“We don’t have time for that shit or enough spare clips. Just don’t miss what you aim at.”

The guards moved in front of her. One of them pulled his keycard out and buzzed it through the sensor reader. The door beeped and the man reached for the door handle. He intended to kill all the test subjects. He lifted his gun to shoot the helpless woman chained against the far wall.

Bile rose in Jeanie’s throat as she raised her weapon. Not firing wasn’t an option. He was going to murder someone she considered a friend. He never even glanced back at her. She gripped the metal with both hands to steady her aim and pulled the trigger. She cried out in horror as blood and gore splattered the doorframe. Killing someone was ten times worse than anything she’d ever imagined. Distress almost paralyzed her but movement in the corner of her vision drew her attention. The second guard spun around, his gaze dropping to his fallen coworker.

He paled, his eyes opening wide as he jerked his chin up. Pure rage twisted his features as they stared at each other. He uttered a word she couldn’t understand in her emotionally overwhelmed state. He raised his arm. He was going to shoot her.

She aimed the gun but her hands shook worse than before and she missed his head when she fired but the bullet struck his shoulder. He fell back with a shout of pain and landed on his ass. The wall he slammed into kept him sitting upright though. The look on his face promised death as he lifted his bleeding arm to shoot at her again. She fired twice. One bullet tore into his throat and the other one appeared to hit his heart.

The deafening sounds ceased but Jeanie’s ears rang. The alarms were still going off. Blood spilled down the man’s chest, his eyes remained open, but he didn’t blink. His focus wasn’t on her anymore despite the eerie stare. She knew without needing to check for a pulse that he no longer had one.

She swayed on her feet, not sure if she was going to puke or faint. Both seemed options as the reality of what she’d done hit home. Numbness settled into her mind. Probably shock, she rationalized. She lowered her arms but managed to keep hold of the gun despite the urge to toss it away.

Pure agony shot through her midsection at the movement. She looked down. Her white coat had turned red just above her hip and it spread lower as she watched. It took a few seconds for it to sink in that she’d been shot. The guard had managed to hit her in the side before she’d killed him. She released the gun with one hand and flattened her palm over the wound. The pain grew worse but she needed to apply pressure.

Spots danced before her eyes and she leaned to the side. Her shoulder hit the wall, keeping her upright. She blinked a few times but it didn’t change the view of her blood dripping on the tile floor near her feet. The sirens blaring from the speakers reminded her that more guards could arrive at any time. The company employed dozens of them on the day shift.

The elevator doors behind her closed. She turned. It meant someone had called for it from another floor. It could be help but it would probably be more security guards coming to kill the test subjects. It would take the police time to hack into the security systems since she’d been unable to steal another employee’s badge to slip to her contact. The theft would have been immediately noticed and the codes changed, making it useless.

She forced herself to move despite the racking pain. She reached the first body. The dead guard kept the door to the room open. She reached down and grabbed him. He wasn’t a large man but his deadweight was difficult to drag. She managed to pull him far enough that he no longer blocked the doorway.

Her gaze focused on the woman chained to the wall. She appeared shocked as her dark gaze locked on Jeanie.

“It’s okay, 433.” Jeanie groaned, gripping her side.

“You killed them,” she whispered.

Jeanie nodded. “Help is coming. I have to lock your door again and disable the sensor to make sure our security people can’t kill you before the police are able to get down here. Don’t be afraid of the strangers when they come. They are going to set you free.”

She pulled the door closed and it beeped when the lock reengaged. Jeanie yanked her stun gun out of her pocket and zapped the sensor reader that could unlock it again. The smell of burning wires and the lights on it going out assured her it was fried. She had to step over the guard’s body to reach the next cell. The room spun as dizziness hit her. She turned her head, staring up at the elevator display, seeing that the lift was on the way back down.

She moved faster, feeling sick, as though she would pass out. She realized that she’d never succeed in taking out all the readers before the elevator opened again. It could be the police but she wasn’t willing to risk the lives of the men and women trapped inside those rooms if it wasn’t. She glanced down at all the blood staining her coat and pants. It would be a miracle if she didn’t collapse before she reached the next cell.

“Shit.” Desperation drove her to think of a solution. Her gaze drifted from the elevator display to the metal electrical boxes on the wall next to it. Both had locks on them to prevent anyone from tampering with the breakers inside but the covers weren’t bulletproof. At least she hoped not.

Her legs gave out and she slid to the floor next to the body of the second guard she’d killed. Another gun still rested inside one of the two shoulder holsters he sported. The guards always carried a few weapons. She released the one she’d used, not sure if it even had any bullets left. The stun gun slipped from her fingers into her pocket and she tugged at his gun. It slid from the holster and she forced her legs to move, getting to her knees.