Zerzan emerged from the doorway, a shirt wrapped around her head. She was hunched over as she dragged Mujada's cage.
"Stay!" I told Blue before jogging back down the road toward Zerzan. As the stronger plumes of tear gas hit me, my coughing became worse, but I continued forward. I pulled out the keys and handed them to Zerzan. She was coughing and tears streaked her face. She unlocked the padlock.
It sprang free and Zerzan pulled it loose, dropping it on the ground.
She tore open the cage door and reached in, grabbing Mujada under her arms. Mujada’s body shook with a rasping cough.
I helped Zerzan, holding Mujada under the armpits while Zerzan pulled her legs free. We stumbled down the street toward Blue, and kept going until we reached the next building, where Zerzan directed us toward a door.
Luckily it was unlocked and the hallway was empty.
"There is a bathroom at the end of the hall," Zerzan said, her voice hoarse.
I turned on the shower, and we placed Mujada under the spray.
Zerzan stayed with her as I stumbled to the next shower stall. Blue had followed us, coughing and choking. His eyes were terribly red.
I turned on the shower, and Blue walked into it, lifting his face to the spray. My vision flickered, the scene turning black and white, like an old TV. I fell back, startled and frightened. My lower back hit against a sink, and I turned to it, throwing open both faucets. Cupping water in my hands, I held it to my eyes. Lightning seared across my closed lids, burning my eyes.
I coughed and water sprayed off my lips.
Thunder pounded in my head as I took shuddering breaths.
I looked back at Zerzan, Mujada and Blue. "How is she?" I asked.
"She is alive."
Blue stood in the shower, his eyes closed as water ran over his face.
His breathing had regulated, but he was still coughing sporadically, his flanks shaking with the effort.
Mujada lay slumped in the shower, the spray hitting the back of her head; the water pooling around her was pink.
Zerzan’s eyes were red and swollen; her cough had diminished to a slight rasp in her breath. I sat down next to her on the wet floor. She had a bruise on her temple and blood splattered her clothing.
"What happened?" I asked. Zerzan raised her eyebrows. "How did you kill three armed men?"
Zerzan's mouth twitched into a small smile. "They let me."
“They let you?"
“Yes, in that confused moment when they realized something had gone very wrong in the prison building, they dropped me in the dust to begin their assault on you. I was then free to come up behind them, one by one, and cut their throats. Not even the last one managed to utter a sound.
“Would they have done that with a male prisoner? I think not. So yes, they let me take their lives."
"What about Erzo, Dilsoz, and Hedar?"
"They're waiting for our direction."
Zerzan pulled her walkie-talkie off her belt and spoke into it. A reply came and she responded again.
"They will create a distraction so that we can escape. We will steal a vehicle and go out one of the two gated entrances."
"You've lost your weapons?"
"Everything but my knife."
I stood up, swaying slightly as I experienced lightheadedness from the quick movement. My breathing was returning to normal, but it was still labored, and each breath burned. When I blinked it felt like there was a layer of liquid fire on my eyes. The skin around my eyes was swollen and tight, my vision still cloudy at the edges.
Blue was breathing more easily. He stood under the spray, and I let him for a moment longer before turning off the shower.
He shook himself, spraying water everywhere.
I grabbed a small, white towel off a rack; it was still damp from the last person who had used it.
Zerzan turned off the shower over Mujada and used the towel to pat her dry. Then she draped the towel over Mujada’s body and we picked her up. Mujada’s head was slack on her neck, falling from side to side as we walked.
As we approached the exit of the building, we heard a massive explosion. There was yelling and gun blasts. Another explosion shook the building. Dust drifted down from the ceiling.
Using my leg to support Mujada, I took one hand off her and opened the door. Blue whined and I realized that he could not smell. His ears swiveled and he whined again.
With the explosions and gunfire and yelling, it was hard to tell if there was anyone outside.
Holding Mujada with my left arm, I used my right to pull my pistol. Keeping Mujada on my left side, I kicked the door open with my right foot. The street was empty.
