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DONNA-LOU PULLED the door open and held it against the wall to allow the others to move in quickly. The guard on the left was just beginning to turn to see who was coming in and she almost went into a panic. Her eyebrows shot up and she opened her mouth to yell a warning.
But Rory moved past her in a heartbeat and drove the side of his submachine gun's metal stock into the guard's jaw. As the man fell, Rory crashed the gun barrel into his skull to make sure he was down for good.
Skye moved in behind Rory, smoothly and efficiently taking down the guard on the right side with the butt of her weapon.
Chet moved through the open doorway, stepped between Rory and Skye as they did their work, and aimed upwards to the left. He caught sight of a guard and pulled the trigger. His submachine gun roared.
Donna-Lou hands were now shaking and she fumbled to get her weapon in hand, now positive she had messed everything up with the hesitation. Moving on legs of jelly through the doorway, she lifted her submachine gun up and to the right as she had been told. A guard was just reacting to the invasion from below. Donna-Lou began firing and filled the wall to the left of the guard with 9 mm slugs. He reacted by ducking the other way.
Children were screaming and scrambling for cover under the cafeteria tables and away from the gunfire. The smell of gunpowder battled with that of soup, sandwiches, pizza and soda drinks.
Rory moved forward quickly and spun, looking up for another target.
A guard was looking down and just bringing his weapon up.
Rory fired a long burst.
The guard danced a bullet jig, dropped his weapon and fell forward over the railing, his back hitting the floor as Rory began searching for other targets.
Skye lifted her weapon and took out the guard Donna-Lou was firing at. Then she reached out and placed her hand on Donna-Lou's arm, indicating they had got him.
Everything went quiet. And then a hard voice broke the silence, "Drop your weapons or the kid is dead."
Everyone looked towards the cafeteria tables. One of the guards held a young boy, left arm around his neck to hold him firmly in place while his right hand held a submachine gun pointed at his head.
Donna-Lou dropped her weapon and cried out, "Corry –!" The submachine gun clattered on the floor as she put her hands to her mouth.
Corry opened his mouth but the guard squeezed his arm around the boy's neck, cutting off any words. Emma Houston was on her knees under the cafeteria table behind Corry, shaking in fear and she let out a sob.
Rory, Skye, and Chet looked at each other. They had no recourse. They slowly lowered their weapon to the floor.
More silence ensued as the two sides eyed each other. Then a clapping sound came from the right. A tall, thin man with snow white hair was clapping slowly as he emerged from a side room on the far side of the cafeteria. He continued clapping as he walked slowly across the floor, a superior half-smile on his face, "I was told you folks were digging up things back in Golden. But I honestly didn't expect any of you to figure this place out. Or have the balls to infiltrate it." He looked to the guard holding the boy for a moment, "I've alerted the others," he said in a raspy voice.
The guard nodded, tightening arm left arm around Corry.
Corry winced.
Donna-Lou made a move forward, "Don't–!"
The guard tilted his arm up, emphasizing the gun he held against Corry's head.
Chet reached out and stopped Donna-Lou's movement.
Donna-Lou ripped her arm away from Chet, giving him an angry look. She looked back at the guard holding Corry and then took a step back, fear for him registering on her face.
The tall, thin man continued walking slowly across the floor, his eyes darting to each intruder, measuring them up. He walked to within twenty feet and then stopped. His eyes scanned down Skye's body for a moment and then he turned his head and looked right at Chet, "Hello, cousin."
Chet looked surprised and then shaken.
Donna-Lou's moist eyes looked to Chet, "D-do you know him, Chet?"
Unable to find his voice, Chet just shook his head no.
"No, he doesn't know me," the white-haired man said. "But we are family. Goes back a long ways. I've been watching him for some years now–"
Chet had a surprised look on his face, "Watching me? Why?"
The white-haired man's eyes narrowed, "To see what you knew. To see what you may have been told when you were younger." His eyes studied Chet's face and reactions. Then the man gave a derisive snort, "The fact you're here proves you're no better than your kin folk–"
Chet's voice was a hoarse whisper, "You killed them, didn't you? You killed them."
The white-haired man never answered and the superior half-smile stayed in place.
"You must be Old Tuck," Rory said.
The white-haired man quickly looked at Rory, the half-smile leaving his face. "That's right." He took a step forward, his eyes studying Rory, "Few people know of me. You seem to be a man with deep contacts. Just keep in mind we don't like people who pry onto our affairs...."
"Why did you kill my daddy and my grand-daddy?" interjected Chet in a low, strained voice. "Everybody loved them. They were great people–"
"Great people? They were traitors to the cause," spat Old Tuck. "Traitors against those who would see the old South rise against the tyranny of the North. Your family didn't have any honor–"
"Honor!" Donna-Lou exclaimed. "You kidnap children and put them to work in a factory and you talk about honor?"
"Ye,s I do," Old Tuck said matter-of-factly. "The honor of the old South runs through my veins. And because of that, we took care of these children. For many of them, they're from the poverty-stricken inner cities with their drug-addled parents and it was better care than they received from their own families–"
Donna-Lou bared her teeth, "You still don't have the right–"
"I do have the right," Old Tuck stated firmly. "We're building something. Something important–"
"Not important enough to involve my son," Donna-Lou snapped.
A look of sheer contempt crossed Old Tuck, face, "Fine. He's proved to be of no help to us anyway." He looked towards the guard holding Corry, "Kill the boy."
The guard grinned and he looked at Corry's head as his finger tightened on the trigger.