THE NIGHT SHIFT

TO END:CLUB OF DARKNESS pt3

Luckily a loud thump breaks the silence alerting us that the second guard has fallen to his death. At first I sigh in relief as I've secured our safety, but then I look down to the poor man's face, a fathers face, a husband's, a friend's... and my hands are stained of his blood.

"Ril-" Alex stops my train of thoughts trying to call out my name.

I get up and help him stand, though I can tell he's in excruciating pain.

"There" He manages to say while pointing at the door with his eyes.

"God" I say looking at his wound " I told you not to use the gun!" I complain.

"Can you walk?" I ask him with a mix of annoyance and worry.

He grunts in response as he tries to get a couple of steps closer to the door. I let him put his weight on me to get to the security room. We enter a dark room lighted only by the huge screens that show the view of the cameras placed all over the club.

I gently help Alex onto a seat and get closer to examine the screens. I scan every face until I find Carter chatting with a group of men in suits, waiting for us to initiate the black out. He fits in effortlessly, if we weren't in a life threatening situation I'd even admit he looks quite handsome.

"Tell me what to do" I beg Alex as he winces in pain, I have no idea how to start a computer, let alone do anything like this.

"Just pass me the keyboard" He answers and though I'm not sure how fast he can type right now, I do as I'm told because I know I couldn't be of any help. This thought lingers in my head for a moment before I send it away to focus on our mission.

Without saying a word Alex passes me his gun and looks at the door, so I grab it and nod in understanding. While stepping out I try to ignore the corpses laying next to me. 

I walk down the corridor all the way to the door we had previously kicked open. I stand out of it with the gun in my hands, ready to fire. When I'm sure no one is there I turn around and hide the gun back into the secret sleeve Carter had suggested I'd sew into my dress.

 As I'm about to close back the door I hear a voice calling me from afar.

"Ma'am! Wait" My heart drops and I freeze at those words. Quickly I come out of the corridor and close myself out to block the view of the bodies as a third guard approaches me.

"Ma'am are you lost?" The young man asks with a formal, yet gentle, tone.

"Me? Y-yes I'm... I think I'm lost, I was looking for the bathroom" I lie.

"The bathroom? There's plenty of signs upstairs..." He answers suspiciously studying me, I feel his fear as he notices Alex's blood on my clothes and hands.

"Are you hurt?" He asks, taking a step back.

"N-no" I answer before looking down and realizing my mistake.

I try to pull out my gun, but though this sleeve is amazing at hiding objects, it's not too practical when getting them out. 

He notices my intention and blocks my arms with his. I try to free myself by stepping on his foot and sending him limping back.

I slam the door open and call out Alex's name.

"Initiating blackout," Alex's voice comes through, barely audible.

The lights flicker, and the room is plunged into darkness. There's a moment of confusion, and I move clumsily, arms reaching out to find a wall, but I hear the sound of chains moving, the ones we had previously broken, someone had lifted them. 

I turn around trying to find my way back to Alex when something sharp hits me on the back of my shoulder blade. I identify the weapon, he must have used the damaged part of the chain as a knife. It hurts, but I can tell it didn't go deep and it's just a superficial wound. 

Being hit helps me identify the position of my opponent and I swiftly pull my gun out and shoot him.

 I wait to hear a thump that never comes, instead the man jumps towards me holding me by the shoulders and throwing me against the concrete floor. I shake the pain away and before he can get any closer I shoot again, only this time it's fatal. I get back up holding onto the walls to find my way back to Alex. When I get to him he looks me up and down.

"You good?" He asks, though it sounds like he couldn't care less.

"Yes, but I had to take one more guard down," I answer.

"It's ok, we can leave, all of the bugs have been set, I'm turning the light back on before they come check downstairs" he says, eyes on the screen.

Suddenly the lights turn back on and everyone on the sceen seems to look confused, even Ace, a great actor.

Alex holds onto me as we find our way to an emergency exit that get us to the back where a black truck is waiting for us. The driver rolls down the window, it's the tech guy, one of us. His expression fills with confusion as he sees us limping our way to the truck.

"Jesus Christ, what the hell happened" He complains as he gets off to open the door for us and helps Alex in.  We settle in the back seats and he drives to the club's parking lot.

"Now?" I ask, catching my breath.

"Now we wait for James" The tech guy answers, mocking Carter's fake name.