Crisis Four Read Online Free PDF Page B

the room and banged on the door. ‘Sarah, it’s me. I’m coming in, I’m coming in.’
    Glen was still at the end of the corridor. When he heard my voice he shouted, ‘Come on, for fuck’s sake! Drag her fucking arse out… now!’ He was right.
    Enough was enough, we were all going to die here soon.
    I pushed it open and Sarah was still standing over one of the PCs with her laptop plugged into some other shit. I looked over at the Source. He was sitting in the same position I’d left him in, as if he was watching the TV.
    A small amount of blood was trickling from a hole in his shirt, but it was the one in the front of his head that gave the game away. Blood was oozing out like lava flow. The back of his head lolled against the sofa; it had ballooned out slightly, but the skin was keeping all the fragmented bone in place. It looked like a car windscreen that’s been punched; the glass goes out in the shape of a fist, but it’s still held together. Blood and gooey grey tissue were dribbling onto the sofa. You didn’t have to be George Clooney to know this boy wouldn’t be surfing the net any more.
    Not even looking at me as she manipulated the keyboard, she said, ‘He tried to attack me. But he is happy – God would have sent him seqina .’ She knew I wouldn’t have a clue what she was on about, and added, ‘Tranquillity.’
    I looked at him again. He hadn’t moved from where he’d been when I’d left the room and there was no look of tranquillity on his face. He hadn’t attacked her. So what; as if I gave a fuck. It was probably part of the alternative brief she’d been given. AK fire called me back to the real world.
    ‘Come on, let’s go. Now, Sarah!’
    ‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘I’m going to be a few seconds more.’
    The incendiary devices were still on the table. One of my jobs, unless she was going to tell me that had changed too, was to destroy any equipment on target.
    She hit the final key. ‘OK, we can go.’ She started to pack herself up. I went to the sofa, pulled the Source away and let him roll onto the floor. Picking up one end of the sofa and dragging it across the room, I leaned it against the bench of computers. I got the waste-paper bin, scattered the contents on the bench top and added a rug from the floor and a couple of chairs. I wanted as much flammable stuff as possible near the incendiaries.
    I said, ‘Are you sure you’re ready now?’
    It was the first time she’d looked at me since I’d returned to the room. I saw her studying the red mess on the side of my head. I pulled the pin of the first device and positioned it on the table between two VDUs. The handle flew off, and by the time the last one was placed two were already burning fiercely. I could feel the heat, even through my jump suit.
    I ditched the bergen; everything I needed now was in my belt kit. The air was filling with the noxious black fumes of burning plastic. I grabbed hold of Sarah, who had her repacked bergen slung over her shoulders, and headed for the door. I opened it a couple of inches and shouted to Glen, ‘Coming through! Coming through!’
    He yelled back, ‘Shut the fuck up and run! Run!’
    I didn’t look left or right, just ran for the door by the same route we’d come in. Within less than a minute I was in the cold night air, my eyes peeled for the gap in the fence. It was pointless worrying about getting shot; I just ran in a stoop to make as small a target as possible, keeping Sarah in front of me.
    I caught a glimpse of Glen behind me, plus another bloke still further back. They followed as we sprinted towards the fence, rounds thudding into the ground around us. The Syrians were firing far too many rounds in one burst and couldn’t control their aim.
    Reg 1 pulled open one half of the upside-down V. Sarah slid into the gap like a baseball player going for base. I prepared to do the same. I caught up with her as her slide stopped on the other side, and kicked her out of the