Chapter 74: Getting Hunters 2

 While this was happening, Hunters together with the guard at the back sat in confusion as they hear everything that was happening outside the van. According to protocol, he wasn't supposed to open the door unless he was assured by his other officers that the coast was clear.

"We need to wind this up, time's running out on us" Bennet said in a low voice knowing that both Peter and Tyler could hear him. With these words, it was time for them to finish what they had started.

Peter asked the guard who was with the driver to come and help him so that he doesn't bleed out. They dragged him to where the other two officers were taking cover behind the car that Peter was driving. Just as this was happening, the two officers ran out of bullets and were just about to reload when Peter and Bennet saw their chance.

"Excuse me boys" Bennet said as he and Peter turned their guns to the four men. Two were busy reloading while one was busy attending to the one who was shot. All of them were defenseless in that moment. It was evident that they didn't expect this as fear crept into their bodies and their faces went pale. They lowered their guns and kicked them to side under Peter's instructions. They couldn't believe the betrayal.

"I'm sorry, but business is business" Bennet answered calmly when one of the men asked them why they were doing that. They realized that the sniper wasn't firing anymore.

"Is the sniper also one of you?" The driver asked as he grunted in pain.

"I'm afraid he is, and for your own safety I'd recommend that you do exactly as we say or else you might end up worse that your friend over here." Bennet answered as he proceeded to tell the to kick their guns to the side where they couldn't reach them.

With their guns still pointed at the four men, Bennet and Peter backed up slowly to the van while Tyler's finger was on the trigger ready for anything, should any of the guards do anything funny.

And just to show the guards that they were under Tyler's scope, Peter asked all four guards to also throw their radios out to the road where Tyler fired multiple shots shattering all four radios. They knew that they needed to get to the bridge without the guard at the back suspecting that things had taken a turn for the worst. 

"I repeat this for the last time, for your own safety, don't do anything stupid. We don't want to hurt any of you" Peter said as they climbed into the front if the van.

What they didn't know was that one of the guard had a secondary weapon and wasn't going to let this attack slide. The minute Peter and Bennet got into the van, the guard pulled out the pistol and fired the first shot at the van. The bullet missed Peter by a few millimeters next to his head when it hit the back of the seat. Both of them immediately ducked under the dashboard for cover but whatever happened next, no one was ready for it.

While under the dashboard, they both heard numerous gunshots from a distance without ceasing. It was Tyler. There was a brief moment of silence as they both could hear their hearts beating in their chests. When they raised they raised their heads, no one could prepare them to see what they saw. 

Their eyes settles on the other guards who were in front of them in the same position that the were in but something had changed. One, they could only see three guards. Two, the guards looked terrified as hell as if they had just seen a ghost. Even in the distance, they could see the fear in the eyes of the guards.

The higher they rose to their feet, the more the could see on the street that came up to the car. Laying on the ground was one of the guards. Motionless. He lay on his stomach but from the way he had fallen, they could tell that he was looking at the van when he fell. A pool of blood started forming around his body.

It was then that they both realized that Tyler had emptied nearly a whole magazine of bullets into the back of the guard when he fired at the van. They were speechless.

"Move!" Tyler shouted into the earpiece when he noticed that the were okay in the van and the first police responders were nearly there.

Peter put the car into ignition and reversed it at full speed ramming into some cars that were abandoned on the road by civilians when the attack ensued.

"Is anybody hurt? Any bullet holes?" Tyler asked as the van started driving onto the deserted road.

"No" Peter responded followed by Bennet who were still processing what had just happened. The fear that Tyler had struck ensured that no other guard would do anything like that again when the van was being driven off. 

In the building, Tyler ensured that the van was at a safe distance so that he could stop covering for them. He started packing his things and went to the elevator where he pressed for the ground floor. The building had suffered so much damage from the bullets fired to the glass. His heart was racing and he could feel his adrenaline rush at it's peak. He knew that he had to get out of the building before the prison guards blew the whistle on his whereabouts. He looked at the small screen that displayed the floors slowly go in reverse. It seemed like an endless trip down to the bottom.

Once it dinged and the doors opened, he rushed to his car and packed the bags behind the truck before getting into the car and start driving out the construction site. He had to make sure that he didn't give off any red flags and that no one would follow him. So, slowly like an ordinary civilian, he drove into the main road and started heading for the house that Jason had rented out in town. This was part of the plan. He had to let Bennet and Peter finish the last part of the plan alone.

Sure enough, after checking the rearview mirror a couple of times every few seconds, he was certain that no one was following him and that he was safe to drive off peacefully. 

It was just about time when the first responders were reaching the scene. People were still locked indoors, too afraid to step out after what they had seen. The injured guard was tended to while the one who shot at Peter was announced dead on scene. The officers tried to get any information from the guards but it was a bit tough since they were still in shock about what had just happened. All they could get was that they were betrayed and that there was a sniper. The information had started leaking into the media and slowly the press started to acknowledge the incident.

But since most media houses were at the courthouse, the details that were released were not clear on what exactly had happened. A few squad cars were sent to the construction site where Tyler was believed to be so that they could check it out while the rest remained to get more information from the guards. 

A few calls were made and the police department asked the prison whether they could track the van to which they were surprised by what they got as an answer.

According to the prison, the van was headed right back to the prison. In fact, it was nearly there. This confused the officers more as they wondered how can someone hijack a prison van with an officer and convicted felon only for them to drive back to the prison. The officers didn't call it in that the occupants in the van were enroute to escape since the story given by the guards was contradictive to what was happening.

Meanwhile, in the van,the officer at the back asked what was happening through the small slide door to which Peter and Bennet assured him that things were fine and that they were headed back to the prison.

Hunters on the other hand wondered whether that was an attempt by Leo(Jason) to get him out that had failed. He then remembered the words of the father who had talked to him. Seeing this as a moment of tribulation, he opted to open the Bible and see if he could read anything that would keep him going. 

Slowly, he unwrapped the Bible under the supervision of the guard and opened the first page.

'I hope you can hold your breath longer than he can'

Those were the words written by a pen on the very first page of the Bible. Immediately he flipped a few pages to ensure that the guard doesn't read what he had seen. He wondered what that meant. He had thought that the attack was over. Or maybe it wasn't. Was it some sort of test by his ally? Things were not adding up.

What he didn't know was that the were now approaching the highway using Daniel's street. The road that passed under the highway. Bennet took one smoke bomb from his utility belt and tossed it in the back through the slide door before shutting it from their side .

At first, there was confusion. The panick. And finally, realization. The guard was confused when the bomb dropped to the ground and became distressed when the back of the van started to fill with smoke. Hunters was preparing to take a deep breath. He watched as the guard started banging on the slide door asking them what's happening. The smoke had started to cloud in his lungs. He coughed and his eyes became red and teary. Hunters on the other side didn't struggle with anything, he just waited till the van was nearly engulfed in the smoke before he took a huge gulp of air.