Page 80 of Echo: Burn
Kessler's finger tightens on the trigger.
The loading dock explodes.
Fire. Smoke. Screaming. The shockwave throws me sideways into the terminal. Kessler staggers, his shot going wide. Kane pivots, brings his rifle up. Odin yelps. My ears ring so loud I can't hear the gunfire anymore, but I can see muzzle flashes through the billowing smoke. Kessler's men begin to scatter like rats.
I yank the drive free, shove it into my pocket. "Tommy, I've got the data! Package is secure!"
"Copy that!" Tommy's voice bursts through comms. "Get out of there!"
"Working on it!" Kane returns fire as Kessler's team recovers from the explosion. We're surrounded. Outnumbered. Out of time.
Kane empties his magazine into the advancing hostiles, buying us seconds. "We need to move!"
But there's nowhere to go. Kessler's team has every exit covered. We're trapped in the production facility with chemical weapons all around us, pinned down by superior numbers, running out of ammunition and options.
Kessler steps forward, weapon steady. In the emergency lighting, his face is a mask of cold satisfaction. This is what he wanted. This is what he's been planning.
"You can't win, Kane. Not this time. I made sure of it."
17
KANE
Countdown: 48 Hours
The explosion tears through the loading dock like the fist of God.
I grab Willa and pull her down as the shockwave hits, covering her body with mine. Metal shrieks. Glass shatters. The entire facility shudders on its foundation. Through the chaos, I hear Kessler shouting orders, his tactical team scattering for cover.
"You good?" I ask Willa.
"Yeah." She's still clutching the data drive. "Odin?"
The dog is pressed against her leg, shaken but unhurt. Smart animal stayed low during the blast.
"Stryker, report!"
"We're clear!" Stryker's voice crackles through comms. "That was Mercer—rigged some of their own ordnance at the loading dock. Bought you some breathing room, but it won't last!"
The emergency lighting flickers. Chemical alarms start screaming throughout the facility. Something ruptured in the explosion—I can smell it now, acrid and wrong. Component A or B, maybe both. If they mix, we've got minutes before this whole place becomes a gas chamber.
"We need to move!" I haul Willa to her feet. "Stay behind me!"
We push forward through the smoke and chaos. Kessler's team is regrouping, but the explosion disrupted their formation. Three of his men are down, two more dragging wounded toward the exits. The odds just improved from impossible to merely suicidal.
I engage the nearest hostile, controlled pairs to center mass. He drops. Willa fires past my shoulder, suppressing another operative trying to flank us. She's learning. Getting better with every engagement.
"Exit's blocked!" Stryker shouts over comms. "Fire's spreading from the loading dock. You need alternate egress!"
I scan the facility. The main entrance is behind Kessler's remaining forces. Loading dock is an inferno. That leaves the emergency exits on the east wall—but they'll be locked down, probably rigged.
"East emergency exit," I decide. "Willa, stay close!"
We move through the burning facility, trading fire with Kessler's team as we go. The chemical processors are rupturing one by one, venting toxic fumes into the air. My eyes water. Throat burns. We don't have long.
A figure steps out from behind a storage tank, rifle leveling at Willa.
I put two rounds in his chest before he can fire. He goes down hard.
