“If he says they know, they know,” Cass said.
Gamble nodded.
“Sky,” she said, “we need some elevation… Understood… Can you check for roof access…? I understand that. I’m not asking to clear the whole thing… Alright, check.” She shook her head. “Can we get Wick up nine flights?”
“He’s lost a lot of blood,” Mouse said. “I don’t want him going into shock.”
“I’m not dead yet,” Wick said. “You don’t have to talk about me like I am.”
“Sorry, you lost a lot of blood,” Mouse replied.
“I didn’t really lose it, it’s all right outside.”
“Knock it off, Wick, this isn’t a joke,” Finn said.
“I can make it up some stairs,” Wick said. “If someone can carry my pack.”
“I’ll take it,” Cass said, before anyone else could respond.
Swoop finished rigging the charge on the door and dropped back. Outside the cries of the Weir had dropped off. Mouse had Wick hold the gauze in place and started winding a wide bandage over the wound and around under his armpit.
“What happened in there, Finn?” Swoop asked.
“I don’t really know,” he said. “We were clearing rooms, everything was fine. Come around a corner, and we’re staring at a crowd of Weir packed into a little dark room in the middle. Just standing there, all packed in together. Tried to back out, one of ’em pounced. Wick went down and it was on top of him, and the rest started coming after us. Like walking into the middle of a hornet’s nest.”
“My fault,” Wick said. “Took it too fast…”
“No way anyone could’ve anticipated that,” Finn said. “It was like they were switched off, and we woke ’em up. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“I don’t think anyone has,” Swoop said. “Never gave much thought to where they went during the day.”
“Alright,” Gamble said. “I want to get up to the roof, get a good look at what we’re dealing with. Swoop, Finn, rig the first two flights of stairs. If they breach that door, I want it to cost them.”
“You want to drop the stairs, or just kill a lot of ’em?” Swoop asked.
“Both.”
He grunted. “That’ll take most of what we got.”
“I’d rather use it all than die with it in your pack.”
Swoop gave a little nod. “Check.”
“Everybody else, we’re moving topside,” Gamble said.
“To the t-t-top floor?” Painter asked.
“No. To the roof,” Gamble said. “We don’t have time to clear the whole building, but we can control the roof. Get your stuff, and we’ll move up.”
Cass grabbed Wick’s pack. It was a lot heavier than she’d anticipated, and she once again marveled at Gamble and her “boys”. As far as she knew, none of them were modified or enhanced with chems, or gene splicing, or servorganics. Just raw humanity and determination. It made their skill and stamina that much more impressive. Cass looped the straps over her shoulders, backwards, so she could carry his pack in front of her. Then she took Wren’s hand, and together they followed Gamble down the corridor towards the stairs.
Behind them, Mouse helped Wick to his feet, and looped Wick’s right arm over his shoulders.
“Lean on me, let me do most of the work,” Mouse said. “And try to keep that left arm as stable as possible.”
“Alright,” Wick said.
“You let me know if you start feeling weak, dizzy, or like you can’t catch your breath.”
“I feel like all that right now.”
“Then let me know if it gets worse.”
“Alright.”
They all started up the stairs together, Gamble leading the way, cautiously leading with her weapon. Cass came right behind, with Wren by her side. Painter followed them. Mouse and Wick brought up the rear.
The stairwell was plain: bare concrete floor and stairs, a simple iron railing. Vertical slot windows were spaced every so often, lending enough light to see by, but they were too narrow to give any meaningful view of what was going on outside.
Down below them, Finn started laying out charges and some other devices Cass hadn’t seen before, while Swoop went to work rigging them up on the first set of stairs. Cass had never been around so many explosives before, and she found it wholly unnerving, even as much as she trusted Swoop as an expert.
“Hey,” Gamble said, calling back down to Swoop and Finn. “Make it good enough, not perfect. I don’t want you fiddling around down here.”