Unexpected 1: Trojan Horse

Chapter 3 : SOS

Five minutes before.

As the battle was happening in the first floor, and the second was being invaded by Tan and Luca, Chris and Street were assigned the difficult task to rescue whoever was held hostage. The original plan was to move strategically up the stairs, infiltrate the third floor, match any resistance and liberate the victims. Now, the complicated part was that once the hostages were secured, there was no way to pull them down and out of the building the same way they entered, especially after the battle that was unleashed in the first floor.

"Chris, Street. Stay the course! No matter what, follow command and get the hostages out to safety!" those were the last words the two heard Hondo yell as soon as the bullets started flying when the doors of the cargo trailer were opened.

Both managed to sneak between the criminals and the police barricade, and nonchalantly head to the back stairs. Since the battle was so fierce, and Tan and Luca needed extra bodies, they were left with only two accompanying officers, instead of the original count of 4. They understood why, yet were a little concerned about the last minute call. Deacon said they would need more bodies downstairs, especially with the movement in the back, next to the animal cages. Neither Street nor Chris complained, they couldn't either.

They tip toed through the side, until they reached the access door to the second and third floor. The door needed a code, but since Luca and Tan's team had scared two of the bad guys, the door was wide opened for them. As the two young officers went first, Street noticed the chains and earrings on the table next to the animal cages.

"Oh, man, we lost a couple hostages already." he said, still in formation.

Chris turned, and looked his way. "Devoured already. That means we only got three left. Swaggy and another two. Let's hope neither one of those eaten already was JJ."

Street lowered his gun slightly, as he had forgotten about the mayor's connection to the mission. "We gotta get the others. Let's go!" He sped through the rubble, and pushed Chris to go up the stairs faster than formation regulates. The two officers were already in the top step, looking around.

The staircase was to the back of the building, far to the right side. Just in front of it a massive corridor, that had small offices to the side and opened cubicles in the middle. To the other side, in the wall that was about 30 feet, hung a large collection of plaques, vinyl records, and other memorabilia. The middle was occupied with what looked to be regular office type cubicles, each completely empty, as if none had ever used them.

In the front, was a huge enclosed space with a large round conference table, a projector and to the side a counter with a table and a chair, what looked to be a small reception area. At the far end, right when the cubicle area ceased, was what seemed to be a large music studio, divided in three sections: recording room, large music room, and lounge area.

This scenario didn't really make sense in a large storage warehouse like this one. It seemed as if Chris and Street had stepped out into another entire different building. Besides, when examining briefly they could identify the area was spotless.

"Alright guys," whispered Chris,"those hostages must be in this floor. Infrared lazer detected them in the back, so they must be hidden in the music studio. Be careful coz these guys might have set traps all around here." she moved slightly through the right corridor, followed by one of the officers. Street took the other side.

As Chris and the officer were coming to the middle of the hall, the scared officer took a false step and fell hard on something. The noise was heard through the floor. Immediately, and with no warning, three men came running out of the studio, shooting two rounds of AK-45 each. After the wrath of bullets, all three were out, and as they recharged, they hid behind the last wall of cubicles in the middle stall. Chris took advantage and moved quickly. She put a foot on one of the walls and took flight! She landed just on top of the smallest of the men. He was frantically trying to load his gun, when he felt the entire weight of her body pushing him to the floor. The impact sent the man down hard, striking his head with the side of the cubicle, hard. He didn't move again. Chris immediately moved to help Street and the two officers with the remaining perps.

The older gentleman tried to get in a fist fight with Jim, after both came crashing down in the cubicle, losing their firearms in the process. Jim connected a left hook, while the man punched his gut. After tossing and pulling, Street was able to flip him down onto one of the tables and cuff him. The two other officers, with the help of the SWAT lady leader, were able to arrest the weakest of the three and were already investigating the music room.

Just when the three criminals were set to one side, and the hostages were freed, they heard the motor of the chopper landing just on top of them. Right on cue, and as they had projected, the chopper was awaiting for them in the roof. All they needed to do was exit through the only exit door in the entire flat, far left back side of to the roof. The door was heavy, as the wind off the helicopter pushed it inwards.

"Go, take the criminals too. We will stay and help the others secure the area." Chris told the officers as one of them pushed the door opened, and the other guided the hostages.

"Take the two perps and send them out too." Street yelled over the ravaging noise of the chopper.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, don't worry. They others should have taken care of business by now. We need to secure this-"

BOOM!

Street was interrupted by a loud explosion in the second closed office at the side. The sound clobbered all of them and sent the two SWAT officers back. The door to the roof jammed shut, and the fire from the office began spreading to the adjacent one. In a matter of seconds, the fire had taken over half of the floor.

In the floor, Chris opened her eyes to see the massive fire taken over the whole floor. Both offices were completely smoked, and half of the cubicles in the middle. As she regained consciousness...

BOOM!

She was pushed again to the side, by another violent explosion coming from the music studio in the back. This one was much more unbearable than the first because it came with a high pitch sound, like a whistle that wont stop. Her ear drums were ringing, very loud. She took her hand and touched her ears, they were bleeding! The sound was so loud, it took her a couple of seconds to regain her sense of hearing.

When she opened her eyes, she noticed she was half way through the left corridor, opposite of the offices. She looked up and noticed the glass window of the music room was no longer there! The explosion must've imploded the glass! Matter of fact, all doors and glass dividers in the music room were also shattered. The air was dark, smoke was everywhere, and the ceiling began to give in. In some parts, especially to the side of the offices, the ceiling planks were falling off, and she knew it would be a matter of minutes til the roof started to come down. The whole building was going to collapse!

She tried to sit up straight, locate her partner, but most of her surrounding was a dark red and pitch black.

"STREET!" she yelled

No answer. She tried sitting up and resting against the wall. She looked everywhere.

"STREET?!?" she yelled again

She started to panic, but realize something was terribly wrong with her leg. It weigh a ton and hurt like crazy!

"Ahhhh" she let out a huge cry as she felt the stinging pain run from her leg up to the rest of her body. A big piece of glass was sticking out of the front of her lower leg.

"ING...OUT...SPE...NOW!" Hondo's words were hard to decipher. Her radio had taken a beating, so the signal was weak. Her lungs started to ache, with every breath she took, her lungs burned. No Street, no squad. What the hell could she do?