Chapter 10 - Under Siege
Black smoke roared through the shattered entrance of the warehouse.
Heavy gunfire echoed through the high-ceilinged building.
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
Sparks flew everywhere as bullets hit the steel beams and brick walls.
"Get down!" Marcus screamed, shoving Mark behind a metal desk.
Three men dressed in dark tactical gear pushed through the smoke.
They carried suppressed automatic rifles.
Marcus fired three shots back, hitting the lead tactical operative in the chest.
The operative collapsed hard onto the concrete floor.
"How did they find this place?!" Victoria yelled, crouching behind the main server rack.
"They tracked the SUV!" Marcus growled back while reloading his weapon.
Mark looked at the floor near his feet.
A metallic cylinder dropped through the shattered window above them.
It hissed softly.
"Tear gas! Cover your faces!" Mark shouted.
Thick white gas rapidly began filling the room.
Mark couldn't see.
His eyes burned intensely and his throat felt like it was on fire.
He crawled along the cold floor toward the back exit.
A hand reached out through the smoke and grabbed Mark by his hair.
Mark was yanked backward onto his spine.
A heavy boot slammed onto Mark's chest, pinning him to the floor.
Mark looked up through tearing eyes.
Standing over him was a tall man wearing a tactical mask.
The man lowered the barrel of a pistol directly at Mark's forehead.
"Sarah sends her regards," the man growled through his respirator.
Before the man could pull the trigger, a loud bang echoed through the gas.
BANG!
The man's mask filled with red splatter.
He collapsed sideways onto the floor.
Marcus appeared out of the white smoke, holding a smoking shotgun.
"Move! Now!" Marcus yelled, grabbing Mark's arm and hauling him up.
"Where's Victoria?!" Mark coughed out, wheezing.
"She took the back tunnel!" Marcus shouted.
"We have to go before their backup arrives!"
They bolted through a heavy iron emergency door into the rainy alleyway outside.
They jumped into a secondary unmarked sedan.
Marcus slammed the gas, tires screaming on the wet gravel.
As they tore away from the dockyards, Mark looked back.
The warehouse was engulfed in dark smoke and red police lights in the distance.
"They know every move we make," Mark said through heavy gasps.
"No," Marcus replied, looking straight ahead at the dark road.
May you like
"They only know where we are..."
"...because someone inside gave them our coordinates."
