The shadow Hunter

chapter 24

The explosion went off almost immediately. I was thrown back and my body hit the floor next to the man i had just been pinning down. It could have been a couple minutes before i came round, it could have been instantly. I opened my eyes but i could hardly see through the dust and the rubble. By the elevator, i could see a small pack of flames. My ears rang and my body ached. I stumbled to my feet and wiped blood from my face and mouth. I coughed and spluttered, my lungs full of dust. I looked beside me, the shooter was no longer breathing. I looked at my surroundings. Glass and stone covered the floor, bodies too, some stirring and some would never move again. A voice spluttered and cut in and out in my ear. "Is...Ok?.....Happened?" Steve asked urgently over the earpiece. "-ara! -clar..! Clara!" Tony's voice crackled with desperation.  "I'm fine." I confirmed. I looked around for Nat and Wanda desperately. "I'm fine too." Nat's voice came over the radio. I saw her getting to her feet across the floor. "Me too." Wanda said, crouching by a small child's still body. 

"Is everyone else ok?" I asked. "Yes, we are all ok here." Sam replied. "And here." Rhodes replied. "What the hell happened?" Steve asked. I coughed again and helped up a girl next to me. "Are you ok?" I asked her. She nodded but there were tears in her eyes and bloody wounds on her face. "A man tried to use the elevator, he couldn't hear my warning." I explained in reply to Steve. Children cried and screamed all around me. "Are the shooters down with you still active?" Tony asked. I met with Wanda and Nat in the middle of the room. "One is dead." I told them. "Two." Nat corrected. I looked over to where the body of the second shooter lay. "What about the third?" Steve asked. Wanda looked up at us, a look of guilt crossing face. "The explosion went off, i couldn't hold him any longer. I can't find his body." She said gravely. We dusted ourselves off and picked up any of our weapons that had clattered to the ground in the explosion. "He would have headed for the hostages. We have restrained the rest of the shooters. Tony, Rhodes, Vision, get to the security room now. Girls, we will need your back up." Steve instructed. Nat nodded. "Let's go." 

"Everybody get yourself out of here!" She shouted to the still recovering crowd. People cried and screamed back. "My husband! He isn't breathing!" One desperate women shouted as she held a body. My chest felt as if it had deflated as I took in the sight in front of me.  We started to run towards the half destroyed stairs when a small girl pulled at my leg. Her face was covered in blood and dust and her face was wet with tears. "I can't find my mommy!" She cried. "Please help me!" I crouched down to her level. "I'm sorry, i can't help you find your mum right now. But you need to be safe so go down those stairs and out of that door. There will be police outside and you tell them what has happened." I said to her. "Can you do that?" I asked. She nodded and sniffled. I stood straight again and turned away but before i could leave, she hugged my leg. I smiled bitter-sweetly. Once she let go, the three of us ran up the stairs to the forth floor. Me and Nat held our guns ready as we rounded the corner. Steve and Sam were running towards us at the same time, looking slightly beaten up but they had obviously been un effected by the explosion. "Are you three alright?" Steve asked. We nodded. "Come on we need to get to that security room." He urged.

We ran down the corridor to where we had been told the room was. Tony, Rhodes and Vision flew towards us in the opposite direction. "It's over here." Tony said, landing at a door. As we ran towards the door, screams became apparent. The door was locked of course. Tony held up his hand to blast the door open but before he could, our earpiece crackled again. Our brows furrowed as a voice came over it. "Now come on, i'm sure we can sort this out with out anymore deaths." The voice snarled. The shooter's. He had intercepted our channel. "We are on the other side of the door, we have you surrounded, there is no escape." Steve replied. The voice just laughed. "Give me the money, and no one gets hurt." He demanded. "We're coming in." Tony retaliated. He laughed again. "Oh i don't think you want to do that. If you open this door, i shoot." With those words a thrill of screams went up again. Tony clenched his fist and turned away from the door. "How are we meant to get in? As soon as we knock that door open he will shoot the hostages." Tony ranted. A plan started to form in my head but i wasn't sure if i would be powerful enough to make it work. "I might have something that could work, but i'm not sure how it will play out." I told them.