23. Quinn #2
“This isn’t part of the film!” I shouted as the elevator descended quickly.
As soon as the doors opened, I burst into the lower level, panicking at the craziness happening just a few levels above us.
I rushed to the IT room, ready to tell Rae what happened, but she was already running out the door, slinging a rifle over her shoulder.
“Rae!”
“Who the fuck are they?”
“Harry. He’s the?—”
“Get strapped. We’ve got company.”
“Strapped?” I gasped. “But we don’t have anyone here to defend us!”
“Dash is here,” she shouted over her shoulder.
“He’s one man!” I called out, wondering how she thought he was going to save the day.
The man with Harry was already filming, following me everywhere I went as I ran down the hall to the weapons vault and started strapping knives to my hips and thighs. I was shit with a gun, but it was better to be armed than not.
“Here!” I said, shoving the gun at Harry. “Take this.”
“I’m not in the film.”
“You are now.”
Gunfire burst in the distance, making my skin go cold. I had never actually been in a gunfight or any other kind of fight. I wasn’t prepared for this, and the nausea swirling in my stomach made it impossible to think clearly.
“Get into position!” Rae shouted as I rejoined everyone else. “Bree, get the kids out of here!”
“Where do I take them?”
“Get them to the twenty-third floor!” Rae shouted.
“The twenty-third floor?” Harry shouted in glee. “This is fantastic. Keep rolling!”
“Turn that fucking camera off!” I shouted just as the doors opened.
A smoke grenade was tossed out, instantly filling the room with dark smog. I choked on the fumes, waving it away from my face as I fought to keep my eyes open and on the target. They had to be coming from the elevator. It was the only way in.
Unless…
“Rae! Who’s watching the tunnels?”
She shouted something, but as gunfire erupted, it was impossible to hear what she said. Glass shattered all around us as men in black emerged from the elevator, firing at the glass walls dividing the rooms.
I dove for cover, hiding behind one of the walls and covering my head until the storm had passed. Glass splintered around me in little tiny pieces. Fear threatened to choke me, but I pushed it down and grabbed the knife at my hip, sliding it between my fingers just as Fox taught me.
“You can do this. Now isn’t the time to be a pussy.”
“Man, you can’t make up lines like that,” Harry laughed.
I rolled my eyes as I crawled across the floor, getting to the cover of an actual wall. Pressing my back against it, I peeked over the edge, just as a boot crunched on the glass on the other side. Holding my breath, I flipped the knife in my hand and waited for him to take another step.
Just as his boot came into view, I spun and slammed the knife into his foot, screaming as I did so. His gun came up, and I shoved it to the side, slamming my fist into the man’s nuts.
He doubled over in pain, gripping his crotch, giving me enough time to grab another knife. I wasn’t as talented as the others. I couldn’t hold multiple knives in my hands and let them loose like they could.
Gripping the knife, I slammed it up under his ribs, most likely hitting something vital. I was surprised at the force it took to break through not only his gear, but also his flesh.
With a staggering step, he caught himself on the opposite wall, then his eyes dropped to the knife buried in his chest. I didn’t know who he was, and frankly, I didn’t have the time to find out.
I wasn’t sure how many more of them there were around here, but one thing was certain, they were here to kill.
I grabbed the knife at the hilt and winced as I yanked it out. “Sorry about that. I bet it hurt.”
He slid down the wall, a smear of blood dribbling down his lip.
Turning to Harry, I forced him to listen to me. “You need to get the hell out of here. At the end of the hall is a secondary elevator. Someone will be waiting there. Get to safety now before it’s too late.”
“Are you kidding?” he laughed. “This stuff is amazing!”
“This isn’t fake, Harry! We really are under attack!”
He laughed raucously, not believing a word I said. “Sure.”
Rolling my eyes, I grabbed another knife and crept around the corner, trying to pinpoint where the gunfire was coming from. With the smoke filling the air, it was impossible to see anything.
