***
Alice heard the Guards fumbling in the dark, shouting to each other in Chinese. She thanked her stars that these were not combat troops and also that they did not seem to have automatic rifles. Even if one of them began spraying with a rifle, life would get very interesting for her. Alice tore a piece of cloth from her shirt and wrapped it around her right hand, grabbing a broken shard of glass. In her left hand was the pistol. The Guards were moving around noisily, perhaps confident that they had her cornered. She stayed glued to where she was sitting, trying not to make any noise. When she sensed movement to her right, she swung her right hand out, feeling the glass bite into something soft. The Guard howled in pain as Alice swept his feet from under him and brought down the glass shard on his body, feeling his blood spurt onto her hands. She then rolled over behind another desk. The explosions outside were bathing the room in occasional flashes of light, and Alice saw two Guards illuminated briefly and fired at them four times. Moving and in near total darkness, she wasn't sure if she put them down, but the shouts of pain she heard told her than she must have scored at least one hit.
Four rounds left.
Alice knew that she could not hope to kill or incapacitate all her opponents. It would be a matter of time before their numbers worked in their favor, so she consciously crawled towards the thin sliver of light showing from the door through which Appleseed had fled. In the darkness, she felt something bump into her, and without looking, she fired two rounds, and heard a man scream. Her muzzle flash had attracted attention and she felt a bullet whistle past her face. She rolled on the ground, firing twice at the muzzle flash of the Guard who had fired at her. She didn't know if she hit him or he was just diving for cover, but she heard the sound of a body hitting the deck.
No bullets left.
The door was now barely ten feet away and Alice got up in a crouch, ready to make a run for it when several bullets pinged off the floor near her. She sat down behind an overturned table as she heard the continuing sounds of the battle outside. The difference was that she could no longer hear the helicopters and the gun turrets were silent-the only sounds were the howling of the Biters, rifles firing on full automatic and the occasional thump of an RPG round hitting home. That would mean the wall must have been breached. She took her pistol and hurled it towards a corner of the room and as it landed, several of the Guards opened fire at it. That gave Alice the window of opportunity she needed, and she sprinted out the door, closing it as she felt bullets impact into it from the other side. She locked the door, and while she knew that the Guards would probably break it down soon enough, at least she would buy herself some time.
She was in a corridor that was illuminated by only a handful of small lights along the ceiling. She couldn't see any doors or windows along the corridor other than a single door at its end. As she heard the Red Guards start to try and break down the door behind her, she ran down the corridor. When she reached the door, she found it unlocked and found a single Red Guard standing on the other side. He turned around, surprised to see anyone inside other than fellow Red Guards. He had an assault rifle in his hand, but before he could bring it up, Alice grabbed the rifle with both hands and brought it up, smashing the butt in the man's face. As he staggered back, Alice reached into the holster on his belt and took out his pistol. By the time the man had recovered enough to charge at her, she fired two rounds at point blank range. The Red Guard went down and did not get up. As eager as she was to go after Appleseed, she realized that blundering on ahead unarmed was going to be sure suicide. So she took a minute to take the Red Guard's rifle, pistol and the belt that held his spare clips. Then she set down the dark corridor. The first thing she noticed were the growling noises coming from both sides.
She picked up a lamp from the wall and shone it around, and saw a row of cells lining the corridor. From several of the cells came moaning or growling sounds, and the whole place had a foul stench. Alice figured this was a prison where Appleseed and the Red Guards kept prisoners and she approached one of the cells, trying to see who was inside.
'Hello, is someone inside?'
A yellowed hand gabbed the bars and a decayed, torn face smashed up against them. Alice was so stunned she fell back as the Biter began beating his head against the bars. The lamp in her hand shattered against the ground, and the room was enveloped in darkness. Biters in several other cells along the corridor began screaming as Alice grabbed her weapons and ran down the corridor, trying to get away as fast as possible. She couldn't figure out why anyone would keep Biters in cells like these, but knowing Appleseed and his masters, she knew that they must not have been up to any good. She saw a stairwell at the end of the corridor and climbed up, opening a small door to the outside. When she stepped out, she found herself on a narrow ledge near the rooftop. She could see Appleseed with two Red Guards on the roof and she heard him shout to one of his men.
'Get on the radio again and ask how far that chopper is.'
Alice leaned over and saw that the battle outside was all but over. Biters were now streaming into the courtyard and mixed with them were men carrying assault rifles and RPGs. She could not be sure in the darkness, but she thought she spotted Satish and a few of his men. As Alice saw them she hoped that more of her friends from Wonderland had survived.
There were still a few pockets of resistance as she saw Red Guards firing from windows, but it was a losing battle given the sheer numbers of Biters who were now rampaging inside and the firepower their human comrades were bringing to bear.
The jeep carrying the Queen was also now entering the courtyard and Alice saw her look up straight at her. Next to the Queen was Bunny Ears.
'Alice!'
The Queen had shouted out to her, obviously relieved at seeing her alive and well, but in doing so she had attracted Appleseed's attention. Alice ducked as a bullet slammed into the bricks behind her and dove onto the rooftop, taking cover behind a water tank. Appleseed was on the other side of the roof and he and his men were now crouched behind a large satellite dish. Both Red Guards had rifles and seemed to know how to use them. Every time Alice tried to lean around the corner of the tank to take a shot, they would lay down a withering fire that had her ducking for cover. She heard a voice that she recognized scream above the din of gunfire and howling.
'Save Alice. She must live!'
It was the Queen.
Alice watched as two black clad men climbed onto the roof, but the Red Guards were in a great defensive position, covered by the large satellite dishes and boxes near them. Both Zeus troopers went down under a steady volley of fire. However that gave Alice time to take aim and fire a quick burst at the two Red Guards, sending them scampering for cover. She leaned out and saw several Biters try and climb up to the roof. Many of them fell in trying to climb the stairs and even when one or two actually made it close to the roof, the Red Guards picked them off one by one, with carefully aimed head shots. When two Biters actually seemed to be about to make it to the top, one of the Red Guards tossed a grenade that obliterated them. Alice heard a helicopter approach, and that galvanized her into action. After all he had done, Appleseed could not be allowed to escape. She leaned out and saw that both Red Guards were now frantically firing at the mass of Biters. While the Biters were having trouble climbing the ladders, two black-clad men were now almost at the roof, and firing at the Red Guards. While both men went down to another grenade rolled at them, they had distracted the Red Guards long enough to not notice the new danger they faced.