Cleo Hart: Intelligence by Default

Death

Time stopped. My uneven breath and heartbeat all I could hear. The gun shook slightly in my hands, rattling a little. I smeared my free hand on my trousers, trying to wipe the sweat from it. Something I didn't recognise was thrown into the room from the corridor, making me flinch. The guards began to react, glancing at each other nervously and trying to work out who threw it. The black cylinder popped slightly, and smoke began seeping from one end. It was fast, and within seconds I could hardly see. I shot blindly twice,  before crouching down and covering Luke's body in mine, flattening my palms on my ears in an attempt to block out the deafening close range gunshot that was now splitting through the air. The thick smoke drowned my lungs, making every breath catch in my throat. I coughed into my arm to stay quiet.

Rough hands grabbed me by the arms,  tugging me away from Luke. I gripped his shirt and dug my heels into the floor.

"Stop." The man pulling me growled into my ear, squeezing his hands around my arms so tightly that I lost sensation in my hands.

I ignored him, trying to yank myself from his grip.

"Cleo?" Luke whispered from the smoke. I cried out, thrashing in the mans grip, trying to ignore what was left of the gun fire. Something cold hit the back of my head, making my vision colourful and making me queasy. My struggles became futile with my fear and possible concussion kicking in. The man lifted me onto his back and crawled with me out of the room. I was propped up against a wall somewhere, the world spinning around me.

"Just kill me," I croaked, coughing smoke from my lungs.

"That won't be necessary." A sharp voice snapped. I looked up, squinting, to see a black clad man, with huge boots on, and a MED patch strapped on his arm. The gunshot had stopped now, leaving a ringing silence in my ears. "Your friends, are they safe to move?"

I pushed my back further into the wall and looked down, a sinking feeling in my stomach. Can I trust this man?

He knelt down to my level and shifted the gun slung from his shoulder aside. "Mr. Forn sent us." He gestured to the five other men and women. Two stood, talking hurriedly. The other three slumped against the walls, drinking bottled water, just come from the living room.

"Luke got shot," I began, "but he's already been dragged down the stairs so I doubt moving him from the living room will do much difference. I don't know anything more about Jason's state than you do."

He nodded and walked into the living room, commanding a couple of his team to follow. A minute later, Luke and Jason were lying on the floor in front of me, both unconscious. I attempted to move towards them, but medics started rushing through the front door, swarming around them. I stood, touching the soft spot on my head and wincing.

Cautiously walking past the men, I slipped through the door back into the living room. Dead guards littered the room, slumped over each other. I stepped over a couple to stand over Linda.   Her eyes were half open, her body a punctured mess. I gagged, holding my head for a second, before walking out of the room again. She was dead, it was over.