Chapter 23: Chapter 23

Thirteen's POV

The door lands with a loud thud on the floor, and the body of one of the three men is on top of it. Cracks spreading out like a spider web across his helmet.

"What the hell?" Devin questions and I look up to see what's caught his attention.

The other two guys are fighting each other.

I watch as they throw kicks and punches at each other, flame throwers discarded on the ground. Each one dodges the other as best as he can. One of the guys is suddenly slammed back into the wall and I can hear the cracking of the helmet as it makes contact with the wall.

"Come on." I hiss quietly and motion for everyone to start leaving the room while these guys are distracted with each other.

We make it to the exit without either of them noticing. Lily and Devin file out first to make sure the coast is clear before motioning for everyone else to follow. I watch the two guys as the one who was slammed into the wall is then punched repeatedly in the side and seems to be losing at the moment.

I don't know which one, if either was intentionally helping us or is on our side, should be helped so I don't dwell on it and put my focus on making sure we all get out of here.

Chase is the last one out the door other than me so as soon as he's out I follow. But I don't make it very far.

I'm grabbed from behind and thrown backwards. I hit the floor hard, my back and the majority of my right side screaming in protest as I move to try and sit up. I roll onto my left side and look up in time to see the door that everyone else had gone through get slammed shut, and locked.

There's banging on the other side of the door as they try to get back in. I stare at the guy standing between me and the door before turning my head to look at the guy he was fighting before. He lays in a crumpled heap on the floor behind me. I can't tell whether or not he's alive but at this point he's not going to be of any hep to me anyway.

I jump to my feet as he stalks towards me, pulling a knife out of my boot as I do.

He takes a swing at me and I duck, swinging out the knife. He dodges it at the last minute. He pulls a knife off his belt as well and begins to attack more quickly, more calculated. I duck and dodge, barely getting in any swings or hits of my own since I'm too busy trying to make sure I don't get stabbed.

I back up far enough from him and pull my arm back before swinging it forward, throwing the knife in my hand perfectly for it to come into contact with his neck. Only, that doesn't happen.

He brings his arm up to block the knife and I watch in shock as the knife simply bounces off his arm with a metal clang. Understanding dawns immediately. He's wearing some kind of metal body armor under his clothes. Great. Just great.

Who is this guy?

He throws his knife and I just barely manage to dodge it. Unfortunately, I took my eyes off him for a second too long and the next thing I know, he's slamming into me.

I hit the wall behind me hard and duck just as his fist comes into contact with the spot my head had been seconds before. I bring my leg up and kick him in the chest, pushing him back and away from me. He barely stumbles back a foot.

What the hell?

He swings his leg out and knocks mine out from under me before I can dodge it. I groan when my head slams down on the floor.

There's a painful tugging as he grabs hold of my hair and pulls me to my feet, his other hand snaking around my neck in a vice like grip, cutting off my air.

I grab at his hand and swing out my leg, kicking into his shin but it does absolutely nothing. It's as if it doesn't even faze him. His grip doesn't let up in the slightest.

I can faintly hear the shouting and banging as everyone else tries unsuccessfully to get the door open. Black spots begin to fill my vision as I continue to try and suck in a breath of air.

Suddenly the grip on my neck is gone and I'm crashing to the floor, sucking in breaths of air and coughing. My hand flies to my throat and I rub at it, pushing myself back so I'm sitting against the wall.

I look over to see that the second guy has come to, and is now back to fighting with the first one. I pull myself up to my feet, leaning back against the wall and watching as they pound into each other.

I watch as the second guy twists the first one's arm behind his back before ramming him face first into the wall. The visor on his helmet cracks and part of it falls to the floor. There's another crack as his arm is twisted further behind his back and the bone gives out. He lets out a growl of pain and anger before whirling around and landing a solid punch on the second guy, right in his stomach causing him to double over.

The first guy then brings his knee up and it collides with the second guy's helmet. He staggers as he tries to regain his balance. He doesn't get the chance to before he's thrown back into the wall, and he crumples to the floor.

