War of Hearts

Chapter Forty-One - Countdown

An out of control train sped through the maintenance tunnel, and sent Ghost, who was leading the charge, reeling back. "Bloody Hell!"

Hex braced him with a firm hand on his back, and called over her comms to Laswell. "Watcher, if Makarov is controlling the trains, can we regain access?"

"I'm attempting to breach their firewall, that hacker was good."

Gaz grumbled, "good at helping a mad bastard for money..."

Ghost held up a hand for them to stop. "Konni up ahead."

They advanced together quietly, trying to stay hidden for as long as they could, then unleashed themselves in a barrage upon them. The dark tunnels lit up with the spark of gunfire as both sides erupted in battle. "All stations this is Bravo 7-0, taking effective fire." Ghost looked ahead to a handful of maintenance workers crouched down on their knees. "Konni has hostages, watch your fire!"

"Secure them, 7."

Gaz's voice huffed on the line, "We're working on it, 6!"

Bodies littered the ground as they pushed up, both old and fresh kills. Hex ran through a puddle, and wasn't sure if it was water or blood. The thought made her pale, and she forced herself to stifle her rage and nausea. "Watcher, we're seeing dead civilians..."

"They may be the first of many, Bravo, unless we stop Makarov."

The screeching of metal wheels on the tracks echoed in the distance, and their footsteps rattled the grated floors as they made steady steps ahead, weapons hot and minds sharp. Ghost pressed his ear to the door of a small garage within the tunnel. "Hostages inside." Gaz and Hex nodded as he opened the door, and with three perfectly timed shots, the enemy soldiers inside dropped to the ground. "Hostages secure," Hex said as she rushed to remove their restraints. "Get out of here, take the tunnels back south, Police and Medical are on the surface." They nodded fearfully and ran out the way she came in.

Gaz went to lift the rolling door on the far side of the room, but was sent scrambling back as bullets sprayed through the crack. "Fuck!"

Hex's head snapped up when she heard an eerily familiar *squish.* She called after him and rushed to his side. "Gaz! You okay?!" She looked down at his forearm and frowned with concerned, furrowed eyebrows as she looked at his bleeding arm.

"I'm alright. I think it just grazed."

She held it up a bit closer and breathed out steadily upon seeing it looked worse than it was. She nodded for Ghost and a few SFO officers to watch the door, and pulled out a roll of bandages from the smaller medpack she still always kept on her. "This won't take long," her voice was projected loud enough for everyone to hear her, "cover us!"

Within a few seconds, she wrapped his arm tightly, somehow maintaining her gentle touch through the quick motion and her racing heart. Gaz looked at her with a smile. "What would we do without you, Doc?"

"Bleed a whole lot more," she said, half-returning the smile. "You're good, let's move."

They rejoined the battle raging through the crack in the door right as the clattering rolling sound of a grenade tumbled through. They both widened their eyes right as Hex kicked it back under and rattled the tunnel outside. It gave them a slight opening to send a few of their soldiers to oblivion, but they were quickly replenished. Hex made a note of the way they all seemed to congregate so close together; a powerful strategy, but a vulnerable one.