Agent Zero

- - Prologue - -

"How many are in there?" A voice crackled through the radio. The woman, already with blood in her hair, looked to where the other group was waiting, making eye contact with the person talking into the intercom. She fumbles with the belt wrapped around her waist, numb fingers bouncing off the clip attached to the radio.

She finally raised her own radio to her lips and pressed the button to respond, "based on the damage, we presume a minimum of five, sir, but possibly ten at most." His face turned stormy before he nodded his head in acknowledgement and turned to the others surrounding him. He kept his finger pressed down on the radio but spoke to those surrounding him as well.

"We shoot on my count." He turned to his men, each one returning the determined look that he held in his own eyes. "We have the advantage of them not knowing our location, so we need to take them out with the first round. They can't have time to escape." He pressed his back to the wall and raised his rifle, getting ready to shoot. He lifted his hand enough for the surrounding men and women to see, but not high enough for it to reach above the wall. Everyone waited for his signal with bated breath, waiting for his hand to close into a tight fist, waiting to lift their guns and shoot. The moment it did, they all rose to their feet and shot.

The bullets flew continuously, the sound turning numb with its dull rhythm. He raised his fist again and, in a domino like effect, they all lowered their weapons.

A single gunshot went off and a woman's head snapped backwards before her body fell in a heap on the floor, her gun clattering beside her. All movement seized and then two more shots rang out with two echoing thumps shorty after. Each soldier, with their bodies frozen in shock, shuddered as they stared at the bullet wounds; two through the head and one through the eye.

The commanders fist shoots downward and his body follows before the rest copy his action. Another shot echoes around them as another unlucky soul drops to the floor, blood leaking from the hole between his eyes.

"Where the hell are those shots coming from?" Saliva flung from his mouth as he seethed through clenched teeth. Four men down, they only have eighteen remaining.

He looked straight into the eyes of each person close enough to hear him, each crouching with their backs stiff as a board, each trying their hardest not to show the fear that was festering within them.

"We don't know sir; we were sure that everyone was inside the building and no one could survive that many bullets." The woman fiddled with the gun across her chest, unable to hide her terror at the prospect of dying. A rabid growl echoed among them as a man stood with his gun aimed towards where he hoped the culprit was. He took aim towards the building, but no bullets were released. None of his, at least. His body flew backwards, his head bouncing off the wall behind him, and he crumpled to his side. Blood sputtered from his mouth as violent coughs were released from his chest. The same chest which now displayed a gaping hole.

"We'll stay low and get into the same wing." The commander shuffled his feet and started moving across the wall. He had no clue where exactly the bullets were coming from, but he knew it was somewhere from the south wing of the building.

"But sir, they know where we are." The same woman's voice sounded hectic as she felt like screaming at him to walk away. She didn't want to die, none of these men did. The commander turned towards her with a thunderous look in his eyes.

"They know about the bombs; they have to die." He left no room for any arguments as he turned around again to start moving. The suns slipped below the horizon, swallowing the natural light.

"They don't know we are coming and probably won't suspect it. Now, stay quiet and stay down." They crept across the halls, moving swiftly to get to their target as silently but as quickly as possible.

A shadow whispered across the walls and one of them turned, the wall crumbling under their bullets. He breathed heavily, sweat seeping between his brows, as he dropped his trembling arms to his side.

Silence consumed them as he pulled his finger from the trigger. Silence which brought them to the edge of insanity. A grunt came from one of the men and each turned to look at him, a knife lodged in his eye, blood pooling around his head.

"Sir, this is bad." Their voice trembled as they spoke up, it was not supposed to go this way. They were supposed to travel to the abandoned warehouse, without any trouble. They were supposed to pick up the weapons, without any trouble. They were supposed to head over to England, without any trouble.

"We still have them outnumbered." Even the commander didn't sound so confident of himself anymore. In their previous position, they had the cover of the walls and the element of surprise here and now, they were stood out in the open with only the darkness available for cover.

"Yes, you do," every gun blasted in the voice's direction, but none of them seemed to make a difference as it spoke up again, "but let's see how you fair against one of your own bombs." A clank was heard before a rhythmic beep picked up. Every head flicked in every direction. If only they knew where the countdown was coming from, they could stop it.

"They won't be used on the agency like you planned, but it would be a shame to waste them." They all sprung in every direction. Hoping, praying that there was some way out of this death trap; some way for them to survive.

They heard it first. A loud bang not so far of. Then more, each after the other. Each somehow getting louder despite the already deafening volume.

Surrounded by fire. Suffocated in heat. Swallowed in concrete.

The explosions echoed as each bomb detonated, triggering the next. Each one desolated the building and dust erupted into clouds around the fallen rubble. Some scream, still trying to run from their inevitable death. However, some stop. Their minds flooding with fear and regret as they realised and understood that they were going to die. There was no way out of this.

A single figure slipped away from the destruction, her actions swift and silent as they raced to the trees and into the night. She moved through the shadows with familiarity; easily missed if you only blinked for a second. Easily forgotten with no one alive to remember.