Fear snaked its way around my insides. A high-pitched squealing filled my ears as I tried desperately to concentrate on anything other than the sheer terror of the situation, that I might die at any moment.
And right then, I could have sworn I heard my mother’s voice in my head, in her nasally voice, asking why I had to be so inconsiderate to die while she was on vacation.
Sucking in a breath, I closed my eyes and forced myself to focus on the task at hand. Not dying. Sweat clung to my hand as I twisted the knife in my hand. I could do this. One guy dead. Only a few more to go.
Hopefully.
I rounded the corner, squealing when a man grabbed me around the neck, jerking me around. His arm was tucked around my neck, choking me painfully, cutting off all my air. I twisted and tried to scream, but I couldn’t get loose, couldn’t let anyone know I was over here dying.
I caught sight of Harry, signaling to him that I needed help, but he was saying something to the guy filming. I was on my own, and that light was quickly dimming.
With one last-ditch effort, I twisted as much as possible and thrust the knife into something hard. I didn’t know what I hit, but the pressure eased slightly, if only for a moment. Then I was being strangled again, and the light was fading.
“Get your hands off her!”
A crazy-looking woman ran at me, her fierce expression sending terror through me. Then something was flying through the air. I gasped as the arms around my neck suddenly disappeared. Then something pierced my leg and I cried out, falling to the ground.
“Son of a bitch!” I shouted, coughing as air rushed to my lungs.
“Oops!” Zoe winced, falling to her knees. “Are you okay?”
“Am I okay?” I shouted. “You threw a knife at me!”
“Right, but I was aiming for the guy who was trying to kill you. I mean, it took a few tries, but I finally got him.”
I turned and grimaced at the knife embedded in the man’s eyes. “Bullseye,” I muttered.
She held out her hand, helping me to my feet. “We have to get out of here.”
“Where’s everyone else?”
“Rae’s holding a one-woman show, taking down everyone with her wit and cunning skills. Bree is freaking out, getting everyone else down below, and Tahlia has turned into some kind of IRIS freakshow and is threatening to blow the whole place up.”
“Fuck, let’s get out of here.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Zoe retorted, turning and running straight into Harry. “Uh…Harry! What are you?—”
“This is the best live-action film ever! We’re streaming right now.”
“Right now?”
“Yes! You make a brilliant action hero!”
“Uh…thanks?”
“What are you guys doing?” Sarah shouted, racing toward us. “Get down!”
An explosion tore through the main level, shattering what remained of any glass walls. Flames licked at the paint, melting the electronics from every corner of the building. We were going to suffocate if we didn’t get out of here.
“Move!” Sarah shouted, grabbing my hand and tugging me to my feet.
I hobbled along behind her, trying to keep the knife in place so I didn’t bleed out before either Skylar or Mercy could attend to me.
We ran down the hall, nearly getting to the elevator when a door opened and Max stepped out, his straw hat pulled over his eyes and a cigar hanging out of his mouth. “What the fuck is all that racket? I was trying to take a nap!”
A bullet pierced the glass in his hand, sending whiskey flying everywhere.
“Son of a bitch!” He pulled a gun from the back of his pants and stormed down the hall, firing over and over again until the magazine was empty.
Then he reloaded and started firing again.
“I was fucking drinking that! It was good fucking whiskey! Do you have any idea who the fuck you’re messing with? ”
“Should we help him?” I asked Sarah.
“He’s got this. They ruined his whiskey. I’m pretty sure they’re all going to die.”
I nodded and ran to the elevator, grateful when the doors opened and I got inside with Sarah, Zoe, Harry, and the cameraman. We were safe.
Then a man appeared in the doorway, grinning at us like a maniac as he released the pin on a grenade and dropped it in the elevator.
I didn’t think as I kicked the grenade just as the doors started to close.
I barely saw the panic on his face as we started to descend, and then an explosion rocked the elevator and we plunged to our deaths as the cables started to snap.