by Matt Lincoln
I knew he was right. As much as I hated the idea of splitting up again, it seemed like Holm and Finch were relatively safe for the time being, unlike Chapman, who was currently sitting inside a blazing metal box, probably unconscious.
I nodded before jumping to my feet and running off after Hills. I expected to find him attempting to climb into the helicopter, but instead, he was locked in a fistfight with one of the pirates. I ran forward without a second thought and rammed into the man with my left shoulder, knocking him to the ground and away from Hills.
The man sneered up at me and reached down to grab something at his waist. I recognized the slim handle that his hand closed around. It was one of those machetes that the Viboras group seemed to be so fond of.
“I don’t think so,” Hills growled as he stomped down on the man’s arm, causing him to lose his grip and drop the knife. Hills kicked it away, and the moment it was gone, I moved in again.
“Go!” I yelled at Hills before punching the man in the face, knocking him back down before he could get to his feet.
Hills ran off at once, disappearing into the cloud of thick black smoke as he went. I turned back to the man and pushed him down, trying my best to turn him over so I could get his hands cuffed behind his back. It was difficult with just one arm, though, and I fumbled for just a second too long. The suspect reared back and elbowed me hard, hitting me right in my injured arm. I hissed with pain as the force of the blow reverberated up my shoulder and down to the tips of my fingers.
The man shot to his feet as quick as lightning and raced for the machete, which was still lying some feet away on the deck of the ship. I raced after him, tackling him with the full force of my weight and knocking him back down to the ground. He hit the deck with a loud thud and groaned with pain as his chin struck the hard metal.
A second later, he was howling with pain, his jaw making a sickening clacking sound as he opened his mouth to scream. I could tell from the grotesque, limp way that it was hanging that he must have broken it when he fell.
I grimaced as I yanked his arms behind his back. Just looking at it seemed painful, so I could only imagine that the guy must be in pretty severe pain.
Once I was finished getting him under control, I looked around. It actually seemed like things were calming down. The Coasties were quickly rounding everyone up, and it looked like the majority of the shooting had ceased.
I turned back to the helicopter. Hills was bent over double a few feet away from it, dragging Chapman’s unconscious form away from it.
“Hey!” I shouted to a passing Coast Guard officer. “I need help with him!”
I looked down at the suspect, who was now sobbing, blood gushing out of his damaged mouth. The Coastie bent down to take over, and the moment he did, I jumped to my feet and raced toward where Hills was struggling to get his partner away from the fire.
“Here,” I rasped as I bent down to help him drag Chapman around the side of the bridge where we’d left Holm and Finch. Finch was awake now, sitting up and pressing a hand to the side of her head. Holm was talking quietly to her, but he got to his feet as he saw us approaching.
“How is he?” He asked as Hills knelt down next to Chapman.
“Not good,” Hills gritted out as he began to administer chest compressions. “Captain’s. Still. Inside.” He huffed out between compressions, his face twisting with exertion as he attempted to bring his partner back to life.
“Let’s go get him.” Holm turned to look at me. He looked rough but still leagues better than when I’d left him sitting here earlier.
“Let’s go,” I agreed. So long as we have the ability to move, we weren’t going to leave anyone behind.
Holm and I raced back around the side of the bridge to where the helicopter was. We’d just turned the corner when I was hit with a strong wave of burning hot air, the pressure of it knocking me sideways off my feet. I wasn’t sure whether it was the bang or the light of the explosion that hit me first. All I knew was that a moment later, I was lying on the ground, my vision blurry and my ears ringing.
For several seconds, the world seemed to spin. I could tell I was lying down, but I still felt like I was moving. I couldn’t tell what was up or down, and the rocking sensation was making me nauseous. Then it all came crashing back without warning. The ringing in my ears stopped, and I could hear again, and everything came back into sharp focus.
I took stock of my surroundings as I sat up. The helicopter had exploded. I was having trouble processing the last few seconds, but I knew that much. People were down all across the deck, pirates and Coasties alike. I looked around for my partner. He’d been standing right beside me when the explosion went off.
I spotted him a moment later, on the ground. There was a long shard of shrapnel sticking out of his leg, some piece of the helicopter that had blown off in the explosion and turned itself into a projectile.
I jumped to my feet, or at least I tried to. I wobbled as I did, my vision spinning again for a second before I could focus. Maybe I‘d hit my head and given myself a concussion when I fell. That wasn’t good, but I’d worry about it later. Right now, I needed to get to Holm.
It was easier said than done, though, because, despite my best efforts, I couldn’t seem to walk a consistently straight line. I cursed at myself as I urged my legs to move more quickly. Everything was on fire, and the ship was beginning to tilt as it took on water, obviously having sustained far too much damage to stay afloat anymore.
Before I could reach Holm, Hills and Chapman came charging from around the side of the bridge. Vaguely, some small part of my brain was glad to see that Chapman was up and moving, but right now, I was too worried about Holm to really think about it. Hills pointed at Holm and yelled something that I couldn’t hear, and a moment later, they both rushed over to him.
