Priscilla walked back in the darkness with her phone's torch switched on. She walked with quickened pace and moved down the corridor. It was dark.
Soon, her ear piece came alive and K1's voice came through. "K7, meet up at the hall. K3 has been discovered and we need to hurry."
"Are we aborting?"
"Not yet," K1 said. "This is as good a distraction as other."
"What if the soldiers here move down and discover that something's wrong?"
"That's why K10 will set up another distraction here."
"Copy." She continued to walk back in silence as her mind raced through all the plans. She had to get to the hall.
Suddenly someone called out to her. "Priscilla! Over here!"
It was Richard and Pauline!
She jogged towards them with steady strides while cursing under her breath. This wasn't going as planned.
"Where were you? The power went out." Pauline asked.
Priscilla pointed down the hall then at the ceiling. "It was dark when I came out of the toilet and I didn't know my way around so I passed the main entranced and walked down."
"That's okay," Richard said. "Follow me; we'll go check what's wrong with the power."
Priscilla hesitated as she eyed the hall where she was supposed to meet with K1 and K10. She was conflicted but in the end she nodded and followed behind Richard. After walking for a few metres they heard a loud explosion towards the corridors that led down to the lower levels. Fire alarms rang out and smoke filled the entire area.
Richard, Pauline and Priscilla all rushed towards the wall that led toward the opposite corridor. Richard frowned. 'Something is wrong…' he thought.
Following the alarm, the soldiers began to evacuate the scientists, the technicians and the workers. The whole base was in chaos. The disturbance here also made it impossible for them to notice that the scientists from the lower levels were also rushing out.
Richard thought for a while then it hit him…
He took his bag from his shoulder and unzipped it and began to take out gun parts. He glanced at Pauline and said, "Cover me!"
"What? Why?"
"Intruders," Richard said while concentrating on the parts he was pulling out. "Someone or a group of people have broken into the base!"
Pauline frowned but pulled out her gun from its holster and stood ready. "How do you know it's an intruder?"
"The light went out but the emergency backup light didn't kick in which means someone had deliberately turned off everything from the control room." He paused and glanced at Priscilla.
Priscilla's heart skipped a few beats as her mouth hung open from shock. Richard was able to figure it out just like that?
Richard continued. "then they started a fire as a form of distraction to make sure that while in the chaos the soldiers would pay little attention to them and focus and evacuating the people."
Richard snapped close the last part of the gun and assembled the rest. The gun was an assault rifle.
"How do we know where they are?"
"Over there," he pointed out two figures who were heading inside while others were trying to get out amidst the smoke. He lifted his gun and fired a few rounds but due to a slight stumble he missed his aim. The two men jumped to the side and took cover near the corner. Pauline shot at them but also pulled back.
"I'm sorry," Priscilla apologised. "This is my first time being caught between a gun fight."
She was the person who had bumped into Richard while he was aiming. Richard nodded and pulled her by the arm and moved her towards Pauline. "Pauline, take her out."
"No way I'm leaving you alone in this!" she gritted her teeth and pulled Priscilla behind her. "You have a gun Dr Harris?"
"Yes!"
"Then pull it out now!"
Priscilla took out her gun. The military had given her a gun and bullets the moment she became a military doctor. It was necessary, according to them, for her to be secured at all times.
At this time, the two men who hid behind the wall peeked out again and released a volley of bullets in the air. Richard ducked down and rolled out while steadying his aim. He shot twice and the second bullet sunk deep into one of the men's arm and he gasped in pain before hiding back again.
The other one opened fire before rushing towards his companion to help out. Priscilla lifted her gun and shot blindly. Over the past few weeks she had taken shooting lessons with Richard so her aim was pretty accurate. The bullets hit the side of the wall. Pauline praised her. "Nice shot!"
"Thanks!"
"Let's get you out of here now."
Richard nodded to them to leave. He was bending over slightly looking for an opening to dash out. Soon the other soldiers who had helped to evacuate the others rushed back in after hearing gunshots. It didn't take much to realise that there was an intruder!
Priscilla paled. She wanted to shoot at the soldiers but she knew that if she did then she'd give away her cover. She sighed and lowered her gun.
After a while, bullets flew along the corridor like sand particles gifting the walls and floor with bullet holes. Sparks flew as the bullets hit metallic surfaces. The two intruders they had spotted were still behind the wall and would peek out to counter occasionally.
Soon the whole corridor was filled with thick fumes and it blinded the soldiers for a bit. They looked stunned and quickly dashed behind pillars and walls to take cover. More bullets passed by in fury. An explosion followed soon afterwards. The chaos threw Priscilla towards the other end of the corridor and she quickly crawled to her feet and began to run towards the hall where K1 and K10 were supposed to meet her.
After the smoke died down, Richard looked around but didn't find Priscilla. He gritted his teeth and reloaded his gun. He waved for the other soldiers to follow him. They ran towards the hall with hurried steps.
Pauline put her smaller gun back and took a sub-machine gun from one of the soldiers. 'This will be fun.' She thought as she maintained her aim.