Page 69 of Knox

Leif turns the key in the lock and opens the cell door.

Inside, there is a man in a yellow jumpsuit lying down in a bed.

“Agent Brown?” I ask, stepping into the cell. “Knox Alder from Harknett. We’re getting you out.”

Brown looks at me, then at Leif, then at the gear we’re wearing, and to no one’s surprise, his expression doesn’t show relief.

It shows absolute panic.

“No,” Brown gasps. “No, no, no—you don’t understand!”

“I don’t have to understand. Now stand up,” I order, reaching for Brown’s arm. “We have three minutes.”

“GUARDS! They are here!!” Brown shrieks at the top of his lungs, doing his best to get out of my grip. “GUARDS! HELP!”

“Tae, shut him up!” Leif yells.

“Don’t!” Alexios’s voice is back on the comms. “The alarms just tripped on the main floor, and ten guards are about to run down the stairs. You don’t have time to drag him around.”

WEEWOOO!

WEEWOOO!

And just like clockwork, a siren begins to blare throughout the facility, and tiny LEDs pulse red light down the hallway.

I grab Brown by the jumpsuit, haul him off his bed, and slam him against my chest. “Move your fucking feet, or I drag you.”

“I’m not going back to America!” Brown screams, swinging his arms and trying to kick my shins, but I hold him still.

“You’re going wherever we take you!” I growl.

Then, three Venezuelan prison guards burst through the door at the end of the hall, weapons raised.

“Non-lethal!” I command.

Tae swaps his primary weapon for his modified shotgun loaded with rubber bullets and fires twice.

THUMP! THUMP!

The rounds hit the lead guard right in the chest, folding him to his knees.

The second guard fires from his rifle, and the bullets ricochet off the iron doors before Leif steps around Tae and fires three rubber bullets directly into his knees.

The guard goes down screaming.

Yeah… these bullets won’t kill you, but they hurt like hell.

The third guard turns to run back up the stairs to call for reinforcements, but Leif sprints forward, grabs him by his vest, and throws him headfirst into the wall, knocking him down.

“More coming down from the second floor!” Alexios shouts. “You need to get to the laundry chute on the east wing! Second door to the right.”

“Got it! We are—Argh,” I grunt as Brown bites my wrist out of nowhere, so I punch him in the gut, and he falls face-first onto the floor.

“The hell, Knox!” Tae glares at me.

“What?! He bit me!” I growl, bending over and throwing his stupid unconscious body over my shoulder. “Let’s move.”

We run up the stairs.