Ingrams & Assoc 6: Downfall Ch. 04

April was paralyzed, - what were they going to do?

Chris looked around, then grabbed April's arm and pushing up his mask again, said, "Get the sheets. Tie them together," and then gestured at the small terrace outside.

April looked at him astonished, and pulled up her mask. "Chris, we are fifty-one stories up. Where the hell do you expect us to go?"

"We don't have to go all the way down, April. Just one floor. Go into the suite below us and then down the stairs from there."

April just stared at him a second, thinking him insane. What a risk. Then again, she had practical experience of these people. She knew the lows they could go to. It was worth the risk. Making her decision, she ran to the bed to get the linens, pulling them off, rolling them up and desperately trying to tie them sufficiently so they would hold body weight.

She ran into the main suite area, finding Chris rattling the terrace doors. They were locked and, in frustration, he turned, grabbed a chair from the formal dining table and threw it at the glass, trying to break it.

In an act of pure malice, the chair bounced. The glass was bullet proof; this was the presidential suite, after all.

Aprils, shoulders sagged, and at that precise moment, the improvised door jamb finally gave way and the entire door to the suite exploded in.

In a move that would have made any wild west gunslinger proud, April dropped the makeshift rope, and in a smooth move, pulled taser out of her belt, aimed at the first black suite entering the room and fired, at point blank range.

The twin prongs arched out and hit him full in the chest, the current passing through him and making him do the rigid dance, his face contorting with pain.

Two seconds and it was all over, and he collapsed, tripping up the next man through the door. Behind him, April and Chris could see at least eight or nine more, - it looked all the world like a scene from The Matrix, with an increasing number of Mr. Smith's running at them.

Chris picked up the chair that had bounced off the window, and threw it at the next guy, catching him full in the chest, and knocking him down too.

The next man in leapt over the two downed bodies, reaching his hand under his jacket. April pulled up her second taser and fired, with the same result as the first.

By now Chris was moving in the direction of the door; it was the only exit and they had to get into the corridor, where quarters were more confined, or they were done for.

April was right behind him, wishing desperately they had one more gas grenade. But it was to be close hand-to-hand combat, not weapon combat.

They gave as good as they got, - Chris' lessons for April, on top of her Ingrams training was extremely helpful.

They weren't trying to be clever, - it was quick and hard strikes, designed to incapacitate as quickly as possible. They just didn't have the time to take on anyone in prolonged combat, so there was as much slamming of faces into walls as they could achieve, to take people out quickly.

But, as is almost always the case, when there are more of them than there are of you, and no one is using weapons, and there is training on both sides, attrition will wear you down.

April got a punch in the face at one point, and kick in the ribs at another, was slammed into a wall, and she was pretty sure she may have fractured her wrist punching one guys belt buckle.

Chris definitely had a broken rib, a massive black eye, and, he suspected, a broken finger. He also was limping, due to a knee he'd taken on a thigh muscle, bruising it hard.

But they were making progress. They were almost all the way down to the elevator, both fighting two of the last guys in suits that were uninjured. Certainly, some of the ones they'd already fought, further down the corridor, were getting up, albeit slowly, and gingerly moving towards them, but if they could just take these two out... and get to the elevator... they might actually....

As this ran through April's mind, the elevator door pinged, and then opened. Glancing over very briefly, April couldn't believe what she saw. Desirea McGee herself, was standing in the elevator, and she flashed a grin at April, catching her eye.

April's emotions soared! Desirea was here, to help them out. Her energy redoubled, April looked back at the man who was warily looking at her, arms both outstretched. April smiled at him, stuck her middle finger up at him, and he rushed her.

She used a judo move, and pushed out her leg, while falling back. The man's rush overbalanced him and her foot from her outstretched leg planted firmly in the man's lower stomach area, as he fell forward. April, as a last act before falling backwards, grabbed both his outstretched arms at the wrists, and she just rolled back. The man just went over her, out of control, both as a result of his own attack speed and also through April's graceful roll backwards.

The man flew through the air and his head collided with a table in the corridor, and he was most definitely out for the count.

As April got up, she saw Chris slam his man into the wall, face first, leaving a splat of blood on the wall as the man slowly crumpled to the floor.

He glanced back at her, wincing as he tried to grin, and then looked at Desirea, who had now stepped in to the corridor herself.

April grinned, now standing, and was about to say something when Desirea moved her hands from behind her back. In both hands was a taser. And they were aimed at April and Chris.

Before either could move, Desirea pressed the triggers, and both April and Chris jumped and quivered as the electric current raced up and down their bodies, spasming their muscles.

Eventually the current ceased and they both collapsed on the floor, unable to move or control themselves.

Desirea walked over and looked down at April, squatting over her to really get in her face.

"At last..." she murmured, then looked up at someone past April's face, and then there was a moment's more pain, and then blackness.