What the fuck?
I stop short and flip around a column, peering out at them but staying out of sight. I give a quick look at the entrance but see nothing but an orderly loitering outside smoking a cigarette.
The man nods. “Right, because that’s your job.” He opens his jacket and pulls out a Beretta. “Now I’m gonna do mine.”
Crack!
One single shot explodes into the air and the nurse crumples to the floor in a blood-soaked heap.
A collective scream ripples through the group of people scattered around the waiting room and I watch the man walk toward the red doors, kicking them open, his hand extended and clutching the gun. As soon as he’s out of sight, people flee the room like their lives depend on it.
And they fucking do.
I slam my fist against the cinderblock wall as the guys burst through the door.
“What the hell was that?” Dante says.
“Gunman,” I say, pulling out my own gun from the back of my pants. “He was looking for Nate,” I say through clenched teeth. I grab Bruno’s jacket. “Go and get Jaelyn. She’s in the chapel. Get her the fuck away from this area, now!” I give him a push and he runs down the hallway, leaving me with Matteo and Dante.
More gunshots erupt into the air as the guy no doubt continues his hunt for Nate.
Three other men shove past the panicked people, making their way into the waiting room wearing black masks and carrying AK-47s in their gloved hands. They stomp toward the double doors firing at the lock that flipped as soon as the first gunman got inside.
I pop out from behind the column, not thinking, not breathing, just aiming.
Crack! Bang!
Gunfire erupts as one of the men goes down hard on the tile floor. The remaining two twist around, spotting me out in the open and they point their weapons at me, peppering the wall behind me with bullets as I dive to the floor. I point my gun up at them, firing off the remaining shots in my clip. Matteo and Dante crouch low to the ground, firing their guns at the one guy who’s still standing.
“Fuck!” I yell, scrambling to my feet. “I’m going after him!”
I run through the doors, my brothers on my heels. The corridor is lined with bloody bodies, and I can hear gunfire in the distance. “He’s in the operating room. I have no fucking clue where that is, though. We need to take these guys out fast.” I smack in a new clip and jog down the hall. Anyone who was unlucky enough to be walking down the hall is now sprawled on the ground. Muffled screams and pleas for help come from behind the closed doors as more shots are fired. I tear down the hall, finding a few people huddled behind blood-splattered desks, and my throat tightens to the point where I can barely suck in a breath.
“Where the fuck is security?” I mutter, holding out my hand. “Doesn’t anyone see what the hell is happening here?” I round a corner, following signs for Emergency Surgery. I pass an office tucked into one of the maze-like hallways. The windows have been shot, shattered glass is scattered all over the floor. I creep closer to see a big, burly man in a uniform slumped over a set of monitors.
My shoulders deflate as Matteo stops next to me.
“I guess that answers your question about security,” he says.
A high-pitched scream nearby jolts me. “Jaelyn!” I yell, tearing down another hallway.
I run so fast, my feet skid along the polished tile floor and I race around a corner in the direction of the scream.
Pop! Crack! Bang!
I squeeze off as many shots as I can when I see the shooter with his gun pointed at a tall, blonde woman. I catch him in the leg and the arm and he pitches forward into the wall, his gun clattering to the floor. “Kick it!” I scream at the woman. I leap at him when I’m close enough, pulling off his mask and launching my fist at his pock-marked face until I’ve sufficiently smashed his nose and jaw to bloody bits.
Matteo pulls me off of him. “Find Jaelyn. I’ll take care of this piece of shit.”
I stagger to my feet as Dante leads the shaking woman into the operating room.
Nate’s operating room.
One of the doctors is slumped in the corner, a red stain spreading over his chest.
The other doctor is still standing over Nate. I can see a gash in his leg, but he continues to work.
I grasp the woman’s hands. “Call someone. Anyone! I don’t know how many others there are, but they took out the security officer. And keep this door locked!”