As soon as they heard the burst of machine gun fire behind them, the rest of the group scattered to find cover, crowding into any available space they could find on the shelves to either side. The lights were off in the warehouse and they used the deep shadows to hide themselves among the crates and boxes. Although the shelves were crowded they were surprised to find that many of the boxes and crates were empty, mere props to make the business look legitimate, and could be easily shoved aside to make room for them.
“We need to do something,” Dimitri whispered aloud. “They’ll be coming after us any second now.
“No,” Matt’s voice said out of the darkness, “Reed blocked the window, he…” Matt stopped so abruptly that no one said anything for several moments.
“What is it?” Paige asked. She was getting the feeling that something had gone terribly wrong.
Matt climbed down from the shelf he had jumped onto and stood staring down the aisle back the way they had come.
“It’s Tom.”
Paige appeared beside him in an instant, her heart in her throat. “What about Tom?”
Before Matt could answer they heard the sound of footfalls coming down the aisle. In moments the last three of their group appeared with them.
“They shot Tom,” Danny said breathlessly when they reached the others.
Paige rushed to Tom but was unable to wake him. In the darkness she did not see the new injuries to his body but she felt the sticky wetness on the front of his shirt when she touched him and her blood ran cold.
She looked at Reed who met her worried gaze. “We need to get him out of here,” Reed said. “I blocked the window but I don’t know how long it’ll hold. We really need to move.”
“They’re heading for the trap room,” Matt said suddenly, gazing into the distance. “They’re going to de-activate the lockdown so they can open the door.”
“Not if I can help it,” Danny said as he closed his eyes. He began searching for a way to access the central computer system. From his prior contact with the system he knew that it controlled the lockdown procedure. He also knew he was too far away from the mainframe system to access it directly like he had done when he was standing inside the server room, but there was still one chance.
He probed the office searching for the cable outlets the desktop computers had been plugged into, hoping that they were hard line connections to the system in the underground base. Yes! As he suspected, the office machines had been hardwired to the central network. Even though the PCs were disconnected, he was able to use the cables to send his consciousness down into the system until he encountered the mainframe’s security protocols. With no time for finesse, he attacked the firewall. Thinking it was under attack by an infiltration program the system shut itself down.
“Done.” He snapped his eyes open and glanced at the others. “I crashed the computer. It’ll take three to five minutes for the system to re-boot but they won’t be able to open the door until then.”
“But the door had an EM field around it,” Reed said, confused.
“It did, but I went after the mainframe,” Danny said. “And the computer controls the lockdown.” He adjusted Tom’s arm across his shoulders and nodded to Reed. The two of them began moving toward the front of the building again.
The group moved quickly. They were perhaps halfway along the aisle when Matt suddenly stopped and turned back again.
“They found a spot in the window that they can wiggle through one at a time,” Matt told the others. “They’re coming through!”
Without warning, two dark shapes darted away from the group, dashing toward the back of the room. It was the dogs. Through their connection with Shay they had learned of the danger behind them and were going back to protect their newly adopted pack.
“No! Come back! The guns will hurt you!” Shay yelled after the dogs. She tried to go after them but Dimitri wrapped his arms around her and held her fast.
“Let me go! I need to stop them!” Shay yelled as she struggled against him.
“You can’t help them,” Dimitri told her as he held her tightly, refusing to release her. “Shay, stop! Please. It’s too dangerous.”
She heard genuine concern for her in his vice. After a moment she stopped fighting against him and pressed her cheek to his arm.