Evenfall (161 page)

Hale thought about it for a moment; Boyd didn't know whether he was considering what the answer was or if he was just deciding whether to be truthful or not. Finally, he said point blank, "No."

Boyd's teeth gritted and for a moment and hesitated. There was a part of him that wanted to draw this out, to torture him, to make him suffer. But he couldn't.

"Fuck," he whispered and without giving himself a chance to think further he shot Hale between the eyes.

Hale's head snapped back as gore and blood sprayed out behind him and his body crumpled lifelessly to the floor. Boyd stared down at his corpse for a moment, then looked over at Dana. She was crumpled awkwardly on the floor but he could see she was still breathing. Even so, with a head wound like he'd given her it would only be a matter of time before she bled out if she didn't get help.

He moved to her side quickly and flipped her onto her back so she wouldn't suffocate in a pool of her own blood. He quickly patted her down and discovered a length of cloth in one of her many pockets. It didn't take him long to get that around her head to try to slow the bleeding; he then grabbed her gun and the items they'd confiscated from him.

He left her radio for her in case she woke up and needed to call for help.

He was out the door and down the hall in seconds; even as he sprinted, he considered what he knew of the layout of the rest of the building and what he'd seen so far of the hidden wing and made the most educated guesses he could as to where a more easily accessible exit would be. His first guess was a dead end but he luckily did not have to backtrack long before he guessed correctly. He hadn't run into anyone in the hidden wing, which led him to believe that the majority of the guards had run to the fight in the north building and if they'd heard Hale state one intruder was already detained they'd probably figured that Hale wouldn't need their help or the building was already clear.

When he finally made it outside, he was briefly shocked by the amount of water that was rushing across the ground in rivulets. It was raining so heavily that the downpour had reduced visibility enough that he couldn't see across the entire compound. The sky was pitch black and between the darkness of the night and the intensity of the rain, the lights dotted across the complex seemed dim and distant. He'd known it was raining but he hadn't realized it was this heavy.

He took a few seconds to survey the surrounding area as best he could for enemies but he didn't see anyone. The gunfire sounded louder out here, resounding cracks that blended with occasional thunder; it echoed around him, making it difficult to tell exactly where it was coming from. He ran along the perimeter of the building and veered off at one point for his first destination. He stopped quickly to grab the med kit he'd hidden deep inside some bushes when he'd first arrived; he hadn't carried it with him into Hale's house because it would have been too bulky to hide in a pocket, yet he'd brought it from the Agency because he'd assumed they would probably need it. With the med kit firmly in hand, he ran toward the nearest garage to search for a vehicle.

He nearly ran into two guards along the way but he fell back into shadows each time, letting the men run past as they headed toward the northern building.

The first garage he found was empty of vehicles and people but when he slipped into the second through a half-open back door he discovered several vehicles and a small office to the side with Darren staring anxiously and a bit angrily at his radio. Darren seemed to be waiting for further instructions or information and Boyd knew that he wanted to be over there helping the others, in the thick of probably the only excitement he'd ever experienced here. But knowing also how Dana and Rick had reacted to his name, Boyd suspected he was the sort of ally the others preferred to be out of the way when something serious was happening.

He'd probably been detailed to the garage in case any intruders came looking for an escape vehicle. But Darren didn't want to be there any more than he'd wanted to be wandering the empty halls of the building, and for that reason he once more failed to catch Boyd when he otherwise would have had the chance. With Darren so distracted and so much intermittent noise from outside, it was quite easy for Boyd to silently slip behind him and pistol whip him. Darren didn't even have the chance to turn around before he fell to the ground.

Boyd looked quickly around the office and noticed a box on the wall with keys to various cars. It made sense in a way; with so many employees coming in and going out of the property, the vehicles were likely communal instead of designated to specific people. Boyd grabbed all the sets with keyless entry and moved out of the office and further into the garage where he could see the vehicles. He quickly used the lock/unlock buttons to determine which key belonged to which car but it took slightly longer than expected because of the noise outside. The alarm button would have been faster but it also would have made a lot more noise and would have drawn attention to the garage.

The best vehicle for their purpose seemed to be a sturdy SUV in the far corner of the garage. Boyd quickly ran to the vehicle and got inside, taking a moment to get acquainted with the set up. There was something about the SUV that didn't seem entirely normal though; the outside sound was muffled more than usual and the door had been heavier than he'd expected as he shut it, which gave the impression that it was reinforced. But the vehicle started normally, the gas tank was thankfully full, he was able to find the windshield wipers, and that was really all that mattered.

He kept the extra keys with him and threw them to the floor of the passenger side; hopefully it would drastically slow down any pursuit from vehicles in the garage at least. He found a garage door opener tucked up beneath the visor and pressed the button immediately. It took a bit of maneuvering to get the SUV out from the back of the garage and around the other vehicles, but the garage was large and set up specifically for multiple rows of vehicles so it wasn't too difficult to do. He sped out of the garage into the rain, already turning the wipers on full speed.

"I have a vehicle," Boyd transmitted to Sin. "Where are you?"

It took a moment for the reply to come but when it did, Sin sounded entirely too calm considering the ruckus he was making. "Northwest corner, behind the pool house."

Boyd spun the SUV around and sped straight across the middle of the complex, not bothering to go along the perimeter. Most of the people were already distracted and it was more important he get to Sin and Thierry immediately rather than trying to be stealthy at this point. A few guards saw him speeding past but in the chaos of the moment and the low visibility, they didn't seem to know at first whether he was an enemy or an ally, especially since he was in one of their vehicles and no alert had come out from the garages. They largely ignored him and he was able to disappear into the rain, nearly fishtailing the SUV as he took an abrupt turn around the building next to the pool house.

