Evenfall (164 page)

"Maybe we could check one of the fallout shelters?" He looked surprised that he'd actually spoken out loud but seemed encouraged by the fact that no one immediately shot the idea down and continued. "They're secure,
well-fortified
and they only have one exit and entrance so anyone who tried to infiltrate wouldn't be able to realistically take it over unless they have a whole army but from the looks of things--"

"It seems like one relatively small but well organized group, judging by the lack of open combat," Sin finished the sentence and nodded. "They'd be more likely to strike quickly and silently instead of drawing everyone into one big fight, which is most likely why they are using darkness to help them with the element of surprise. A direct attack on a bunker would be foolish for such a plan."

Boyd quickly ran through what he remembered of the blueprints, the placement of the bunkers, and where it would make the most sense that they would develop a command post under these circumstances.

"From what I recall of what Lenny told me, the three shelters have an interconnected camera system to monitor each other. The bunker near the courtyard was the most recently built and also has several well-fortified cameras on its own circuit that monitor the area directly surrounding the entrance to the shelter. Given that the electricity and generator seem to be down, all the cameras are probably down in the compound but that shouldn't affect the bunkers; they have their own generators that I doubt have been compromised yet since I seem to recall they were more difficult to access."

He looked at the others thoughtfully. "Assuming that the camera system hasn't been destroyed there as well, that bunker may be the most logical choice; it's centrally located and has additional surveillance capabilities allowing them to see whether an enemy or ally is approaching the shelter. We could check there."

Sin nodded and immediately began to move in the direction of the bunker, "Sounds good."

He tossed one of his guns to Boyd and the two of them moved ahead slightly while flanking Brian and Thierry. They remained in the shadows of the buildings, the lack of light from lamp posts providing them with the same cover of darkness that the intruders depended on and the four of them spread out enough to not make them a single target. Despite the fact that there was obvious activity going on elsewhere judging from the random bursts of gunfire that sounded in the distance, they didn't come across any enemies, any agents or any bodies in the short distance between the lab and the courtyard.

The courtyard was quite eerie because of how deserted it actually was; even late into the night or early into the morning there were typically small groups of people going to and fro. But now there was nothing except dark splatters on the ground that seemed to indicate drag marks and blood, soft scrabbling sounds that echoed off the walls of the surrounding buildings and the unmistakable feeling that from somewhere around them, they were being watched. But no one attacked and if it was an ally, no one attempted to call out to them or join forces. So they continued on with Sin and Boyd slinking stealthily through the darkness as Brian supported the now limping Thierry, whose feet were covered by bruises and bleeding lacerations that had accumulated since their escape from Hale's compound.

At one point Sin heard low whispering somewhere around them but when he lifted his gun, aiming it in the precise direction the sound came from, the whispers abruptly stopped and he could hear nothing more. It seemed like an eternity to get across the courtyard but when they finally reached the entrance to the bunker, the weight of what felt like thousands of pounds lifted from their collective shoulders in the hopes that in the next few moments they'd find out exactly what was going on.

However the relief didn't last long; as soon as they approached the doorway a shot rang out and slammed into Brian's shoulder, sending the young agent careening into the concrete archway that housed the bunker's blast door. Thierry yelped in alarm, automatically ducking for cover as he simultaneously pulled Brian deeper into the doorway, pressing his hands against the wound. Sin and Boyd pinned themselves against the walls, ducking down and behind the railing as they sent gunfire through the darkness and in the direction the shot had come from. A moment passed without them knowing whether or not they'd successfully killed their assailant but before anything else could happen, there was a low beep and the door to the bunker slid open.

Boyd immediately grabbed Brian and helped Thierry pull him into the bunker; although he'd only been hit in the shoulder, none of them were about to stand up until they were out of danger and Brian couldn't put weight on his hand to crawl in on his own. Sin briefly stayed outside as cover but no one else shot at them and he ducked inside seconds before the door slid firmly shut. Boyd glanced quickly around the open room they found themselves in but they were alone; the door was obviously automated. A set of stairs led down and Boyd flipped the safety on the gun and slid it into his waistband.

He returned his attention to Brian; Thierry remained crouched next to him, looking pale and in pain although he was currently concentrating on pressing his hand to Brian's wound.

"Are you alright?" Boyd asked Brian, although his gaze flicked down to Thierry's feet as well.

Brian nodded slowly, wincing as tried to sit up straight and looking simultaneously relieved that they were in the bunker and mortified that he'd been injured. He glanced at Sin, who brushed by and clamored down the stairs, before returning his gaze to Boyd as they helped him to stand entirely. "Yeah. My first time getting shot though-- hurts like a bitch."

"Yes, it does," Boyd agreed, moving to Brian's good side to help support him. He noticed that Thierry had moved off to the side and was standing there silently, his expression becoming more difficult to read now that they were in an area that was going to lead them directly to people from the Agency.

He could see that there were small smears of blood beneath Thierry's feet each time he moved and it almost made him feel bad for him; as far as he could tell, Thierry had not betrayed them yet who knew what he would face now. Janus had intended to kill him and the Agency had rescued him, but Boyd didn't know what Connors intended to do with him. There was the possibility that Thierry had given Janus the location of the Agency but Boyd highly doubted that Thierry had been privy to the location in the first place so he didn't see how he could have betrayed them that way. Even so, he supposed it was a possibility; yet Thierry had seemed so believable in the car.

"They should have a small medical facility down there so we should be able to get you both help," Boyd said finally, and he looked at Thierry so he knew that meant their health was equally important and he didn't consider him to be an enemy at that moment.

