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A minute ago, Stealth and Doc muscled Jud up and into the chopper through a cargo door in the other side. Not bothering to slide the door shut, they helped him onto a military-green stretcher. Doc wasted no time strapping him in and starting an IV in his arm, and Stealth helped me navigate the complicated-looking harness until I was strapped into a seat so snug I could barely turn my head.
As the chopper rises into the sky, Stealth clips Doc to a tether so he can move around and work on Jud without risk of falling out. Then Stealth harnesses in beside me. He hands me a headset, and I fumble to put it on.
“First ride in a military chopper?” he asks. It’s weird. I see his mouth moving in front of me, but his voice is going directly into my ear.
“Yeah,” I say, and I realize I’m gripping the harness for all I’m worth. The helicopter banks, and it’s unsettling to watch the French Quarter sink away through one open door and to have a view of the velvety night sky through the other.
Stealth chuckles, and then X-Ray gives everyone an update. “Rev had a close call, but he’s okay. Looks like he and Grim took care of Lazarus.”
“What about Raptor?” Stealth says.
“We hit him with a missile. He’s toast.”
“Take that, motherfucker,” Stealth says with a fist pump. “Mission-fucking-accomplished!”
“Sarge, Recon, and Steel are still under the casino,” X-Ray says. “They’ll meet up with us in Baton Rouge. Guess they’re dealing with a group of undead women the assholes here have been callingmombies.They’ve got a survivor with them, some guy named Ghost, who’s given some good intel. The rest are covering the casino entrances in case anyone else from Raptor’s team tries to slip out.”
“Think it’s fair to say we liberated New Orleans from Raptor’s hold,” Target says.
“What happened to Rev?” I ask. I hate the thought of him having any kind of “close call.”
“Not sure about the details,” X-Ray says. “But he ran down Raptor and Lazarus on the roof of the hotel. Raptor took off—like, literally took off like a bird with wings and everything. We took care of him, but there were shots exchanged between Rev and Lazarus. Rev called for backup. That’s all I know.”
I don’t like the sound of that. “You said Grim helped him?”
“That’s what I heard,” X-Ray says.
Good. Grim wouldn’t have let anything happen to Rev. The two of them must have handled Lazarus.
“What’s going on with those women?” Stealth asks. “Are they really undead?”
“You know what I know,” X-Ray says. Then I hear him check in with the others. “How’s it going down there, Sarge?”
Sarge’s voice sounds in my ear. “We’re good. But the same cannot be said of the women. They all suddenly started decomposing before our eyes. Except for one. Listen, I’ll check back in in a few. We’ve got things here under control. Get Jud to safety. That’s your mission.”
“10-4, Sarge. X-Ray out.”
The chopper speeds away from New Orleans. Riding in a helicopter should be fun, but I can’t enjoy it. I’m too worried about Jud. He’s lying on the stretcher, unresponsive, while Doc listens to his chest with a stethoscope.
Doc’s lips are moving. He’s talking to Jud, but I can’t hear him. He’s not wearing a headset, and neither is Jud. Doc might as well be talking to a CPR dummy for all the reaction Jud is giving him. The only sign that he’s conscious is the weak batting of his hands as Doc lifts his head and begins wrapping a long roll of gauze around his eyes.
We managed to get Jud out of that cell, but I’m still worried about him. They took something valuable from him. Something he can never get back. I know what that feels like. It’s not something you recover from quickly. Scars heal. Your body compensates for your injuries. But the mind is another story. The soul is another story.
If you’re listening,I put out there for the Working,help him recover from this. In body, mind, and soul.
Jud
Doc is dithering over me.I want to tell him not to bother. His Gift perked me up enough that I could walk out of that shithole under my own power, mostly, but it didn’t do jack for my eyes. Guess those are gone forever.
I’m a blind man.
I’ve lost my Gift.
I was stupid enough to get captured. I’ll pay the price for that one shitty decision for the rest of my useless life.
Which, for better or worse, I get to live out, thanks to Cora and her outrageous and obviously empty threat. With her cute-as-fuck name for my dick. As if she’s going to want to enjoy it when she has six others belonging to men who have all their senses and Giftings intact.
Maybe she shouldn’t have bothered.
