Patriots & Tyrants (Rebels & Lies Trilogy Book 2) (30 page)

“Shit, this is not
good.” Clarke said as he pulled up a chair, his damp, gray hair dripping from
the back of his Balaclava.

“What the hell are you
going to do?” Kaspar asked. He knew that something was off when Clarke used a
swear word.

“I’m going to try.”

Harvey moved in behind
them. “You going to be able to salvage anything?”

“We’ll see.”

“We’ve got to raise
that flag, you two going to be okay by yourselves?”

“You serious?” Kaspar
asked. “Not if there’s another hit squad like that coming for us.”

“I don’t think so.
They’ve got enough problems outside. I’ve got to accomplish this mission.”

Clarke cleared his
throat as he feverishly got his tech gear out of his bag. “This is a part of
the mission.”

“I told you before,
this is a secondary objective. Everything we’ve done so far will be in vain if
that flag isn’t raised.” Harvey replied.

“Just go,” Kaspar
said. “I’ll watch his back here. Just hurry the hell up.”

“Okay, if you get
overrun, just call for us on the radio.” Harvey pointed to his partner. “You,
come with me.”

His partner simply
nodded.

***

Sullivan took out yet
another enemy and then moved back down behind the safety of the broken white
stone. It was just in time to see one of his new buddies get hit. The rebel was
hit twice in the chest and his body flew back. His head slammed against the
earth beneath. The rounds hadn’t killed the man, yet, but it certainly wasn’t
looking good for him. The USR soldiers were starting to overwhelm their
invaders. There really wasn’t time, but X moved over to his friend, pulled his
mask off, and then looked into his eyes through tinted lenses.

“Sugar, you okay?” X
asked.

“I can’t…feel
anything.” Sugar replied.

“It’s going to be
okay, you hear me?”

“You just…take…care of
them…don’t let…”

Sugar’s head moved
over to the side and his breathing stopped. X let out a curse before he shot up
from behind his cover spot and fired at any and all the enemies he could see.
Sullivan could feel something in the pit of his stomach as he joined in with X.
Statue took Pinkie with him to another block of ruble to the right of their
current position.

“We can’t hold out
much longer!” Sullivan yelled in between firing his ZX-17.

“We’ve got to!” X
shouted back.

***

“How are we doing?”
Sanders demanded through Harvey’s earpiece.

“Kaspar is on the
fifth floor with the Wizard,” Harvey replied. “Another soldier and myself are
heading up to the roof to raise the flag.”

“Make sure you take
out those snipers and fast. They are shredding our men on the ground.”

“Consider it done.
Out.”

Harvey almost felt
himself throwing up. Sanders talked all big and bad and he wasn’t even in the
battle right now. That was okay, though, Harvey reasoned. They needed someone
on the outside looking in. His new partner followed him close behind as they
reached the stair case again. Harvey stopped in front of it and the other rebel
moved to the other side of the door. The leftover held up his fingers and when
he reached “zero” he swung the door open.

The silent one went in
first, Kriss drawn and ready to fire. There was an uncomfortable silence in the
staircase. It was the kind of silence that didn’t belong. The calm before the
storm. Harvey just hoped that Kaspar could fend for himself if it came down to
it. He felt rotten for leaving the two down there by themselves, but it had to
be done, the mission still needed to be accomplished. Even if all the men
inside the Capitol died it wouldn’t matter as long as that flag was raised.

They reached the end
of the hall where the red door leading to roof stood. Harvey took a deep breath
then reached for the silver handle. Once again, he raised his fingers for a
countdown. His partner watched with intent. Once all his fingers were
exhausted, Harvey pulled down soft on the handle.

Surprising to him,
nobody was watching the door. He aimed his Kriss at a sniper directly in front
of him, at the edge of the roof, and fired. The round tore through the back of
the enemy and he fell to the ground where he would bleed to death. The loud
rumble from the submachine gun startled the other snipers on the roof. They
each dropped their sniper rifles and pulled handguns from their thigh holsters
and fired at the intruders. Harvey moved to his right while firing his gun at
the same time. He took out another sniper before he stopped for cover behind a
ventilation box. His partner was behind a second ventilation box, about ten
yards from his position.

