Chapter 25 - Trapped

Ethan walked silently down the hall, crawled up to the railing, and looked down. The hostages in the center of the basketball court were sitting nervously. The two suspects, who had removed the masks, their faces were now visible, apparently their patience was wearing thin.The burly suspect was standing next to the hostages with a gun, while the other had an expression of fear and anxiety, opened the blinds to look out, outside was chaos, the media swirled in front of the building just like about twenty police.Ethan pulled out his mobile phone, slipped the screen, and took some photos of the two suspects, in addition to capturing images of the surroundings. Then he sent the photos to Siobhan.After a while, the phone vibrated. Siobhan replied with a simple message:"The fat man's name is Lance Mangan and Steve Nathan. They were both in prison together, for armed robbery. "Siobhan also reported that Brock, that Ethan had entered the gym and was satisfied with the information. However, he asked her to act without authorization, so as not to put the lives of the hostages at risk.Ethan turned off the screen and continued to watch.— Can't you see the mess you've created? There are more and more police.Nathan looked out the window and said shockedly:—There are even television cameras. The situation is completely out of control. What are we going to do? ——I swear to God, someday I'll put you a couple of balls. Can you be behaving like a man? ——Also, if you had killed that guy at the pharmacy a moment ago, we would have run away by now. —continued screaming out loud.— I told you, you should have let me kill that cop. ——Damn, do you hear what you're saying? We would have been arrested and taken back to prison, and I'm not going to go back to that damn place. ——You don't understand. My cousin Kaneki was shot dead on the interstate two days ago just because he killed a police officer. Maybe you want to die in a damn hail of bullets, if you murder a police officer they won't let you go alive.—Shut up, shut your curse mouth. I do not want to hear you. —Lance's neck turned red and, under his loud scream, Nathan turned angrily and continued to review the situation outside.More than half an hour later, just as Lance walked from one side to the other angry, he vibrated Ethan's phone."Don't make noise, I'm behind you."Ethan looked back, confused, and saw Siobhan follow in his footsteps. She took off her boots and jumped when he approached.When Siobhan climbed up next to him, Ethan quickly touched the phone screen."How did you get here?""Brock worries that you're alone. I let myself cover your back. " Siobhan blocked the phone and gave him a nervous smile."No, I'm asking you why you came, if not how did you get here?""I went to get a ladder, hahaha."Seeing Siobhan's mocking gaze, Ethan reluctantly put his phone away.As time passed, Lance's mood became increasingly irritable. Suddenly, his eyes froze and his steps stopped. He raised his hand with the gun and Janie got up slowly.He moistened his lips and approached, brushing his clavicle with the barrel of the weapon. Janie felt the cold cannon on her skin and closed her eyes in horror as tears streamed down her cheeks.Lance, watching Janie tremble, unbuttoned her shirt, her frustration, and emotions overflowing.—Hey, you can't do that.The black teacher next to him tried to stop him, but Lance stared at her. Nathan, hearing the noise, ran quickly and said excitedly.— Why do you want to play with it? What's wrong with you today? Instead of finding a way to escape, you decide to do these shitty things here —Nathan growled, frustrated.Lance withdrew his hand, a cynical smile looming on his lips.—Calm down, will you? —Lance said, lowering the tone —. If you regain calm, maybe we can talk about why you shot and killed that man at the pharmacy.—I told him I was sorry —Nathan replied, his voice tense —. I thought I was going to get a gun out.— Are you sorry? —Lance arched an eyebrow —. And does that justify what you did? You always act without thinking, and now we are in this situation. My wife told you last time, remember? He asked you to fix a water pipe, and all you could do was flood the kitchen.The mention of that incident was the drop that filled the glass for Lance. With an impatient gesture, he hit him in the chest, knocking Nathan to the ground. Nathan staggered, taking a hand to his nose that was now bleeding.— Can you shut up? —Lance buffoon, rubbing his temples —. My head hurts, I need to think damn it.Nathan got up with difficulty, spitting blood while blaming him with his eyes.