It relieved me to see them drag him away until I spotted a silhouette standing on the opposite side of the bridge. It was him again, I realized as I spotted the familiar winding snake tattoo on his arms. Jorge Velasquez was sneering at the three of them with unbridled hatred, a large machine gun in his hands.
I scrambled to draw my gun as he lifted the weapon toward them. My left hand was shaking as I attempted to disengage the safety lock on my holster. The fogginess in my head wasn’t helping matters, either.
“Screw this,” I growled as I tore off the sling that was holding my right arm in place. I reached down to draw my gun with my dominant hand, bursts of fire coursing through my arm as I did. I ignored the pain. If anything, it only helped me concentrate as I lifted my firearm and shot directly at Viper three times in quick succession.
I could hear him yell in pain as one of my shots landed, and he dropped the gun. Hills and Chapman turned at the sound of the gunshot. Hills’s hand had flown to his own holster, but he relaxed when he realized it was me and continued to pull Holm to safety.
I looked back at Viper, who was pressing his hand against his side and glaring at me venomously. He crouched down as if to pick up the gun, but before he could, the ship rocked violently. The deck vibrated beneath my feet, hard enough that I lost my footing and then tumbled down the length of the deck as the ship suddenly tilted aggressively to the left.
“Everyone off, now!” one of the Coasties roared. “Move! Move! This thing is going down!”
Chaos broke out across the deck as the officers rushed to get all the pirates off of the ship and down onto the waiting Coast Guard boats. It was obvious now that the integrity of the ship was quickly collapsing. It looked like all the pirates had been apprehended by now.
All except for one.
I scanned the length of the ship for any sign of Viper. He couldn’t have just disappeared. He was here somewhere, I knew he was, and I couldn’t let him get away now that we’d come this far.
Before I could find him, I spotted Holm and the Vegas agents. Holm was, to my intense relief, awake again. Chapman was helping him to his feet while Hills tried to flag down on the Coasties. My reli
ef was short-lived, however, as almost immediately after finding them, I found Viper.
He was lurking in the shadows beneath one of the pieces of wreckage from the crashed helicopter. The only reason I’d even noticed him was because of the metallic glint of the gun in his hand.
No, I thought to myself as I narrowed my eyes at him. That’s not a gun.
It was metallic, but the shape wasn’t right. The way the light was bouncing off of it was different. It almost looked round, as if…
It wasn’t until Viper brought his other hand up and pulled something out of the object in his hand that I finally realized what it was. My feet were moving before my brain could make any conscious decision, my heart pounding so hard that it felt like it was going to burst straight through my chest.
“Grenade!” I shouted as I sprinted toward the three men. They turned to look at me, identical expressions of horror on their faces as they began to look around frantically.
The deadly thing landed right behind them just as I made it over to where they were standing. I didn’t hesitate before rushing straight at it, kicking it as hard as I could back in Viper’s direction. As I did, I looked up at him. His face twisted into an expression that was half shock and half fury. He was glaring at me with one of the most hateful expressions that anyone had ever directed toward me.
Then, so fast that I didn’t have any time to react, he drew a pistol from behind his back and fired directly at me.
I blinked and felt a strange, uncomfortable pressure in my chest. I gasped in shock at what had just happened and found that I couldn’t really draw a full breath. I tried again, and the tightness in my chest only increased.
I glanced down at myself, and it shocked me to see an indentation where the Viper’s bullet had just struck me directly in the chest. I barely had any time to register the fact that I’d just been shot before the grenade went off on the other side of the deck. I ducked to the ground instinctively, pain shooting up my chest at the motion.
In a single instant, several thoughts flashed through my mind. The first was intense relief that the bulletproof vest I’d put on in preparation for this mission had evidently done its job, considering I wasn’t lying on the ground dead right now. The second was the realization that I was in mind-numbing pain, so intense that I couldn’t even yell. Body armor or not, getting shot in the chest was no joke. The third and final thought that crossed my mind was panic over the fact that I couldn’t seem to draw a full breath.
That’s not a good sign, I thought to myself. I didn’t have time to think about that now, though. Viper was still there, standing just a few yards away, still armed and, apparently, still in fighting condition despite the bullet wound I’d given him.
“Agent Hills!” Chapman screamed as he rushed to my side as I bent over in half, unable to stay upright despite my best efforts. “Are you okay? Do you need to sit down?”
“I’m fine,” I insisted, wheezing as I spoke. “We need to go after Viper.”
My mind was reeling. Chapman was obviously okay, but what about Holm and Hills?
“Are you out of your mind?” Chapman snapped. “We need to get you off of this thing! You just got shot!”
“I said I’m fine,” I replied as I forced myself to push through the pain and stand back upright. I wasn’t about to just run when I knew that the man we’d gone through so much effort to find was right there.
Before either of us could argue any further, however, Agent Hill’s voice called out in a panic.
“I need help!” He yelled, his usually low voice cracking as he called out. I turned to look at him, and dread pooled in the pit of my stomach as I realized why he was calling for help. He was kneeling next to Holm, who was sitting on the ground and clutching at his leg, which was bleeding profusely.
“Dammit,” I hissed as I rushed over to where they were, pointedly ignoring the pain that was tearing through my chest and arm as I did.
