The fourth floor had three more guards and an actual squad-sized response forming up at the elevator bank. I pulled Zero behind a half-wall at the stairwell mouth and held up two fingers, then made a gesture I hoped meant flank, and her eyes did the smiling thing again.
"You've got a plan."
I corrected her, "I've got the start of a plan."
"Tell me."
Nodding, I explained everything. "I throw a grenade I do not have, you handle the squad while they're distracted, I take out the two at the elevator, we move."
"Lukas. You don't have a grenade."
"They don't know that."
I stood up, half-stepped into view of the squad, yelled "GRENADE" at the top of my lungs, and ducked back down. Six grown men in armor immediately threw themselves flat onto a marble floor, which is something I can confirm makes a tremendous amount of noise even before Zero went over the half-wall and into them like a thrown axe.