The first guy turns back to me and I eye the flame thrower on the ground next me. He notices and we both lunge for it at the same time. We both land on the floor, wrestling over the flame thrower before he jumps quickly to his feet and kicks me in the side. I hiss in pain and my grip on the flame thrower loosens enough for him to snatch it from me.

I glare up at him as he aims it down at me, but he doesn't get the chance to fire it. He's body slammed from the side, the flame thrower flying out of his hands.

He gets to his feet quickly along with the second guy. But the second guy takes up a protective stance in front of me.

It doesn't take long before they're charging each other again, and landing blows. I watch as the second guy quickly gets the upper hand this time He seems to be pissed off, and for whatever reason, I really don't care.

He slips a knife from his belt before driving it into the first guy's neck. He falls to the floor, his hands gaping at his neck, but he's dead before he hits the ground. I tense up as the second guy turns towards me, my hands instinctively going for my dagger. But he doesn't make a move to come at me.

The second guy shakes his head before reaching up and removing his helmet. I stare at him in a shock for only a moment before realization settles in.

Of course, he was supposed to be at a different base, not this one.

He runs a hand through his hair before coming over to me. "You ok?"

I just nod and take his hand as he offers it me and he pulls me to my feet.

"Good." He nods thoughtfully. "In that case...What the hell were you thinking?"

I glare at him as he glares back at me, I've vaguely aware of the pounding on the door. "I came here to get Lydia." I jab a finger into his chest. "You told me you were at a different base."

"I was heading there until I got a call to come here instead." He throws his hands up in the air in frustration. "You should not have come here Daggers. These guys-" He waves his hand in their direction but I cut him off from finishing his sentence.

"Who were they?"

He runs a hand through his hair again and shakes his head. "I don't know. That was what I was trying to find out. They showed up a little before you guys did, said they'd been sent here."

"Sent by who?"

"I don't know! I had to kill one of them so I could masquerade around as him when I found out you guys were here. They were given orders to kill you, all of you. And he did not go down easy. These guys, they aren't like the usual ones Garrett hires, or even the agents that have turned, they're worse. A lot worse. They're dangerous."

I nod, walking across the room to retrieve the knife I had thrown. I pick it up and turn it over in my hands. The tip has been bent.

I hold it up so Sam can see it. He nods before rolling up the sleeves of his shirt, there's a thin metal plate strapped to his forearm.

"It's not strong enough to stop a bullet, but it'll blunt a knife without a problem." He says. "I took it off the third guy. These guys came seriously prepared, only problem is, I have no idea where they came from."

"They weren't easy to take down."

He shakes his head in agreement. "No, they weren't."

Suddenly the door to the exit caves in and crashes to the floor. Lily is the first one through. As soon as she spots Sam she rolls her eyes.

"I should've guessed." She mutters. "Too bad you didn't leave anybody for me to take care of."

"Sorry." Sam says simply. "Next time."

"What is he doing here?" Zack questions.

There's shouting and the thudding of footsteps down another hallway, and getting closer. Sam picks up his helmet and smashes it into the wall a few more times, cracking and denting it beyond repair. He then tosses it away.

"You guys need to go. Like now." He says to them before turning back to me. "Make it look good."

I glare at him and he glares right back, not backing down.

"Fine." I finally grumble.

"What the hell is he talking about?" I hear Devin whisper in question to someone else. "Oh shit!" He shouts as my fist flies into the side of Sam's face. He stumbles back a step but stays standing and I throw another punch, right to his eye, and a third punch to the side of his jaw.

He spits out blood before jerking his head in the direction of the door. "Now get out of here."

"You'll be ok?" I question as I move towards the door.

He gives me what's supposed to be a reassuring smile before gesturing to his face and then the two dead guys. "They won't suspect a thing. Now go."

"Lily set detonators." I tell him and he shakes his head. "You need to get out of here too."

"Yeah I already know about those and I will, don't worry." He replies. "Give me five minutes to get out of here and then blow it. Now GO!"

