OUTCAST Ops: Red Ice

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Rhee strode into the meth lab. “You three are coming with me!”

Ryuk was shaking. “W-what is happening, Major?”

“The Americans have found us. We need to leave now.”

“How did they find us?” Chang asked.

“That does not matter now. What matters is the escape tunnel is still secure.”

Mori turned toward him, her expression mocking. “Aw, the poor major,” she said in a sarcastic tone. “The ‘stupid Americans’ seem to have found us so quickly. I guess they aren’t as stupid as you believed?”

“We are leaving.” Rhee looked at all three chemists. “Leave everything where it is.”

Ryuk stared at Rhee in fear. “But the Americans will kill us!”

Rhee took out his pistol and pointed it at Ryuk. “I will kill you if you do not start moving!”

Mori smirked and folded her arms. “So much for your clever plan.”

“Enough.” He looked at the two guards standing in the corners of the lab. “Report to Captain P’il. There are intruders in the complex. Kill them.” The men snapped to attention and left the lab at a run.

Rhee motioned to Muhn. “Bring Dr. Mori.”

He addressed Ryuk and Chang. “Go to the door.”

Muhn walked over to Mori, who waited until the man was within reach before launching herself at him. He slipped her punch, twisted so that her knee was aimed at his crotch and struck him in the thigh. He slapped her hard across the face, hard enough to stun her. Before she could recover, Muhn had kicked her feet out from under her, rolled her over, and handcuffed her arms behind her back.

Rhee walked to the door. “Bring her. We need to—”

Rhee was interrupted by a pair of explosions, muffled but loud.

The OUTCAST team ran through the tunnel just as a trio of soldiers appeared from around a bend. Tanner and Naomi fired their M-203s, the buckshot rounds filling the tunnel with a cloud of steel balls that tore into all three guards. The North Koreans went down as if they’d struck an invisible wall. The team barreled down the tunnel, hurtling over the bloody bodies, speed and surprise replacing stealth and silence.

Around the bend, the tunnel was longer and well-lit. Shouts could be heard up ahead and more armed men appeared in the tunnel. The team threw themselves against the wall as the enemy opened fire, filling the passage with scores of bullets. Liam grunted and spun as he reached the wall.

“You okay?” Tanner yelled.

“Grazed along the ribs,” Liam replied with a grimace. “The armor took the impact, but still hurts like a son of a bitch.”

The team opened fire, both Stephen and Dante firing HE rounds from their M203s into the enemy group. The tunnel seemed to heave as both 40mm rounds exploded in the middle of the defenders. Tanner leapt up and ran into the dust and smoke, followed by the rest of the team. Overhead, the rock groaned dangerously.

They ran through where the North Koreans had been, hopping over rocks and what had been parts of a fanatical enemy a few seconds ago. As they ran, the tunnel roof cracked and small rocks and rock dust started to fall. Twenty yards behind them, the tunnel roof gave way and began collapsing in earnest.

The team ran harder as more of the tunnel filled in.

The rumbling was distant but loud enough for Vessler and the other members of Task Force Sun to hear. “What is that, an earthquake?”

Gary Daniels, standing a few feet away, shook his head. “That’s a tunnel collapsing. I’ve heard a few of them in my time.”

They were standing in what was left of the ranch house’s kitchen. Shattered glass and spent shells were everywhere. The bodies of the North Koreans littered the floor, covered with plaster dust pieces of wallboard and wood splinters. The dead and wounded agents had already been carried outside where army medics were working on saving lives and preparing them for transport. Agents moved through the wreckage, picking up rifles and piling them in one corner of the dining room.

“Vess!” Phil Brock called from the basement.

Vessler went over to the doorway and saw her fellow DEA agent at the bottom. “What?”

“There was a tunnel down here, but it collapsed before we made entry. We’re not getting through there.”

“All right, haul your ass up here.” Vessler tapped her radio “Striker to Ramrod. Anything from your boys?”

“My EOD boys say the barn is secured and the detonators had been disassembled. The perimeter guards report everything’s quiet. No sign of anyone trying to escape.”

Any word from OUTCAST?”

“Negative. I’m not hopeful.”

“I need some of your guys to secure the building. I’m taking Sun to PYRITE to find out what’s happening down there.”

“Copy, give me ten minutes. Ramrod out.”

“Vess,” Daniels said. She turned to see him hold up a plastic bag with skin patches on a strip of paper. “These look familiar?”

“Hell yes! Bag it into evidence, but don’t let out of DEA sight!”

She tapped her radio. “Striker to all Sun elements. Bag your evidence, put it into the lockers. I want one member from each agency assigned to guard them until we can get them transported off-site. The rest of you, gear up, we’re going underground.”