It was raining so hard that the yard was a mess of slippery mud and deep puddles and the few paved paths arcing across the complex had a layer of water over them that would make it easy to hydroplane. Although the headlights barely gave him any visibility, it still cast light across the landscaping and open area behind the pool house. He couldn't see Sin or Thierry but he still slammed on the brakes and unlocked the doors.

Less than a minute passed before Sin's tall lanky figure appeared out of the shadows, sprinting towards the SUV and dragging a thoroughly soaked and barefoot Thierry behind him. They were both blood splattered and dirty but Thierry seemed to be in a state of confused shock. As soon as they were out in the open, a barrage of gunfire sliced through the sheets of rain, missing them by centimeters as they crossed the stretch of grass between the pool house and the car. Thierry seemed to be simultaneously clinging to Sin and trying not to get too close to him if that were possible but when they finally jumped in the back seat, his eyes widened in relief at the sight of Boyd. Boyd didn't know if he was genuinely happy to see him or if he was just glad that he would no longer have to be alone with Sin; judging from the rough way Sin was handling the man, it didn't seem as though they were very pleased with each other.

There was a slight pause in gunfire before it all redirected to the SUV as Boyd peeled out of the fenced pool area, ripping up the finely manicured grass in the process. Mud and water flew up everywhere, splattering against the windows and doors as he drove full speed towards the Southern end of the property. There was loud yelling outside as the operatives most likely attempted to organize themselves and as Boyd drove past the garage, he saw several men making their way inside of it. They would be in for a surprise when they found no keys to start any of the cars and thankfully that would buy them at least a few minutes to get out of the property and onto the open road.

Boyd glanced over his shoulder at the pair in the back seat and saw that Thierry was shrinking away from Sin, practically pressing himself against the door. He looked thinner and paler than when they'd last been in each other's presence and his deep blue eyes were watching both of them warily as
though
he expected nothing but the worst from anyone at this point. He was wearing nothing more than thin slacks and a white t-shirt, which was now darkened with mud and blood although it didn't appear to be his.

Thierry kept sneaking glances over at Sin but Sin paid him no heed. Instead he was concentrating on looking out the window and quickly reloading his weapons, one of which was a fully automatic MP5 which he'd acquired on the way up and out of the hidden area. He'd already used his two smoke grenades in the house, likely the only reason they'd escaped relatively
intact
, and although he had one regular grenade left he was still pretty low on ammo.

Despite this, Sin looked calm in the midst of the storm they were in and his intense green eyes flit across the scenery quickly as if he were expecting them to be attacked at any moment, which was likely the case. Like Thierry, he was also splattered with blood but Boyd didn't automatically assume that he was not injured; he knew better than to expect Sin to actually show pain in a situation like this so anything was possible.

"Status?" Boyd asked, swerving to avoid a tall group of landscaped bushes in the middle of the yard.

"Flesh wound," Sin said vaguely, sliding his window down as they barreled towards the electronic gate that led out to the road. The guard manning the gate dove out of the way and Sin leaned out the window to shoot the control box, causing the gates to slide open at what seemed to be a ridiculously slow speed. Just as they were off the driveway and out of the gates, gunfire erupted behind them once again and Boyd looked in the mirror to see another SUV and two cars pursuing them at full speed.

"Go!" Sin yelled, leaning out the window to shoot behind them.

Without hesitation, Boyd slammed his foot on the gas pedal and the SUV sped across the terrain. A windy, paved road led to Hale's land and in the downpour Boyd didn't have much warning when a curve was coming up. He nearly missed a turn and spun the wheel quickly, causing the back of the SUV to swing to the side alarmingly as the tires briefly lost their traction due to the water but they caught again before they could hydroplane. He didn't dare take his eyes off the road to check on the two in back but Sin's gun never stopped firing, although he heard a distressed sound and a thump, as if Thierry had been thrown to the side.

Houses flashed past on either side of the road; the neighbors who had complained about Hale's place in the past would have even more reason now after the gunfire and car chase speeding in front of them so early in the morning. Sin's guns were an ear-cracking constant noise resounding in the SUV and Boyd could feel the vehicle jerking slightly every time an enemy's bullet hit it. On the other hand, the vehicle seemed to be holding up to the damage better than he would have expected which led him to believe that it really was reinforced.

They sped out of the small grouping of houses and broke free into open road; trees crowded the sides of the road in this area but Boyd knew eventually they were going to be in a sandier area where the pursuit would have the chance to move to the sides or cut them off if they weren't fast enough. Another sudden curve loomed in front of them and Boyd was just able to catch it and the following one. The edge of the SUV just cleared a tree; a few centimeters further and he would have knocked off the right side mirror.

Half of Sin's body was practically hanging out the window and as Thierry watched in horror and disbelief, Sin actually began to clamber out the window, gloved hands moving
dexterously
over the slick exterior as he pulled himself out of the window entirely. The vehicle was easily pushing 140 mph and Sin dangled dangerously, his body slamming into the side of the door as he gripped the storage rack on the roof with one hand and continued to shoot with the other.

Thierry's mouth dropped open and his head jerked over to stare at Boyd in alarm. "
Comment peux tu supporter d'κtre prθs de quelqu'un comme ηa? Il est cinglι!
"

Boyd was concentrating so completely on driving that he could only absently translate the question as Thierry demanding to know how he could be partners with someone as crazy as Sin. But he didn't have an answer for Thierry that he could bother to formulate at that time so he didn't respond at all. His eyes flicked to the rear view mirror and back to the windshield so quickly it was almost as if he hadn't looked away from the road. Despite the fact he was going as fast as he could, one of the smaller cars was slowly gaining on them. The trees were still thick around them but in a few more minutes they would thin and the enemy would have the chance to overcome them.