I led the way, Zerzan directing me. A pickup truck barreled across the intersection in front of us, and my heart crashed against my ribs. The engine continued to roar, growing fainter as they continued toward the explosion. They had not noticed us.
We were moving too slowly. Zerzan held Mujada under her knees with her left arm, in her right hand she gripped my spare pistol.
Zerzan directed me to turn left and I followed her command. There was smoke in the air, and the sound of gunfire was growing closer. "The motor pool is right up ahead."
We reached the end of the building we were walking along, and I turned right to see a large parking lot and a small building. It was a smaller copy of the one at the base we'd recently escaped from.
Another explosion shook the ground. Lightning sizzled across my vision. I was losing it.
Chapter Fourteen
Smoke was thick in the air, along with dust from the damaged buildings and the lingering molecules of the gas. I was still coughing and tears were leaking out of my eyes. My vision was foggy and filled with hallucinations, the smoke turning to storm clouds, the gunfire to bolts of lightning, the hum of motors the prelude to thunder.
I focused on what was real— Mujada in my left hand, a pistol in my right.
We stopped at the first vehicle in the lot, a Toyota pickup truck. It was unlocked, but there were no keys. "Let's put her in and then I'll go find the keys," Zerzan said.
Shifting around, I stuck my gun into its holster then climbed into the truck, dragging Mujada into the passenger seat with me. I scooted across so that I was sitting in the open middle, Mujada in the seat. Zerzan pushed Mujada's legs into the footwell and slammed the door. Blue stood outside the truck, his ears perked in the direction of the gun battle.
I watched Zerzan through the dusty windshield as she ran over to the small building and ducked inside. Mujada was unconscious, but breathing. The towel pooled around her hips. Mujada's head rested against my shoulder and her long, matted hair fell over her face. I had an arm around her, and she was cuddled into my side.
Nausea tingled my jaw as I looked over her wounds; deep bruising, burns, and whip lashes. The cuts on her back looked rawer now that they were wet. I pulled my arm out from underneath her; my sleeve was soaked in blood. Would Mujada survive? And if she did, how different would she be? Would the torture make her stronger or destroy her?
The doors of the motor pool opened and Zerzan ran out and climbed into the driver's seat. Blue hopped into the bed of the pickup and laid flat, invisible to anyone on the ground. Zerzan shoved a key into the ignition and started the truck. She pulled out of the parking spot and shifted gears, speeding toward the exit.
As we raced down the deserted street, the sound of gunfire was getting louder with every second. I pulled my pistol out and Zerzan rolled down the window next to Mujada. I didn't want to move the injured woman, thinking about her wounds on the rough fabric of the seats, but at the same time, I knew I needed to have access to the window in order to defend us. I leaned across, and she slumped down once my shoulder was no longer propping her up. I pulled a grenade from my waist and kept it in my palm, waiting for the opportunity to use it.
Up ahead, we saw the exit and the battle waging.
Flames engulfed the guardhouse—licking toward the sky, hungry tongues of destruction.
About thirty soldiers stood at the gate firing into the woods. “We won’t get through,” I said. Zerzan took a sharp left, and we almost collided with a pickup truck filled with more men.
Zerzan swerved around it, and I saw the shocked expression of three men in the front seat. They recovered quickly and pulled a U-turn to follow us. I climbed over Mujada's body and stuck my head and arms out the window as Zerzan sped toward the west gate.
I pulled the pin of the grenade with my teeth— the taste of metal filling my mouth. There was a mounted machine gun in the back of the pickup that was chasing us. A soldier wearing all black, including a headscarf, stood behind it. I underhanded the grenade at him.
His eyes widened as the grenade arced through the air. He took his hands off the weapon to try to deflect the projectile. The truck hit a pothole and jerked him off balance. He wobbled and then fell, the grenade following him down.
