“So this whole hearing thoughts thing, is that why you’re holding her hand right now?” I ask Marcus, trying to analyze how it might work.
“Yes… and no,” he mutters the second part. Interesting. And he continues taking, “I’m waiting to get an all-clear on the perimeter check from Alex. We should be safe here but you know how I like to be sure of these things.” He sounds distracted as I watch his finger swiping the screen in his lap.
“Oh, I know!” Since he isn’t focused on me, I make sure he hears the eye roll in my voice.
“Fuck! Shit, this isn’t good.” His response is unexpected and laced with both anger and fear.
I wish he would’ve given more information instead of just saying something wasn’t good. “What’s going on? Did he just check in?” The way Marcus is acting has me on edge.
“Alex spotted a helicopter circling the area. He’s keeping an eye on it but says it appears they are heading toward a field he ran through while doing the check. Finish getting dressed, and wake up Klaus. We need to be prepared in case they’re here to get her back.”
I rush to get the rest of my clothes on and run over to Klaus. Shaking his shoulder, I waste no time in saying, “Dude, wake up! Shit might be hitting the fan. Get your ass up.” The urgency in my voice must get through to him because he instantly snaps up into a sitting position as if he wasn’t just in a deep sleep. Klaus doesn’t skip a beat and shifts immediately, jumping to his feet to get dressed.
The clinking sound of Marcus digging his handguns out of his bag sounds through the cave, followed by the scrape of him releasing the magazine so he can check that it’s full before sliding it back in place and loading one in the chamber. He meticulously repeats this for each gun he pulls out. I've always had a theory that he carried a whole arsenal with him wherever he went, but we’ve never come across a reason for him to pull it out until now.
“Fuck!” I hear him roar, causing me to glance at him, then he closes his eyes, and under his breath says, “One… Two… Three… Four… Five...” He takes a few breaths and pulls his natural expression forward as if a shadow fell over his face, resembling a night and day difference. Stress lifts from my shoulders that I didn’t even realize I was holding upon seeing him being more like himself suddenly.
“Derrick, I need you over here. See if Alex has been giving us any updates. Klaus, here are some holsters. Strap them on and load them up. If we’re going up against humans, we need to be playing the same ballgame they are. I only brought enough vests for us, but I want her to wear mine to make sure she’s covered.” He doesn’t waste any time in tossing me two of the bulletproof vests. I immediately try to get her to wake up by gently shaking her shoulder. Marcus must notice what I’m trying to do and says, “Alex said there’s some reason she won’t wake up, and he was going to tell us as soon as we were all awake. I fucking wish I had made him tell me. I don’t see us getting out of this without having to split up.”
With that new information, I get to work putting one of the vests on her, trying to be as gentle as possible. I think I can speak for all of us when I say her protection is our number one priority. The idea that the people who locked her up in a bunker are close by, trying to get her back, makes my blood boil. My thoughts are cut short when several holsters smack me in the face. I’m slow in getting them on while trying to keep skin contact with our precious one.
I’m just getting the last holster on when I hear Alex’s voice, “The helicopter has landed. There are six guys including the pilot who climbed out and immediately gathered; I'm guessing to make a game plan. They’re all fully armed and I’m getting the impression they’re former military. Shit, I wish this new communication trick works more like a two-way radio. I’m going to wait and see how they split up and then make my way back to you guys.”
I relay everything Alex just said, and Marcus mumbles under his breath that he wishes it was a two-way connection too. Then in a louder tone he says, “Ok, six guys, this’ll be quick and easy. Load up your holsters, make sure you pack extra ammo in your pockets. There’s no reason you should run out. I put guns in Alex’s holsters and set them by his pile of clothes from last night. Once he gets here, I want him to carry our girl. Klaus, you’re the second best shooter after me. I want you to watch his back. You two need to get her out of here, head north and stick to the woods. Derrick, I want you with me, you’re the best tracker and we’ll be able to catch up to them quicker if you’re with me. Klaus, guard the cave entrance until Alex has her and you guys leave. Let’s head out, Derrick.”
He was already halfway out the entrance when he told me to follow him, a rifle in his hands already held at the ready, forever in protection mode.It’s always a good day to have Marcus on your team.I don’t have time to stop when he suddenly makes an about face, and I crash right into him. Thankfully, he had lowered the rifle already or that would’ve hurt.
He pushes me out of the way and walks over to the girl. Marcus swears and then cups her face and places a light kiss on her forehead. “I’ll see you soon, baby.” He closes his eyes and speeds through counting to five before he turns around to us. “Don’t say a single fucking word and don’t even think about trying the same thing!”
