Guilt’s Cost: Part LXXIV

Trap

Reno and Zale remained outside the lab doors in the hallway waiting for Vincent and Tifa to reemerge. They remained ready for any Shin Ra guards that might appear, knowing that they would be more than able to defeat them. But it ended up not being so easy for the ASRIO agents.

After a few moments they heard a commotion from within the lab, but could do nothing to see or help as the doors to it were locked and Vincent had the only pass card with him. Reno grew concerned for what was going on within and kicked the doors in a desperate but futile attempt to get in. The entrance to the lab was bullet and blast proof and there was no way that Reno’s physical attempts to get in would succeed.

He pressed the earpiece of his radio. "Vinny? What’s going on?"

The only response was silence. Hojo had been sure to activate a radio scrambler in the building when he suspected that ASRIO would be coming.

The doors to the elevator regular elevator shaft were pushed slowly and silently open. Two of the President’s personal Turks had been assigned to Hojo for the time being, and had been sitting in the surveillance room waiting for ASRIO’s inevitable raid. Upon seeing Vincent and Tifa enter the lab on the security cameras, Rude and Kimo had made their way up to the lab by climbing up the elevator shaft, knowing that the stairwell door would be barred.

With their attention having been turned to the lab door, neither Reno nor Zale noticed as Kimo emerged from the elevator shaft. The large Turk pulled his gun from his holster and moved silently across the hall to the doorway of a maintenance closet. Rude remained in the shaft waiting for Kimo to signal to him that the way was clear. Kimo met Rude’s gaze and signaled to him.

Two men; one with a gun. Kimo’s Turk sign language told Rude. I’m going to take out the one with the gun, then come out of the shaft.

Rude nodded back in silent agreement. Fine.

Kimo peered out from his hiding place seeing that Zale and Reno were still looking at the door. He raised his deadly gun and fired one shot.

Reno reacted upon instinct when the gunshot broke the air. He spun and dove behind a drinking fountain as it provided the only cover in the corridor. As he turned and looked, Zale’s body hit the floor. He had been struck squarely in the back of the head and had been killed instantly. Reno’s Turk instincts kicked in and he didn’t allow himself for the moment to feel anything for his friend’s death. His night staff was clutched in both his hands and rested across his knees as he huddled in his small shelter. Zale’s gun was on the other side of the hall, very much out of Reno’s reach and he for once regretted never carrying one of his own. Then again, he was supposed to be facing bumbling Shin Ra guards, not Turks.

Rude emerged from the shaft and jogged to Kimo’s side. As he cleared the hall, he saw the body of a blond man lying before the lab doors. Kimo’s perfect kill record had not been ruined. Rude looked back down the corridor again, spotting the end of Reno’s night staff protruding from behind the drinking fountain.

He at once knew who was there and he whispered to Kimo. "Get back into the elevator shaft and climb down to the surveillance room. Keep an eye on what’s happening in the lab so we know whether to get in there and help or not."

Kimo did not like the thought of leaving his older comrade to face this last intruder alone, but also knew that he was in no position to argue. He gave one quick nod of acceptance and dashed back into the elevator shaft.

Rude pulled out his gun and cocked it. He didn’t like the thought of having to kill his old friend, but orders were orders; even if they were from Hojo. "Reno, come on out and make this easy."

His grip on his night staff tightened as he recognized the voice. A cold sweat broke out on his skin knowing that Rude was very good at what he did. "You old fuck, you still a Turk?"

Even if it was as enemies, it was good to hear Reno’s voice again, and Rude couldn’t help but smile. "Yeah you lazy bastard, you still sleepin’ with the enemy?"

"Shut the fuck up. You know what they did to Elena!" Reno’s heart was wrenched by the memory.

Rude didn’t want to do this. He really didn’t. Never one to feel bad about killing anyone, this was a first for him. He peered down the hall.

Reno too was desperate to get a look at his adversary and leaned over to look.

Upon seeing Reno staring back at him, Rude fired off one round.

With his reflexes heightened in fear, Reno jerked back as the bullet harmlessly ricocheted off the side of the cooler. His heart was racing as his mind searched for anyway out of this, but he knew there was little chance of him getting out of this one. "Shit."

Rude pulled back into the doorway. This was going to be like shooting fish in a barrel, and unfortunately, he knew the fish. "Reno?"

"Yeah?" He panted in his worried tone.

"You all right?" Rude asked.

