Chapter
73
FUZZY GREEN ON black with constrained depth perception. Like being underwater with one eye closed.
That was the best way Robie could describe the world he was seeing now through his damaged optics.
His rifle was pointed out in front of him.
Behind him were Parry, Malloy, and Camilla. They were each armed, but they were counting on him to see what was coming.
Parry whispered hoarsely, “Getting hard to breathe.”
Robie nodded. He had noted that, too. “They’ve probably cut whatever air filtration they have down here.”
Camilla said fearfully, “So they’
re going to try to what, smother us?”
“Something like that.”
It was also getting hot.
Malloy rubbed the sweat off her face. “Feels like a sauna down here.”
“Yes, it does,” said Robie.
She looked at him. “You’re not even perspiring.”
“I’ve been in dry heat before. I guess you get used to it.”
“Dry heat? Arizona?”
“Try Fallujah. But when it’s a hundred and thirty in the shade, it doesn’t really matter whether it’s a dry heat or not. It’s just hot.”
He paused and held a hand up. He motioned to Parry to kneel on his right and Camilla on his left. He tapped Malloy on the shoulder and indicated for her to follow him.
Then Robie saw it, but too late to do anything about it. The round zipped right past his waist.
He heard it impact something. That something grunted and then pitched forward.
Camilla cried out. “Omigod!”
Robie said nothing. He calmly aimed right above the muzzle flash he had just seen. His rifle barked twice. Malloy fired rounds from her pistol.
The shots went where they were supposed to and another man died.
Robie sprinted forward, keeping his rifle aimed in front of him. Malloy was right behind him, her pistol at the ready.
“Down!” Robie snapped.
They both hit the floor on their bellies as a hail of gunfire zipped right above them.
Robie returned fire, as did Malloy.
“Give me some cover,” he told her. “Five shots and then stand down.”
She slipped in a new mag and awaited his signal.
“Now.”
She sprayed five shots at the other end of the hall.
Robie readied the canvas bag that Reel had given him. She had inserted a fuse through the bottom of the bag and run it into the pile of gunpowder inside.
He lit the fuse and looked at Malloy. “On the count of three, five more shots, direct them down the right side of the hall.”
She nodded as he got to his knees and looked up ahead to see where his target was.
“One…two…three.”
Malloy fired five rounds down the right side as Robie launched himself down the left side.
Come on, come on.
When Malloy’s last round fired, he crouched down but kept moving forward.
Then he saw it. Two men, ten yards away on the left, preparing to fire.
He lit the fuse, let it burn to the side of the canvas, then swung the bag back and then hurled it forward. He looked like he had just launched a bowling ball. The bag slid along the floor.
He knew his IED didn’t have a lot of range. He would have to get it close for it to do any good at all.
The men lined up their shots.
Robie could see this through the one good eye of his optics. He sprawled on his stomach, his hands over his ears and his eyes closed.
“Negative. He must be on your end.”
Reel smiled grimly. “Give me your nine.”
He told her his location. She relayed this to Blue Man, who then took the comm and told Robie how to get to the surface before passing the headset back to Reel.
Reel said into the headset, “I’ll nail the three if they’re still down here. Then we need to hook up at the point Blue Man just relayed to you. From there we can fight our way out.”
“Roger that. On our way.”