Chapter 55 snippet 1 (new writing)

Rollins was breathing hard. He had never felt the cold, clammy fear he did then. Whoever the Secret Service had sent to kill him, he thought, had to be considered missing by now. An alert had to be out, causing every SS agent to be searching for him.

Stepping through a puddle, he felt Brindle’s hand on his shoulder. They had been walking through ally after ally on their way out of D.C. Travel by the normal streets was out of the question now that the SS was on the alert.

“How many people do you think are dead?” he asked.

“Unknown for certain,” Brindle told him. “But since Senators throughout the Alliance were targeted, I would say the government has been decapitated.”

“Damn,” he cursed. “I should have moved sooner.”

“Impossible for you to know when they were going to strike, sir,” Brindle said. “I didn’t even know until just before I arrived at your house.”

“This is our fault,” he said. “We should’ve have assassinated Carver when Reyes wanted to. Almir would’ve been the perfect person to do that job.”

Brindle pulled him to a stop. Ahead of them, were a man and a woman. Dressed in all black, their outfits screamed of being SS. Brindle stiffened as he grabbed his hand tightened on his pistol.

Thank God we’re still in the shadows, he thought.

Brindle spotted a dumpster to the side. Staying in the dark, he shoved Rollins down behind it. At least here, Rollins thought, he would be safe from any flying bullets!

“Don’t move until I come for you,” Brindle said, disappearing into the night.

###

The two of them weren’t highly trained, Brindle reflected, closing on them. Standing on a street corner, in the light, was going to make his job easy. However, no one had ever claimed that the SS were smart!

He was about to step into the light when he stopped. A slight glint to his left drew his attention. Looking over there, he saw it again. Gun!

Dropping to his stomach, he heard the gunfire. Bullets chipped into the building behind him, sending dust flying. Rolling to his right, he fired in the direction of the shooter.

A rewarding cry of pain hit his ears. Scrambling beside a ground car, he saw the other agents scatter. This wasn’t going to be fun, he gritted his teeth. They had set up a trap, meaning they had to know his route!

He heard a crunch. Spinning around, he fired at a closing SS agent. Seeing him go down, he knew they were trapped. There had to be a way out!

Sprinting back into the ally, he grabbed the Senator. It was time for Plan B, he told himself, grabbing a manhole cover. Pulling it open, he pointed at the hole.

“Get in!”

Rollins started to climb down the ladder. He laid down covering fire. Knowing the SS agents were distracted, he followed. Pulling the cover back into place, he climbed down the ladder.

“Where do we go now?” Rollins asked.

Standing on a ledge that ran out of sight, he pointed. Taking the hint, Rollins started to sprint. Lit every few meters by a light, the tunnel was miserably lit, but it was their only choice.

Someone tipped them off, he thought.

“How did they know?” Rollins asked.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Someone has got to be a traitor.”

“But whom?”

“When you figure that one out,” he said, looking behind them as he ran. “Then you’ll know as much as I do.”

Ahead of them, he heard a splash. Tackling the Senator, bullets tore overhead. He sprayed the darkness with bullets. The sound of a body falling into the muck reached his ears.

“Damn it,” he cursed, changing clips. “At this rate we’ll never make the pickup site!”

Crawling back to his feet, he grabbed the Senator. Racing past the dead SS agent, he hung a right into a different tunnel. It didn’t lead to where he needed to go, he reflected, not directly at least.

Maybe it will be just enough to throw them off our trail, he thought.

Behind them, he could hear voices arguing. It was apparent that their change of course had thrown their pursuers off. They were disagreeing as to where their quarry could be.

The longer they argue, Brindle thought, The further we will be from them when the figure it out!

“Aren’t we heading away from the pickup site?” The Senator asked.

“Yes,” he said. “But we’ll double back another way.”

Taking a tunnel to their left, they started to circle around the SS. The voices disappeared, as they got further away. Feeling his body relax, Brindle started to feel confident they would make the site.

But will anyone be there? He asked. Or will they all be dead?