I nod before turning back to the door along with everyone else. We rush through and start running through the forest back to where we had parked the car.

"What the hell was he doing there?" Devin questions as we run.

"He's working for Garrett." I reply.

"What?!"

Lily rolls her eyes. "He's not actually working for Garrett. Haven't you ever heard of undercover?"

Nobody says anything else until we make it back to the car.

"Why wouldn't you tell us about him?" Chase asks, well, more like demands. He's not too happy.

"It wasn't any of your business. If you wanted to know you should've asked Zero about it." I hiss.

"We could have been using him to our advantage."

"Absolutely not. He risks his life every time he sneaks away to call me, I'm not having him running around doing what you want him to."

"We could have gotten hold of Garrett weeks ago if we'd known! Plus, any more information we get from Garrett's sources and men would be of great value to us."

"Yeah...no."

Chase glares at me and I glare right back, not backing down. Chase let's out a sound similar to a growl.

"What is your problem?" He hisses.

My eyes narrow further. "You're not going be risking Sam's life just to get whatever the hell you want. If he gets caught-"

"If he gets caught Zero just pulls him out and he goes back to whatever it was he was doing before. No harm no foul."

"If he gets caught Zero hangs him out to dry!" I shout. Chase gets quiet and looks confused.

"What do you mean?"

I sigh and turn away, looking back out into the forest. "The terms of the mission were very clear. If he gets caught, Zero doesn't claim his as one of his agents and the rest of the world he's labeled a terrorist."

"Zero wouldn't really do that..." Zack trailed off. "Would he?"

"He made it clear that if Sam failed, or just tried to walk away, he'd be forever labeled as the bad guy. Zero would shred his file and pretend he'd never heard of Sam." The all stare at me with their mouths open, all except Lydia of course. She's seen firsthand how nasty Zero can be.

"Geez, I knew Zero could be pretty damn evil, I just didn't know he'd go this far." Lily mutters.

"Sam has to complete his mission, and even he hasn't told me exactly what it is. He completes the mission and he comes back like nothing ever happened. He doesn't, and never gets his life back. Zero put him in an impossible position."

"What a piece of shit!"

I jerk my head up in surprise and stare wide-eyed at Devin. His hands are clenched to his sides, his entire body tense and his face is turning red. Everybody takes a step back, Lily included.

"Give me your phone." He orders and I unlock it and pass it to him without thinking. He's pissed, and I really don't want to piss him off even more. He dials a number and holds it up to his ear, walking a short distance away from us to talk. I can't here what he's saying, since so far he's staying a lot calmer than he looks.

I look down at my watch before looking up to Lily. "It's been five minutes." I tell her.

She nods. "I know." She says. "I'm giving him another minute."

I smile slightly. "Thank you."

"Do you think I give a shit!" We all hear Devin yell.

"I think he's going to break your phone with that death grip he's got on it." Cody tells me and I nod in agreement.

"No, no no no no no. You do not get to play dumb with me." Devin growls. "I want it taken care of by tomorrow or I'm coming down to the agency. Actually scratch that, I won't come down to the agency, I'll just give Grace a call." Devin smiles evilly for a minute and stays silent while he listens to Zero on the other end. "Just. Get. It. Done." He hangs up and walks back over to us. He tosses me my phone.

"Who's Grace?" Chase asks him. Devin looks at him like he can't comprehend what he said.

"Who?" He asks. Chase gives him a look before muttering something under his breath and walking away.

I walk up to Devin and whisper lowly. "Who is Grace?"

Devin smiles smugly. "One of my little sisters. She's eight and she can't keep anything to herself to save her life. I tell her something she tells my mom...and my mom brings all hell down on Zero."

I shake my head and smile, a small laugh escapes my lips. "Thank you."

He swings his arm over my shoulders. "What are friends for?"

An explosion sounds off in the distance. We all turn towards Lily who's watching the smoke rise with a very scary look of contentment on her face.

"Ok, I'm good. Let's go."