Thierry looked at him silently and inclined his head slightly before the three of them made their way down the stairs to join an impatient Sin, who stood in front of a second doorway. Thierry moved as quickly as possible but given the considerable distance between the first doorway and the second doorway, the torn soles of his feet caused him to lag slightly behind. Despite that, they made the long descent fairly quickly and reached the bottom just as the door opened and a disheveled General Carhart appeared on the other side. It didn't seem as though he'd been in any combat, but it did seem as though he'd either been in bed when the events had begun or had been working out, judging from the t-shirt and athletic sneakers he wore. His hair was spiky, uncombed and his jaw was shadowed by stubble; it was a far cry from the professional manner he usually dressed in and everyone seemed to note that except for Sin.

"What the hell is going on?" Sin demanded as a greeting, green eyes narrowed accusingly at the General.

Carhart stared back at him, his face a mixture of relief at seeing them back safe and aggravation over whatever was going on in the room behind him. "We have a problem."

"No shit," Sin said sarcastically and moved further into the room when Carhart stepped aside to allow them entrance. His eyes rested on Thierry briefly, who studiously avoided his gaze, but other than that he didn't speak to the man or ask them about the assignment.

The doorway led into a large room that seemed to be the size of the Agency cafeteria; in addition to cots, there was a mess area and a latrine but in the far corner of the room there was a monitor system set up as well as a desk with communicative tools. It could easily hold a couple of hundred people and the additional doorways most likely led to rooms that could contain even more. However despite the size, there were only about thirty agents in the area at the moment, two of which Sin recognized as General Stephens and General Willis.

"Is this you people's idea of a secure compound?" Sin demanded after a moment, drawing the attention of the others in the room as he stood there glowering at them all.

Carhart made a face and closed the door, moving towards the other generals as he ran a weary hand through his already unkempt hair. Boyd saw that both General Stephens and General Willis were there.

"A lot has happened in the last hour, Vega. We're not entirely sure how it came to this. We only recently managed to group here and piece together what's happened and what locations have been hit so far but we have scouts out gathering information as we speak so that we can formulate a more specific plan."

Boyd glanced toward Carhart again, finding it difficult to reconcile the casually dressed, unkempt man in front of him with the impeccable General he was used to seeing.

One of the men at the table looked at them with a weary, mildly put off expression. Boyd recognized him as Stephens, although he'd never met either general formally. It took him a second to realize that must be Kassian's supervisor, the person Harriet had mentioned.

General Stephen was a lean but well-built man in his late fifties, whose black hair was flecked with grey along the sides. His eyes were a piercing dark green and a large scar crossed from his temple to his jaw on the left side of his face. He glanced briefly at a nearby agent but that was enough for the man to jump to attention and immediately move over to Boyd's side, reaching out to pull Brian along with him toward one of the doors, presumably to a medical treatment facility. The agent didn't so much as glance at Thierry, though, leaving it clear but unspoken that he was to remain in their sight.

The other general just stared at Sin with unconcealed hostility. "Doesn't anyone teach it to be respectful?"

"Didn't anyone teach you how to keep militants off your base?" Sin countered flatly, staring at Willis and not seeming at all impressed by his rank.

"Hsin, shut up," Carhart snapped before any more could be said. He glared over at the other medic present and jerked his head in Thierry's direction. "Take care of him but I don't want him out of our sight."

The medic nodded, not seeming to know who Thierry was or why he was important, but following the order regardless. He led the French man over to a table and instructed him to sit down before he went about the process of examining his wounds and especially his battered feet.

Boyd's gaze lingered on Willis, not pleased in the least to hear him referring to Sin as 'it.' The man was large and muscular, looking as though he could easily have a second job as a professional wrestler even at his age of what appeared to be late fifties to early sixties. His dark eyes glittered intelligently even as he looked at Sin as though he meant less than dirt to him and distaste made his expression turn harder.

"This isn't the time for a pissing match. We were in the middle of an important decision," Stephen said curtly and turned to Willis. "As I was saying, I realize that in a perfect world, consolidating the non-combatants into a more defensible position would be preferable, but in this setting that would be opening ourselves up for disaster. Most of the support staff and non-field agents on this compound have no practical training in how to respond to combat situations; whether or not they meant to, they would just get in the way. It's better to keep them in contained areas where we know they won't cause more trouble or put themselves or others at risk."

"And in the event that one of the intruders managed to infiltrate this area, or if the attackers actually turn out to be rogue agents, we'd be a bunch of sitting ducks. This whole situation is too complex, too confusing, to even consider such a simple solution," Carhart said wearily, not seeming at all happy about what he was saying. "Maybe if we weren't shrouded in darkness with no communication at all--"

"And how would they manage to infiltrate?" Willis demanded, cutting him off. "There would be an escort, we could gather the trained field agents--"

"So you're saying you know all of the maintenance, service and clerical staff by sight?" Carhart asked flatly, staring at the older man with little to no patience on his face. "I think we need to end this argument now before we waste any more time on it. It's already been vetoed by two of us and if the Marshal or Inspector were here, they'd both agree."

"I don't mean to interrupt, Generals," Boyd said as soon as there was a natural pause long enough for him to speak, "but we just returned from a mission and... What exactly is happening? I don't know about Marshal Connors, but I would be surprised if the Inspector wasn't in the tower right now. Have we lost communication with them? How did this all start?"

"Are we briefing every random agent on the situation now?" Willis snapped, seeming more interested in his losing argument than in answering Boyd or Sin's questions.