Page 90 of Red Zone Awakened

CHAPTER37

Miriam Shepherd had thrownKeiko to the wolves without so much as a backward glance.Her life meant nothing to CommTECH, just like the lives of everyone else on that terrace.Because as soon as Miriam’s hologram flickered out, Enforcement appeared.They were everywhere, pouring out of the woodwork, an army of black-clad soldiers in masks and armed to the teeth.They weren’t there to rescue her or anyone else; they were there to kill the Freedom fighters and take back the building.Mace had been right all along—CommTECH’s only concern was the research data.

Keiko watched in horror as a firefight broke out in front of her.She had to get out of there before she was shot.With her hands tied behind her and her mouth gagged, getting to her feet would be difficult.But she’d do it.She had to.

And she would have done it if the terrace hadn’t exploded.

The force of the blast sent Keiko flying backward, and she landed hard on her bound arms.She screamed, but the silencer over her mouth swallowed the sound.Smoke billowed around her.People shouted, whimpered, screamed, and cried, each sound punctuated by rifle blasts.

She sensed someone behind her.Hands fumbled at her wrists.She blinked against the smoke that stung her eyes and twisted to see who it was.

It was the polite man who’d delivered her into Susan’s hands.“I’ll free you, but then you’re on your own.”

Keiko felt rather than heard the click that signaled the release of her bound wrists.He leaned over her and reached for the silencer.

“I’m sorry,” he said, tears running down his cheeks.“I should never have done this.I should never have gotten involved.This isn’t right.”

He didn’t get a chance to remove the gag.A blast struck him in the chest and sent him flying into Rueben Granger, who wailed like a siren.There was no time to feel shocked by his brutal death.With weak arms, she reached for the gag.But before she could touch it, something emerged from the smoke, moving fast, heading straight for her face.Her hands shot out to defend herself as the black object came at her.She ducked her head, and it skimmed over her in a flutter of wings.

Mace’s bat!

It turned in the air before swooping her.She had no idea what it was doing or why it was attacking her, but there was no way she’d do anything to harm it.Holding up her hands to block its approach, she watched as it swerved and dropped to her head.Claws dug into her scalp.Keiko cried out in pain, covering her head for a return attack that never happened.Cautiously, she peeked through her fingers, only to see the bat flying away from the terrace—the EMP band in its clutches.

She touched her head to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating.No.It was really gone.The bat had taken it.However, there was no time to think about it.No time to wonder.She tore the gag from her mouth as all around her, people screamed and ran.They tripped over their fallen friends, and their enemies, as the expensive Mexican tiles ran with blood.

An Enforcement agent crushed the skull of a Freedom fighter with a blow from the butt of his weapon.A Freedom fighter blasted an Enforcement agent in the face.A shot hit someone at the edge of the terrace, sending them toppling through the gap in the terrace wall that the blast had created.Their scream was quickly lost in the sound of terror coming from the terrace.Bodies lay strewn everywhere, twisted into positions that wouldn’t have been natural in life.Smoke stung her eyes.The burnt smell of gunfire mingled with the metallic smell of blood.

It was hell.She was in hell.

“Help me!Don’t just sit there.Free me!”The voice tore through the shock that had her frozen in place, and she spun to find Rueben Granger, now wedged behind the large wooden podium.He was frantically trying to fight his way out from under a fallen Freedom fighter.

“Rueben.”She crawled to him.

“Help me.”His call was desperate, his eyes wide and manic with shock.

Keiko bit her lip to keep from sobbing hysterically as she pushed the body off Rueben.It was the polite man who’d captured and freed her.He rolled off Rueben and landed beside them with a dull, lifeless thud.

“Free my hands,” Rueben screeched at her, drawing her eyes from the dead man.

“Don’t shout.You’ll attract attention.”She unstrapped the EMP band before reaching for his bound hands, carefully keeping both of them close to the podium.It wouldn’t offer much protection from stray laser fire, but it would hide them from anyone looking for a target.

“We’re going to die,” Rueben wailed.“We’re all going to die.Didn’t they see me here?Didn’t Miriam know I was here?I’m too important to die.Help me.Get me out of these restraints.”

“Stop it,” Keiko snapped at him.“You have to be quiet.”

The bands securing his wrists required a thumbprint to open them.Her stomach roiled at what she was about to do, but the only print she knew would do the job belonged to the dead man lying beside them.

“What are you waiting for?”Rueben shouted.“Hurry up.I’m too valuable to die here.”

“I will slap you if you don’t stop shouting.You’re going to get us both killed.Calm down and be quiet.”

His eyes widened, and his bottom lip trembled, making Keiko feel like she’d kicked a puppy.With shaking fingers and bile burning her throat, Keiko reached for the dead man’s hand.All she had to do was hold his thumb against the release window on the cuffs.That was it.That was all she had to do.Her stomach lurched, and she felt light-headed.

Take a deep breath.Focus.You can do this.The pep talk didn’t help.The man was barely dead.She’d just been talking to him.This was wrong.So wrong.

“Help me,” Rueben shouted.“Somebody, help me.She can’t do it.Help me.”

“That’s it.”She slapped the silencer that’d been used on her over his mouth.