Chapter 15 #3
I rotate the blade viciously.
Simultaneously, Tyler grabs the second guard from behind and fires a suppressed round into the base of his skull.
The shot vanishes into the storm before the echo can emerge.
My guard topples backward, gasping.
I seize him by the collar of his shirt and shove him against the metal container wall.
“You think this is funny?” I snarl.
Blood bubbles from his lips without delay.
Awareness dawns on him before fear takes over his face completely.
“Wait—”
I plunge my knife into his shoulder before he can finish.
His scream tears through the storm.
Tyler’s head snaps toward me.
“Reap.”
I can only make out fragments of his words.
My heart is pounding louder than the thunder.
The guard whimpers as I thrust the blade in deeper.
“You stood outside while they screamed in there.”
“T-that’s not my—”
I hurl him into the container with brutal force, denting the metal on impact.
“You watched.”
Rainwater mixes with blood as it runs down his face.
All of a sudden, a warm weight clamps onto my shoulder, Tyler holding me to the here and now.
“We don’t have time.”
For one dangerous moment, I almost shove him away.
Not Tyler, never Tyler, but the thing clawing around inside my chest right now craves destruction.
Tyler sees it happening in real time.
His voice lowers cautiously. “Look at me.”
I do.
The sky erupts in white behind him, reducing him to a stark silhouette against the storm.
“You lose control in there, those women die,” he states evenly.
His words tear through the mist in my head, destroying the darkness that tried to take me under.
The women. The cages. The rescue crew nearby. The objective.
A shaky breath rips through my mouth as I take a step back.
The guard falls to the pavement sobbing.
Tyler ends him without hesitation.
One final shot.
Then silence blankets everything again.
More dark clouds form over us.
My body thrums with adrenaline.
Tyler observes me like he’s trying to figure out how close I am to breaking, before reaching into the dead guard’s jacket and pulling out a keycard attached to a lanyard.
“There’s our way in.”
I wipe rain and sweat from my face with the back of my hand.
Another bolt of lightning streaks across the sky.
Tyler hears my breathing change.
“Reap.”
“I’m fine.”
The lie leaves my tongue like broken glass.
He knows it, I know it, but there’s no time left to argue.
“Go.”
We sprint through the rain.
Water sloshes beneath our boots as we come up to the side entrance at the gate. Tyler swipes the stolen keycard.
The lock buzzes, and the heavy metal clicks.
Then Tyler coaxes the gate door open.
Rain batters against the warehouse roof as Tyler leads me along the outer wall of the building.
The metal siding groans beneath the storm while floodlights smear gold across puddles and broken asphalt.
We stay low, moving like the predators we hunt, unseen, ghostlike, and closing in.
Ahead of us sit three massive rolling bay doors lined side by side along the warehouse.
Each one secured with a thick steel side latch.
Tyler stops near the farthest bay door and hunches next to it.
“This one,” he breathes out.
I survey the lot intentionally while he slips the duffel bag off his shoulder.
Nothing moves except the rain.
The rescue van stays in position two buildings over sitting tight for Tyler to text them.
Tyler unzips the bag and removes a pair of heavy-duty bolt cutters.
The storm roars overhead as he fits the steel jaws around the thick side latch securing the bay door shut.
I keep watch while he braces one boot against the concrete and determinedly squeezes down onto the handles.
The metal groans, strains and then, CRACK.
The latch splits clean apart.
Thunder detonates at the same moment, covering the sound perfectly.
Tyler catches the broken piece before it can hit the pavement.
My pulse escalates at how close we are.
Tyler lowers the bolt cutters back into the duffel before gripping the bottom handle of the rolling bay door.
He glances at me once.
“You ready?”
No.
Not even remotely close, but I nod anyway.
Tyler bit by bit lifts the bay door upward, just enough for us to slip underneath.
Metal rattles softly as the stale air spills out from inside the warehouse.
The smell overwhelms me.
Sweat, blood, bleach, and rotting mildew.
I bite down the nausea threatening just behind my teeth.
Dim industrial lights glow, casting long shadows across concrete floors, stacked pallets, and towering shelves.
Every inch of this place feels tainted, like horror has been engraved right into the walls.
Tyler ducks under the partially opened door first, sweeping the interior meticulously before motioning me in.
I slip inside after him, rainwater drips from my sleeve onto the concrete floor.
Then Tyler slowly lowers the bay door, not shutting it fully behind us.
The storm disappears for the most part.
All I can hear is our ragged breathing.
Then my eyes adjust and I see them.
Women staring back at us from inside the cages.
Somewhere further inside the warehouse, faint music is playing through speakers.