On The Run VIII

Eric felt like he's been punched in the gut. Andreas was here? He was both relieved and worried. At least he was dealing with a known quantity. Did it have to be that known quantity? He looked over at Anna, shook his head. She was as like to shoot him as talk to him. And he could see the troopers taking positions, knew already that Andreas had the entrance under observation. They couldn't make it out of here.

They let the door close and looked around. Eric jerked his head toward the stairs, and she nodded. She glanced at the ramp with the dead man on it and shuddered. No way she was going down there. They hurried up the stairs and took up positions on the second level- there was more room to hide here than on the open and airy third. They heard the entrance open and could hear the clatter of weapons, people entering. This was going fabulous.

"Eric! Dammit I just want to talk!" Eric could hear him directing his troopers this way and that, and he smiled. Andreas, of all people. Here. He heard someone say, "Sir," and then Andreas was calling to him again. "I see your proximity alarm here, Eric. I know you're in here. Come on out and we'll discuss. I don't want trouble. I'm just here about the missing technicians."
Bullshit.  

He could see Anna rolling her eyes. They said nothing- maybe they'd get lucky and Andreas would go downstairs. But no such luck. He knew that Andreas was silently directing his men, probably two to watch the ramp while the rest stormed the stairs. It was just a matter of time. This might be it- maybe he should have listened to Anna. They could have gated out- but then again they would have probably just run into the strike team on the beach. Maybe if they had waited though, for the team to move inland- even if there were guards posted at the gate, their odds would have been better. If this, maybe that... didn't really matter. He raised his fist to Anna, and she nodded. He loved her in that moment, knew she was as scared as he was, but she'd never show it.

The troopers came up in a silent rush, and still Eric held his fire. He didn't want to kill, hated it- and maybe Andreas did want to talk? The first trooper to see him though squeezed off a round immediately, and in seconds there was pulse fire everywhere. Okay enough talk. He fired back, ducking behind his cover, and saw Anna firing into the troopers as well. It was chaos. They held their position as long as they could, he wasn't sure how many had gone down, but instinct told him when they were going to be overrun, and he and Anna peeled off, going separate ways. It was a close thing, with pulse fire blowing chunks out of the ceiling above him, and he felt a stinging burn on his left arm. That was close. 


Anna was breathing hard, adrenaline coursing through her. Other than some nicks and scratches she was okay so far. She took a deep breath and felt a sob hitch in her throat. Dammit. I told him this would happen. She fired again, then ducked back. Well, not this exactly, but something. This was not good. Her only hope was to get to Andreas, if she could knock him off they could maybe stop this. It was a fleeting hope, but she had nothing else. She stopped firing and ducked into a doorway that opened silently. Waiting...

The first trooper came around the corner, to meet the butt of her pulse rifle. He has some dental work in his future. She flipped the rifle over and sent a pulse through the next guy's leg. He howled and went down, and she kicked his weapon away as she rushed past. Behind her she could hear more coming- had they encircled her already- but it didn't matter, she was at the stairs. Praying that Eric was alright she flew down the steps, stopping just before the ground level. She couldn't see anyone- surely Andreas had left someone behind to guard?

Where was he? She scanned the area quickly, saw no one. Bullshit. He wouldn't have sent everyone up. She heard a thump upstairs- a shock grenade? She was out of time. Then she saw the red dots on her torso. Where were they?

"Hi Anna." She felt a gun at her head.
Fuck. It all happened so fast, before she could do anything a hand covered hers, pushing her pistol down.
"Don't even think about it."