| |
Kendra hurled the stun grenade out into the clearing, and it detonated.
The concussive blast was like thunder and lightning combined, and Onyx and his operators flinched, confused.
That’s when Adam opened fire, hitting the operator on the catwalk.
He convulsed from the bullet impacts, his torso twisting, and he dropped off the platform, plunging straight down, landing with a god-awful crunch on the ground floor.
Kendra swung out of cover, adrenaline scorching her senses. She fanned her trigger, hitting the operator closest to her with a three-round burst, followed by another. He fell against a desk, overturning a workstation.
Kendra swung her aim around and tracked the remaining operator. But he already had his weapon raised – a Skorpion machine pistol. She didn’t give him the chance to use it. She hit him with a three-round burst, then another, and he went down.
Kendra pivoted, trying to bring her gun to bear on Onyx—
But she froze when she saw Onyx grabbing Ryan, yanking him from his chair, using him as a shield. Onyx had his left arm locked across Ryan’s neck, his left hand holding a flashlight. In his right hand, he had his Skorpion raised over Ryan’s shoulder.
Shoulders tight, Kendra tried to line up a shot, but her hands were shaking, and she couldn’t do it.
Damn it.
That’s when Onyx aimed the flashlight in her eyes, and she felt her night-vision goggles dim.
Going on instinct, Kendra ducked and rolled as Onyx opened up on her, his gun’s muzzle flashing like a strobe, bullets ripping into the shelf in front of her.
A chorus of sparks screamed.
Shredded packaging misted the air.
The stench of gunsmoke was overpowering.
Panting, ears ringing, Kendra picked herself up and darted down the aisle. She swapped her half-spent magazine for a fresh one. Then she reached the other end of the rack, slicing the corner, repositioning herself to outflank Onyx, hoping to get a better angle.
But when she came around, she saw that Onyx and Ryan were gone.