Fear the Fever ⏃ Captain America [3]

Chapter Seven

They sprinted through a couple of twists and turns in the hallways, Micah leading. It reminded Christina of the time he'd led her through the Amazon Rainforest. She urged him to hurry - she knew that more guards could show up at any second.

They reached a door, and Micah swiped the key card to open it; a brief hiss sounded, and then the slab of metal swung open. Liam burst through with Micah and Christina close on his heels.

Sebastian was sitting in a chair, twirling a blade in his hands but sprang to his feet, his expression quickly twisting to a look of horror. "What are you doing?"

Liam had already fired two fiery grenades at the guards. A man and a woman dropped to the ground, a hole burnt through their chests in a cloud of smoke and burning flesh. Micah tackled the third guard and grabbed his weapon.

Christina trained her weapon on Sebastian and put her finger on the trigger. "Give me your key card, then get on the ground, hands on your head." Her voice was steady but her heart was racing.

Sebastian handed his card to Christina. Christina pulled the trigger. The high-pitched sound filled the room, followed by the launch of a fiery grenade. It hit the man's stomach and exploded through his body. He screamed as he fell to the ground, fire and smoke streaming off his clothes and body. The room filled with an awful smell.

"That can't feel good," Christina said to her friends. She sounded so calm to her ears that it disturbed her. As she watched their nemesis burn, she was almost ashamed for feeling no guilt. Almost.

"I bet not," Micah replied. He stood after tying up the uninjured guard with his belt. "The world is better off."

Micah and Liam turned to look at Christina. She lifted her weapon in her arms and nodded. She looked ready for a fight. "I hate these people just as much as you," she said. "I'm in."

Before anyone could respond, shouts and footsteps sounded in the hall.

"They're coming," Liam said. The reality of their situation hit her again - no one was going to let them just waltz out of the building. Who knew how many guards they'd have to get past.

Micah ran to the door and took a stance right next to it. "They'll all have to come through right here." The sounds from the hallway were getting louder - the guards were close.

"Liam," Christina said. "You get on the other side of the doorway. I'll shoot the first couple who come through. You guys catch the rest from the sides, then get out into the hallway. I'll be right behind you."

They took their positions.

Christina's expression was a strange mixture of anger, pain, and excitement. Christina readied herself, gripping the weapon tightly in her hands. She knew it was a gamble to trust Micah. She'd saw what they did to Scott; she couldn't underestimate HYDRA. But he was the only reason they'd gotten this far. And if she was going to bring him along, she couldn't doubt him anymore.

The first guard arrived, a man dressed in the same black gear as all the others, but with a different type of weapon - small and sleeker - held tightly in front of him. Christina fired, watched the grenade connect with the man's chest; it sent him reeling backward, twitching and convulsing in a web of fire.

Two more people - a man and a woman - were right behind him with weapons raised.

Liam acted before Christina could. He grabbed the woman by the shirt and yanked her toward him, then swung her across his body and slammed her into the wall. She got off a shot, but the fiery grenade shattered harmlessly on the ground.

Christina fired at the man, hitting him in the legs; searing his legs clean off and he screamed, falling back into the hallway. His weapon fell to the floor. Liam had disarmed the woman and forced her to kneel. He now held the weapon against her head.

A fourth man came through the door, but Micah knocked his weapon away and punched him in the face. He collapsed to his knees, holding a hand up to his bloodied mouth. The guard looked up as if to say something, but Micah stepped back and shot him in the chest. At such close range the ball made a terrible popping sound as it exploded against the man. A wretched squeal escaped his throat as he fell to the floor, writhing in a web of pure fire.

Christina turned to face the woman. The muzzle end of Liam's weapon hovered just inches from her head.
"How many of you are there?"
Christina asked her. "Are there more coming?"

She didn't respond at first, but Liam leaned forward until his gun was actually touching her cheek.

"There's at least fifty on duty," she said quickly.

"Then where are they?" Liam asked.

"I don't know."

"Don't lie to me!" Liam shouted.

"We...something else is going on. I don't know what. I swear."

Christina looked at her closely and saw more than just fear in her expression. Was it frustration? She seemed to be telling the truth.
"Something else? Like what?"

She shook her head. "I just know that a group of us were called to a different section, that's all."

"And you have no idea why?" Christina threw as much doubt into her voice as possible. "I have a hard time believing that."

"I swear it."

Liam grabbed her by the back of the shirt and pulled her to her feet. "We'll just take the nice lady here as a hostage, then. Let's go."

Christine stepped in front of him. "Micah needs to lead - he knows the way around this place. Then me, then you and your new friend."

Micah hurried to stand beside Christina. "I still don't hear anybody, but we can't have long. Come on." He peeked into the hallway, then slipped out of the room.

Christina took a second to wipe her sweaty palms on the sides of her bra, then gripped the weapon and followed him. Micah turned right. She heard the others fall in behind her; a quick glance showed that Liam's captor was running along, too, looking none too happy with the threat of a fiery hole being burnt through her chest just inches away.

They reached the end of the initial hallway and made a right without stopping. Their new path looked exactly the same as the last, a dark gray alley stretching before them for at least a hundred feet before it ended in a set of metal double doors. As they neared the doors, Christina pulled Sebastian's key card out of her pocket.

Christina knew that there mostly were guards standing behind those double doors, and she also knew better than to just walk in there all half-cocked.
She skidded to a stop in front of the doors and turned to face Micah and Liam. "We've only got three of these weapons, and we better believe that there are more guards on the other side of those doors waiting for us. Are we up for this?"

Liam stepped up to the key card panel, dragging the guard with him by the shirt. "You're going to open this for us so we can focus on your buddies. Stand right there and don't do anything until we say." He swiveled toward Christina. "Start shooting as soon as the doors open."

Christina nodded. "I'll crouch. Micah, you lean over my shoulder. Liam to the left."

Christian got down and stuck the point of her weapon right where the doors met in the center. Micah hovered above her, doing the same. Liam readied himself in his position.

"Open on three," Micah said. "And lady, you try anything or try to get away, I guarantee one of us will get you. Christina, you count off."

The woman pulled out her key card but said nothing.

"One," Christina began. "Two."

She paused, allowed herself a moment to suck in a breath, but before she could yell the last number an alarm started blaring and the lights went out.