“It’s called psy ops,” Silhouette said. “Hearts and minds, Hawkins. Hearts and minds.”
Hawkins was in motion before he gave it any thought. Even if they managed to escape, Silhouette would hunt them down, would eventually find Lilly. Silhouette—and GOD—had to be stopped here and now, or Lilly would spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder. And that wasn’t going to happen with a gun fight. That would just get them all dead. But if he was right, Silhouette, like most tough guys, wouldn’t back down from a fight.
When Silhouette stepped forward, rolling his neck, Hawkins knew he had pegged the man’s personality right. But now came the hard part. Hawkins had been in a few fights, had survived an island of monsters and gone toe-to-toe with a grizzly bear and walked away from it, but he wasn’t the world’s most skilled fighter, like Endo, or Collins. Still, he was tough. And he swung first.
His fist struck the side of Silhouette’s face with all the force he could muster. The blow sent the BlackGuard leader sprawling into the wall. But when the man rebounded and spun around, it was with a smile on his face and a blur of motion.
Hawkins was struck three times, and he only caught a glimpse of the first strike, an open palm to his forehead that snapped his head back. The second punch struck his gut, bringing him forward and into the third strike, a solid blow to his sternum that slammed him into the wall behind him and stole his breath.
The pain just fueled Hawkins. Before he was ready, he flung himself off the wall, big hands reaching out for Silhouette’s throat. But he never made it. Silhouette was as fast as he was strong. He dove to the floor, wrapped his legs around Hawkins’s feet and twisted, flinging him to the floor.
Hawkins landed hard, but rolled over and got back to his feet where he was immediately greeted by a trio of punches to his face. He stumbled back, toward the wall. He could feel his face swelling and the wet warmth of blood flowing over his face.
“How did a man like you ever survive the island?” Silhouette said, sounding disappointed. “How did you ever kill a bear?”
Hawkins pushed off the wall. “Because I don’t stop getting back up.” He rushed forward, diving for Silhouette with his arms spread wide. The tackle couldn’t be avoided, and both men dropped. Hawkins gave Silhouette a strong headbutt, stunning him momentarily. “And because I don’t fight fair.” Hawkins then reached behind his back. He drew his eight inch knife from its sheath just as smoothly as he slipped it into Silhouette’s side, between the man’s ribs and into his heart.
Silhouette’s body seized, and an expression of surprise froze on his face, his legs twitching and kicking. Hawkins glanced up at the four soldiers, their guard lowered, shock on their faces. But it wouldn’t last long.
“Fire!” Hawkins shouted.
Alessi and Woodstock opened fire, Woodstock taking one man with three clean shots and Alessi spraying the other three in the same amount of time, thanks to the KRISS’s rapid rate of fire and lack of recoil.
Hawkins withdrew his blade, wiped it off on Silhouette’s sleeve and slipped it back into its sheath. He stood with a groan.
“Sthuffering thucatash,” Lilly said from the end of the hallway. Her eyes were wide, a half smile on her face. She giggled, but she was cut off by a massive rumbling shockwave pulsing down from above. The whole facility shook and then went black.
36
“You’re okay,” I tell Maigo, crouching in front of her, my arms around her back, my forehead leaning against her hair. Despite my encouraging words, I’m feeling the same abject horror about the creatures in this room, but to a lesser degree. I don’t think anyone could walk into this space, memories of past tortures or not, and not be disturbed. A glance up at Collins confirms it. Of all of us, she’s got the toughest emotional skin, built up to deal with her previous abusive husband, and even she looks mortified, a hand over her mouth.
“They’re dead,” I whisper, glancing toward the three, square, liquid-filled tanks. They look like oversized fish tanks, each a perfect cube, each with a different occupant. “They’re all dead.”