led to the door I needed to break through, the Colonel took up
station out in the main corridor to guard our backs. Not that we hadn’t
cleared the area but we hadn’t checked every nook and cranny. There could well
be infected loose in the building that we hadn’t found in our cursory
inspection.
Tearing off
a long strip of tape I secured my last fragmentation grenade directly over the
heavy-duty deadbolt. I stood there looking at the door for a moment, concerned
that it might be strong enough to withstand the blast. I needed something to
focus the energy towards the lock and prevent it from freely expanding away
from what I wanted to destroy.
Back in the
hall I motioned for Crawford to stay put and stepped into one of the other
small rooms. This one appeared to have been used for fingerprinting incoming
prisoners and the sparse furniture was large and heavy. Grasping the top of a
solid looking file cabinet I tried to tilt it away from the wall. I could
barely move it. Perfect. If I could just get it out of this room, across the
hall and into position.
Waving
Colonel Crawford in with me, I quickly explained what I was doing. He nodded,
made a quick check of the hall before slinging his rifle, then helped me tilt
and lift the cabinet. This wasn’t one of the cheap, thin walled units you see
in many offices. It was constructed of heavy gauge steel and had a long
locking hasp running its full height. An iron rod could be dropped through the
hasp and padlocked, securing all of the drawers. Once locked, you pretty much
needed a cutting torch or explosives to get it open.
The damn
thing weighed a ton, or felt like it did, and by the time we carried it ten
yards and got it in position both of us were panting and sweating. Stepping
back, I was happy with the results. We had shoved the edge of the cabinet
against the body of the grenade and it would do a good job of concentrating the
explosive force onto the deadbolt.
I waited
until Crawford was back out in the main hall, safe around the corner before
reaching behind the file cabinet and yanking the pin out of the grenade. I
turned and ran to join him.
“Fire in the
hole!” I alerted Martinez over the radio as I turned the corner.
The grenade
detonated with a bass thump I felt in my chest and the soles of my feet. The
solid door and heavy file cabinet had muted much of the blast, exactly as I’d
hoped. Stepping back into the short hall I couldn’t see much because of the
dust and debris floating in the air.
I was heading
forward to see if my idea had worked when the Colonel called out to me.
“Major, you
should come hear this.”
I joined
him, looking in the direction he was facing. I didn’t hear anything at first
and started to ask what he was referring to, then held my breath when I heard
it.
“Help! Help
me! Who’s out there? Help!” The voice was coming from the area with all of
the cells.
16
“What the
fuck?” I said, Crawford and I exchanging glances.
“Someone’s
alive,” he said.
I almost
said something really sarcastic and mildly disrespectful about him being
Captain Obvious then remembered he was a Colonel and I was a Major. Biting my
tongue I shook my head.
“If that
door is breached we need to clear the police station first,” I said. “Make
sure we didn’t just release a whole bunch of infected.”
“Agreed,” he
said and we slowly turned into the smaller hall. Behind us the man kept crying
out for help.
The dust was
clearing and I could see the heavy file cabinet lying on its side, a large rent
torn through the thick steel. The deadbolt had been punched out of the door,
leaving a nice hole. We dragged the cabinet out of the way and lights on,
carefully pulled the door open.
The
explosion had warped it and it took some force to swing it far enough to pass
through. Two infected males greeted us, both wearing torn and soiled Oklahoma
State Police uniforms. I
station out in the main corridor to guard our backs. Not that we hadn’t
cleared the area but we hadn’t checked every nook and cranny. There could well
be infected loose in the building that we hadn’t found in our cursory
inspection.
Tearing off
a long strip of tape I secured my last fragmentation grenade directly over the
heavy-duty deadbolt. I stood there looking at the door for a moment, concerned
that it might be strong enough to withstand the blast. I needed something to
focus the energy towards the lock and prevent it from freely expanding away
from what I wanted to destroy.
Back in the
hall I motioned for Crawford to stay put and stepped into one of the other
small rooms. This one appeared to have been used for fingerprinting incoming
prisoners and the sparse furniture was large and heavy. Grasping the top of a
solid looking file cabinet I tried to tilt it away from the wall. I could
barely move it. Perfect. If I could just get it out of this room, across the
hall and into position.
Waving
Colonel Crawford in with me, I quickly explained what I was doing. He nodded,
made a quick check of the hall before slinging his rifle, then helped me tilt
and lift the cabinet. This wasn’t one of the cheap, thin walled units you see
in many offices. It was constructed of heavy gauge steel and had a long
locking hasp running its full height. An iron rod could be dropped through the
hasp and padlocked, securing all of the drawers. Once locked, you pretty much
needed a cutting torch or explosives to get it open.
The damn
thing weighed a ton, or felt like it did, and by the time we carried it ten
yards and got it in position both of us were panting and sweating. Stepping
back, I was happy with the results. We had shoved the edge of the cabinet
against the body of the grenade and it would do a good job of concentrating the
explosive force onto the deadbolt.
I waited
until Crawford was back out in the main hall, safe around the corner before
reaching behind the file cabinet and yanking the pin out of the grenade. I
turned and ran to join him.
“Fire in the
hole!” I alerted Martinez over the radio as I turned the corner.
The grenade
detonated with a bass thump I felt in my chest and the soles of my feet. The
solid door and heavy file cabinet had muted much of the blast, exactly as I’d
hoped. Stepping back into the short hall I couldn’t see much because of the
dust and debris floating in the air.
I was heading
forward to see if my idea had worked when the Colonel called out to me.
“Major, you
should come hear this.”
I joined
him, looking in the direction he was facing. I didn’t hear anything at first
and started to ask what he was referring to, then held my breath when I heard
it.
“Help! Help
me! Who’s out there? Help!” The voice was coming from the area with all of
the cells.
16
“What the
fuck?” I said, Crawford and I exchanging glances.
“Someone’s
alive,” he said.
I almost
said something really sarcastic and mildly disrespectful about him being
Captain Obvious then remembered he was a Colonel and I was a Major. Biting my
tongue I shook my head.
“If that
door is breached we need to clear the police station first,” I said. “Make
sure we didn’t just release a whole bunch of infected.”
“Agreed,” he
said and we slowly turned into the smaller hall. Behind us the man kept crying
out for help.
The dust was
clearing and I could see the heavy file cabinet lying on its side, a large rent
torn through the thick steel. The deadbolt had been punched out of the door,
leaving a nice hole. We dragged the cabinet out of the way and lights on,
carefully pulled the door open.
The
explosion had warped it and it took some force to swing it far enough to pass
through. Two infected males greeted us, both wearing torn and soiled Oklahoma
State Police uniforms. I
Similar Books
