"Go get it, ill stay here and see if we can salvage some heavy artillery from the truck" McDonnell said.
"OK, come with me. Jesse you too." I said "We're going to get this and then I'm going back for my girlfriend. She's holed up in an office near the back"
We moved cautiously toward the service doors near the back. I would have bet anything the last few of them were waiting there. "Wait, we can't just bust through the doors, they'll pick us off if we do" I said, looking for a better way in.
"Over here, there's a crawlspace through the electronics that we can go through. It's dusty but they probably didn't even see it. It comes out behind some boxes."
I went through first. We had pretty good cover behind some massive TV boxes when we got into the warehouse. Using the spotting mirrors, I pegged at least three soldiers. Two were stacking pallets to block the receiving doors and the other was guarding the doors we almost ran right through.
I turned to the worker, to get him into position. If this didn't work I was done for. I had him climb the warehouse racks and get into position to get a clear shot on the man guarding the door. I snuck around the rear. On my signal he shot at the guard. He wasn't as good of a shot as he thought, it took him half a clip to kill the guy. I stood against the steel rack, biding my time. As the other two came around the corner I was waiting and shot them both in the head before they could react. They hadn't seen me and when they did, they started backpedaling forgetting to grab for their guns. I shot them from so close it lifted them off of their feet.
We had the lift and were ready to head back, but I still needed to get Liz. As we came out from the warehouse I heard shots in the direction she was hiding. We left the lift and ran toward the office. The shooter was trying to break into the office. He had already unloaded a clip into the door. I didn't have time to wonder if she was ok.
He had an open line on us, we were sitting ducks. He fired and killed the worker we had brought with us. Jesse broke off to the side to try and help him, sliding on his knees. I was alone running head first toward the business end of this rifle. I couldn't afford to open fire, it was too risky. I had maybe ten yards to cover as he trained his gun on me.
I heard the shot fire. He slumped to the ground and I saw the office door open with Liz standing there shaking. She had taken him out.
I had too much momentum to stop, I slammed into the counter and fell to the ground. I was dazed as I looked up to find that she hadn't been alone. There were four others in the office with her. Three kids and a lady, who has bawling while holding them for dear life.
"Thank god, its you" she gasped, as she practically crushed me trying to squeeze me. " I knew you would come back"
"It's ok babe, I think that was all of them" sitting back against the counter with my hands on my ribs.
"You've been shot." she said as she frantically started ripping at the sleeve of my shirt to check it
"It's ok, it just grazed me" I said, pulling myself to my feet "I'll be fine, but we need to get everyone to a safe spot."
“Where are we going?” the distraught woman asked.
"We've secured the front entrance and the outdoor area, we've got a lift to blockade the doors. There are probably fifty men outside, I think they're setting up a some kind of base here"
"They ran off" She said pointing at the window "they all started shooting and running off earlier, when that one came in. He saw the girls at the door and was going to kill them, but there was an explosion and they all went running"
I tried to make out what was happening outside, but they had closed the bays. Through the narrow service window it looked like there was a fire fight going on. They were distracted for the time being.
"Attention Mega Mart shoppers," I had grabbed the phone and turned on the PA, hoping it was still working "We are under attack by a force of Chinese soldiers. Do not attempt to leave the building or you will be killed. We have secured most of the store and neutralized most of the fighters inside. I want you all to try and get to the outdoor living area, we are setting up back there. Be careful, there may be more gunman hiding."
I heard the little girls giggling, "mommy I wanna talk on the thingy" one said as their mother started scooting them toward Jesse, who was waiting to help escort them back.
"Come on babe, this is far from over." I said "Stick with those girls, if we draw fire you keep going. I'll hold them off."
Luckily we made it back without incident. McDonnell had done exceedingly well with the salvaging. He had set up half a dozen tripod mounted machine guns, ready to be moved. From under the rubble they had brought out another half dozen crates of other guns, ammo, rockets, and grenades.
"Ain't they purdy?" He grinned as we made our way into the makeshift fort, crates stacked three high for cover. "I reckon we got enough ammo here to hold them off for weeks"
"Good, we may need to" I said as I scanned the people coming in. I spotted what looked like a manager type. "You, come here"
"Yes sir?" he said, visibly shaken from the day's events.
"I need roof access and any men you have that can handle a gun" I said, I knew what my next move would be." He took off trying to find the men I needed.
"You're in charge here General" McDonnell said with a sly grin. "Listen I'm an old jar head, I don’t have it in me to be moving around. I've got my daughter to think of, you take the men and do what you've got to. I'll stay here with the civilians"
I nodded and stood up, "Listen up, we may have stopped the two dozen or so Chinese soldiers who were sent in to secure this shit hole, but there are dozens more outside. Right now they seem to be engaged in a fire fight with who ever is trying to break through to help us."
These men picked this place for a reason, it is easily defended and they are likely to be easily picking off anyone who tries to break through. I need as many strong guys as I can get and anyone who can handle a gun. If you're a vet, even better.
We're going to take most of this ammunition and get it to the roof. We will be setting it up around the perimeter. We are going to give these boys hell. If this was the A team then the ones outside are not well trained, they won't be expecting us from above."
I also need someone who can operate the lift. Our man died before we could block the front entrance. We are not going to let anyone in this behemoth until these boys have picked off every single son of a bitch that's outside waiting to kill us."
“Hell yeah,” Jesse said jumping to his feet.
"It's time to take the offensive, get your asses moving". I yelled as pulled a machine gun off of it's tripod and hoisted the gun onto my shoulders. Most of these people had no formal combat training, but they were mad and ready to fight back. They were not going to be the victims any longer.