—Fuck you —snapped, his voice full of pent-up anger.After this little charade, Ethan and Siobhan retreated a little. Ethan pulled out his cell phone and texted Brock asking how long it would take for the FBI authorities to arrive. The behavior between the two suspects was becoming increasingly unstable, if things continued like this, the hostages would soon be in danger.Brock's reply message only asked him to wait, but an hour had passed.Nathan, anxiously waiting by the window, ran back to the central circle of the stadium and said:—Lance, I don't see the car anywhere. You are sure that they will meet the demands.—Damn.—Can you stop playing? Let's find a way to get out of here first.—Move, I need to let off steam.Lance pushed Nathan, lifted Janie with both hands, and walked to the back of the stands next to him. Nathan was so angry that he grabbed his hair and pointed a gun at a group of students. Among them was Deva, Hood's daughter, and her best friend.Her friend winked at Deva, took her hand, and got up, trying to get ahead.Lance cursed angrily and reached out to grab Janie's arm.—No, let me go. — Janie kept hitting Lance's hand in an attempt to break free, and the students around her also cried softly in fear.Lance pushed Nathan, picked up Janie, and walked to the back of the stands next to him.Nathan was so angry that he grabbed a lock of hair and then pointed a gun at a group of students.—Everyone turn around and look at me. Don't look back.Hearing Siobhan's breathing accelerate, Ethan reached out to hold her and yelled at her quietly.—Don't be impulsive, we can't act recklessly.Siobhan had no choice but to relax, but his eyes seemed to spit fire.With a whistle, Janie's shirt could be ripped loose, and she kept begging, trying to push Lance away.At the critical moment, the cell phone rang and Ethan sighed with relief.Mangan answered the phone with an unhappy expression on her face, grabbed Janie by the arm and returned to the basketball court, pushing her hard through the crowd. Then he walked to the window while still talking on the phone.When Janie was pushed to the ground, her eyes suddenly froze. Ethan, seeing that she had discovered it, quickly raised his index finger to his lips, asking him to shut up.The teacher next to her took off her coat, covered Janie while hugging her. She forced herself to calm down, wiped away the tears with her hands, and looked at Mangan, who was by the window, with eyes full of anger.Mangan hung up the phone and came back quickly.—They have prepared the car. We need to let some students go to show our will—Okay, no problem —Nathan nodded happily.—You guys get up and follow me.Nathan pointed his gun at the heads one by one. Hood's daughter Deva and her best friend were in the crowd, but only her best friend was reached. She winked at Deva, took her hand, and got up in an attempt to get ahead.—Hey, I didn't say you could go.Seeing Lance's fierce gaze, Deva was immediately frightened and took two steps back. She lowered her head and grabbed her skirt tightly, completely losing her usual rough girl appearance.—We go together wherever it is. Mangan chuckled, took two steps forward, reached out, and held the girl's chest.—Then they can both stay.—Go to hell, pervert.Suddenly she kicked her crotch hard, cast could only let go of a cry of pain.— Run! —screamed, grabbing Deva and running to the gym.Seeing the sudden change in the situation, Ethan was about to get up, but Nathan waved the gun in his hand and detained several people who were about to leave. —Nathan, stay here, I'll go get those bitches.Lance, who had almost exploited his testicle, was furious and ran to chase the girls without hesitation. While chasing her, he screamed angrily:— Wait bitches, I'll definitely catch you!Nathan watched helplessly as Mangan ran further and further, his back disappeared from view.He screamed angrily:—Lance, damn it, what the hell are we going to do now?He heard no response from Mangan and the sound of the race gradually faded.— Damn ...Damn.!—I shouldn't have come to town with Lance today. Damn I would have stayed home. I haven't caught a single fish in several days and there's still half the pizza left at home.Nathan was circling, muttering inconsistencies. Seeing him like this, the hostages who returned to the original place crowded in panic, fearing that he would suddenly suffer a mental breakdown.Ethan and Siobhan were half squatting at the time, but did not expect the situation to suddenly turn into a disaster. He saw that Nathan's attention had been diverted from the student group at the time and Ethan quickly pulled out his Glock.Right now, you must although the distance was considerable, Nathan's state of mind was irascible, he had to try, otherwise Nathan could hurt the hostages when he has a mental breakdown.Ethan held his breath and pointed the gun at Nathan's chest. The next moment, the trigger was pulled. The hammer hit instantly and the