“Will he die if you run out of supplies before help arrives?” Elise asks hastily her voice rising as she speaks.
“No. He is very strong, and his vitals are good.” Mercury gives her a smile before continuing. “I’m sure help will come before infection is much of a concern. He might be uncomfortable without the pain meds, but he will definitely survive to make it home. Don’t worry yourself about him.” Elise nods, but the worry on her face and in her eyes is easy for both men to see. Mercury gets up and heads back toward the entrance to the cave.
“Did you sleep well?” Deadeye can see the answer on Elise’s face before she can answer. The dark circles under her bloodshot eyes tell the tell.
“I couldn’t sleep…I was afraid of dreaming again.” Elise answers quietly. Deadeye nods as he tries to think of a solution to help her sleep better. Just then his attention is turned toward the entrance to the cave as he hears Bull calling for him. Deadeye looks back at Elise.
“Stay right here, sweetheart okay? I promise I’ll be right back.” Elise nods in agreement as Deadeye jumps to his feet and heads in Bull’s direction. As Deadeye approaches Bull, Wallace calls out to him.
“Deadeye, we have got a situation. The insurgents are getting closer. If they keep this pace they will be here before the extraction team can get here.” The urgency in Wallace’s voice is easy to hear. “They know this terrain much better than we do. We need to slow them down, someway.” Deadeye hurries to the entrance to peer over at the men climbing toward them. He looks around the entrance and then above them. He spots just what he needs to cause the insurgents a bit of trouble.
“I have an idea, but it’s going to be tricky. It will take all of us to make it happen.” Deadeye tells the men. Before he can turn back into the cave to get Straw and Mercury for his plan, Elise speaks up.
“What can I do to help?” Deadeye spins around and quickly pushes her back inside the cave.
“You shouldn’t be out here” Deadeye exclaims. “It’s too dangerous. I need you to stay out of harm’s way.” Deadeye regrets his harsh comments the moment he sees Elise’s eyes tear up and her lower lip begin to tremble.
“I was only trying to help. You wouldn’t be in this position if it wasn’t for me.” Elise’s voice cracks as she tries to keep her tears at bay. Deadeye reaches for her, but she takes a step backwards. He stops and drops his hands in defeat.
“Elise, I am sorry. I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.” Deadeye sighs. “It’s dangerous and I was so afraid you might be injured. Elise nods a takes a step back toward him. Deadeye reaches for her hand and she places it in his much larger one. “There is something you can do to help us. I need you to watch over Worm while we deter the men climbing up the mountain. Are you okay with that?”
“Yes, of course.” Elise agrees. “I will do whatever you need me to do. I’m sorry I worried you. I wasn’t thinking about it being dangerous out there.” Elise looks up at him. Deadeye can’t help himself. He pulls her closer and she comes willingly. He smooths her hair back out of her face while gazing into her eyes.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. It is dangerous, but I won’t let anything bad happen to you again. I promise I will get you home, safely.” Elise leans into Deadeye resting her head on his broad chest. He wraps his arms around her as he gently rocks her. They are interrupted when Wallace calls out.
“Are you going to let the rest of us in your plan?” Wallace chuckles when Deadeye glares at him over his shoulder. Deadeye turns back to Elise.
“Go sit with Worm, while the guys and I get things ready, alright?” He smiles down at her. Elise turns and heads to where Mercury and Straw are sitting. Deadeye follows behind her. When they have gotten to the men, Deadeye hurries to grab the mat Elise had been sleeping on. He places it next to Worm and helps Elise to get settled.
“Straw, Mercury I am going to need your help. Elise is going to sit with Worm” both men nod in agreement. Deadeye looks to Elise and when he has her attention he continues. “We shouldn’t be gone very long.” Elise nods and peers over at Worm.
“I can help you if you need me. It don’t hurt that bad.” Worm declares as he points to the dressing on his injured leg. He moves to try and get up, but Straw thumps him on the head.
“That’s because you are heavily medicated, genius” Straw informs him. “You can’t be up running around. You’ll tear open our handiwork. We worked too hard to seal that off for you to play hero and mess it up.” Worm rubs his head as he glares at Straw. Elise watches the exchange in awe as she realizes these men really do care about each other even if they are strong alpha men and would never admit it out loud. Mercury and Straw get up to head out of the cave. Deadeye hesitates for a moment.
“We’ll be right back.” Deadeye looks to Elise. She gives him a smile and squeezes his hand.
“Worm and I will be fine until you get back.” Elise assures him. Worm chimes in.
“Yeah, Elise and I will be just fine.” Worm winks at Elise as he tries to shift a little closer to her. “She can give me some TLC. It’s just what the doctor ordered.” Worm laughs at the frown that forms on Deadeye’s face. “I’m just kidding, man.” Worm laughs again. Deadeye huffs before getting up and heading out of the cave.
Once the men are gathered together, Deadeye discloses his plan.
“There are several large rocks just to the left of this cave. If we can dislodge them, we can rain rocks down on the enemy. Hopefully it will slow them down or make them turn back.” Deadeye looks at each man to see their response to his plan. The men acknowledge their agreement one by one.
“That’s a good idea.” Wallace replies. “I think it can work. Let’s go get this party started.” The men head over to the loose boulders to the left of the cave, Mercury and Straw take up guard while the other three go to assess the situation. Deadeye radios to Mercury.
“Get ready, they may fire on us when we start this.” The radio crackles as he ends the transmission.
“Ready.” Mercury replies. A few moments later the mountain side erupts with noise as the large rocks begin their descent down the side of the mountain. The insurgents try to fire at the exposed men, but they are too far out of range and at an angle that made it difficult for them to get off a good shot. Deadeye and Wallace take their time dislodging the rocks one or two at a time. They wanted to give the illusion they could continue to send rocks down the mountain for a long time.
A large rock hits one of the insurgents and he tumbles down and out of sight. The remaining insurgents quickly move around the side laterally in an effort to get out of the path of the rocks. As the team continues to push rocks down toward the enemy, the insurgents are forced to take shelter in a small alcove the team had seen on their way up the mountain. The team stays diligent watching for them to attempt to resume their climb. After about 30 minutes, Deadeye spots an insurgent moving out from the shelter. He watches patiently until he and another man have moved far enough away from the shelter. They wouldn’t be able to get back to the shelter before another avalanche of rocks descend on them. Deadeye, Wallace, and Straw send another landslide of rocks down the mountain side causing both insurgents to fall to their deaths. The team continues to watch for more men to emerge, but after another 45 minutes no one else appears.
Back near the top, Tank has pushed the men hard to reach the summit after hearing the avalanche of rocks raining down on the insurgents. He knows the only way to help his team is to get in contact with base camp for reinforcement.
“Beehive this is Swarm, over” Tank calls over the radio. The men wait for 30 seconds and then repeat.
“Beehive this is Swarm, over” After several moments the reply comes.