“You okay?” Harvey
cried as the enemies started to move around the roof.

“I’m fine!” the
partner cried. “You?”

“I’m great,” Harvey
said. It was then that he realized that he had been hit. He looked down at the
source of the pain. It was his right shoulder and the blood was leaking through
his black shirt.

“You sure you’re not
hit?” the partner asked as rounds from the enemy started to ping off the metal
box.

“I said I’m fine.”

Harvey ignored the
kid, pivoted right, and fired away at an enemy position.

“How’s the hacking
coming?” Kaspar asked with his back turned to Clarke. He had kept his gun
shouldered the entire time that the Wizard was at work. It would just be a
matter of time, he knew, that the USR would send some Agents into the computer
lab for some much needed clean up.

“I’m working as fast
as I can,” Clarke replied. “Some of this stuff is disturbing to say the least.”

“Is it anything
useful?”

“I’m not quite sure,
yet. My main interest is why those men are being abducted all across the
nation.”

“Well, you better get
to something juicy fast.”

“Working on it.”
Clarke replied.

Kaspar resumed his
quiet demeanor and refocused his full attention on the doors that came in to
the lab. In the background, the sounds of typing and clicking away from Clarke
filled his ears. The sounds were starting to get distracting, almost making him
nervous, as he continued to watch. He knew that he couldn’t tell Clarke to stop
unless he wanted to just leave without any Intel. The feeling within that it
was a mistake to bring the leftover in on this mission started to fill his
mind. What information could he get on that computer that would make it all
worth it? The hope was that this whole thing about men being abducted could
turn the citizens of the USR against their leaders, but they had tried that
before with the population control drug, and with no apparent luck.

“You almost done?”
Kaspar demanded as he started to grow more nervous.

“I’m about as close to
being finished as when you asked me two seconds ago.” Clarke replied. He
reached up and rubbed at the Balaclava on his head. “Got it.”

“Got what?”

“I’ve got access to
the files about the abductions. This is pretty…”

Just then a wave of
Agents poured through the room.

***

Harvey heard Kaspar’s
pleas for help through his earpiece but didn’t have the time to respond to
them. The firefight was growing intense on the roof. Even though the Agents
only had pistols with them, they had the advantage in numbers and were damn good
gunfighters at that. Harvey moved right and found an Agent taking shots at his
partner. He fired a five round burst into the Agent and dropped him. The stock
of the gun punched at the wound on his shoulder and sent a stinging pain all
the way down his arm. He bit his lip and continued on.

The silent one took
out another one of the snipers. The enemy was now down to two. They were both
hiding behind a black, metal ventilation box in front of them. Harvey got the
attention of his partner by slamming his fist into the metal box he was using
for cover. His partner looked over at him and paused. The leftover pointed his
right index finger at the rebel first and then moved it to the position of the
snipers. One of the snipers popped up and fired a few rounds from his handgun
at Harvey’s cover spot. After the brief interruption, his partner acknowledged
his understanding of the order.

Harvey counted to
three with his fingers. On three, he motioned with his hand for the silent one
to move forward. As soon as he started to make a run for it, Harvey pivoted
over to his left and fired towards the box. With his finger planted firmly on
the trigger, the Kriss spit fire and a wave of rounds slammed into the black
box, sending sparks flying into the air.

The partner kept his
head low and didn’t flinch at the sound of bullets ricocheting off of the black
metal. When he reached the box, he lowered his body more and flattened his back
against it. The automatic fire from the leftover ceased. During the shooting
the rebel was able to mask his footsteps with the gunfire. He waited and
listened for any sign of movement from the two enemies on the other side.

