Rival of Atlantis

XIV

THAT'S THREE MINUS OF YOU," Gillian's voice can be heard at the doorway. The two men in grey garments, the only ones left from the team of assailants, are aiming their weapons at the door. They heard Gillian from the interior of the room at the other side of the doorway. The men waited there in silence, hoping Gillian will make a mistake of going out, but minutes ticked by and their patience was spent in vain.

Even amid the posing danger, the leader is still at his full composure knowing that when the state of calmness left his consciousness will spell more disaster than what they are already facing. By being calm, he can decide on everything with ease. He is in fact weighing the situation on hand. What seems to be an easy sweep in the room was met with gunfire of resistance from their would-be-victims. From the sound of gunfire, he is sure that at least two of the people inside are armed with high powered guns. What is worst is that, additional people can pick up the guns of his dead men.

"We can do this all night," Gillian called on them again.

Her answer came in the form of flying chunks of concrete as the leader poured a handful of rounds to where her voice is coming from. Gillian on the other side of the doorway did not even flinch. Not so much of a thought of running did occur in her mind. She stayed there, aiming the rifle at the doorway.

Summer's flashlight was switched on again as she came near the body of the second man. Amid the glowing and flowing pool of blood, she picked up the rifle, an M4A1. Later he unlocked the straps of night vision goggles around the head of the dead men which are wrapped in grey ski masks. She wiped the blood away from the rifle and goggles as best as she could with the lower part of her shirt, never minding that she is at the doorway. Thomas from the nearest table and Gillian nearby got her covered with the muzzles of their guns.

She duck-walked to Gillian and tapped her on one of her shoulders. She handed her one of the night vision goggles then whispered, "Let's go for a hunt."

Summer flicked her flashlight off. If the unknown number of men is taking advantage of the darkness, they too will have to adopt. There is this saying in the military that says, adopt to survive and both of them have served their time in the armed forces. As Summer aimed the M4A1 at the door, Gillian hastily but soundlessly laid the G36C on the floor then later worked on donning the night vision goggles. She then gave Summer a nudge as she picked up her weapon. Summer's turned to wear the night vision device came and she wasted no time to wear it. The two girls are seeing the world through a pair of well-adjusted night vision goggles and both are seeing their surroundings in a green hue. A panting Ensign Thomas crouched at the back of the girls after they successfully wore the night vision devices.

"I can't see s**t," he said in a low voice.

Summer panned her head around, got one of her hands on the M4A1 of the soldier then thrust hers butt first on his chest. "Maybe a little exchange won't hurt?"

She watched through the device how the soldier groped in the dark for the handle of the silenced M4A1 after releasing the other. In a couple of seconds, they had already exchanged firearms. The soldier groped at the top of the rifle and located the scope and he tried looking an eye through it.

"Now that's better," Thomas said able to see by one eye in the dark now. "What about you?" He asked while thinking of aiming the scope at her but then he thought better.

She reached for the soldier's hand at the railing of the rifle and led it to her face. She let Thomas touch the goggles until he backed his hand away. "We have something better."

"You sure you don't want an exchange?"

"I think we can handle it," she said in low voice then she panned her face at Gillian. "Our move, boss?"

"Get extra mags," Gillian whispered then later called out on the enemy at the other side. "Hey there! Thanks for the donation!"

"No worries," came a man's booming voice in the dark as Summer picked clips for the G36C and M4A1. "We have money and can always buy more ones."

"Not if we kill you before your shopping spree," Summer answered when she was back at the side of Gil. She handed her two extra clips full of rounds of ammunition.

"I'd like to see you try," the voice came again followed by flying debris of concrete as he poured bullets at their direction.

As the series of muffled g*n blasts erupted, Thomas flinched as he expected the girls will run for their lives but he was surprised that he did not feel them jump in fright. If he can only see them in the dark, he might have seen the sharp glints in their eyes that may effortlessly slice an armored battle tank. Instead of running in fright, Summer answered them in g*n blasts from his M4A1 issue. The rifle blasts reverberated in the room as the barrel unequipped with a silencer spit out deadly bullets.

Summer poured out the entire contents of the clip that was loaded in the rifle. All her bullets mercilessly tore through the concrete and ricocheted in different directions as their passing through something solid deviated their tracks. She was slapping another magazine and was loading a round in the chamber it in no time.

