The Chosen Ones: Book 3: The War

23

"We gotta get the hell out of here!" Phil yelled.
They were trapped again. Smoke filled the hallway from the grenades being thrown their way. Sam was still crouched down protecting Shaun as Gavin and Shannon return fire.

"Hey, see that room over there?" Gavin asked.
He pointed to a room to their left. "That room runs all the way past the guards. We can run through it and out its other door and flank them."

"Won't they see us go in there? Or notice we stopped shooting at them?" Phil asked.
"Throw a few smoke grenades." Shannon said. "But a couple of us have to stay here, distract them, draw their fire."

"I'll stay." Sam volunteered.
"Me too." Gavin said.
Phil looked at Shannon. "It's me and you."

Gavin threw two smoke grenades. A wall of thick white smoke filled the air and shielded them as Phil and Shannon took off. Sam and Gavin gave them cover fire allowing them to make it onto the room.

"How you doin?" Sam asked Shaun.
"Never better." He joked. "Get me up." He said to Gavin.
"You sure?"

Shaun nodded. "I'm not letting you two have all the fun." Gavin and Sam got him to his feet.
"They're getting closer!" Sam yelled.
"If they don't hurry we're dead." Shaun stated.

He fired into the smoke. Just the recoil from the rifle caused him immense pain in his side. Shannon had bandaged the wound but it was still bleeding freely.

A guard came out of the smoke and kicked Shaun in the stomach, sending him to the ground in tremendous pain. The man was quickly grabbed by Gavin who shot him in the chest at close range.

Then they heard the screaming and the sound of rapid fire. Phil and Shannon had surprised the guards from behind. Gavin and Sam couldn't shoot now for fear they would hit their friends with stray bullets.

They found out minutes later they didn't have to. Phil and Shannon came out of the smoke, the shooting had stopped. Their path to the exit was now clear.

Shaun put one arm around Phil and the other around Gavin as Shannon and Sam led the way to the exit. They hoped Tyler was on his way, for Shaun's sake.

Shannon felt the detonator in her vest pocket and was filled with a sense of dread. Sam pushed open the double doors and took in a big breath of fresh air. The fact that they had so much smoke in their lungs made it that much more refreshing.

Phil put Shaun on the ground and leaned him up against the wall of the building.
"I'll get the truck." Phil told them. "Keep him awake." He said, pointing to Shaun.
Shannon looked at her injured friend. Then she set her timer on her phone. 10:30.

Thirty minutes. That's how much time Matt's team had to make it out. She had fought with whether she would be able to press the button or not.

Soon, she was going to have to make the most important decision of her life.