Page 76 of Volt
“Well, at least you didn’t catch a bullet going through first this time.” Adam chuckles.
“Cute,” I say.
“Okay, fan out. Stay on comms and call out when you find that prick,” I say.
We spread out through the house. I find my way to the staircase and cautiously move up, making it to the second floor landing without incident. It takes me a few minutes to sweep all the rooms, finding all of them empty.
“What the fuck?” I mutter to myself.
“Volt, you better get down here.” Spyder’s voice comes through my earpiece. “I’m in the kitchen.”
The tone of his voice sends a chill sweeping through me and a feeling of dread descends upon me. I make my way downstairs and find the kitchen. Spyder and Adam are standing at a pantry with the door open, shining a flashlight into it. I switch off my night vision and raise my goggles as I step over to them.
“FUCK!” I shout.
Thick tendrils of rage wrap me up and squeeze me tight. All I can see in that moment is red, and I spin around and turn a round table over, sending everything on it flying. Plates, glasses, and silverware all hit the ground with a thunderous crash. In that moment, I don’t care what kind of heat I bring down on us because I’m ready to shoot something.
Huffing and puffing, I walk back to the pantry and look at the hatch door standing open again. A ladder leads down into the darkness. An escape hatch I know Zavala took the moment Nitro’s first bomb went off. I key my comm.
“Alpha Leader, this is Gamma One,” I call.
“Go for Alpha Leader,” Doc replies.
“We’ve got a fucking hatch. The chickenshit bugged out through a tunnel,” I say. “Permission to follow.”
There’s a long pause as Doc considers the options. “Negative, Gamma One. Do not follow. Repeat, do not follow.”
“But—”
“I said negative,” Doc replies curtly. “Mop up at the front gate and let’s bug out. We’ll get him another day.”
I stare at the hatch, my anger boiling over. But Spyder puts a hand on my arm. I look up, and he shakes his head.
“Confirm, Gamma One,” Doc says.
I take a step toward the pantry. I want this done and over with. I want Zavala dead and his head on a fucking stick.
“Gamma One, confirm you understand,” Doc says again, his voice harder.
I let out a long breath. “Gamma One, confirm.”
I turn away from the pantry and storm out of the kitchen, pulling down and knocking over everything I can on my way out the front door. I walk down the steps from the porch and make my way to the front gate. Zavala’s guys are all engaged with our distraction team and don’t even notice me. I lower the barrel of my weapon and open up, cutting them all down in seconds. The sound of gunfire tapers off and then stops, and all I can hear is the groaning of the wounded sicarios. I make my way through the litter of bodies and put a bullet in the head of anybody still moving then key my comm.
“Compound secure. No survivors,” I say.
Adam and Spyder walk up behind me, staring at the mass of bodies strewn across the ground. They look at me with wide eyes, expressions of disbelief on their faces.
“Good work, teams,” Doc calls. “Get back to the rally point double quick, and let’s get the fuck out of here.”
I don’t say a word as I walk over to the box and press the button. The gate starts to swing open. As the three of us head out, I hear one of the sicarios groan and feel an inexplicable wave of fury. I walk over to the man. He’s gutshot and isn’t likely going to live much longer. I squat down and look him in the eye.
“Where is Zavala? Where does that tunnel go?” I ask.
He chuckles. It’s a wet, raspy sound that devolves into a coughing fit. I grab him by the hair and yank his head back.
“Where does the tunnel lead? Where did Zavala go?”
The man’s smile is ghastly. “Fuck you,puto.”