The man popped back up, the grenade in his hand. He threw it away but it ignited. The explosion was a cloud of fire and a shattering of noise. The man's hand and forearm evaporated. He screamed and fell again, this time over the edge of the truck and into the road. His body disappeared from my vision in the cloud of dust kicked up by the vehicle, which somehow kept going, despite the damage it sustained from the blast.
"Hold on!" Zerzan yelled.
The west gate was in front of us. There were four soldiers still guarding it. I fired at them, my aim thrown off by the jerking motion of the truck. They ducked down behind sandbag barricades but kept their weapons up, firing at the truck. Bullets exploded the headlights, thunked into the grill, and cracked the windshield.
I ducked back into the truck as Zerzan slammed on the gas and crashed through the closed metal gate. It exploded off its track and flew out of our way. The road was rough and we bounced over it as more bullets hit the back of the pickup.
We raced around a bend in the road and my shoulder slammed into the door. I pushed myself up and looked out the back. The pickup was still right behind us.
I checked on Blue. He was flat in the bed of the truck; his eyes found mine. They were red-rimmed from the tear gas, but other than that, he appeared uninjured.
The pickup was closing the distance between us. I grabbed another grenade. The soldier in the passenger seat leaned out his window, aiming a pistol at us.
I pushed myself through the window again. The soldier’s trigger finger pulled back but I felt no fear. The man was afraid of me. I was a woman and I was powerful and that was a mix of impossible and terrifying to him. I knew what he was thinking. I heard it in the rumble of the thunder that radiated around us and I saw it in the lightning that branched out from the clouds that gathered on the edge of my vision.
His bullets went wide, cutting through the forest rather than into our truck. I took a deep breath as we jostled over the rough road and tossed the grenade. It arced over the windshield.
The soldier’s eyes followed the trajectory of the sphere.
The driver slammed on the brakes and opened his door, diving out of the vehicle.
The grenade landed in the bed, by the foot of the unmanned machine gun.
The passenger fell out his door and scrambled away, leaving just the man in the middle. He tried to get out, throwing himself across the seats, reaching for the open door, but the grenade ignited before he made it.
A rush of orange flames and black smoke engulfed the vehicle. The road curved and I lost sight of the carnage, but the black smoke followed us around the bend.
Chapter Fifteen
Zerzan kept one hand on the wheel as she pulled her walkie-talkie out. She spoke into the device and received a response. I propped Mujada up again and sat back into my seat.
Checking on Blue, I found him in the same position. He locked gazes with me and I nodded; he blinked several times and then closed his eyes. The wind ruffled his fur. I scanned his body and the bed of the pickup truck: no blood. He was not hit.
Zerzan put her walkie-talkie back onto her waist.
"Everyone okay?" I asked.
"Yes," Zerzan replied. “They will return to the other truck."
"Won't they be followed?"
"Possibly. But they will be fine."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Faith." I had no response to that so I didn't speak.
"How is Mujada doing?" Zerzan asked.
She was still breathing. I placed two fingers on her throat and felt a heartbeat; the thumping of life, the pounding of thunder, the pattering of rain. "She's alive, but unconscious."
"It is best that she is not awake. She must be in much pain"
It was the first time I'd heard emotion in Zerzan's voice. There was a connection between these two. Was it just that they had fought together, or was there something more?
"Where are we going?"
"We need to get her to a doctor."
"Your grandfather?"
“I think she needs a better equipped facility."
"Then where are we going?"
"I am going to return to the base. They have the best medical facility, and I think that she will die without their help."
"The major will have you locked up."
"Yes; I will drop you off somewhere."
"Where would you drop me off? I don't speak the language, I don't know the area, I'm being hunted by Daesh, and the US government: where do you think I would be safe?"
Zerzan took her eyes off the road for a moment and looked at me. "You'd be safe anywhere. You and Blue are indestructible."
It started as a giggle but turned into a full-on belly laugh. My sides ached and fresh tears stung my eyes. "Then I guess we might as well come with you."
"If you want to."
