Meet Abel Frey.
Her situation was worsening by the second. The guards were manoeuvring both Ben and her towards one of the houses. Once inside, it was game over. You lose.
She could take one out, maybe even two. But four? She had no chance.
Unless….
She peeked behind at the nearest guard, caught him appraising her. “Hey, is this it? You gonna put us in there?”
“Those are my orders.”
“Look. This kid here — he’s come all this way to save his sister. You think, um, maybe he could see her. Just once.”
“Orders from Frey. We’re not allowed.”
Kennedy let her gaze travel between all four guards. “So? Who’s to know? Recklessness is the spice of life, right?”
The guard snapped at her. “You blind? Haven’t you seen the cameras in this Goddamned place?”
“Frey’s busy fighting an army,” Kennedy smiled. “Why’d you think he took off so quick? You guys let Ben see his sister then maybe I’ll cut you some slack when the new bosses get here.”
The guards stole glances at each other. Kennedy put more persuasion in her voice and a bit more flirt in her body language and soon two of them were unlocking Karin’s door.
Two minutes later they brought her out. She staggered between them, looking drawn, her blonde hair bedraggled and her face defeated.
But then she saw Ben, and her eyes lit up like lightning in a storm. Strength seemed to pour back into her frame.
Kennedy caught her eyes as the two groups met, trying quickly to convey the urgency, the danger, the last chance scenario of her crazy idea all in one desperate glance.
Karin shrugged off the guards and snarled. “Come get some, motherfuckers.”
Torsten Dahl led the charge, gun held out like a raised sword, shouting for all he was worth. Drake was at his side, sprinting at full pace before the entire vault wall had even collapsed. Smoke and debris plumed through the small space. As Drake ran, he sensed other coalition troops fanning out to either side. They were a rushing phalanx of death, bearing down on their enemies with deadly intent.
Drake’s instincts kicked in as the smoke swirled and thinned. To the left, a huddle of guards stood, frozen in fear, slow to react. He fired a burst into their midst, taking down at least three bodies. From ahead, some return fire was heard. Soldiers fell to his left and right, flailing hard into the collapsed wall with their momentum.
Blood sprayed right before his eyes as an Italian’s head was vaporised, the man not fast enough to dodge a bullet.
Drake dived for cover. Sharp rock and concrete shredded the flesh of his arms as he hit the floor. Rolling, he fired a few bursts into the corners. Men screamed. An exhibit exploded under intense gunfire. Old bones spun through the air in slow motion, like dust motes.
More gunfire from ahead and Drake saw a mass of moving men. Jesus! Frey’s army was right here, arrayed in its own deadly formation, and coming forward faster and faster as it sensed it had the edge.
Karin used martial arts training to incapacitate her guards within seconds. Kennedy delivered a sharp backhand to her guard’s chin, then stepped in and head-butted him so hard she saw stars. After a second she saw that her second opponent, the fourth guard, had leapt away to create some space between them.
Her heart sank. So the fourth guard had been a bridge too far. Even for two of them.
The guard looked petrified as he raised his rifle. Finger trembling, he swept the area, seeking help. Kennedy held her hands palms outwards.
“Calm down, dude. Just stay calm.”
His trigger finger flexed in fear. A shot rang out, bouncing off the ceiling.
Kennedy cringed. Tension thickened the air into nervous soup.
Ben almost screamed as his mobile cut a raucous tune through the unease. Seether’s Effigy cranked up to the max.
The guard jumped too, squeezing off another involuntary shot. Kennedy felt the wind of the bullet pass by her skull. Pure fright riveted her to the spot.
Please, she thought. Don’t be an idiot. Remember your training.
Then Ben threw his phone at the guard. Kennedy saw him flinch and swiftly dropped to the floor to create more distraction. By the time the guard had batted the phone away and refocused, Kennedy had shouldered the third guard’s weapon.
Karin though, she had lived here for a while. She had seen and experienced hardship. She fired instantly. The guard staggered back as a red puff exploded from his jacket. Then a dark stain spread across his shoulder and he looked bewildered, then angry.
He fired, point-blank, at Ben.
But the shot went wild, the miss aided no doubt by the fact that his head exploded a millisecond before he pulled the trigger.
Behind him, framed by his spray of blood, stood Hayden, Glock in hand.
Kennedy looked at Ben and Karin. Saw them staring at each other with elation and love and sorrow. It seemed prudent to give them a minute. Then Hayden was at her side, nodding with relief at Ben.
“How’s he doin’?”
Kennedy winked. “He’ll be happier now you’ve arrived.”
Then she sobered. “We got other captives to rescue here, Hayden. Let’s get ‘em and quit this hell-hole.”
The two armies met with a clash, the coalition force shooting their opponents where they stood, the Germans wielding knives and trying to get up close, fast.
For a moment Drake found this knife-play futile, utter madness, but then he remembered who their boss was. Abel Frey. The madman wouldn’t want his own side using bullets just in case they marred his priceless exhibits.
In amongst it, Drake felled foe after foe. Soldiers grunted and struck at each other all around him, using force that broke bones. Men screamed. Battle combat was a total melee. Survival was down to pure luck and instinct rather than any kind of skill.
As he fired and punched and scraped his way through, he caught sight of a figure up ahead. A whirling dervish of death.
Alicia Myles, cutting a swathe through the International super-troops.
Drake faced her. The battle noise fell away. They were near the back of the vault, Odin’s sarcophagus beside them, open now, a rack of spotlights arrayed above it.
“Well, well,” she laughed. “The Drakester. How’s it hanging, pal?”
“Same as ever.”
“Mmm, I remember. Though can’t say it hung for too long, eh? Nice catfight up on the ropes by the way. Not bad for a one-time soldier cum civilian.”
“You too. Where’s your BBF?”
“BBF?”
Two struggling soldiers crashed against Drake. He shoved them away with Alicia’s help, both of them savouring what was to come.
“Best Boyfriend Forever? Remember him? Milo?”
“Oh, yeah. Had to kill him. Bastard caught Frey and me doing the backstreet shuffle.” She sniggered. “Got mad. Got dead.” She made a face. “Just another dearly departed fool.”
“Who thought he could tame you,” Drake nodded. “I remember.”
“Why’d you have to be here now, Drake? I really don’t want to have to kill you.”
Drake shook his head in bemusement. “There’s a term — beautiful liar. Those two words sum everything about you up, Myles, better than any Shakespeare ever could.”
“So?” Alicia rolled up her sleeves with a grin and kicked off her shoes. “You ready to get your balls handed to you?”
Out of the corner of his eye Drake saw Abel Frey creeping away from them and shouting at someone called Hudson. Obviously Myles had been guarding them as the directed their forces, but now she had other priorities. Torsten Dahl, ever reliable, stepped in front of the crazy German and launched an attack.