bullet shot out of the burning cannon.A "bang" firearm. Nathan, who was standing underneath, suddenly shuddered and blood splattered on his chest. He looked to the second floor in disbelief and only saw a black snout. The students next to Nathan let out a muffled scream when they saw the subject being shot in front of them. Janie reacted quickly and cooperated, opening her arms and throwing all the students to the ground.Two more shots were heard; Nathan felt intense pain in his chest and the gun in his hand fell to the ground. At that moment, the side door opened and Hood's figure appeared at the door. Hood saw the scene in front of him and quickly yelled at the students to evacuate the gym.After putting the Glock back in its holster, Ethan wiped the sweat off his forehead. He touched Siobhan's shoulder again and asked him to stay. He quickly took the Remington he had put aside and ran quickly with the shotgun in hand. Just as he moved quickly to the stairs, dense steps sounded.Ethan quickly retired and hid in the corner. As the steps got closer and closer, two figures appeared and Deva and her friend ran towards him in a panic. He breathed a sigh of relief.— Deva? —screamed Hood's voice.— Please save us! —Deva shouted from the front with a scream.The strong steps rang again, Mangan moved up quickly and kept roaring.Deva and her best friend had already reached the end of the hall. Beneath the railing was the basketball court. Seeing that there was no way to escape, Deva looked at Hood standing underneath with a look of despair.At that moment, Siobhan ran out of the side and pulled them to the places behind her.—You two bitches get out of where you are hiding.Lance gasped and ran past Ethan like a bull, and the sound of heavy footsteps echoed down the second-floor hallway. So he did not notice his presence.Ethan had been waiting for a long time. He raised his mouth from his gun and yelled at the fugitive's back.—Drop the Lance weapon. — scream without the slightest intention of letting the bastard surrender.Lance, who was running fast, turned around in horror. Ethan didn't give him a second to breathe and pulled the Remington's trigger hard.The next moment, the shotgun in his hand let out a dull roar and a large cloud of sparks gushed out of the canyon. The high-speed projectile hit Mangan's back and blew him up.The body flew forward a few meters away. When it fell, the ground instantly turned red.Ethan lowered his Remington and slowly approached.When he walked to the body, his fingers still trembled slightly. Ethan kicked the gun away and then put the Remington cannon on his head.Ethan held the gun with one hand and rubbed his toes with a smile on his face. At that time, Siobhan also approached carefully with his weapon raised.Ethan clumsily lowered his feet and raised the shotgun. Lance had stopped breathing and there was no need to waste any more bullets.Soon, Hood also quickly climbed the stairs.Seeing Hood appear, Deva quickly took off her friend's hand, threw herself into Hood's arms, and burst into tears.Hood gratefully nodded at Ethan and Siobhan, then led Deva down the stairs.After putting on their boots, they left the gym.Spectators crowded in front of the warning tape. The parents held the students in surprise and frantically took pictures on the spot.A special black vehicle entered through the side door of the stadium and stopped. People dressed in full combat uniforms and tactical helmets got out of the vehicle. The SWAT words were glued to the black combat uniforms.FBI agent Dean Xavier waved his hands annoyed so that the SWAT team returned to the car and then walked angrily towards them.Then I look for Hood, angry.— Why did they act without waiting for SWAT? Do you know how big the threat this would pose to the hostages?Hood had no choice but to get up and take Dean Xavier aside.Ethan did not take this matter seriously and let Hood take care of the matter. After all, he was the Chief, so scolding was his honor.Looking around, Janie Kendall was wrapped in a coat and standing alone next to the trash can in the distance. Janie saw Ethan approaching and handed her the half-burned cigarette, her face had slight traces of tears still visible on her face. Then Ethan took a drag, and only the smoke calmly— Did you kill him? —Janie held the cigarette between her fingers and looked at Ethan with red eyes.Ethan exhaled the smoke and nodded. Janie suddenly ran to him, hugged her waist tightly, and began to sob. Ethan comforted her with a calm look.At that moment, behind the ambulance, Dan Kendall stopped the vehicle and hurried to approach.—Mayor Kendall is here —Ethan coughed and reminded Janie.She quickly pushed him, gave him a complicated look, wiped away her tears, and turned to meet her husband.