Page 72 of Red Zone Awakened

It was over within seconds.All four members of Freedom lay dead on the floor.He supposed he should have felt something at the loss of life.Mainly, he felt glad that it was them instead of him.He poked his head out the door and summoned Keiko, who stood staring wide-eyed at the security hub.

To her credit, she didn’t hesitate—she just ran to him.“Is it over?Are they gone?Is it safe?”

He nodded.“There are bodies.Be prepared.”

“How can I prepare, exactly?”

“I don’t know.Just don’t look.”

“Helpful,” she muttered.

“Always.”Mace flashed her a grin.“You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

His heart softened at her determination and courage.“I wouldn’t ask you to come in, but I need your fingernails to access the system.”He frowned.“At least, I think I do.”

Her lips twitched.“Friday’s right.You really are clueless when it comes to tech.”

“Friday’s a pain in my ass, that’s what Friday is.”The last thing he wanted was for Keiko to side with his nemesis.The world wouldn’t be safe.“Stay beside me and try not to look at the bodies.But if you do see them, don’t vomit.”

“I’ll try.”

“Appreciated.”He held the door open for her.

She hesitated before stepping inside, keeping her head up and her eyes glued to him.He wanted to say good girl, but that would only earn him another lecture on being sexist.Instead, he assessed the room.It was a large space with a wall of screens showing views from the hardwired cameras positioned throughout the building.One screen showed the terrorists on the sixty-sixth floor.There were more of them than he’d expected.It was a small army, jittery with nerves and the expectation of violence.Another screen showed the front entrance of the building—which was filled with Enforcement and CommTECH security.

“That’s a lot of Enforcement agents,” Keiko said.

“That’s what’s left now that the rest of them are running all over the city, dealing with the diversions Striker arranged for them.”

Dark eyes stared up at him.“I don’t see how we’ll get past them.”

“I have a plan for that.First, I need you to stick your fingernail in the control panel and bring up every camera that’s still functioning.I want to see what’s going on before I blow the system.”

He wanted to know exactly what he’d be up against when getting Keiko out of those front doors and into the hands of his team.

* * *

Keiko heard Mace, but her focus was on one of the screens, on the Freedom soldiers as they casually stepped over the dead bodies scattered across the terrace as if they were nothing more than debris in their paths.She was irrationally glad that the camera didn’t show Abigail’s body, as she wasn’t sure she could have coped with that.There were still so many lost lives that it was overwhelming to witness.She stilled, and her breathing became shallow as realization struck her.

She stood in a room with the bodies of people who, minutes earlier, were walking and talking and planning for their futures.

Just.

Like.

Abigail.

Before she could stop herself, her eyes searched for the dead.A seated man slumped over a desk.Another lay at his feet.A third hung over the mezzanine rail, his arms dangling like some forgotten doll discarded by a child.Two uniformed security team members lay sprawled on the floor, where Freedom had gunned them down.It was a death chamber.She was standing in a death chamber.

Her eyes flew to Mace.He stood, legs apart and arms folded, studying the screens—completely oblivious to the carnage around him.Her heartbeat accelerated, and her breathing became choppy.She wasn’t like him.This wasn’t her world.She wasn’t equipped to deal with this.

Her gaze drifted back to the screens, where she could just make out the body of one of the dead scientists.It wasn’t her friend, but it may as well have been.Because Abigail was still up there too, lying lifeless on the stage.One more piece of debris in a war that she would never have understood.

Keiko’s eyes returned to the bodies in the room.No.Not bodies.Men who had families, friends, loved ones.People who’d have to deal with their deaths for years to come.

Just like she would with Abigail.