Hanna stood back from the door and pondered what she had heard. “It sounded like gunfire,” she rambled.
Maybe there was a good reason why the group of strangers were put here. Maybe it was a death squad. A group of killers going room to room killing people. Her imagination battled with her reason.
“What are you doing? Go, goddamn it!” shouted Dimitri.
“You open that door, we all die!” said Russell from Dimitri’s choke hold.
“He doesn’t know shit. Open the door!” Dimitri countered.
“Think about it. You just heard a gunshot, Hanna!” Russell argued.
Hanna sank back against the wall. Russell’s words were enough to convince her to stay put. Dimitri couldn’t believe what was happening. He had physically overpowered Russell, but the man’s desperation and fearful logic had beaten him.
“This is your last chance!” shouted Dimitri.
“I open this door, it’s on me,” Hanna replied painfully.
Obviously, if something went wrong, she would be held liable. Violating national security procedures came with severe penalties. Not only could she lose her job, but she could go to prison. Opening the door was not only risky; it was criminal. The urgency of the situation was too much for her to process. She looked back toward Dimitri with an empathetic scowl. “I’m sorry. I can’t.”
Russell sighed with relief. Dimitri shook his head in disgust.
Pierce arrived at the door and started investigating it. It was sealed shut. The door could have been sealed for days. No light seeped from the cracks. It was heavy. He pushed against it. It must weigh a ton. It was the kind of door that could only be locked from inside. There wasn’t a door handle. It looked as though it swung inward. There were no signs of welding marks keeping the door shut. It was an indication someone was inside.
These particular rooms were used back in the fifties as ammunition storage. Throughout the years, the lower-level breakouts, as they were known to staff, were used for different purposes — junk storage mainly. But at one time in the late sixties, the breakouts were used to interrogate military dissidents and prisoners, and they even hosted CIA torture sessions. These rooms stood as a monument to the reality of what it took to maintain American supremacy, and the making of the free world wasn’t pretty. Plenty of blood had been spilled in these chambers, and several ghosts behind these iron doors could testify to this truth.
Pierce could not help but feel the haunting history of the breakout room he stood before. However, it was the safest place he could be at that moment. He needed to get inside. He stood back and rapped his knuckles against the hard surface. The door rattled with a solid drumming sound.
“Hello? This is Master Sergeant Ryan Pierce,” he called out. “Anyone inside?”
Through the five inches of iron, Hanna stood paralyzed on the other side of the door as she reacted to the sound. Her mind raced with possibilities.
The sound equally startled Gail. Her eyes grew wide as she stepped back quickly. The man’s arrival seemed to have caught everyone off guard. Dimitri released Russell. Russell rolled over and coughed toward the floor. He angled up as Dimitri quickly stood up and backed away with shock.
Russell smirked with relief. Perhaps the ordeal was over. Perhaps he could have Dimitri arrested for his assault.
Pierce was in a hurry. No response had come to his callout. He banged away at the door again — this time with more urgency. “Hello? I know someone’s inside,” he continued. “I have level-two clearance. Open up.”
The man’s voice trailed off through the door. He sounded miles away. Hanna looked over to Gail for some type of direction. Gail offered none. She shook with indecision and fear. She had no way to be sure it wasn’t a trap.
Russell slowly climbed back up to his feet. He could breathe again. He was shaken but OK. He looked up at Hanna.
“Hello!” Hanna shouted out.
Gail was surprised. Why would she do that? Gail felt even more trapped. She glared at Hanna and her audacity. “What are you doing? You insane?” she scoffed with a forced whisper.
Hanna didn’t care. She dismissed Gail’s disdain and moved toward the door. “Who’s out there?” she shouted through the door.
Hanna’s faint voice returned to Pierce. His attention went back to the door. He quickly placed the side of his head against the cold surface to listen. “Yeah…yes. Open the door. Security police. Ryan Pierce. Come on,” he called out. “My tag is zero two nine.”
Something felt desperate about his call. Hanna knew there was urgency. She looked back to Russell.
“It could be a trap,” he replied without looking at her.
She looked back to the door as it vibrated slightly with another impact from outside.
Pierce used his shoulder to slam into the door a few more times. He obviously knew this wouldn’t help, but perhaps it would prove his determination to whoever was on the other side. Maybe it would be enough to convince someone to open the door.
Gail wasn’t convinced. She needed more facts. She stepped back to the door and shouted, “What is your business, Pierce?”
Pierce stopped and considered his reply.
Gail’s voice carried through from the other side. “We’re under protocol lockdown. Tell us why we should open this door.”
He wasn’t sure how to respond. Given the situation, they were not obligated to open the door. Giving them too much information would only deter them further. Besides, no one would believe him anyway. “The base in under assault,” he replied.
The man’s voice traveled back to the other side and hit the group with shock. If the man’s claims were true, then they risked exposing themselves to more danger. Doing nothing could have equal consequences, though.
Russell wasn’t buying it. He shook his head with disapproval. “It’s a trap. He’s lying.”
“What if he’s not? We can’t just leave him out there,” replied Hanna.
Gail pondered Hanna’s wisdom. It seemed to be the only thing that made sense. Gail leaned toward the door again. “Who’s your reporting CO?” she shouted.
“Howl. Major Howl under Twenty-Second Command,” Pierce replied.
Gail nodded to Hanna. His story checked out. Security police reported to Major Thomas Howl.
From the outside, Pierce was growing more impatient by the moment. His instincts were to shoot the door open — if that would even work. These doors were iron and virtually indestructible. Bullets wouldn’t do it. He would need to prove his side. He would need to prove he wasn’t a threat. He would need to appeal to their hearts. “Look. If you don’t open this door, I’m going to die. Please. I’m begging you. Please.”
Gail tracked back to Hanna. She knew what they had to do, but she didn’t want to be the one to do it. Hanna was within arm’s reach of the door’s lever anyway. It was an easier grab for her — or maybe it was just Gail’s excuse. Gail stood back and nodded.
Hanna looked to Dimitri. He nodded back. Everyone was ready. They would need to act immediately.
Hanna angled back to the door and slowly reached toward the large metal lever that had kept them safely contained for hours. Her hand trembled.
Dimitri came close to the door, preparing himself for a takedown. Whoever was coming through the door wouldn’t suspect he would come from the blind spot of the wall.
Gail slowly stepped back, allowing the others to do the job. She couldn’t take her eyes away from the sight of Hanna’s trembling hand reaching up to the door’s lever.