Reno furrowed his brow. "What the fuck do you care? You just tried to shoot me you piece of shit!"

Rude hung his head. Going against his twelve years of Turk training, he was going to defy orders and not kill his target. "Get out here."

The sudden change of tone from Rude caught Reno’s attention. There was nothing for him to lose and he slowly leaned forward spotting Rude standing in the corridor with his gun at his side. "Why?"

"Cause you’re going to get over here and I’m going to shoot you. You’ll fall into the elevator shaft and I won’t have anyway of knowing whether you live or die. The fact that we will never find your body down there will indicate the former." There was almost a smile upon his lips.

Reno continued to stare at his old friend from behind the water fountain. "I can’t do that, Rude. Vinny and Tifa are still in there."

Rude knew Hojo’s plan and shook his head. "There’s no reason for you to die too, so come on."

Reno’s heart froze. It was silent within the lab for a moment. "They aren’t dead…"

A gun shot from within the lab was heard, as well as a pained cry from Vincent. Reno looked back toward the doors fearing what had just happened to his father in law.

Rude cleared his throat. "You better hurry up, Reno. There isn’t much time. You don’t need to die too."

Reno was not ready to abandon his friends. "No."

Rude watched as Reno stood up with his staff in his hands, and raised his gun. "Why do you always have to be such a stubborn idiot?"

Reno was locked into his stare. He knew there was no way for him to win in an out and out battle with his former Turk comrade. "I can’t leave them!"

Rude pealed off one shot, which zipped by Reno’s head painfully close. "I’m not screwing with you."

Looking down to the floor where one of his orange locks had fallen Reno swallowed hard. Rude wasn’t joking. If he did escape there was always the possibility that he could come back for his friends later. Somehow, despite what he’d heard from within the lab, he knew that Vincent and Tifa were still alive. Reluctantly he took a few steps toward Rude.

Rude nodded, letting Reno know not to worry. "Put that staff away."

Obediently, Reno hit the off button and his staff retracted and powered down. He tucked it back beneath his jacket. A few more reluctant steps brought him to before the elevator doors.

Rude raised his gun again. "Now act like you’re shot for the security cameras."

As Rude fired one more dangerously close round, Reno darted into the elevator shaft and grabbed the ladder. He climbed up toward the roof as quickly as he could manage.

From within the surveillance room, Kimo watched, as his boss intentionally didn’t hit Reno. Even without the audio of the situation, he knew what was transpiring, and was aware that once Hojo saw this that Rude’s career as well as life would be over. As much loyalty as Turks had to Shin Ra, there was deeper and more profound bond between fellow Turks. They watched out for one another, and no one would have been surprised to see as Kimo reached out and hit the switch erasing the tape of what had happened in the corridor outside that lab.

Reno climbed the escape ladder quicker than he humanly thought possible. When he got several floors above the lab, he pushed the doors to the shaft back open. He knew that the utility lift would be up again as per the plan and he ran down the hall toward it. Once before it’s doors, he hit the call button and leaned up against the wall, panting through his exertion. Rude shouldn’t have let him go, and was sure to be in trouble for it. As the doors opened, he slipped inside and hit the button to the roof. The fact that he had yet to see one regular Shin Ra guard confirmed Reno’s worst suspicion. This had been a trap, and he and the others had played into it. Now, at twenty four years of age, his friend Zale was lying dead before the lab doors, and if he wasn’t lucky, Tifa and Vincent’s bodies were just on the other side.

Once the elevator got him to the roof, Reno ran toward Ericson and Morris who were closer to the ledge. They looked at him in confusion.

Morris was the first to ask. "Where are the others?"

Reno shook his head, trying to maintain his cool in front of the others. "They ain’t coming, and we need to get out of here."

Ericson checked his watch. "The chopper will be here in two minutes. But where’s everyone?"

"Didn’t you pay attention?" Reno yelled despite himself. "I said they weren’t coming! Zale’s dead and Hojo’s got Tifa and Vincent. End of story!"

Ericson and Morris were taken back by the frantic sound of Reno’s voice. Neither of them had seen him come unglued like this before. The news that Zale was dead hit them hard and they fell into silence. They didn’t need an explanation of what had happened. They were able to realize that they had all been lured here for a reason. It had been too easy up until this point, and they should have seen it coming.

After what seemed far longer than two minutes, the chopper could be heard descending on to the roof. Their ticket off the building had arrived.