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“Delta One, you’ve got a problem,” Tanner called out over the radio. “Multiple armed hostiles are headed your way.”
“Which direction are they coming from?” Tuna asked.
“I count at least ten coming from the Superdome,” Tanner replied.
I looked at Jenny and said, “We’ve got enough problems trying to get ourselves out of here. We simply can’t worry about the others. I won’t risk it. I’m sorry.”
“Alright, let’s get moving,” Tuna said. “Jenny, hold on to Wolf and stay close. Hyatt, you’re with Paco. It’s going to be dark, so stay close and watch your step going down the stairs.”
“Snuggle up, big man,” Paco said to Hyatt.
“The hotel has been evacuated,” Casper added. “Call out anyone you see.”
“Everyone ready?” Tuna asked.
“Let’s move,” he said before keying up his radio. “Butch, we’re coming out.”
“Clear,” he replied.
Tuna took point with Casper close behind him. I followed with Jenny holding on to the carry handle on my body armor. Paco and Hyatt filed in behind us as we made our way back into the atrium toward the stairwell.
We entered the stairwell and started down. Tuna, Butch, and Casper alternated bounding movements to cover our descent while Paco and I maintained our relative positions in the formation. I was careful and deliberate with my steps as we went down each flight of stairs to ensure Jenny had no issues. Red emergency lighting barely illuminated the steps for her, and I knew she was likely exhausted from being held captive.
“Contact left,” Casper called out as we made our way down. He dispatched the threat quickly with his rifle, hitting the armed man in the forehead. “Clear.”
We continued moving down the stairs. As Tuna reached the recently dropped tango, he kicked away the rifle and continued to the next level.
“Be careful,” I whispered to Jenny as we approached the lifeless body. We carefully stepped over him and then kept going. We had twenty more flights of stairs until we reached the street level exit for our egress out of hostile territory.
“What’s the status of the approaching threats?” Tuna asked over the radio.
“I count six in the lobby and six still outside,” Tanner replied.
“Keep us updated,” Tuna said. “What about our exfil?”
“Still clear for now,” she replied.
“Copy.”
We kept moving down the stairs, unimpeded as we quietly moved toward the street level exit. I checked on Jenny as we stopped at each floor. She was hanging on and doing a great job staying right on my heels. Hyatt was struggling a bit with Paco, but had made no complaints so far.
“Four contacts moving up your stairwell,” Tanner announced.
“Contact,” Casper replied before firing.
Casper dropped the first tango, but the second was just out of his field of fire. The two men that were behind him took cover and began blindfiring toward us. The sound of the rifles in the confined space was deafening, causing Jenny to let go of the carry handle on my armor and cover hear ears as she squatted down and took cover behind me.
Tuna returned fire along with Casper, but the steep angle to the lower floor made it tough to get a clean shot amidst the relatively effective suppressive fire from the tangos below.
“We’re moving back into the atrium,” Tuna announced over the radio.
Butch laid down suppressive fire as Casper moved to the breacher position. He opened the door toward him and Tuna moved in. I grabbed Jenny’s arm with my left hand and held my rifle up with my right and followed.
We stopped in the hallway by the drink machines and icemaker that led to the atrium. I checked Jenny over to make sure she hadn’t been hit and then pointed to the carry handle for her to hold on again. Casper covered the stairwell as we stacked up.
“I don’t see any hostiles on this floor, but there are more making their way up the stairwell you were just in. Recommend you go to the northwest stairs and take that exit,” Tanner said.
“Copy,” Tuna replied.
We moved out into the atrium and turned right. Down below at the restaurant level, I could see hostiles with weapon-mounted flashlights. I heard one of them yelling commands at the other, but couldn’t quite make out what he was saying.
Tuna pointed to the northwest corner of the atrium and tapped his helmet with his left hand as he moved out. Jenny and I were right behind him. I reminded myself to not let my guard down, especially from above and the room doors to our right. Even though the hotel had been evacuated, there was still a chance a hostile or even a noncombatant could spring out at us. I made a point to check every room window as we passed them while Tuna focused on what was in front of us.
Casper dispatched two hostiles in the stairwell before joining us as we continued down the narrow walkway. I switched to infrared on my helmet mounted display and saw no threats between us and the current objective.
As we reached the end of the corridor and started to make the left turn toward the other side of the atrium, a loud explosion suddenly rocked the building. The floor shook beneath us and I heard glass shattering. I grabbed Jenny and took cover with her against one of the room doors as a secondary explosion shook the building.
“Jesus! What the fuck was that?” Paco yelled.
“Is everyone okay?” Tuna asked.
Everyone gave a thumbs up after taking a quick inventory. I looked Jenny over and she nodded before whispering, “I’m fine, Troy.”
“Overwatch, what the hell was that?” Tuna asked over the radio.
“Car bomb two blocks from you near the exfil point,” Tanner replied. “Looks like it was targeting NOPD SWAT that was staging.”
Goddammit. More good officers killed for this phony war. It made me so angry, knowing that it was all just a ploy to create chaos by people with no real worries in the world.
“Your exfil point is no longer viable,” Tanner said. “Recommend you go to the secondary.”
“The place where the hostiles are now staging?” I asked, chiming in even though I knew I shouldn’t.
“There’s no time to debate it,” Tuna said as he stood. “We’re moving to the secondary exfil site.”
And with that, our quick exit had just turned into a trip right into the hornet’s nest. We were headed to the Superdome – the place where all of the hostiles that were trying to kill us had just come from, and potentially where thousands more were staging.
I didn’t like it.