Page 97 of Beautiful Soldier

I nod Brawler forward, taking up the rear since I’m the only one of us who is armed besides Magnum. I watch our backs, making sure another intruder doesn’t come in from behind, wiping us out before we have a chance to get up there.

What makes matters worse is that I don’t know the layout of these rooms or the box. I knew how the other box was set up, but I have no idea what we’re getting ourselves into with this one. Are there places where they could hide and shoot? What about walls? What about…well, anything?

“What’s the layout like?” I whisper to Brawler.

Sweat runs down his tight muscles, mingling in blood. Hopefully, that’s the only blood I see on my guys tonight.

More yelling erupts as we move up the stairs stealthily. In the distance, echoing sirens sound, signaling the police are on the way.

I must be becoming more Heights than home because to me, sirens don’t mean safety. Not anymore.

“It’s all open,” Brawler hisses. “It’s a replica of the other box.”

So much for a surprise attack, but at least they’ll be out in the open, too.

As soon as Magnum hits the top stair, he barges inside the open doorway, moving to his full height. He shoots, the shots ringing through the air in quick succession. As I come around the corner after Brawler, a guy falls to his knees, a bullet wound lodged in his thigh. His gun clashes to the ground, and Big Daddy K scoops down to grab it.

More yelling jolts me. Both sides give out orders to drop guns. I have my own weapon trained on a guy I don’t recognize while also searching the room for Johnny. I find him in the corner, slumped to the ground. Brawler follows my gaze and immediately starts after him amid guys yelling at him to stop.

The guy I’m squaring down raises his gun, pointing it at Brawler, and I shoot. I hit his shoulder, knocking his gun out of his hand. Another shot goes off, but it’s drowned out by an explosion. The building shakes, and I duck to catch my footing.

Another ear-splitting detonation sounds. I know exactly what it is because I’ve already been through this. A bombing.

“Kill them!” K orders, already raising his gun in front of him to point at a guy I don’t recognize.

An explosion hits, and the floor of the box tilts. The braces underneath the private box whine and groan. They aren’t holding. One of Magnum’s security buddies grabs K’s arms, dragging him toward the stairs. I scramble toward Magnum as the front of the box splinters. The guy I shot, along with the one Magnum took out, slide as the floor gives out underneath them. They tumble out of the now open box. The wall full of windows that overlook the fights just disappears, taking the men with them. I glance around to find K hurrying toward the stairs. He looks to his left just before he hits the staircase. He sees Brawler hauling an injured Johnny to his feet. He sees his fucking son there but runs off anyway.

Dirt and dust fill the air. It closes in until I choke on it. The fire alarm rings, and I realize the particles in the air might not all be from the explosion. Worry crashes into me. We’re on the second story of an exploding building that might be on fire.

Magnum hauls me to my feet as I choke. We meet Brawler and Johnny by the door to the stairs and look out. The stairs are half gone. K and the last guard left standing are running toward a fire exit on the opposite side of the room.

The building seems to have settled for now, but that doesn’t mean another explosion won’t go off. Or that a fire won’t suddenly appear.

Magnum descends the staircase until he’s on the last remaining stair. He jumps. There’s a five-foot gap between the floor and the last stair, but he lands with ease. The stairs are now rickety with no support, but Brawler and I are able to hand Johnny down to Mag. He’s bleeding from his hip area, and when Magnum grabs him, he lets out an injured cry through gritted teeth.

Magnum sets him down on the bleacher at his feet and then turns back for me. I turn, scrambling off the edge and holding on to the very end while Mag grabs me by the waist and helps me down.

Brawler’s next. The last stair breaks under his weight as he tries the same maneuver I did and crashes to the ground, taking him with it.

“Fuck.” He pulls his hand away. A big gash opens up his palm, and blood pours out. He grabs it with his other hand like he can hold the two sides of his skin together, but blood seeps through his fingers. Magnum whips his shirt off and ties it around Brawler’s hand before pulling Johnny to his feet next to him. We run down the bleachers as fast as we can. The alarm still blares overhead and smoke and dust cloud our vision.

“I got him,” Brawler says, taking Johnny from Magnum. He hoists Johnny into his arms as Magnum takes his gun out again, searching the area when we get to the cement floor. The only people left in the room are us and the dead bodies scattered about the ground. The outside sirens get louder. Out the tall windows lining one wall, red and white lights bounce off the smoke and particles floating through the air.

“We need an exit,” I choke out.

Magnum starts moving toward the door K went out of, but the building shakes again. I can’t quite describe the feeling of uneven, moving footing underneath my feet as it pitches this way and that. It’s like walking on a trampoline, only worse. A trampoline that a thousand other people are jumping on.

A splintering crack splits the cement floor. In a scene you might find in a natural disaster movie, I jump to the side, slamming into Magnum. Concrete chunks fall through the center of the floor, a split opening up the room. Magnum and I scramble away from the widening crack as flames dart up through the missing floor.

Brawler and Johnny are thrown back.

“No!”

Heat washes over my face. I choke, my lungs burning from the inside out. My gun falls from my hand, and I can’t find it in the wreckage. Concrete pebbles and shards litter the floor, imbedding into my palms as I move back across the floor. Then, I’m being hauled to my feet, staring back at the space where Brawler and Johnny just were but finding nothing.

“Brawler!” I cry out.

I can’t see anything through the flames that are spreading up over the ceiling now. The heat is almost unbearable.

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