With that we’re off, making it through the cave entrance this time. Once through, I immediately palm one of the guns so I'm prepared for what lies ahead of us. If Marcus glanced back and saw my hands empty, I would pay dearly for not following his training. I stay close behind him, keeping my head on a swivel to make sure we aren’t snuck up on.
We take cover behind the trees with me always behind Marcus. Within a couple of minutes, Alex comes running through the trees. He skids to a stop when he spots us causing a wave of dirt, leaves, and twigs to go spraying into the air. He throws us an apologetic look and then uses his paw to draw in the dirt. He places three sets of two lines and then draws lines with arrows to indicate one set of two went left, one went right, and the last set went straight.
Marcus points to one of the lines and asks, “And this is the direction you came from?”
Alex just nods his head and Marcus replies to him, “Thanks, man. Make sure you take care of her. I’ll clear out these other fuckers.” Alex picks up his killer pace again to get back to the cave in order to get her a safe distance away. No matter what, we need to keep her from these assholes who think they can keep a woman unconscious in what’s basically a prison.
We continue without another word spoken. Marcus is so experienced he doesn’t need me to be here, but he also isn’t stupid or cocky enough to turn down backup when it’s available. I’ve joined him on enough missions to know what his cues are and what his plan most likely is. So I’m not surprised by his silence. I bet his recent display of emotions is also playing into things.
We’ve been silently moving through the forest for ten minutes when Marcus holds up his fist, signaling for me to stop. I place my hand on his shoulder so he knows exactly where I am. With some more hand gestures, he tells me to split off and circle behind the two PMC—Marcus’ shortened sign code for private military company—guys and have a chat with them. This way we aren’t just shooting first and asking questions later.
I quietly make my way in a wide half-circle staying out of sight until I’m behind them. Once I am, I lean against a tree and place my hand with the gun on the tree so they can't see it. We don’t want them shooting me first.
“Oh, I din’t know we were havin’ some visitors up in here today! Big Daddy didn’t say we was expectin’ y’all.” At the sound of my voice, one of the men jumps. I keep a friendly smile on my face but I’m having a hard time hiding the full-on laugh I want to let out. Clearly, neither of them had heard me coming up behind them. They both turn around quickly, bringing their hands immediately to the guns sitting in holsters on their thighs. I suck some air between my teeth and spit on the ground. “What can I help y’all with?”
They’re smart enough not to reach for the rifles on their backs with a strap across their chests. I say smart enough, but they’re in fact very, very stupid for not already having a hold on a weapon. A lesson they’ll learn the hard way. Surprisingly, these guys aren’t wearing Kevlar vests. They probably assumed they wouldn’t be coming up against any firepower. Yeah, they’re just straight-up dumb.
The guy on the left who didn’t jump is the one who answers me. “Oh, hello there. We’re tracking down an individual who escaped custody. You haven’t seen anyone by chance, have you?”
“Well, Big Daddy and the boys keep this land monitored. I can tell you your target ain't here. We don’ like visitors round these parts,” I say, using the slow drawl I initially greeted them with.
“Unfortunately, our intel tells us differently. You putting up such a fuss makes me think you may be hiding our target, and we don’t take kindly to people taking things that aren’t theirs.” With that comment, they ‘discreetly’ pull their guns. Well, I guess we’re now past the questions phase and are progressing to the shooting phase of today’s festivities. That’s the fun part anyways, so I’m not complaining.
I drop to one knee and pull up the gun to fire a shot at the guy on the left, which Marcus and I already worked out. The pop of gun shots firing reaches me as my finger starts to squeeze the trigger, but both guys are already dead on the ground with three bullets in each of them, one in the head and two in the chest. Fucking show off. That asshole couldn’t let me have a bit of fun, had to take it all for himself. How selfish can he be?
If I didn’t need to keep quiet to protect our location, I would let him know exactly how pissed I am with him. As it is, the gunshots surely drew the attention of the remaining four guys. I receive two taps on my shoulder, Marcus signaling to me he’s here and for me to follow him again.Fuck. He's like a ghost!
We head through the woods, working on circling around to come up behind the next set of mercenaries, assuming they haven’t regrouped. We keep all of our senses on high alert to pick up on any hint of them. It turns out to be unneeded, seeing as how they aren’t trying to be subtle about their approach. I guess Marcus didn't need my tracking skills after all. Whoever hired these guys sure wasn’t picking men based on competency. Either that or they haven’t been put through a thorough training program.
