True Apocalypse Game

The shrill alarms and flashing red lights were maddening. Joey cursed,

"Damn it!"

He didn’t know if the two people outside had been discovered.

On the monitor, a dozen or so fully armed guards were waiting to enter the underground lab. Among them were the three State Police officers who had just left—he couldn’t believe they were back!

At the center of the group, surrounded by the others, was a man in a sharp suit.

They were working on the alloy door, preparing to get in.

Meanwhile, on other floors of the lab, seven or eight more guards were heading for their location.

They were caught between a rock and a hard place, a desperate situation with enemies on both sides!

"That man... I know who he is! They’re from the Rattlesnake Company! That’s the president of the Rattlesnake Company, Brendan! I’ve seen him on TV! He’s an arms dealer!" Thomas suddenly yelled, staring at the security monitor by the door. "Damn it, the man’s a billionaire! They say he has deep ties to Congress and the military. Could this all really be a government conspiracy?"

"Forget that for now! Save the kids!" Joey yelled. He threw the door open and rushed out, simultaneously flipping rows of control buttons to unlock all the small rooms. He burst into the nearest cell, blew away a doctor in a white lab coat with a single shot, and saved the child who was being seared by flames.

Whether they made it out alive or not, they couldn’t just stand by and watch these children be tortured.

Aili and Thomas exchanged a glance, then shoved the four handcuffed guards out of their chairs. Using them as hostages, they followed Joey to rescue the children in the other rooms.

The moment the first shot had rung out, the researchers who had been torturing the children scattered in a panic, fleeing deeper into the lab—much to the trio’s frustration.

But Joey’s group had no time to worry about the researchers. The torture was simply too cruel; these children, only five or six years old, were moments away from death.

In fact, two children had already been tortured to death.

In the blink of an eye, they had rescued seven children and now reached the last one.

It was Martha, who was being electroshocked.

Joey rushed forward, shut off the power, and scooped up the trembling girl. His voice shook as he spoke.

"Kid, can you hear me? Can you hear me?"

Martha’s body convulsed, tears streaming down her face. She was completely unable to speak.

"You bastards!" Aili roared. She pulled the trigger of her Shotgun, blowing the head off a piece of trash who had just peeked around the corner at the end of the hallway, temporarily pinning down the enemy fire from that direction.

"It’s okay now, kid. You’re okay," Joey said, gently stroking the back of Martha’s head. He carefully laid her on a nearby lab bed. His face a mask of fury, he grabbed an automatic rifle, stalked to the doorway, and his eyes filled with killing intent.

He was out for blood.

Several guards from deeper in the lab charged them again. Using the four bound hostages as cover, Joey unleashed a furious volley in their direction, instantly riddling the first three men with bullets.

At that moment, the alloy door opened. Brendan strode in with a squad of gunmen, who quickly took up tactical positions, locking down the hallway where Joey and the others were holed up.

Brendan went to the surveillance room. Watching the three police officers putting up a desperate resistance in the hallway, a look of contempt crossed his face, though his eyes also held a flicker of annoyance.

"David, is this the best your FBI can do? Getting taken out by three hick cops from some small town? They broke through your defenses and got into the area where we raise the Spiritual Children?" Brendan said, his eyes fixed on the monitor, not even bothering to turn his head.

A man in a black suit standing nearby, David, immediately looked ashamed. He spoke quickly.

"Mr. Brendan, this is my fault. I never expected these three rats to be so full of petty tricks. They snuck in during the brief window when we left to pick you up. Rest assured, they won’t leave here alive."

He then snapped his head up, his face twisting into a snarl as he gave the order.

"Begin the assault now! Get the flashbangs ready!"

Brendan snorted coldly.

"Do not harm the Spiritual Children. We are at a critical moment in the hunt for the Antichrist. Ivanovic’s mission in the Middle East just failed a few days ago, and the Speaker is extremely disappointed. Right now, the precognitive visions from the Spiritual Children are vital. They are our most precious intelligence, and we can’t afford any mistakes! I want you to handle this personally."

The man named David froze for a second, then gritted his teeth, drew his gun, and strode out of the surveillance room. He walked to the end of the hallway and gestured to the surrounding guards.

One of the guards immediately peeked out.

"BANG!" With a single gunshot, half the guard’s shoulder was obliterated by an armor-piercing shotgun round. His body twitched a few times after hitting the floor.

David roared.

"Attack from both sides! Are you useless bastards just going to stand there and be their target practice?!"

"Mr. David, they have hostages. They’ve got four of our brothers," another guard said cautiously.

David’s eyes narrowed. He grabbed an automatic rifle, stuck the muzzle around the corner, and yanked the trigger, aiming toward the cell’s doorway.

A hail of bullets tore the four bound guards to shreds.

"Not anymore," David said grimly. "Begin the attack. Do not harm a single Spiritual Child. As for those three hick cops, I want them torn limb from limb!"

"Yes, sir!"

Several men answered at once. One of them threw a smoke grenade that rolled down the hallway, quickly filling it with a thick cloud.

Then, guards on both sides of the hall opened fire on the cell doorway, creating a deadly crossfire that completely pinned down the three officers inside.

"Aili, look out! Get away from the door! Crawl over here!" Joey yelled.

Their firepower was overwhelming. He could hear bullets chewing through the wall outside, sending shards of stone and plaster flying. The debris mixed with the smoke, creating a choking dust.

"Chief, what do we do!?" Thomas shouted, huddled in a ball, his gun still trained firmly on the doorway.

"We take as many of them with us as we can! Show them what real cops look like!" Aili yelled over the deafening gunfire, having crawled over to join them.

Joey glanced at the curtain of fire erupting at the doorway and shouted back,

"That’s right! We’re gonna make these sons of bitches hurt!"

He turned and glanced at the children in the room, an apologetic look in his eyes.

’I’m sorry, kids. Looks like I can’t get you out of here after all.’

’I don’t know what other inhuman tortures you’ll have to endure. I just hope that one day the truth comes out, and you can all be saved.’

’Martha... and poor, poor Martha...’

"Not bad. That’s more like it," Brendan nodded in the surveillance room, watching his men advance toward the door under the cover of their own suppressing fire.

Just then, he sensed a presence, as if a guard was standing right behind him. He frowned and spoke without turning.

"Why aren’t you fighting? I don’t need you guarding me here."

’Is there a coward among my men, afraid to die?’

To his surprise, the guard let out a strange chuckle.

"Don’t you worry. It’ll all be over for them soon. I didn’t expect to catch such a big fish this time."

The voice had a slight accent. Brendan was certain he had never heard it before.

He glanced at the monitor and noticed the number of his men: twelve.

He had brought a total of twelve men.

Plus the person behind him.

There was one extra!

A chill shot down his spine, and the hairs on his arms stood on end.

’Who is this person!?’

Brendan whipped around, drawing his gun and aiming it at the man behind him. But in the next instant, a tremor ran through his body. His hand shook so badly he almost dropped the weapon.

Standing behind him, smiling, was a man who looked exactly like him.

It was himself!?