• Tony went to grab the guns that I found while Felicia and I walked around. At first there was absolutely nothing around. Eventually, we split up. Felicia took the left wing and I took the right. Felicia had no luck looking for coms before. I told her that there could be some in the safe downstairs. That’s where I was heading when I saw one.
    She grunted so loudly it was hard to miss her. I steadied my gun and leaned against the wall. I knew that if I shot at her now it would draw attention. I peeked behind around the corner. Her back was to me; this is my chance. I paced towards her, slowly, making sure she doesn’t turn around. Once I was within reach I pushed my gun hard at her temple. She was on the ground before she even knew what was happening.
    Looking around me, I saw that I was in the middle of a long hallway. At the end of the hallway, there was a metal door; that’s where I need to go. I aimed my gun in the opposite direction as I walked backwards towards the door. Just when I was about to open it, I saw more come around the corner. There were five of them, and they saw me. All five ran at me at once and I had no choice, I had to shoot. I armed my pistol and took a shot. My first shot landed right between the eyes of the closest one to me. The rest were down not long after. Five bullets for five enemies. That’s more like it.
    I opened the metal door and walked in, closing it behind me. This was not the safe, but it was near. Inside the metal door, there were two larger metal doors on either side of me. Both needed clearance. I shook my head and walked over to the door on my right. Slamming it with my gun hard, the glass broke. An alarm sounded but it didn’t matter. An alarm meant very little now. I walked straight ahead to where there was a large metal desk with a computer and a filing cabinet right next to it. I walked straight past it and around the corner; where an even bigger desk with even bigger filing cabinets were. I quickly searched through the draws and the cupboards until I found what I was looking for. In a small cabinet under the desk there were heaps of coms. Enough for six people. I grabbed them all and shoved them in the shoulder bag that I had laid out on the desk.
    Just as I was about to search some other cabinets, I heard gunfire. It wasn’t far away, probably in the hallway where I killed that woman. I grabbed the bag and threw it around my shoulder. Then, I took both pistols out of my belt and armed them. Now, I was ready to attack. I walked back, past the boring little metal desk and past the broken glass from the door I shattered. I leaned my ear against the metal door I walked through not five minutes ago. There was loud gunfire and grunts coming from the other side. I kicked it open and aimed.
    There were about seven of them standing, all closest to me. Felicia and Tony were now standing in the only other two exits out of the hallway. The gunfire stopped for a moment when I opened the door, but started right back up again once I pulled the first trigger. While firing, I ran towards them, leaping over dead bodies and corpses. They were all on the ground by the time I reached the closest one. Tony, Felicia and I stared at each other for a moment.
    “What now?” Tony asked.
    “Well,” I began. “I have the coms. And you got the guns that you wanted. I guess we can get out of here.”
    In the corner of my eye, Felicia frowned.
    “What?” I asked her.
    “Well, I haven’t thought of a plan to get out of here. It was more about getting in.”
    “What?!”
    Suddenly, there was a loud smash of glass. The smashing was coming from all over the building. Down the hall, I could hear more broken windows. Outside, more broken windows. I turned around and ran for the metal door without thinking.
    “Come on!”
    They both followed without question. I closed the door and locked it from the inside. Without looking at neither of the others, I walked back to where I was before. The large desks and cabinets hadn’t moved.
    “Okay, we need to figure out a plan. Sooner or later, they are going to break through those doors and come barging in here. Now, I don’t know if we can take all of them. We don’t even know how many there are. So we have to get out of here before this becomes a blood bath.”
    They both stared at me for a moment.
    “So, what’s the plan?”
    Looking around me, I realized I hadn’t figured that part out yet.
    “Okay. We are all going to look through these cabinets. There has to be some emergency way out from here to the outside. We’re looking for notes, blueprints, sketches, coded messages. Anything that might help in anyway.”
    They nodded and moved into the desk area.
    We searched for about ten minutes before we heard banging and grunts. Just as the second bang echoed loudly though the hallway, Tony yelled, “Here!”
    I scanned what he had found. It was a blueprint of the building. The blueprint was only of the lower levels where we were. It said that there was a long hallway through a door to our right. In that hallway, there will be another door that ended. We couldn’t see what was on the other side of that door. But I remember my father telling me something about it.
    “So, according to this, there should be a secret passage through there,” I point past the desk towards a large glass door. “And that passage will lead us out past the main street. Wow.”
    “It’s an underground passage?” Felicia leaned over to get a better look.
    “Yeah. It is.”
    We heard the metal door be knocked down. Then grunts and echoing footsteps came from down the hall.
    “Move! Now!”
    The three of us head towards the door. Tony pressed a large red button but the door didn’t open. Felicia tried to punch it and hit it with her gun but it didn’t work.
    “Stand back.”
    Tony and Felicia stood behind me as I shot four times at the glass. The bullet holes were easy to see but glass remained intact.
    “It must have been when you set the alarm off. The whole building is on lockdown,” Felicia yelled, aiming her gun at the door where the grunts could now be heard loud and clear. They were coming.
    “What now?”
