“We have a lot to talk about, Dai Hibiki.”
The cop winced, practically shuddering. “Yeah, let’s get out of this hellhole first though, before you start chopping things off.”
Alicia led them back into the corridor and at a fast sprint to the stairwell. “Wait.” Dahl spoke up, the beginning of a grin twisting both sides of his lips. “How about taking the elevator? It’s faster and it’ll give them one hell of a surprise.”
Alicia drew in a sharp breath. “Risky.”
“It will put us nearer the exit.”
Alicia quickly broke comms silence. “Outside? You ready? Do you have the Russian?”
Drake replied. “I’m outside. He’s here and we’re raring to go.”
“We’re coming right now,” she said. “And it’s gonna be fucking noisy.”
“Noisier the better. Just do it.”
“Buckle up, soldier boy,” Dahl said. “ ‘Cause the Yakuza are about to be taught a hard lesson and they’re gonna be plenty pissed.”
“Bring it, nancy boy. I’m here to help.”
Dahl pressed the button for the elevator, took a breath, prepped his weapon and then looked around.
“Ready?”
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
Alicia was armed in every way possible as the elevator doors opened out onto a jam-packed lobby. Pistols, knives, spare ammo, electrical prod, even one of the dead torturers’ bloody hammers. Her compatriots were similarly armed, fired up, and ready to wade through blood to make their escape.
Fucking good job, Alicia thought as the path to freedom greeted her.
Yakuza were everywhere, from those groups milling about and looking bored to those taking charge to others who rushed around carrying out tasks. The opening doors sent many pairs of eyes flicking in their direction.
Dahl was a mountain of dependable violence. The instant their presence was noted he opened fire and waded into the mob, shooting with one hand, crushing with the other, using his feet to further hinder those who fell. The crowd would have closed around him but it was Mai who came next and she had a score to settle. With lithe movements she used knives to slice and carve her way in Dahl’s wake and ribbons of blood painted a trail through the air behind her. As if that wasn’t enough, she was followed by Alicia, and the Englishwoman was more than angry. Enraged by the terrible, but matter-of-fact room below she wanted to crush bones. The first Yakuza ended up with a flattened nose and shattered teeth, the second a bullet wound in the stomach. The third ran on to her knife but she didn’t end it there, dragging the blade sideways. They came from all sides, a screaming throng, and they hit hard, but never had they encountered foes like this.
Blood slicked the floor and painted nearby surfaces. Hibiki and Chika stepped into the open, both armed with handguns, and picked off aggressors who stood between them and the glass exit door. Alicia emptied her magazine into two more Yakuza, then spun with her knife, a sinuous target, cutting flesh as she inserted a fresh mag almost with one hand. Dahl met resistance ahead, the sheer mass of their enemies slowing him down. Still, he fought just as hard, never still, a twisting, turning wedge of pure muscle, violence and sheer elegance that defied belief. Weapons clattered to the floor; screaming men fell sideways. Mai and Alicia collected the enemy weapons when they had to, their sudden movements only adding to their evasiveness. When a Yakuza grabbed one of the women around the neck or the waist, the other taught him the error of his ways. At first, Alicia saw no difference in how Mai fought, the bullet wound not hindering her, but as the battle went on and they took more and more knocks, the Japanese Ninja began to slow down.
Anyone else would be on their knees by now, but not Mai. In addition to a lifetime of experience and training she now had vengeance in her heart, and hatred, and fear for the safety of her sister. As she glided by Alicia saw her wound had torn. Blood seeped. Mai fought even harder.
Drake could barely believe his eyes. Never had he seen anything like it a — a lobby so crowded, a battle so violent, men and women so determined and motivated. He sat astride a red Ducati, deep in shadow, with three more fast bikes behind him, currently being watched by Yorgi and Grace. The streets of Kobe that he planned to use were narrow and twisting and easy to get lost in — the bikes were perfect.
And Alicia mentioned that thing about car chases…
This should piss her off nicely then. But now, as he stared, a man used to adventure, war and death, but still awed and shocked at the nightmare vision before him. A simple question jabbed at him — how were they going to get out of there alive?
Alicia rammed in her third mag. One knife had been torn from her grip by a passing ribcage and now she employed a second. A fist slammed against the bridge of her nose but she barely felt the blow; adrenalin invigorated her every muscle and sinew, and acted as a pain killer.
Dahl smashed fists, elbows and knees into assailants before her but the crowd was just too thick, bodies fell and had nowhere to go. And whilst their demise caused their brothers intense problems it also hampered the SPEAR team.
Mai strove in a different direction, cutting a path to the right of the doors. Alicia sidestepped in her wake, jabbing her elbow into three noses with three steps, using her other hand to deliver three knife strikes.
The blade twisted from her hands.
She covered the momentary loss with the gun, aiming for hearts, necks and heads, wondering who these men imagined they might be beneath these black blank masks. But then they were gangsters. They probably didn’t think that way. Alicia withdrew the electrical prod and pressed the button, making it fizz against several adversaries and seeing them twist away in anguish. The prod was going to be a good weapon whilst it lasted then, enabling her to incapacitate enemies faster than she could with a gun and its limited supply of ammo. She jabbed to left and right, faster and faster, and the path opened up.
Hibiki and Chika watched their backs, the latter battered and bruised but determined to survive. What she lacked in skill she made up for in resolve. Hibiki protected her as best he could, whilst also watching out for himself. He had been given the most weapons, lacking the highly tuned skill of the SPEAR individuals, and he put them to good use, but even he was running low on ammo.
The great glass doors loomed in their sights.
Dahl growled and launched into a huge final effort. Alicia prodded and kicked, and loosed bullets. Mai, crying out in pain, twisted her body several different ways to rain blows upon her enemies, sometimes in the air, sometimes falling to the floor, using one man to gain momentum enough to fell the next, twisting their limbs together so that each hindered the other, forcing their bodies into unnatural angles. Every move was instantly measured to produce maximum harm and maximum interference. Alicia, at her side, paused between electrical charges.
“Little Sprite, you’re a fuckin’ death machine.”
Mai’s quick glare reminded her of the Japanese woman’s inner turmoil and made her wince. Shit, Myles, aren’t you the tactful one?
Since when did she even care though? Alicia was here for the good of the team, showing support for the men and women whom she regarded as family — not just for one person.
And if she was that person sure wasn’t Mai Kitano.
Brawling Yakuza then took every ounce of her concentration as they barreled in from all sides. The electric prod disabled three before it too was torn from her fingers, making her cry out in frustration. She took a blow to the ribs. Some fool fired his weapon in the surrounding melee, taking out his own comrade, but the bullet passed straight through flesh and bone and came dangerously close to Alicia. A baseball bat, such a clumsy and surprising weapon but not out of place at this moment in time, slashed down toward her. She moved fast, hitting men to her left, and the bat glanced off her shoulder. Still, the pain was intense. Unable to help herself she flung her last knife, taking the bat-wielder out of play.