Page 47 of Urban Justice

“Hey, man! What are you doing?”

“I know the Damen Silos. I’ve explored them countless times. There’s an entrance to a tunnel on the east side, and that should allow us to go in undetected until we reach Sloane. We have the equipment with us, and I can move fast. At this time of night, there might be stragglers around so we’ll need to be careful. How many people are after Sloane?”

“From her assessment, five following her and another five most probably waiting outside, manning the entrances so they can shoot her if she comes out.”

Anger and adrenaline made Luke hot and itchy. The gun in the waistband of his jeans was digging into his hip and he wished he had more weapons and ammunition. The only advantage he had to pull Sloane out of this situation was his knowledge of the layout. Five minutes from the destination, a plan formed in his head.

“Tell Sloane we’re on our way, Devin. Lance, hear me out. You may not like my plan, but I swear it will work.”

* * *

Luke brokeinto a run as soon as he entered the tunnel, even though it went against every safety precaution for urbex. Hyperaware of his surroundings, and with only a faint beam of light to guide him, the sound of his boots against the wet concrete and his labored breath echoed in the humid atmosphere.

Every shivering form was a potential threat that could stop him from reaching Sloane. Contact with the outside was sketchy as Devin updated their positions. Lance had switched places behind the wheel of the car when Luke had found the hidden entrance to the silos and he’d had gone to take care of the attackers outside the perimeter, providing him and Sloane a way out when he found her. Because he was doing exactly that—getting her out.

From his estimation, he’d almost reached the main tunnel network under the silos and would soon be stepping into the fight zone. Urban missions had been his passion as a Marine, but he didn’t think he’d ever use his skills back on the mainland, and not with such an intense thirst for blood.

Devin’s latest update had been that Sloane had entered through the south and could only go down. And the hacker couldn’t link Sloane, Lance, and Luke together because someone was trying to ping their location from the outside. It meant they could only communicate using Devin as a relay.

Arriving at a bigger space, Luke slowed to listen. Now, more than his eyes and mapping the place in his mind, sound was his best ally to locate danger. Unless the bad guys approached via a point where they thought Sloane was hiding, they wouldn’t care about keeping quiet. Luke knew from experience that background noise could play tricks when determining position, and he’d use it to his advantage.

As if on cue, banging sounds came from the entrance on the right. It was muffled, and probably came from at least one level down.

Instead of going toward the noise, he went in the opposite direction to where he remembered a vertical ladder led down through the floor. It was a risk as he needed both hands to descend the ladder. Once on the lower level, Luke listened for any sound before turning his torch on. He heard a shot, louder this time, coming from his right. If he wasn’t disoriented, and was picturing the overall building correctly, it was the area where Devin had last pinpointed Sloane.

Luke touched his ear, trying to reach Devin, but only got static, confirming he was on his own.

Keeping the light to a bare minimum, Luke made as little noise as possible as he jogged toward the area the noise had come from. The next sound came a couple of minutes later in the form of more gunshots. He knew he was getting close when he heard male voices shouting.

Luke continued, silently and carefully, sifting through his memory on the silos wishing it hadn’t been so long since he’d explored it. The silos hadn’t interested him as much, as its tunnels didn’t link to those under the Loop.

The noise began to fade into the distance, so Luke decided to push. This level had ladders at regular spots along the way, but if you didn’t look up, it was impossible to see them, especially not in the structure’s current state of decay. Another worry was how easy, or ridiculously difficult, it would be to open one of them.

He was debating whether to test one of them as an escape route when rolling rubble followed by footsteps indicated someone was heading in his direction. Half-hiding, Luke knew it could be Sloane, but there was no way to know for sure unless they came face to face.

His timing had to be perfect and he waited until the last second before he jumped out of his corner and aimed his flashlight at the newcomer’s face.

Blinded, the form lifted its weapon to fire as Luke darted to the opposite wall, aiming at the form’s head.

“Sloane! Stop, it’s me, Luke!”

The masked outline immediately aimed in his direction, and Luke feared she hadn’t recognized his voice with the echo surrounding them.

Sloane shook her head, probably to clear her vision, but Luke didn’t move until her aim dropped.

“Are you kidding me? What are you doing here?” The modulator didn’t hide her anger at seeing him.

“Didn’t Devin tell you we were coming?”

“He said he was sending back up, but not that it was you!”

That stung, but Luke knew it wasn’t time for explanations. “We were closer than the others. Now let’s get out of here.”

Luke was about to tell her how to exit the shaft, when Sloane shook her head. “I’m not leaving yet. I’m going to track those scumbags down and kill them one by one.”

Incredulous, Luke shook his head. He understood it was hard to step back from a fight, but Sloane needed to see sense and the longer they stood in the open, the more dangerous it became. “There’s no time for that. There are at least five men below us, and Lance is alone up top dealing with five more. We’re outmanned and outgunned. Three against ten is suicide. We need to leave. Now.”

As soon as Sloane spoke Luke knew he hadn’t reached her.

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