Then they dropped into hell.
White walls, the shiny kind, surrounded them. Men came running from two different directions, guns already firing.
An explosion rocked the walls from a different elevator shaft and then another. Good. Three of the teams had made it inside. The fourth squad was to scout the lobby and outlying areas for patrolling threats. If they failed, the whole mission might fail.
Tace pivoted and fired, hitting a blond male in the chest. The guy fell back, and his head thunked against the marble tiles.
The place smelled like bleach and rubber gloves. Raze took a man down hand-to-hand while Jax shot another. Sami kept up the rear, protecting Damon. If they ended up in a hand to hand contest, she would be front and center. But when it came to shooting, she was better utilized in close quarters.
An alarm blared through the facility, and red lights hanging from the ceiling began to spin.
“Shit,” Greyson muttered, looking both ways down a wide corridor. Team Two dropped to the right, and Team Three to the left.
Jax gave the high signs for them to continue down to the other two levels. The current level spread out in two different directions, and they had to walk over bodies each way. “Greyson, Damon, and Raze, go north and then down to where Sami thought the command center was on level B. Sami, Tace, and I will go south to the computer labs and then down to the command center. Whoever gets there first, take it with no mercy.” He glanced up at the lights. “Generators seem to be going strong, but let’s hope most personnel have bunked down for the night.”
With the order, everyone launched into motion. The center personnel weren’t ready for an attack, but they were well armed, and now the alarms blared. The element of surprise had gotten the soldiers in; now fighting skills would come into play. They had to fight hard and fast. Otherwise they were dead.
Jax took the lead. Tace waited until Sami followed so he could cover her back. His energy, his focus, was on the woman and her safety. The need to protect her rose inside him so quickly his breath heated.
Emotions had returned in full force, perhaps with the adrenaline of the mission.
They passed a glass half wall, and a soldier barreled out from behind a closed door, already firing.
Jax took him down with a punch to the throat. Footsteps echoed behind them. The hallway extended about fifty yards. Jax pivoted. “Go find the labs and medical supplies. I’ll cover here.”
Tace nodded. Then his leg went numb. He dropped to the hard marble. Shit. No. Not now.
With a whoosh of sound, the world went black. He pitched forward, and he was pretty sure Sami screamed his name. Then his heart slowed, his chest compressed, and nothingness claimed him.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Hell has white walls and a concrete floor.
—Sami Steel
“Tace!” Sami rushed to him and flipped him over, her hands shaking and her body going into overdrive. “He’s out cold.”
“Fuck.” Jax reached down and hauled Tace over a shoulder with a loud grunt. “Get out of the main corridor,” he yelled over the blaring alarm.
Sami burst down the hall toward the main lab, reaching it to yank open the door. Her heart beat frantically. God. He had to be all right. “This way.”
Jax followed, grimacing under Tace’s weight, his gun out and steady.
Two female lab techs scrambled out of the way, and Sami motioned them toward a closet she thought held cleaning supplies. “If you want out of here with us, hold tight,” she said, easily locking them in. There were two massive doors, shut and locked, taking up the western wall. “The jail cells for experiments are through there.”
Jax dropped Tace to the ground. “Cover the door,” he ordered.
She did so, still looking around the medical lab. Machinery whirred on the counter, and seven refrigerators were lined up against the far wall, all humming softly. “They’re still intact.” Lynne Harmony would love to relocate to this lab. Then Sami dropped to one knee and leaned her ear over Tace’s mouth. “Oh God. He’s not breathing.” She reached for his neck, her voice rising in pure panic. “No pulse.”
“Damn it.” Jax slid across the room on his knees. “I’ll do CPR. Find the fuckin’ enzyme.”
She nodded and scrambled for the glass refrigerator doors, ripping one open. Vial after vial were lined up, some with blood, some with other liquids. She fumbled for one and read it. “IX208756.” A quick glance at other vials confirmed the same thing. “They’re labeled with numbers.” She shoved the vials back and went for the next fridge—same thing. Almost in slow motion, she turned to see Jax furiously performing CPR and then breathing into Tace’s lifeless body. “I don’t know which one to use.” They could accidentally inject him with smallpox or Ebola or even bleach. Who knew?
The door flew open, and Jax reacted, pulling his gun out.
“Wait!” Sami yelled.
Jax paused.
