“Okay, let’s get two teams in and let me see what’s at the desk,” I say.
I look at the enormity of the room and the many doors leading out. “Make that three,” I say. “I think someone knows we’re here. We have to make this quick.”
“How do you know we’ve been discovered? Oh never mind. I don’t want to know,” Lynn says and turns to Drescoll. “Go get Black, Blue, and Red teams.”
That’s not a good combo of colors, I think watching Drescoll walk quickly away from the doors. Wait, Red Team? No, wait, I think and am about to say something to Lynn before checking myself. This is only to the desk and back and the exit lies scant feet away. It’s as good an introduction as any and you can’t get much safer inside a building. The fear that momentarily struck my heart, and to be honest, still sits there, is because Bri is supposed to be attached to Gonzalez. Again that ‘no right decision quandary.’ Sure enough, Red Team approaches and there’s Bri right next to Gonzalez. I see the nervousness in Bri’s eyes. Or maybe it’s my own nervousness projecting outward.
Bri stands next to Gonzalez and Robert covering a section of the big parking lot. Her M-4 still is a comfort but this is the first time she’s been out as a member of a team. It was all training until now. Sure, she’s been around night runners during their trek across the world and felt the fear of those long nights, but this is the first as part of a team; honorary or not.
To Bri, Gonzalez looks relaxed but intent on scanning the area and Bri tries to mimic her. If she looks relaxed on the outside, it certainly doesn’t translate to the way she feels inside. She feels a tightness in her stomach and is apprehensive. She knows she can put a bullet on target but what if something does happen. Will she freeze? After all, the targets don’t shoot back or try to eat you. She looks to see the same relaxation in Robert. There is tension around his eyes but to all intents and purposes, he looks like he’s thinking about his favorite pizza. He’s alert but it’s a relaxed alertness.
“Don’t worry, Bri, we’re all nervous. It’s normal,” Gonzalez says beside her as if she has read Bri’s thoughts. Robert looks over at her and gives her a verifying nod.
The words comfort her and she feels like she can relax a little. Not much, but some. She still feels tight inside. Her thoughts go back to her training and she visualizes the scenarios Lynn put forth. She relives each one and what her reaction should be. Mostly, she will be keeping close to Gonzalez. That much her dad was very clear about. She actually feels a sense of pride fill her kneeling beside Gonzalez and Robert and being a part of a team. Not just any team but her dad’s team.
She sees Gonzalez turn as Drescoll arrives. “Jack is gathering Red, Blue, and Black teams to go inside. They’re at the entrance door,” he says.
“Okay, we’re on our way,” Gonzalez says and the entire teams rises.
Bri doesn’t get up with them as she’s not sure if she should be going or if being just an honorary member, as Gonzalez put it, means not going into buildings. That part her dad was equally clear about.
“Come on,” Gonzalez says clearing up Bri’s doubt about what she should do.
Bri catches up with Gonzalez. “I seriously doubt your dad will let you go in but if he does, you stay close to my left side. Always,” Gonzalez says.
Drescoll looks at Bri joining Red Team. He’s not sure if he should say something or not but then shrugs and heads over to relay Jack’s request to Horace’s team.
They arrive at the entrance doors where Black Team has already gathered. Bri sees her dad standing just inside the doors having a conversation with Lynn. He looks at her and then resumes talking and pointing to places within the building. She can’t tell what the look meant if anything. He seems a little distant, she thinks as his gaze leaves hers and glances quickly at Robert before turning back to Lynn. Her anxiety increases. So, this is what it’s like just prior to going in a building, she thinks feeling everyone’s tension.
Horace arrives with the rest of Blue Team. Lynn then outlines the layout of the room.
“Red Team enters first and takes up a position thirty feet in and covers ahead. Make sure all of the doors are covered. Black is in next and to the right. Blue, to the left. Jack is going to the desk at the far end to find a building diagram. If anything happens, cover the room until Jack is through our lines then withdraw to where the floor is lit and back out,” Lynn says.
Bri rises with the rest of Red Team. “Bri, stay here with Drescoll,” Lynn says. Bri’s shoulders slump a little but she understands. She actually wants to go in with the team. She feels that steely part, which was prevalent on the firing range, settle in.
“It’s okay, Lynn, let her go with her team. We’re only just a step inside,” Bri hears her dad say.
She watches as Lynn shoots him a look which he ignores. Lynn gives her a nod towards where Red Team is gathered at the door with the broken glass. Lynn takes Gonzalez aside for a moment but Bri can’t hear any of the conversation. She’s pretty sure what the gist of the talk is about though. She feels small and doesn’t like the feeling. Her heart is thudding hard as Gonzalez rejoins them.
“Okay, you heard Lynn. Red Team, stay to the right a touch so you don’t shoot me in the ass,” her dad says.
“I think they’re onto us. Let’s move,” her dad adds.
With a nod from her dad, Red Teams enters. Bri stays close to Gonzalez as she enters. The darkness beyond the first few feet is complete. Bri reaches up and brings her goggles down. The room lights up in a green glow. She sees Gonzalez go down on her knees and Bri slides down beside her. She hears Robert slide into position beside her a short distance away. He lifts his M-4 and concentrates on the several doors to their immediate front. Adrenaline courses through her as she brings her own weapon up lining up the IR dot on one of the doors. She sees the thin beams of the lasers move about the far wall and doors. Duh, she thinks reaching up and turning her own IR laser on.
“You and I will cover that main door,” Gonzalez says in her ear and points. Bri’s own thin line of light settles next to Gonzalez’. She listens as instructions are given to the other team members.
A rush of boots and swish of clothing fills the room as the other two teams enter behind. So, this is what it’s like? Bri thinks as the sounds stop and the room goes silent. She watches as her dad walks slowly to the counter close to the wall ahead and to her left. He has his M-4 up and ready. She feels her skin prickle with each small crack or groan of the building. Her imagination turns each sound into the start of night runner hordes pouring through the doors like she’s heard in the stories others have told. She knows it’s just the building heating up with the warming of the day but that knowledge doesn’t stop her skin from jumping with each one.
She looks down at the floor and sees a decaying body between her and Robert. Revulsion grips her insides but then she becomes intrigued and looks closer. It’s just a rib cage with the head still attached. The medium-length hair on top of its head doesn’t hide the white facial bones lying at an angle to her. The mouth is open as if in an eternal scream and shreds of skin are still attached in places. The grisly sight is almost too much but it has her attention as she wonders what it — she can’t tell if it’s was a male or female — did in life before all this happened. Did it meet a sudden and gruesome end as it looks or fall dead before being eaten? What dreams in life did it have? She shakes her head and looks back to the door.