Free Web NovelChapter 219: Chapter 219 - Find It
They pushed inside at ground level, boots hitting smooth floors as the space opened wide around them. The lobby stretched up two levels, glass panels intact, railings clean, lights still bright like nothing had happened outside.
A shot cracked from above.
They moved at once and dropped into a corner, backs tight to the wall as bullets struck the floor and chipped at the edges near them.
On the second level, a guard leaned over the railing.
Malcolm raised his gun and fired.
The man jerked and rolled over the balcony, hitting the floor below with a heavy thud.
Malcolm glanced at Iyisha. "Where?"
Iyisha shook her head, eyes scanning.
"If they follow the Manhattan hospital setup, it should be top level," she muttered. "But moving patients up doesn’t make sense."
Her gaze dropped to the floor. "Ground level. Or below."
She looked at the others pressed with them. "Underground?"
They shook their heads.
Iyisha drew a breath. "Let’s search ground first then."
Malcolm nodded.
They crouched and moved along the wall, keeping low as they passed windows and pillars, guns up, tracking movement through the space.
Iyisha’s heart pounded as they crossed a gap, exposed for a second.
A spark snapped near her foot.
She dropped lower as a shot hit the floor beside her.
Marybeth grabbed her arm and pulled her back to the wall.
Iyisha pressed in and looked across.
Malcolm was on the next wall, separated by a wide window, his jaw tight as he watched her.
"I’m okay," she mouthed.
He gave a short nod and leaned to check the corner.
A shot snapped past him and hit the wall behind.
"Where’s that coming from?" Iyisha said.
"Up there," Aljun whispered, crouched beneath the window. "Third window. Top floor."
"I’ll make a distraction," Lance crouched tighter on the wall.
"No," Iyisha said. Afraid he’d get in unnecessary danger.
He glanced at her grinning, showed a piece of broken wood. "I’ll be careful."
She sighed, nodded.
"Ready?" he said, looking at Malcolm.
Malcolm nodded.
"On three," Lance said. "One... two... three."
He pushed the wood up into the window.
A shot fired at it.
Malcolm stepped out and fired.
A body dropped out of sight above.
Iyisha breathe a sigh of relief. Marybeth tapped her back grinning. "He’s safe. Don’t worry."
"Come on," Malcolm motioned them forward.
They pushed forward along the ground level, staying close to the walls as gunfire echoed deeper in the building, thinner now but still sharp enough to keep them low.
They didn’t see any guards on the way.
That slowed them more than it should have.
Shouts from TAL carried through the halls, distant and uneven, making Iyisha glance over her shoulder more than once.
For a place like this, she expected resistance.
She expected more guards, more security.
They reached the middle section of the fort, where the structure narrowed slightly, the space opening into a cleaner, quieter area.
The change hit at once.
The floors were polished. Same interior around with it’s rustic design but...
In the center stood a large elevator, wide enough for vehicles, its metal doors shut, the panel beside it simple.
Only one button.
Down.
Iyisha’s eyes dropped to the ground.
Tracks marked the ground in front of the elevator, deep and fresh, pressed into the surface where trucks had gone in and out.
Iyisha slowed as they approached, her eyes moving from the tracks to the doors, then to the space around it.
"That’s it?" Aljun said, staring up. "That’s a damn big elevator."
Marybeth moved to the window and checked outside. "Think they’ve got the building," she said. The gunfire had thinned.
Lance Briggs let out a breath. "Thank God."
Iyisha bit her lip. She reached for Malcolm’s arm and held it. "I’ve got a bad feeling about this."
His jaw tightened. He nodded once.
"Come on," Marybeth said, turning back. "Press it. Let’s go get Cena."
Iyisha faced the group. They looked steady, weapons up, only her bleeding. "We don’t know what’s below."
The words hung. It could be a trap.
Malcolm stepped closer and pressed the cloth against her ear, firm. Blood still slipped past it.
She looked up at him. "Thank you."
Footsteps echoed from the corridor.
"Shit—" Aljun dropped to grab his gun from the floor.
They turned at once, guns raised.
Arnulf came in with ten others behind him, moving tight, covering angles as they entered.
Iyisha let out a breath and lowered her gun.
"Good to see you alive," Arnulf muttered, lowering his weapon as his eyes went to the elevator.
"Is this it?"
Iyisha nodded. "Maybe." She gestured to the tracks.
"Arnulf," a man said, jogging up. "Third floor’s clear."
"Good."
Arnulf stepped forward.
The group closed in behind him, spreading out without a word, some watching the halls, others holding the open sides.
Iyisha looked at them.
Some breathed hard. Some stood too still. One kept looking back the way they came.
No one lowered their gun for long.
"I hope everyone’s ready," Arnulf said, a small grin breaking through. "Let’s get them."
He stood in front of the panel for a second, his hand hovering before he pressed it. Iyisha can sense the hesitation from him.
The click cut through the room.
Iyisha turned slightly and looked back down the hall.
No gunfire now.
No voices.
Maybe TAL already secured the building. This should have made her more at ease but it didn’t. Her grip tightened on Malcolm’s arm.
They waited.
They held their breath as the elevator rose.
Iyisha’s heart pounded as she lifted her gun toward the doors, her grip tightening as the sound grew closer.
Ding.
She flinched.
The doors opened.
No one.
They stepped in at once, and Malcolm pushed them toward the corners, placing them along the sides where they could get cover.
Everyone stayed still.
No one spoke.
Only the sound of uneven breathing filled the space.
The doors slid shut.
The elevator dropped.
Iyisha kept her gun up, eyes fixed on the panel as the seconds stretched.
Ding.
The doors opened on the back. They turned, surprised.
She expected gunfire.
Nothing came. freёwebnovel.com
They stepped out into a wide receiving area, a front desk pushed to one side, a sloped ramp built for trucks leading deeper inside.
No guards.
They spread out, guns up, covering the room as they moved.
Iyisha scanned the space.
Clear.
Too clear.
Her chest tightened as she turned in place, checking corners, checking the ramp, checking the door ahead.
One way in.
One way out.
She glanced back.
The elevator doors had already closed.
"There’s door," someone said.
Ahead of them stood a heavy reinforced door with a panel beside it.
A man stepped forward and raised his gun. "Easy."
"Wait,"
Cedric pushed through and reached the panel. "You shoot that, it locks down."
He pulled out a laptop and connected it, fingers moving fast as he worked.
Iyisha looked around the room again.
Still nothing.
Her heart pounded harder.
"Got it," Cedric said.
The door unlocked.
It opened.