I fell to my knees next to my partner as I arrived. There was a piece of shrapnel from the grenade embedded in his leg. Even though I’d managed to launch it far enough away to keep it from completely decimating my fellow agents, apparently, the force of the blast had still been powerful enough to send pieces of metal all the way over here.
“I’m fine,” Holm gritted out, his face contorting to the point that it was obvious he was definitely not fine. “Damn, this hurts.”
“Just hold still, okay?” I cautioned him as I leaned down to inspect the wound. Even though the piece of shrapnel was small, his leg was bleeding heavily. He was going to bleed to death if we didn’t get him medical attention soon.
“We need to get you off this boat,” I muttered as I moved to reach an arm around his shoulders to help him up. “Here, let me--”
“Go get Velasquez,” Holm suddenly cut me off. “Hills and Chapman can help me off. You need to go get the bastard who put me in this state.”
I stared at him in shock for a moment. I didn’t want to leave my partner behind, even knowing that the other two agents were with him. On the other hand, I really didn’t want to let Viper get away, either.
“Seriously, go!” Holm hissed. “I’ll be more pissed off if he gets away and I end up getting shot for nothing. Go!”
“Okay,” I replied before standing up and taking off in the direction I’d last seen Viper.
I looked around as I ran down the length of the deck. By now, almost everyone had evacuated, so the only people left on board were the dead bodies that were littered around underfoot. In hindsight, that was one of the worst aspects of what Viper had done. The Coast Guard had already won and were busy getting everyone off of the ship when he threw that grenade, as a group of men who were trying to get one of their injured to safety, no less. It has been a dirty move, though in hindsight, not that surprising considering the guy was a criminal and a pirate.
I’d only made it halfway down the deck when I suddenly heard footsteps behind me. I spun around, my arm stinging as I hastily pulled my gun from its holster.
“Just me!” Hills yelled as he stopped short and threw his hands up. “Don’t shoot.”
I sighed as I slumped my shoulders and put my gun back away.
“You shouldn’t sneak up on people in the middle of an active battlefield,” I muttered. “And what are you doing here? I thought you were helping Holm off the ship.”
I looked past him, anxious that something might have gone wrong, and that’s why he was here.
“He’s fine,” Hills assured me. “A couple of the Coasties came by to check for injured survivors and offered to help get him to safety. I took off as soon as I heard that, figured you could use the help.”
“I can actually,” I replied as I turned back around. The truth was everything hurt, and I was certain the only thing keeping me upright at this moment were the surges of adrenaline that were coursing through me. There was a really good chance that I would need his help in bringing down Viper. “Come on, let’s go.”
We continued to scan the ship, but I couldn’t see the Viper anywhere. Granted, it had been a few minutes since he’d attacked us and run off, but it wasn’t like there was anywhere he could escape to on a sinking ship. I briefly considered the possibility that he might have snuck onto one of the Coast Guard boats already, slipping between his own men in order to pass himself off as just another hapless goon instead of the leader of the pack.
“See anything?” I called to Hills as we hurried across the deck.
“Nothing,” he replied, sounding just as frustrated as I felt.
I was just contemplating whether we should turn back around and search through the rescue boats when I heard a metallic thunk, followed by what sounded like a splash. It was faint enough that I couldn’t be certain what it had been, but he knew that I’d definitely heard something.
Hills and I turned to look at each other at the same time, and I could tell by the expression of surprise on his face that he’d heard whatever it was as well.
We immed
iately took off at a sprint in the direction the sound had come from. As we did, my mind began to race with the possibilities. Had Viper jumped off the boat in an attempt to escape? That couldn’t possibly be his plan. We were out in the middle of the ocean, miles away from Haiti, which was currently the nearest coast. He’d likely die of hypothermia before he even got the chance to get tired enough to drown.
I got my answer when we rounded the giant turret that was mounted to the front of the ship, something that was evidently just for show since, as far as I knew, the pirates hadn’t actually used it in the battle against the Coast Guard. Someone was leaning over the railing of the ship. He was looking at something down in the water, and there was a long length of rope in his hands, and I instantly recognized the telltale tattoo that adorned the man’s arms. It was Viper.
“Hey!” Hills screamed without warning as he lifted his gun and fired at the man. I jumped in surprise at his sudden action.
“Screw negotiations,” Hills muttered as he turned to look at me. “He’s already proven what an underhanded snake he is. I’m not about to give him a chance to pull something else.”
Unfortunately, the bullet missed, striking the metal railing right in front of Velasquez instead. It ricocheted and flew off in the opposite direction, and Velasquez turned to glare at Charlie with vicious contempt.
Now that we were actually close enough for me to see him clearly, I realized that the guy was dressed… oddly. He was wearing thick, heavy pants and long boots, and he had a dark bandana wrapped around his head. What was most surprising, though, was the worn leather holster that was strapped across his shoulder and around his waist. From a distance, it had looked like the kind of strap used to hold heavy machine guns on one’s back. Now that I paid attention, though, the thing looked like it was practically an antique. He had a gun in it as well, an old one from the look of the handle. It was also holstered on his left side, though I could see a normal pistol on his right hip.
