Read Online The Next Chronicle (Book 1): Next by Joshua Guess - Free Book Online Page A

cartridge spewed its contents into the shadows, followed by another heavy thump.
    Archer's voice filled her head. “Carlton says it was just those two on the ground floor. But they know you're there, now. Oh, and the back entrance is now blocked. Our people are in position around it.”
    Kit stood, moving toward the rear of the building. If Carlton was right, there would be a staircase just behind a door on the left.
    “There you are,” Kit muttered as she spotted it. There was a commotion below. Lights and shadows danced across the base of the steps as she looked down. According to Carlton, there were seven of them on the second floor. Hardly fair.
    So she threw the grenade.
    Before it hit the ground, Kit leaped up and over, throwing her legs wide and wedging them against the sides of the stairwell. She was in the dark, perched above the landing at the bottom of the stairwell. She looked up and slapped her hands tight against her ears.
    Even so, the sound was so loud it was almost a physical blow. Kit lowered her hands and waited two seconds before dropping straight down. It was risky—stupid, almost—and if Archer had seen her do it he would have screamed at her for being a reckless idiot.
    Except she wasn't. She was an experienced idiot.
    The Hooper tests measured a lot of capabilities, but things could (and often did) slip past them, such as heightened senses.
    Kit heard nothing indicating her opponents were about to open fire. The grenade had done its work, and every instinct urged her to move forward. To not waste the few precious seconds the overwhelming light and sound bought her.
    Landing on the concrete pad, those instincts were proved right. A tight group of seven men were shaking their heads and blinking rapidly, trying to clear their eyes. Two in the front had dropped their weapons in surprise, hands clapped to ears.
    Kit put everything she had into a forward leap, even bracing one foot on the wall behind her. She crashed into them like a guided missile, hands striking out in a blur.
    Bouncing back to her feet, Kit struck the two unarmed men. One hard chop with each hand, and in a fraction of a second each had a broken arm. The dry crack of bones breaking in harmony filled the room, followed by screams.
    She moved fluidly, dancing forward to yank the shotguns from the hands of two more men, swinging them like clubs. The confusion, ringing in their ears, and temporary blindness provided all the cover she needed.
    In seconds, four more men were down. Probably with concussions, but alive.
    The last shooter standing was the one farthest back from the grenade. Though only a handful of seconds had passed, he seemed to be nearly recovered. Kit tossed the broken guns aside, spatters of blood spraying from them, and made another powerful jump forward just as the shooter raised a worn double-barreled shotgun.
    She wasn't fast enough. What felt like the fist of God slammed into her stomach, throwing her momentum off and sending her into a slight spin. An involuntary scream escaped her lips, followed by a grunt as she crashed to the floor with the shooter.
    The man glanced at her with dull, empty eyes as he lay on his back trying to reload. In pain and trying to establish some measure of control, Kit was still able to grab a small cylinder from her tac vest. The sound of Velcro separating made the man glance in her direction.
    She gave him a face full of pepper spray.
    The man screeched, weapon falling from his hands as he clawed mindlessly at his own face. Kit let him stew for a few seconds as she stood, then took his gun and gave it a solid swing. The screams cut off as a meaty crunch filled the room. She shoved him into the pile of attackers. 
    Shouting rose from the stairwell at the far end of the building, coming closer. She eyed the unconscious men around her, weighing the time it would take to bind them. Support teams should already be moving in, but she couldn't risk leaving the men loose. One of them waking up