True(8)

She moved faster, feeling sick, as though she would pass out. She realized that she’d never succeed in taking out all the readers before the elevator opened again. It could be the police but she wasn’t willing to risk the lives of the men and women trapped inside those rooms if it wasn’t. She glanced down at all the blood staining her coat and pants. It would be a miracle if she didn’t collapse before she reached the next cell.

“Shit.” Desperation drove her to think of a solution. Her gaze drifted from the elevator display to the metal electrical boxes on the wall next to it. Both had locks on them to prevent anyone from tampering with the breakers inside but the covers weren’t bulletproof. At least she hoped not.
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Her legs gave out and she slid to the floor next to the body of the second guard she’d killed. Another gun still rested inside one of the two shoulder holsters he sported. The guards always carried a few weapons. She released the one she’d used, not sure if it even had any bullets left. The stun gun slipped from her fingers into her pocket and she tugged at his gun. It slid from the holster and she forced her legs to move, getting to her knees.

Her vision blurred and lightheadedness struck. She swallowed hard and used both hands to lift the heavy weight of the handgun to take aim. The sound was loud as she kept firing but bullets tore through the metal and the lights flickered. She paused, holding her breath, until total darkness surrounded her. The emergency lights clicked on, dimly illuminating the hallway, but one glance at the nearest cell with an undamaged reader showed it was inactive.

“Thank god,” she breathed, realizing the doors would remain locked during a power failure. She hadn’t been sure if the safeguards on the doors were a part of the emergency backup system or not until then.

She crouched until she sat on her heels, keeping upright. She lowered the gun to her lap as she stared at the elevator that wasn’t affected by the localized power loss. It would open at any second and she’d face whoever was on the way down. The guards would kill her once they realized what she’d done. The cops would arrest her until they figured out who she was. She prayed for the latter.

The elevator doors opened and bright lights blinded her.

“Drop the gun,” a man yelled.

She couldn’t see their faces but didn’t have the strength to fight anyway. The gun slipped from her fingers. The lights came closer and pain exploded into the side of her face. The force sent her flying backward. She hit the floor hard and a moan tore from her lips.

Someone gripped her roughly by her arm and rolled her onto her stomach. Her cheek was pressed painfully against the floor as someone grabbed a fistful of her hair and her arms were jerked behind her back by someone else. The agony from the bullet wound made her scream. A boot planted hard on her ass, grinding her hips against the floor.

“Secure that bitch,” a stranger demanded.

Pain lanced through her. Whoever had her hair fisted in his hand was crushing her face against the unforgiving tile. The boot on her ass held her down so forcefully that she wondered if her hipbones would break from the pressure. The handcuffs being placed on her wrists were tightened to an excruciating point. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks. She would have screamed again but the pain became too intense. She had a hard time even breathing.

“Someone shot out the electrical box on this floor,” a man stated.

“The dumb bitch probably thought she’d kill the power to the elevator. Let’s get these doors open. I have a feeling we have live ones, guys. Let’s rescue them. We need to move fast. We don’t want this place to end up like what happened at that testing facility in Michigan last year. It could be wired to explode.”

Jeanie focused on one word. Rescue. They weren’t guards who worked at the facility. The men holding her down were cops. The fact that they hadn’t shot her already was secondary proof of their identity. She managed to suck in more air, breathing a sigh of relief. They won’t kill me.

Loud pops sounded. Some smoke filled the area but it wasn’t suffocating, more of a slight taste in her mouth and an acrid smell. She just lay there, hoping for respite. Her eyes closed—keeping them open seemed impossible. The boot on her ass shifted a little but it didn’t ease up on the weight holding her down.

“We’re here to save you,” a soothing male voice stated. “We work for people just like you who have been freed from these testing facilities. We’re going to take you out of here to your own kind.”#p#分页标题#e#

“Hello,” a deeper voice said. His tone was quieter but it carried. “I’m like you. See? We’ve come to rescue you. You are free now. These humans with us are good ones who work with our kind. We’ll take you to a safe place. We need to get you out of here. No one is ever going to chain you up again.”