the men, “Seal it,” and the door to the bunker seals closed.
“Bunker sealed,” I message Garber and hear gunfire the minute I exit the stairwell. “Give me a clear route.”
“Through the kitchen to the main dining room. I’ll meet you there.” As I make my way through the facility, “Palmer, update,” I make contact with my chief of security.
“One down, one wounded. Two down of theirs. Appears to be eleven total standing and they’ve breached a second point on the perimeter. Northeast corner.”
“Have we called for help?”
“Yes, Texas National Guard is in route out of Camp Mabry. Both Lackland and Fort Hood have been alerted,” he apprises me.
Reaching Garber, I take a look at the bank of surveillance cameras being monitored by one of the men. “Assault rifles.” I comment on the well-outfitted interlopers. “If we go to the roof on the north side of the main building, we can take out these three.” I’m out the door as soon as it’s out of my mouth.
“No Hale, stay here. You’re a private citizen. I’ll handle this.” He pushes by me before I can protest.
I know he’s right. I can’t be in this fray unless defending myself face-to-face. I want to be solving this issue, not sitting on the sidelines. Leaning down with my hands on the edge of the surveillance console, I begin to bark out orders. “Two more dissidents approaching from the main drive, both are armed, 500 meters out, will be a clear shot from the west in approximately nine seconds. Four seconds.” The interval passes, “Now,” I command and two go down in a hail of gunfire.
Looking back to where Garber is, “Jeff, clear shot in approximately six seconds.”
“I’ve got it silenced,” he informs me, in what is slightly more than a whisper. He wants all three down before they have time to react.
“Now,” I yell in his ear and we watch the third guy in the group go down, followed by the second. The lead guy takes off in a run, and lobs something toward the building with the arm of a quarterback, before Jeff’s bullet neutralizes him.
The blast is deafening as the walls and floor take on a jello-like motion and secondary crashes ensue. We no longer have video coverage of the north side of the building.
Grabbing the assault rifle, I turn for the door.
“Mr. Lundström, you should stay here,” the guy monitoring video warns.
Shaking my head no, I don’t miss a step. “He’s my guy,” I call out, heading toward the north side of the facility. The smoke still smells far off, but I can hear the shushing sound of the emergency sprinklers.
I’ve got to get to Jeff. Find him and get him out of there. He’s here because of me. Because I asked him. And just as I would never have left him or any of my guys behind in Afghanistan or Syria, I’m not leaving him behind and vulnerable here.
To my left is a fire stairs that will give me roof access and I can try and make my way north from there. Wind was out of the south this morning, so that should bode well for me to make it as far as I can in a smoky situation.
“Garber,” I yell, as soon as I’m out of the staircase. “Gaaaarberrrr.”
Smoke and flames are obscuring a portion of the north roof. Calculating Jeff’s angle, I cut a sharp left and see him partially obscured by rubble.
“What took you so long? Get this shit off my leg.”
My boy is still with us and a hundred pound weight lifts from my heart.
“Give me a second, dude, and I’ll get you freed.” I start lifting the concrete from his leg. “You’re not going to be dancing anytime soon. Your tibia and fibula have seen better days.” With the third slab removed, I can see his leg. “Let’s get you out of here.” And with his arm slung around my neck, we start making our way to the stairs.
“It had to be an inside job, Hale. Someone in that bunker? Are they targeting someone else?”
“I don’t know. I thought we had this thing airtight. What didn’t I see? Lean all your weight on me,” I direct as we hit the steps.
“We are clear of all dissident threat,” the message plays in my ear.
“We’ve got them all,” I advise Garber.
“What’s that sound?” he asks.
“Emergency sprinkler system.”
“Shit,” he growls, “Hale, get to the bunker now. That was the target. This was just the diversion. They’re all going to