Free Prevail (The Pike Chronicles Book 2) by G.P. Hudson

touched a panel on the wall, opening the door. Burke and Daniels checked the corridor and sounded all clear. The rest of the Marines flowed out of the room. They moved steadily down the hallway in the direction of the exit. They held Singh in the middle of the group, ensuring he couldn’t escape.
    They didn’t encounter much resistance. A lucky break. It was obvious that most were preoccupied with the larger battle taking place. They reached a junction where the corridor branched left and right. They needed to go left for the exit. The troopers lined up against the wall. Burke swept his weapon slowly around the corner, scanning for any opposition. He was answered with a salvo of red energy bursts, forcing him back behind the wall.
    Leaning against the wall he said, “There’s at least four Kemmar back there. They’re wide open. No cover.”
    Burke stuck his weapon out and fired a couple of quick bursts.
    “A grenade would be nice right now,” said Burke.
    Daniels crouched beside Burke and added fire. The shots coming from the Kemmar paused slightly each time Burke and Daniels fired. Patel and Johns took advantage of this and joined in. The fact that the Kemmar had no cover handicapped them. Their fire started to slow, as the Marines picked them off.
    Soon there were larger gaps in the rate of return fire. With the four Marines laying down covering fire, Reynolds and Krukov ran into the corridor. Two Kemmar had already been killed and now the charging Marines took out the other two.
    “All clear,” said Reynolds. The rest of the Marines came around the corner and rushed down the long corridor. They stripped the Kemmar corpses of their weapons, adding more firepower to their team.
    The larger battle raged, louder now as they got closer to the exit. The pain in Kevin’s side got stronger and made him short of breath. He didn’t know who the Kemmar were fighting, but for now he decided that the enemy of his enemy was his friend. He had expected more opposition to their escape. Whoever attacked the prison did them a great favor. Most of the Kemmar they would’ve faced were surely now engaged in the larger battle.
    Not surprisingly, they didn’t encounter anymore resistance to their escape. They had almost made it to the exit and Kevin knew the large atrium at the front of the building lay up ahead. The sound of battle was almost deafening. He ordered the Marines to stop their advance, unsure of what they were about to face.
    He turned to his men. “Our first objective is escape. Remember that. Whatever we find out there, we take out the Kemmar first.”
    All the Marines nodded.
    “Daniels, Burke, you’re on recon.”
    “Yes, Sir.”
    The two Marines crept down the corridor while Kevin and the others waited.
    Kevin looked over at Singh who was talking to himself again. What did it take for someone to snap like that? Would that be him one day? Would he see one thing too many? He’d already seen plenty, and he still held it together. Maybe that’s what made him a Marine? He looked at the rest of his men. All were pretty beat up, but none of them looked like they were going to break. He felt privileged to be fighting alongside them.
    The sound of boots caught Kevin’s attention. Burke and Daniels were rushing back.
    “Looks like at least a hundred Kemmar, half are wearing combat suits,” said Daniels. “They’re dug in behind some barricades. If we attacked we’d have their backs.”
    “Who are they fighting?”
    “Couldn’t see them, but whoever it is they’re hitting the atrium hard. The Kemmar look like they’re barely hanging on.”
    Kevin knew they wouldn’t get a better opportunity. They were outnumbered, but they had the element of surprise.
    “Okay, we’re going in,” said Kevin. “Fast and silent. We get behind them and put them in a crossfire.”
    “Oorah,” said the Marines in unison.
    “We don’t know who they’re fighting. With any luck they’ll appreciate our help. But we need to