The Edge Of Justice

The Edge Of Justice Chapter 28

“You have one of two choices, and I hope you make the right one. This mountain is going to blow by itself, or my team is gonna send a missile. You can stay here, or you can run. Take your pick.” With that I signaled to Adder, and we turned tail and sprinted for the door. “Why did you dig out your comm?” he asked, his arms pumping furiously.

I looked back to see the other Marines, and two of the Spectres following. “Neal hacked our signal somehow, and gave Katrina fake orders from Prince.”

“Shit,” he muttered, pumping his arms faster, pulling ahead of me. I mimicked him, moving as fast as we could through the tunnels, boots pounding against the brown stone, shouts echoing behind us. I glanced back to see many of the Spectres moving with us, and I didn't have time to count how many had joined. Adder said something, and I looked forward again to see him bring up his MP5 and let loose three rounds, all of which slammed into the chest of another Spectre guarding our path, his swords crossed in front of him. The Spectre fell, his swords clattering onto the floor, and I pulled a ninjato in case more tried to bar our escape. Two more did, one of which Adder took down, and the other I sliced across the belly when he turned the corner right in front of me.

We ran until my lungs burned, the hallways blurred, and my vision began to haze. “I don't know how much longer I can keep this up,” I wheezed, and Adder shook his head. “You're not dying on my watch,” he said, letting loose another barrage of bullets at the last assassin guarding the large wooden door. The door was barred, and we slowed to remove the wooden beam, grunting with exertion until it fell to the floor, the sound of its impact thudding into echo.

We pushed the door open and ran out into the night, and I took in a lungful of fresh air. A light flashed on the ridge across the valley, and I pointed to my ear, and then drew a finger across my throat, letting Katrina know my comm was down. I hoped she would see it through her scope, and the light flashed three times in quick succession, letting me know she'd seen my signal. I slowed again, long enough to replace the ninjato in its sheath, and kept running.

Moving down the path carved into the side of the mountain, signaling to the Marines waiting, who quickly fell in line, we made it halfway down before the first explosion. We heard the sound, then the entire mountain heaved, or at least it felt like it, and sent me stumbling to the side, my shoulder scraping the rock wall on my right. Another explosion quickly followed, larger this time, and we picked up the pace, running full out. Heat blew on my neck, and I looked over my shoulder to see the explosion rip out of the wooden doors, the fire taking two of the Spectres, hiding them from view. One of the large doors was ripped off its hinges, slammed into the last Spectre in line, and he and the door fell off the ledge, careening into the valley below, his scream echoing off the rock walls.

“Shit,” Adder said again, just before another explosion sounded, and it felt like the ground was ripped away from my feet. All I saw was fire, all I heard was the sound of rushing wind and debris falling all around me, and my body slammed into something hard and unmoving. I gasped in pain, and then everything went black.

***

My head was pounding, my body screamed in pain, and my eyes fluttered open. Someone was screaming. I couldn't see anything, and I reached up to my face to feel something pebbly beneath my fingertips. My mask felt weird, so I pulled it off, and the world flooded back into view. I hadn't been able to see because the mask had turned around on my head somehow, but the view in front of me made me want to put it back on, exactly the way it had been so I wouldn't have to see the scene before me. The valley was on fire.

Spectres and Marines alike writhed on the ground, trying to put out flames that coated their bodies. Several bodies were unmoving, and I tried to stand to my feet. I succeeded, for four seconds before falling back down to my knees, hard. My arm wasn't working, and I looked over to see my shoulder at an odd angle, jutting upward. Blaster stood in the midst of the carnage in the valley, turning in a slow circle, his mouth wide open, a crazed look in his eye. Adder was beside me, face down and unmoving.

A hand fell on my shoulder, and I turned dumbly to see Katrina, her mouth moving but no words coming out. This was insanely funny to me, and I giggled. “-out of here!” My hearing rushed back, and I flinched at the sudden volume of the world. My mind snapped back to clarity, and I turned to Adder, flipping him over. His green-painted face was slack, blood trickling from his mouth, and I slapped him, hard. His eyes snapped open, his K-Bar came out of its sheath, coming in a direct line for my throat. I pushed his hand away and down, pinning his finger and the knife to the dirt. “Snap to it, Marine,” I barked. “You're not dying on my watch!”

He nodded weakly, sitting up. Katrina helped me up and threw my arm over her shoulder, supporting at least some of my weight. The Marines who'd been burned were lifted by those of us who could still walk, while the Spectres were carried by their own. We went west, they went east, and no one made a move to stop them. Katrina brought a finger to her ear, looked back at them, shook her head, gave an affirmative, and pressed on, my body weight no doubt slowing her down.