The moment that a shot
was fired the rebel popped up and fired his submachine gun into the sniper. The
sniper fell to the ground, the .45 caliber rounds pierced clean through the
armor. Harvey heard the shots and turned his attention to the action. He saw
his partner take out the enemy and then saw the final enemy move up to get a
shot in. That sniper never stood a chance as both of the rebels fired their
weapons into him.

“Clear!” the silent
one shouted.

Harvey reached for his
throat. “Snipers out. Preparing to raise the flag.”

“About fucking time!”
Sanders’s voice cried into his ear. 

Kaspar’s voice cut in
with the loud boom of automatic gunfire in the background. “We could really use
you two down here, sir!”

“The flag comes
first!” Sanders yelled.

“Got it,” Harvey said.

The fatigue deep
inside of Harvey’s body caused his legs to ache. It didn’t help matters that
the bullet wound in his shoulder nearly rendered his arm useless. His partner
tried to get in front of him to see how he was doing. Harvey pushed him aside,
his only focus, only function at this moment was to raise that damn flag.

Upon approach to the
flag pole he called his partner over to help. The silent one was instructed to
bring down the flag with that disgusting red and black USR insignia on it. His
partner got to work on lowering the flag as Harvey undid the straps across his
chest. Once the straps were slid off of his shoulders and down his arms he
undid the zipper. With a glance upward, he saw his partner almost had the enemy
flag to the ground.

“You sure you’re
okay?” his partner asked as he unhooked the USR flag.

“I’m fine,” Harvey
replied. He knew that he heard the voice from somewhere and whoever it was did
a bang up job of disguising it because he couldn’t know for sure. None of that
mattered now, though. He had to raise the flag and go help Kaspar fend off the
Agents after him.

“What should I do with
this one?” his partner asked with the flag in his hands.

“Burn it.” Harvey
replied.

Harvey watched as his
partner stepped aside and put a Zippo to the USR flag. He wanted to sit and
watch it burn but there were more pressing matters. With a firm grip on the end
of the flag, he moved the hooks on the rope into the holes. He made sure that
the hooks were on tight with a couple of tugs at them. Once satisfied, he
started to raise the flag.

He wanted to enjoy the
moment as the flag started to go up. All the oppression, control, and
wickedness of the USR seemed to go away for just this moment. It was like old
times again, he thought, as he watched the flag move its way up. Just then, his
shoulder started to ache as he continued to pull the rope down. With a few
grunts he tried to ignore the pain.

When the flag started
to slow his partner came over. He tried to grab at the rope but was met with a
weak push from Harvey.

“Let me help you.” his
partner said.

“Step aside.” Harvey
replied. “I have to do this.”

“Fuck you!” the silent
one cried. “I’m helping!”

Harvey grunted once
more as his partner got behind him and reached over his shoulders. 

Sullivan took out
another USR soldier as he, Pinkie, and Statue pressed forward. X was lagging
behind them, as was Dopey who stayed with him to provide cover fire. The bullet
wound in his leg caused a significant limp by now. The black of his pants
covered up the blood that was soaked through. He made it to their position with
his head held low.

“You gonna make it,
big guy?” Sullivan asked.

“I’m all good, Puerco.
This leg is killin’ me though.”

“Are you bitching
about some leg?”

“Watch who talk to
like that. I’m bound to turn into my gangster self.”

Sullivan popped up and
fired away at another solider. One of the enemies returned fire and a round
grazed him across the arm. Sullivan dropped to ground and winced in pain. X
moved up and took that soldier out along with another one. He came back down
and looked at Sullivan reaching for his wounded arm.

“You gonna bitch about
that arm now?” X asked.

***

“I got this!” Harvey
shouted as his partner refused to back off despite the protests.

“You need my help! Our
friends are down there by themselves.
They
need our help! Now, stop your
belly aching and let me help you!”

There was no disguise
in the voice this time. Harvey didn’t want to believe it, though. He simply
grunted again and let the boy behind him take over. His eyes moved up to the
flag that was rising through the darkness. Harvey relinquished control and let
the kid behind him do the work on the rope.

