NOVA play: Suffocate by Kayzo, Bad Omens
“Alright, NOVA, let’s do this.” I cracked my knuckles before settling in and allowing myself to hyperfocus on the cameras.
NOVA let out a small chirp of affirmation before bringing my attention to the team of men currently creeping down the footpath.
“Let the first team go through. Once they get close to the house, we’ll set off your recording and lure them back in. They have another team of five waiting to see if they trip any wires. Once the second team sees the first wave get through safely, they might venture into the path, and we can take them all out at once when the first team doubles back.”
I nodded. “Got it.”
NOVA’s instructions made sense, but it was freakinghardto let the heavily armed men clear the narrow foot path and make their way up to the house.
If they didn’t take the bait, all that stood between us was a door with several dead bolts and a window made ofbulletproof glass.
They would get through it eventually if it came to that, so I was literally ripping my nails off with my teeth as I forced myself to wait.
Finally, the motion detector went off again, and the next wave of men came into view on the feeds. Apparently, they’d decided it was safe to do so, as the first team had made it through.
“Now!” NOVA said, and I hit the key that activated the Bluetooth speaker we’d hidden behind some shrubs in the path.
I couldn’t hear the recording, but I knew the men could, as they all froze, their heads jerking in the direction I knew the speaker was hidden.
Come on, come on, come on…
My stomach sank as the leader of the first team made a hand signal, and only three of the men doubled back to check out the recording.
“Shit!”
“What is it?” Jay’s mechanical voice came through my headset, and I let out a frustrated huff.
“The plan only kind of worked. Two men are staying out of range.”
Jay didn’t respond. Instead, he stalked through the house with the smooth grace of a predator, unclipping his MP5 from his hip as he went. Using the side door, he slipped around the outside of the cabin so he could come up to the invading men without using the door they’d been planning on using as a point of entry.
“Light them up, Milo,” Jay ordered softly, and I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me.
“Almost there…” I hummed back as the three men rushed back to the footpath to meet the other team of five.
Once they were all safely in the narrow, stone channel, I didn’t think.
I just hit the red button on the remote detonator Jay had given me, and gasped.
The result was instantaneous.
One second, the men were rushing through the path; the next second, the entire screen went white.
Once the cameras cleared, my mind could barely process the fact that there was very little of the men left.
Probably not even enough to bury.
Holy crap.
I heard the explosion all the way from inside the house, and my heart was pounding in my chest as I glanced at Jay’s feed just in time to watch him slide out from around the corner with his MP5. He ruthlessly lit up the two remaining guys as they tried to scatter for cover.
My mouth fell open as Jay used the small, but high-powered machine gun to literallycut one of the dudes in half.
Jeebus.
We weren’t in Kansas anymore.
