building's main entrance and crossed into the path, heading east out of the castle. Unsure who might be in that truck, Mitchell held fire and called over the radio. 'This is Ghost Lead. There's a vehicle heading east! Where the hell did that come from? Who's in it?'
'Ghost Lead, this is Diaz. I'm en route to the rally point. See your truck. Must be that last guard, the guy who looked like the security team leader, the one that had the cane. Not sure where he hid the truck.'
'Roger that.'
'And, sir, looks like our SUVs are coming down the mountain.'
'What?'
'That's right, sir. They're coming down.'
Mitchell swung around and watched as Fang Zhi's truck roared up onto the east road, directly toward the first oncoming SUV. 'Diaz, you see that other truck.'
'I got him.'
'Fire!'
'I'll try, sir, but he's moving fast!'
'Just try. Ramirez? Nolan? Get to Jenkins. Help him get Brown out of there.
'You got it, Boss,' answered Ramirez.
Boy Scout cut his wheel to the left, trying to run the oncoming truck off the road, but the driver, whose window was down, thrust his arm and head out the window and began firing his pistol.
The first shot exploded into Boy Scout's windshield as he reached for his own weapon.
He never brought it to bear.
Just as the two vehicles passed each other, with the truck to Boy Scout's left, the driver fired once more. Boy Scout's neck snapped back as he thought a curse, fell forward onto the wheel, and all sensation vanished.
Buddha rolled his wheel and drove as far off to the right as he could, bringing his SUV high onto the muddy embankment, even as he fired upon the escaping truck.
That driver returned fire, then accelerated up and over the hill, gone.
Beasley picked his way through the shattered staircase and found Hume sitting up against the wall, his legs and right arm pinpricked by dozens of pieces of shrapnel. Opposite him lay a guard and Major-General Chen.
'Johnny, it's me, Matt. Getting you out of here, buddy.'
Hume did not move.
Beasley removed the sergeant's earpiece and balaclava, then directed a small Gladius tactical light to the side of Hume's head, checking his ears and eyes. They looked all right. He examined the wounds on Hume's extremities.
The sergeant stirred and said, 'Matt, I think I'm going to puke.'
'Your ears ringing, too?'
'Yeah.'
'You got a little shrapnel, little head injury. Ain't nothing. Let's see if you can put some weight on those legs. Ready?'
