Ethan and Aaron edged closer to the two men, flanking and pinning them down.
Aaron fired again, causing both guards to remain out of sight. Ethan was about to fire and advance when the doors to the warehouse suddenly burst open and four suited figures rushed out into the sunlight, firing as they moved. Ethan cursed, ducking back down as bullets shattered masonry all around him.
“Balls.”
Griffiths shot Ethan a dirty look.
“Cover Aaron!” Ethan shouted. “Try pulling the trigger!”
Griffiths angrily let fly a half-dozen rounds in the general direction of the warehouse as they began falling back.
“We’re outnumbered.”
Ethan cursed, retreating alongside Griffiths and firing as he went. Aaron Luckov was coming back toward them between bursts of automatic fire when the MACE vehicle appeared behind them, tires screeching as it pulled into the street.
“Enemy rear!”
Luckov’s warning was audible even above the clattering automatic fire.
Ethan whirled, firing off three rounds at the vehicle as it skidded to a halt and a half-dozen MACE troops dispersed from within and took up firing positions on either side of the street.
“We’re surrounded!” Griffiths shouted, his voice high in alarm.
“Stay low!” Ethan countered, shouting out across the street to Luckov. “Where does that alley go?”
Luckov fired a single shot that burst one of the front tires of the MACE vehicle before shaking his head at Ethan. Clearly, there was no escape to be had down the alleyway.
“Glad you thought this through!” Griffiths shouted.
Another hail of raking fire swept the street, and then suddenly everything fell silent. Ethan, crouched with Griffiths behind the crumbling bricks of a low wall, heard a voice call out.
“You’re outgunned and outnumbered. Step into sight with your hands where we can see them!”
Ethan looked across the street at Luckov, who held his gaze for a moment and then nodded slowly.
“They’ll kill us if we give ourselves up now,” Griffiths hissed.
“They’ll kill us if we don’t.”
Slowly, with one hand holding his pistol high for the MACE troops to see, Ethan stood up from the wall in plain view. One of the MACE guards shouted out again.
“And the other one, the bastard with the shotgun!”
Reluctantly, Luckov stepped out, his shotgun held above his head. As Ethan stepped out into the street, Griffiths stood and followed him until the three of them were standing in a row.
“Drop your weapons, slowly!”
The MACE guards came out into view, machine pistols pointed at the three men standing before them. Ethan recognized Cooper and Flint, the MACE guards he’d incapacitated the previous day, as he laid his pistol down, Luckov and Griffiths doing the same on either side of him.
“Now stand back three paces!”
Ethan and his companions did as they were ordered, acutely aware of the four MACE guards now standing behind them, having moved out of cover from the warehouse.
Agent Cooper walked forward, and a brittle smile cracked his jaw as he reached up and keyed his earpiece microphone.
“We’ve got them. What do you want us to do?”
There was a short pause, and then Cooper’s smile grew broader. He nodded, and then raised his machine pistol once again and pointed it at Ethan. His next order went out to the men standing behind Ethan.
“You four, get back into that warehouse and kill the surgeon and everyone else in there.”
Ethan felt a sudden chill as the MACE soldiers dashed back toward the warehouse. He watched as Cooper and Flint raised their weapons to point directly at him, hungry for revenge.
Ethan inhaled once and closed his eyes.
A second passed.
Then another. Ethan felt himself drift into a weary oblivion, asleep on his feet.
“Hands in the air, nobody move!”
Ethan flinched and his eyes jolted open as the bellowed voice echoed loudly off the walls around him, and saw Cooper and Flint standing with their hands and weapons in the air, staring wide-eyed past Ethan. Ethan turned to see dozens of IDF troops tumbling down the street toward them, weapons trained on the MACE soldiers. Farther back, a huge troop transporter thundered into view.
The four soldiers running back to the warehouse dashed for the door and opened fire in unison at the massed Israeli soldiers. Ethan, Griffiths, and Luckov instinctively dove to the ground as the Israeli troops opened fire. Ethan watched as Cooper, Flint, and their companions flailed and jerked as bullets tore into their bodies, hurling them onto the road.
Ethan grabbed his pistol, rolling over and firing at the retreating MACE troops as they vanished into the warehouse. He sat up and shouted at the advancing Israeli soldiers.