Chapter 14:
The three of them run through the hallway to reach the elevator. Right as they reach the doors, the elevator dings, and the doors open. Standing behind the doors, there are three guards. Without a second thought, Kirov blasted the head off of one of them, and Marto charged the elevator, taking the other two out with ease. After a moment's thought, Kirov led them to a fire escape, and they started making their way down. As they ran down the stairs, Kirov noticed the sound of steps from below them.
"Stay here." Kirov turned to the others as he reloaded his pistol and took a deep breath. Time slowed down as he darted down to the guards and started unloading his pistol. He takes out the first two before using one of the bodies as a shield as he takes on the others. A struggle proceeds as he finishes off the other two. He picked up an SMG and a grenade from the body of one of the guards, but as he threw the strap of the gun over his shoulder, he looked over the guard rail. He was met by the sight of what seemed like an army of guards and other security personnel. He dashed back to the others and took them through a door.
"Quickly in here!" Kirov got everyone into one of the rooms and locked the door. "Vasko, get on the cameras, I want to see what's going on outside!" Kirov didn't let any time go to waste, reloading his guns and getting ready to use his sandevistan. Marto had not stopped panting since he took out the guards next to Dimitar's office, and as hard as he tried, he couldn't stop shaking.
"Kirov… this is weird." Kirov turned to face Vasko and walked over to him.
"What's happening out there, Vasko?" Kirov stared at Vasko, waiting for a response.
"It's just that… None is coming. The hallway is clear."
"What do you mean it's clear? There were just on top of…" Kirov stopped for a moment, then with a very stern look, asked, "What about the lobby and front entrance?" Vasko went back to netrunnign as he checked the cameras,
"There is a group of guys getting out of a van, they don't look like normal guards though."
"That's because they are not normal guards. That's the KKS."
"Like the ones that attacked us in the bar?" Krisi looked toward Kirov with a look of fear that she couldn't hide.
"No… we got away from those guys. This is Dimitar's personal squad, the Kirov Kill Squad, otherwise known as the KKS. I've worked with them before; there is no winning, there is barely an escape." The room fell silent, the only noise creeping through the tension being Marto's breathing and the occasional spark from his gorilla arms.
"They are making their way up the fire escape!" Vasko shouts out. Kirov cocked his pistol and started walking towards the door. Marto blocked his way.
"Where are you going?" Marto asked him in a way that was less of a question and more of a confrontation.
"I'm going to buy us some time, you make sure that Krisi and Vasko get out, if you need money to get away, Ivan at the Tangra Bar will let you into my locker-"
"You're not going anywhere, Kirov." Kirov tried to push past Marto, but he would not let him.
"Marto… Just let me pass, I need to-"
BANG
Marto punched Kirov in the stomach and threw him across the room. He didn't even look back as he tore the door off its hinges and ran down the corridor. Krisi and Vasko immediately start chasing him, but Kirov uses his sandevistan to quickly reach them and hold them back.
"Let me go!" Krisi screams at Kirov, trying to get him off of her, but he does not relent. Before they could realise, Kirov had dragged the two of them into a neighbouring suite.
"Marto chose his role, don't disrespect that!" Kirov shouts at the two of them; his aggression was clearly an attempt to cover up the fact that if it wasn't for the adrenaline in his blood, he would have been in tears. Krisi and Vasko don't respond, only wiping their tears, as Kirov let go of them and made his way to the bathroom. Taking out the SMG that he had picked up earlier, he fired the entire magazine in a circle on the floor, leaving a trace of what seemed to be a circle-shaped hole in the tiles. He then pulled out a grenade and dropped it into the hole.
"On the floor!" Kirov shouted as he jumped on top of Krisi and Vasko to shield them from the incoming blast.
BOOM
"Come on, let's go!" The three of them made their way to the bathroom, through which they found a hole in the floor, leading to the next floor. Without any more shouting, the three of them made their way through the hole, with Kirov going in first to clear the room. After making sure that there was no one in the room, they made their way to the corridor and found another fire escape.
Running down the escape, they hear the sound of footsteps echoing from below. Kirisi quickly found a door to what seemed to be a storage closet. The three of them shuffled into the closet and waited for the men to pass. Holding their breath, the men passed by, and they overheard them talking,
"I'm not going back downstairs, MaxTac have already been dispatched, so you know they are going to come in and blow the roof off this place because of that cyberpsycho, and they don't care about collateral damage." Hearing this, Krisi covered her mouth to mask the sound of her crying at the realisation that the chances she ever saw Marto again were getting smaller by the second. They wanted a minute before getting out of the closet and continuing their way down the stairs. Carefully opening the door, the three of them make their way to a staff exit. As they got closer, they realised that they would have to pass through the lobby in order to get to the exit.
