After ensuring the area was clear, Payne and the others used the stairwell to descend to the next floor. They were halfway there when the smell told them what they were about to find. Their senses were confirmed when they saw the test subject storage level. Every wall was lined with built-in cages of all shapes and sizes. A third of the spaces were empty, but the cages that were full contained the same assortment of animals that had been found in Stockholm.
Only here, they were very much alive.
Pigs squealed and dogs barked at them as they made their way across the floor. Jones vowed right then and there to make sure these creatures were cared for. He knew they had a job to do before he could worry about saving them, but he also knew he would be haunted by their faces if he left them behind. Nothing deserved to suffer for being what it was born to be.
Nothing.
At the end of the row, a trio of chimpanzees stared out at them from behind the bars of their cages. There were no cries, no howls; only the forlorn faces of three animals already resigned to death. Jones could see the intelligence in their eyes, and he felt his normally iron stomach begin to turn. So much so that he had to do something right then and there.
‘Hold up,’ he whispered to Payne.
Payne glanced back. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Them. I have to free them.’
‘What? Why?’
‘They’re from Africa. I’m from Africa …’
‘No you’re not. You’re from Pittsburgh.’
‘Come on, man. Just these three.’
‘I swear to God, I don’t get you sometimes.’
‘That’s ’cause you’re not from Africa.’
Payne rolled his eyes. ‘Be quick.’
Jones smiled and opened the cages. Then he directed the chimps’ attention toward the main entrance. ‘Go that way, guys. Toward the trees. Run like the wind.’
Hulk and Rhino glanced at each other, confused.
Then they turned and pointed at the door as well.
The chimps squealed their thanks as they bolted for the exit.
‘Okay,’ Jones said, laughing. ‘Now we can go downstairs.’
In contrast to the other floors, the third floor down was bustling with activity. Through the small window in the stairwell door, Payne and Jones could see an assortment of laboratory and computer equipment, with each station attended by at least one scientist.
Along the far wall they could see a small area that was being used as a guard post. Its cinderblock walls were only three feet high, with wide panes of glass rising to the ceiling. The cordoned area extended awkwardly into the main room, a hastily constructed afterthought to be used as an observation point.
Inside the cement and glass box that jutted into the primary space was Hendrik Cole and seven of his men. They were laughing over plates of spaghetti and meatballs, blissfully unaware of the threat bearing down on them.
Payne glanced at Jones, who in turn nodded toward Hulk and Rhino. Payne swiped the keycard through its receiver, disengaging the door’s lock. Then he contacted the fifth member of the assault team, who was waiting outside. ‘Rapture. You there?’
‘Here, sir,’ he replied.
‘Game on.’
59
Rapture smiled when he received the order from Payne. Then he did what he did best: he unleashed a series of explosions that utterly decimated the power station. In a flash of fire and a shower of sparks, the entire facility went dark. Before anyone else could react, Payne and his assault team burst through the doorway of the laboratory’s main floor.
‘Fire!’ they screamed as loud as they could.
They had learned from experience that this distress call transcended language barriers. It was one of those words that elicited an immediate response, regardless of the situation or the location. Within seconds, the warning was being translated and relayed throughout the room. Startled scientists pushed toward the exits in a calm and orderly fashion. Even in near darkness, the evacuation of the building had started better than Payne and Jones could have hoped. It wasn’t until the battery-powered backup lights switched on that all hell broke loose.
That was when the real panic started.
As the flickering lights began to illuminate the room, the invading men could no longer remain hidden. Payne and Jones had broken for the guard station the instant the room had gone dark, but they had only made it halfway to the door when the glow of the backup lights gave away their advance. One of the scientists screamed at the sight of two armed soldiers streaking across the room. Then another. And another.
Before long, everyone was screaming.
Cole charged out of the guard station with his weapon raised. He spotted Payne in the midst of the chaos and opened fire. He didn’t care about collateral damage. All he cared about was killing the intruders. Payne launched himself sideways into a pack of scientists. They crashed to the floor like bowling pins as broken glass rained down on top of them.
Other guards joined in, and before long, automatic weapons were shredding the laboratory. Jones and his squad returned fire while shrieking scientists crawled their way toward the safety of the stairwell. Payne twisted around and yanked one of the women he had saved behind the solid base of a specimen table.
‘See him,’ he said as he pointed to Hulk, ‘he’s here to get you out.’
Now sobbing, the young woman summoned the courage to rise to her knees and scurry toward the door.
From his position on the floor, Payne could see other scientists cowering behind anything and everything to protect themselves from the chaos around them. ‘Go now!’ he yelled. To reinforce his demand, he rose to his feet and returned fire.
His first volley caught one of Cole’s men in the stomach, and he crumpled to his knees. A second later, a headshot from Rhino splattered the wall with grey matter. When Jones silenced another guard with a shot to the neck, the rest of the men cowered inside the guard station, ducking for cover behind the concrete walls and an overturned steel table.
Spaghetti and meatballs covered the floor.
Together Payne, Jones, Hulk and Rhino were able to lay down a suppressive wave of gunfire, allowing the remaining scientists to crawl their way to the exit.
Hulk stepped farther into the room, determined to help Payne and Jones, but the duo cut him off before he could make good on his intentions.
‘We’ll handle this,’ Payne insisted between bursts of gunfire.
‘Get the scientists out of the building and to the rally point,’ Jones directed.
‘But sir—’
‘Now! That’s an order,’ Payne barked.
‘Yes, sir,’ Hulk replied as he backpedaled toward the exit.
Payne watched as Hulk and Rhino disappeared into the stairwell. From here on out, it was just him and Jones against whoever was left cowering behind the conference table.
They ducked low to reload.
‘What are you thinking?’ Payne asked.
Jones raised his assault rifle. ‘I’m thinking maybe we should have brought a little more firepower. Is it too late to call Kaiser?’
Payne smiled. The M4 in his hands was compact and efficient. It could easily shoot through the steel table, but it didn’t have the punch to drive a bullet through a concrete block. If they wanted Cole and his men, they would have to flush them out.
As he considered their options, two of Cole’s men rose from their positions and began firing wildly in Payne and Jones’s general direction. In the spaces between shooting, Payne could hear the squeak of rubber soles against linoleum tile. He knew that Cole was trying to escape. The men weren’t really trying to hit Payne and Jones; that would merely be an added benefit. Their actual intent was to cover Cole’s retreat.