As he watched the flag
move up, it made all this madness worth it. It wouldn’t be long from today when
all the other rebels would awake from their slumbers. When they caught a
glimpse of Old Glory flying true once more, how could they not be inspired?
And, the USR, he wished that he could see the looks on her leader’s faces when
they saw that flag on their Capitol. The one building that they built to try
and prove, once and for all, that they had defeated America and that it was no
more. They had developed a nasty habit for underestimating the resistance.

Now, they would know
that America was not dead. Yet.

***

“Sir!” a rebel
shouted. “Look over there to the building!”

Sanders grabbed his
binoculars and zoomed in on the Capitol building. He almost couldn’t believe
his eyes. The old bastard had done it! Sanders never thought he would see the
day when the American flag would fly free in the wind like it was now. Being
mesmerized by the sight in front of him, which forced his jaw open, he almost
forgot that there was still an operation in progress.

“Get me the camera!”
Sanders shouted behind him.

A young rebel reached
beneath him and took hold of the small digital camera. He handed it forward and
Sanders snatched it from his hands. He moved the camera forward and aimed the
lens towards the flag. The picture on the little HD screen on the side showed a
small picture of the scene on the roof, so Sanders pressed down on the zoom
button. After a few moments of recording, he placed the camera back on his lap
and picked up his walkie.

“RETREAT!!!”

***

Sullivan heard the
call and stood from his position. He fired his assault rifle at two USR
soldiers then turned and made a B-Line for one the trucks. All the rebels around
did the same thing, running for any available vehicle as instructed in the
briefing. Sullivan stopped, remembering that X was hobbled by a bullet wound to
the leg. When he turned, he fired his rifle at the soldiers who were chasing
after them. He took out three and then caught a glimpse of X limping towards
him.

“Just go, man!” X
cried.

“No way!” Sullivan
replied as he took out another soldier.

“We’ll never make it!”

“Yes we will. Come
on!”

X propped his arm over
Sullivan’s shoulder. Sullivan called for Statue, Dopey, and Pinkie to give them
cover as they moved. The three who provided cover started to back pedal and
fire their weapons at the advancing USR troops.

They were moving too
slow and Sullivan knew it. He tried to pick up the pace, but X’s leg injury
wouldn’t allow him to move any faster. He preemptively asked Davie for
forgiveness in his head as they continued to move. If he got killed out here on
this field no one would save Davie from a life of brainwashed servitude. But,
Sullivan just couldn’t turn his back on X, or any of the other men who he just
did battle with.

“You gotta move
faster!” Sullivan yelled.

“I’m trying, Puerco!”
X replied.

***

Kaspar didn’t know how
much longer he could fend off the squad of Agents who poured through the room
moments before. He lost track of how much time had passed since Harvey and the
other one left to raise the flag. Clarke was ducked and cowering behind a desk
next to Kaspar as he raised the barrel of the Kriss over the top of the desk.
He blind fired in a desperate attempt at keeping the enemy at bay until help
arrived.

The mag in the
submachine gun was exhausted. It took several clicks until Kaspar realized he
needed to reload. After he pressed the magazine release he reached in his flak
jacket for another mag. A wave of shock hit him like a freight train. He had
exhausted his supply of mags for the Kriss. He cursed under his breath and slid
the submachine gun across his shoulders to his back. He then reached down and
yanked the P99 handgun from his thigh holster.

“I’m not going to let
you die, Robert!” Kaspar cried.

Clarke said nothing.

Kaspar popped up from
his cover and immediately ducked back down when a wave of automatic gunfire
came in his direction. He slammed his fist against the metal desk behind him.
There would be no way out of this unless they got help. This must be the night
when he could rejoin Krys and Mother in the afterlife. They wouldn’t have to
wait long for him, after all. If he raised his head, he knew that he was a dead
man, but he couldn’t think about that. It wouldn’t be long before the Agents
converged on his position and, if he was going to die, he was going out like a
man and not a coward. He took a deep breath.

With both hands firm
in their grip of the P99, he prepared himself to die.