Back at the side of the assailants, the leader was caught in indecision on whether to hold the ground or signal a defensive retreat. A retreat may mean a chase but a hold on their ground might result for a standoff until the people inside are reinforced by someone. He was thinking that if the chopper that is still thumping outside against the night air did not return too soon to their base or ship, a squad might be dispatched to check on it. The reinforcement will then find two massacred soldiers and will instantly be on them in no time. He also took note that the people inside have means of communicating to the outside world. A call to authorities and the mission will not be only a failure, but will cost his life.

The situation is not leaning in their favor either. It turned out that the people inside are not just armed but are well-capable of killing people like them. With only a single soldier left inside, he did not fathom that there are other marksmen that can blast their brains off. As Summer poured all the bullets that went through the wall but harmlessly away from them, from a single mag he is already considering a defensive retreat. But a defensive retreat means exiting the battleground while fighting for their lives. At this point, it seems the only feasible thing to do. He never failed in any mission given to him but he surmised that there could always be a first time for everything.

Making hand gestures, he gave an order to his only remaining man to cover him. Placing a careful boot backwards, he began to backpedal on the gangway. At a certain point at the catwalk, he crouched and aimed his rifle.

"Pull out," he said on the handsfree radio system. As his lone man backpedaled, he squirted a few rounds on the doorway. The man then later stopped just near a stairway leading to the third floor. This time, he walked backwards and stopped at the lowest step. The whole process was repeated until they are at the second floor. This time, it's running away.

Back at dining area, Gillian was listening to the activities outside and was patient as a black widow awaiting her prey. The only sounds that she heard so far are the hail of bullets at the doorway. Based on the rate of fire, she guessed that the g*n was from a submachine g*n. The number of the assailants is still unknown but with all the guns and goggles in their possession, they can well play defense all night until someone reinforces them.

"How many do you think?" Gillian whispered to Summer.

"Two went outside to avoid our line of fire," she answered in hushed tones in the dark. "If there are more outside, I don't know."

"If there are more of them, they would have tried penetrating again."

"I'm thinking of that too."

Gillian was about to speak again when she heard something like pounds on a metal. At first, she was not able to discern what it was. It was like someone is knocking on the maze of metal stairs and catwalks. Then it dawned on her. The assailants are retreating and those are footsteps.

"Let's play offense," Gillian said going in a crouching position.

Gillian crouched at the side of the doorway while Summer was on the other. Thomas has them on their scope and was surprised to see the two ladies playing like Special Forces operatives with the intention of going out with guns covering each other’s back. On the nod of Gillian, they were instantly out of the doorway with guns trained at the back of the other. Thomas was forced to follow them with only the scope aiding him to see in the dark.

Looking around, they found out that the fourth floor was the only level thrown into complete darkness. The lights on the lower level were still on. The lights spilling from far below will aid the night vision goggles, which contrary to the belief of those who are non-combatant and movie fans; the devices still need faint traces of light to operate. A quick sweep with the goggles in the mazes going here and there in the fourth floor confirmed no threat is lurking around.

The girls pushed their goggles up. If they want to see the lighted levels below, it will not be any help. The night vision devices are blind in bright lights.

"Ground floor," Summer shouted like the army woman that he used to be. "2 o'clock!"

In an instant, Summer was pouring bullets on the figures below, the reverberation of the M4A1 echoed all over the high walls of the working area. Gillian looked down just in time to see two figures take refuge in the cover of a dozer bucket. Thomas who was aiming the silenced weapon, but unable to see any body parts of the assailants, did nothing but train his weapon downward.

Gillian studied the situation while the two are occupied in killing the assailants. She cannot run down the mazes towards the pinned men. That will cost her too much time, plus, there is a chance of being shot while she is treading down. There might not be a way to catch up on the departing enemies.

A hoist chain with an end hook was hanging from an I-beam. The hoist is being utilized during lifting of heavy things such as machineries. Evaluating the chain dangling down, she found that the end hook is halfway down the second floor and each level is at least ten feet high. Mental calculation gave her a good fifteen feet all the way down from the hook.

As she panned her face around, the assailants thought of randomly spraying them with bullets. The railings and metal catwalk clattered in the hail of bullets. Gillian instinctively ducked down for cover among the rails. A ricocheting bullet grazed her on the left calf but she was too occupied to notice the hot searing pain.

What made Gillian's mind focus away from reality is a doormat before the door. It is in fact wet with blood from the four bodies sprawled at the doorway. But the blood is the least of her concern. She is in fact looking at the half an inch of sewed blue cloths making the mat. She instantly picked it up, never minding that it was soaked with blood.

She tossed the looted rifle down the pavement of the first floor as near below the hook of the hoist chain as possible. The firearm clattered on being dropped from  up high. She ran towards the dining room just to come out running again, Summer and Thomas have their eyes wide open. She jumped towards the railing before the two can ask what is she doing.