"Stay low, and stay close." Vasko and Krisi shook their heads in approval as they followed behind Kirov. As they entered the lobby, there was a swarm of guards, some were making their way to the elevator, whilst others were setting up what seemed to be an impromptu command post. As the three of them tried to sneak by, Vasko ended up rolling his ankle.
As if they had trained a choreography, all of the guards turned their heads towards Vasko in unison.
"Vasko!" Kirov dashed towards him, picking him up as he brazenly dodged the immediate incoming gunfire. He dropped him with Krisi behind some makeshift cover that one resemble a marble pillar. The gunfire does not stop, and Kirov begins to notice how the guards are moving in, trying to surround them. He quickly pops his head up to send off some suppressive fire, but he was forced to get behind cover against the threat of an immediate flatline.
Kirov knew that the situation was not going to get any better. The guards were moving in on them; the KKS would eventually make their way down after they dealt with Marto, and MaxTac was soon to arrive on the scene. His sandevistan started to hum. He reloaded his pistol with his last magazine and turned to face Krisi. Taking her hand, he couldn't find the words to tell her, so he didn't. He turned away and looked to Vasko with a serious look on his face.
"Do you remember what I told Marto in the room? About the Tangra Bar?"
"Yeah, I think so, something about Ivan." Kirov put a hand on Vasko's shoulder,
"Good, then you know what you'll have to do," Kirov paused as Krisi gripped his hand harder, "Just promise me… Don't look back." With that being said, Kirov let go of Krisi's hand and got ready for his last-ditch attempt at buying them some time.
CRASH
"NEXT ROUND! IS THAT ALL YOU GOT!" Marto appears on the rafters above the lobby, having thrown a guard across the room and into the main entrance. He jumped down and began tearing through the guards. But Kirov could see what was going on. Marto wasn't boxing, or even street fighting. He was mindlessly tearing the guards apart limb from limb. He was too far gone. Krisi jumped out from the cover and, with Vasko in tow, they ran toward Marto.
"Marto, come on. Let's go!" Krisi cries out as she gets closer to him. Marto threw away the guard that he was fighting as he turned to the two of them. Kirov tried to reach them unsuccessfully, as he got caught in more gunfire and had to duck behind cover.
"Marto, it's us, please come! There is still time." Krisi held Marto's face as she begged him with tears in her eyes. Vasko held tightly onto Martos' arm making an attempt to pull him, to no avail. Marto turned to look at Krisi. Her hands on his face were enough to bring him out of his state, if only just for a second.
"Krisi… What's happening? Where is Kirov-"
BANG
Marto stood still, only hearing the one shot. His vision blurs as he looks towards Kirov. He makes out what seems to be Kirov returning fire and running towards him. Marto looks down and sees Krisi and Vasko, screaming something that he can't hear. A drop of blood falls onto Krisi's face. He reaches for his shirt, and his hand comes back covered in blood.
Kirov makes his way to Marto, who was standing over Krisi and Vasko. Marto may not have fully realised it yet, but the five holes in the shirt were leaking with blood, and that was more serious than he could grasp.
"Krisi… Go… Now!." Marto is looking directly into Vasko's eyes as he says it once more, "GO NOW!" Vasko doesn't fully understand what has happened, or does not want to understand, but he grabs Krisi and starts to pull her away from Marto. She, however, does not give in. It takes Kirov getting to her to be able to drag her away from Marto.
"No, let me go. We can't leave him here. He's going to die!" Krisi is screaming and crying as they pull her away. A new set of sirens begins to blare, and Kriov sees a MaxTac AV landing in front of the main entrance.
"KIROV!" Kirov turns back to see Marto staring at him, with a bloodthirsty stare, "Don't make me have to save you again." Kirov stops in his tracks. He knew that Marto was still on the brink of cyberpsychosis and didn't have long.
"I won't. I prom-," Kirov isn't able to finish his sentence, choking on what seemed to be tears, "I promise." With that, Kirov turned away and ran to the exit with Vasko and Krisi in tow.
Making their way through the staff parking, Kirov runs to the first car and breaks the window. Getting in the car, Vasko jacks in and gets the car running. They take off, with Vasko holding on to Krisi as the two of them sob uncontrollably. Kirov wipes away a single tear from his face as they make their way out of the parking lot.
As they get onto the street, Kirov looks into the rear-view mirror and sees a scene that forces him to look away. Marto lunges at MaxTac, tearing the first oparator who got a hold of him limb from limb. He grabs on to another, but the AV weaponry starts firing on him, along with the other oparators. It was too much for even him to handle. He simply mutters to himself,
"Goodbye, friend."