    Tony looked at me with meaningful eyes as I yelled the words. Then he looked around helplessly for an answer.
    “Both of you get behind the desks.”
    I stood still for a moment until Tony eyed me again.
    “Katie, now!”
    He pulled on my arm and pushed me towards the desks. Felicia hid behind them as soon as Tony had said it. Tony stood there in the middle of the room, staring at the door. Then, he reached for a grenade from his belt. I opened my eyes wide and saw shadows appear from the hallway where they were coming. Tony pulled the pin out of the grenade with his mouth and threw it towards the hallway. He leaped at the desks and as soon as we grabbed him the grenade went off. The sound was defining, not as loud as the one we pulled outside. The walls shattered and I could hear screaming. It wasn’t humans that were screaming. When the building stopped shaking, grunts could still be heard. I armed both of my pistols and was the first to stand up and move.
    About ten of them came running into the room. Well, more like jogging because they couldn’t run. I fired aimlessly into the crowd. Tony and Felicia stood up and began firing not long after I had pulled my first trigger. They moved towards us faster than we had hoped. When half of them were down, ten more came into view from the hallway. There was gunfire and grunts coming from all directions. I leapt over two of them and held my position in a corner. In the corner of my eye I saw one creeping towards Tony from behind. Before I could yell anything, Felicia had thrown a knife at him and it fell to the ground. More and more kept running into the room. We were outnumbered by an amazing amount. I heard screams coming from left and right. I knew I was running low on bullets and dreaded the moment when I did. Just as I thought of it, I heard clicks coming from my pistols. I was out of ammo. Felicia eyed me as I began helplessly hitting them with my gun and kicking them down.
    “Katie, here!”
    Next thing I know, I see a little black box land on the ground about ten feet away from me. I slide under a few of them to get to it, knock it into my pistol and start shooting again. It seems helpless when I hear Felicia run out of bullets too.
    Just after, there is a loud scream of pain coming from Felicia’s direction. I turn my head quickly and see Felicia holding onto her arm and falling to the ground. I turn my aim at the ones that are gaining on her. I'm standing in front of her just as she is screaming out in pain again. She still manages to reach into her belt and throw knives at the ones who creep too close when I’m aiming at others.
    Just as I see Tony throw his gun to the ground and start throwing punches there is another loud explosion coming from the hallway. Just like before, the entire building shakes. I find it hard to keep my balance and finally fall onto Felicia, protecting her. When the shaking stops I turn and look around. They are starting to get back on their feet and attack. One is coming straight for me with a sour look on its face. Black liquid drips out of his mouth and falls on the floor. My gun is about three meters away from me and there is no way of getting to it without leaving Felicia an easy target. I turn my head away from it all and brace myself.
    Then I hear loud gunfire in the room, louder than before. I turn my head and see the one that was coming after me is now on the ground. I look around for an explanation and I see three people, real people, shooting at the others. Tony is behind the desks, trying to get to us.
    “Oi!” I hear one of the others yell at Tony. She throws a 35 to Tony and he grabs it with ease. I see another young girl behind the desks about 10 feet away from me. She is hiding from the action. Felicia’s face is full of pain when I glance at her. I just lean over her some more, protection her from anything. What feels like hours later, the gun fire stops. All I can hear is mine and Felicia’s breathing. She opens her eyes and looks at me. I turn my head and look around the room. There are bodies piled up all around the room. The only people standing are the strangers that just entered the room and Tony. He takes one look at me and the fierce look on his face disappears. He drops the gun and rushes over to me and Felicia.
    “Are you guys okay?”
    I nod and creep off Felicia. That’s when I see the blood pouring from her forearm.
    “Damnit.” Tony tears off a strip from his shirt and wraps it around her arm. I stand up and look at the others. There is one girl and two boys. One an older man, in his forties or fifties. Then, the girl that was hiding behind the desks stands up also. She would have to be seventeen or younger. One of the other girls disappear out into the hallway. When I get my voice back, I speak.
    “Thank you.”
    The younger boy, probably around my age, looks at me and lifts his face.
    “No problem. We were kind of bored anyway.”
    The older man looks around the room towards the glass door that was now covered in blood.
    The girl who disappeared enters the room again. “We have to go. Their probably on their way here now.”
    I take a deep breath and turn back to Tony and Felicia. Tony has picked her up and was now carrying her.
    “Need any help?” the young bloke asks.
    “No. Thanks.”
    The older man is over near the door and taking out what's looks to be a card. He swipes it in front of a red light and suddenly it turns green. He’s a cop.
    “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
    They all follow him. I stand in place for a moment then take one step forward. Just as I do there is a loud shove of something heavy and a roar. By the time I turn around, the boy is on the ground, unmoving. The gunshot came from the old man. He stared at the boy for one more second then gestured me towards the open glass door. I just stand there, staring at the boy who isn’t really a boy anymore.
    “Young lady, it’s time we go.”
    I don’t even look at him as I sprint in the direction the others went. Along the way, I cried for the first time since this all began. I told myself that it wouldn’t be the last.

    Chapter One

    More of My Stuff