"Cover me," Gillian said as she balanced herself on the rail. Then without any words following up, she jumped from it towards the dangling chain, the rag in one of her hands.

What Gillian has in mind, and is doing, needs accuracy of acrobatic stuntmen. She planned to launch herself towards the chain and wrap the rag around it then afterwards hold the other end as she slides herself all the way down. Wrapping the rag around the chain while catching the other end should only eat one second. And if she fails, it will cost her broken bones or worse her life.

Summer for a second did not doubt her friend. She has seen Gillian pull up the impossible. Her friend will never commit a stunt she cannot endure. As Gillian travelled on air towards the chain, she aimed her rifle at the dozer bucket, pressing the trigger once in a while just to let her bullets clatter on the metal.

Gillian successfully has done the devious stunt. As Summer spent all the rounds in the clip and is reloading another, Ensign Thomas gladly let his bullets clatter on the bucket too.

Gillian has used the rag to break her fall down the chain and has already reached the end hook. She should be taking her time to compensate her fall but the blood soaking the rag made her grips slippery as if it is dipped in oil. Her hands slid off the rag and she was falling down the ground instantly. He curled her body and aimed her feet for the impact on the ground, her hands off the rag now and are ready to support her body in case she roll forward.

Thomas has spent all his rounds of ammunition from up above when Gillian hit the floor. The impact of the fall came on her soles like a loud electric shock but she did not mind it and rolled forward as if it is common to fall from somewhere up high every day. She was retrieving the G36C and was at the other side of the bucket in no time.

With all the poise of the air force combatant that she was once was, she aimed the weapon forward in preparation of going around the bucket. She can hear footsteps against metal ways as Thomas and Summer made their way down. She has moved to a side adjacent to the assailants now. Just one corner and it will be crossfire to death. A peep on the corner and she was greeted with bullets clattering on the bucket.

"You missed," she hissed and came around the corner with the rifle at the ready. She just found out that the men are bolting out of the wide door.

She crouched low and took time to aim the g*n with the use of the scope and then pressed the trigger. Muffled g*n blasts made the rifle shudder but she homed two bullets at the last of the departing men. She was trying to pin the last man but her bullets went too high or low as the man tried to move in zigzag.

Her two companions have just reached her back. As Gillian busied herself in firing at the last man, Summer locked the assailant sprawled on the floor on her iron sights while taking careful steps. The man has dropped face first on the floor and his weapon is a good two outstretch of a hand away. A further study revealed that Gillian has blasted the meat of his right thigh away.

The man started crawling for his modified M4A1 when Summer pressed the end of her barrel at the back of his neck. "You as much move a hair and you meet Satan the next second."

"We need him alive," Gillian pronounced as she went running towards the door. "Guard him."

Thomas was on Gillian's hills in an instant. The moment they are out in the open compounds, nothing could be heard but the thumping of helicopter's rotor blades in a distance. A sweep of night vision devices revealed nothing but the woody terrain around.

"The chopper," Gillian said dashing forward, the night vision goggles down before her eyes.

The two of them made it to the chopper just to find two bodies near and inside it. Gillian led him towards the guard house which has an interior painted with dried crimson blood and two bodies of the slaughtered guards are inside. The end of the chase came to the gush cut on the fence. There are footsteps going in and out but the later is heavier on the moist soil.

"Looks like made in a hurry," Thomas said as he touched an index finger to one of the foot marks.

Gillian pushed the goggles up and looked around through the fence. She half-expected a shadow appear in the wet unpaved road outside and will not be surprised if she sees it firing a g*n at them. But, there was none and she knows they cannot chase the lone man in the dense forest surrounding the mining compound. The enemy might wait and take them out while being hidden behind curtains of leaves. She knew better than to pursue the chase.

They retraced their way back to the main building complex and were surprised to see Summer with a healthy bruise forming around her left eye. Her lower lip have been busted too while her shirt has a sleeve torn out of it.

"He gave me one hell of a fight," Summer explained when Gillian gave her an asking look.

"Killed him?"

"I need to," she said showing a SIG Sauer pistol. She had tucked it on her waist when she picked up the M4A1. "He managed to disarm me with the rifle. It is his life or mine."

The ending of this feat is not what Gillian expected. The last man, possibly the leader, has escaped. The only prisoner they got was killed amid the fighting for the possession of a g*n. And there are dead bodies to clean up and there is a need to explain their deaths to the police later. It turned out that the rescue mission is something than what it seems.