I laughed again and swiped at the tears. "I like you, Zerzan. I really do."
"I like you too, Sydney."
We drove all night. I fell asleep, my head leaning back against the headrest, jaw hanging open. It was a restless sleep and I woke often, my mouth dry and the dark road still stretching out in front of us. Then I'd drift back to sleep. I was like a buoy in the ocean, diving under waves and then rising over them. The exhaustion was pulling me down and I let it. After the surge of adrenaline and battle, my body and mind needed the rest.
We stopped for gas, a small station manned by a young boy. Zerzan purchased an extra container and secured it in the bed of the truck with Blue.
I woke up as the sun rose over the road in front of us. I recognized the mountains rising up around us. Zerzan's hands were loose on the wheel, her eyes steady on the road. "You must be exhausted."
Zerzan glanced over at me for a second before returning her gaze to the road. "I am tired. I hope that the bed in my cell is comfortable."
"What makes you think they will treat Mujada?"
"They will help."
"I hope you're right. Do you want me to drive for a while?"
"I'm fine. Thank you."
Checking on Blue, I saw that he was also awake and sitting up. His eyes were closed as he let the wind brush over his face. He looked content to enjoy the breeze. Isn't that one of the amazing things about dogs? Their ability to stay in the present.
"How much longer?"
"Thirty minutes."
"I guess we better enjoy our last half hour of freedom."
Mujada moaned. She was still leaning against my shoulder. I'd rearrange the towel to cover her and try to keep her warm, but she looked pale and gray. Her eyes fluttered, then opened. They were unfocused and closed again. She took a deep shuddering breath, groaned in pain, and then slipped back into unconsciousness.
"I hope she makes it," I said.
"She will," Zerzan replied.
"Faith?"
"Yes."
When we pulled up to the base, there were two soldiers at the guns on the wall and four guards flanked the gate. Zerzan slowed and came to a stop, putting the vehicle into park.
Zerzan put both hands out the window and made sure the soldiers could see they were em
pty before bringing one back inside to open the door. She kept her hands up as she stepped away from the protection of the truck and began to walk toward them.
She spoke in Kurdish. One of the soldiers replied. Zerzan dropped to her knees, her arm still raised. A guard approached her and pulled handcuffs off her belt. She locked Zerzan's arms behind her back and then stood her up.
"Come out with your hands up," Zerzan told me. "They won't shoot you as long as you don't present a danger to them."
I opened my door. Mujada slumped as my support left her. I lowered her down gently to the seat and then, keeping my hands in front of me, climbed out.
A guard was removing Zerzan's weapons. Her father's knife glinted in the sun when they pulled it free of her ankle holster.
I stepped forward and dropped to my knees. "Tell them about Blue and I'll have him come out."
Zerzan spoke in Kurdish and the woman who appeared to be in charge responded.
"Okay."
I called Blue and he leapt from the back. The soldiers stepped back and aimed their weapons at him.
Zerzan spoke quickly and everyone calmed down. A guard approached me and began to remove my weapons. I kept my hands in the air.
"Are they bringing someone for Mujada?"
"Yes, they've radioed to have the paramedics come."
Blue came closer to me but I told him to keep his distance. He looked rough, his eyes still red from the tear gas, his coat caked in dust from having been wet and then ridden all night in the back of a pickup truck.
"Tell them that Blue will come with me and he won't hurt anyone."
Zerzan spoke and the woman responded. "They won't let him inside."
Then I'm not going.
The leader spoke and Zerzan replied. They'd handcuffed me at this point and were hauling me to my feet when the gate opened and an ambulance came out. I stumbled and the soldier holding my arm loosened her grip. I coughed and put more weight against the soldier's grasp, trying to fall to the ground again.
I just needed to buy a few more minutes. The soldier let go of me, allowing me to hit the road rather than be dragged down with me. She aimed her rifle at me and yelled something. "She says you have to get up."
The Girl With The Gun (Sydney Rye Book 8) Page 13
