by Jim Roberts
Joe stationed Rourke to walk with her while he went to speak with the enigmatic leader of the rebel group.
"You're good with broken fingers, lady, but do you have anyone in your group capable of helping her?"
Jade stepped over a large fallen sign from what was once a movie theater. "Yes, back at the safe zone. But she looks quite bad. Our surgeon's no miracle worker."
Joe clapped a hand on the rebel lieutenant's arm. Jade snapped around as Joe looked her in the eye, "This woman is important to us, miss. To me."
"Is she your..." Jade asked, her eyes searching Joe's face for any lies.
"No...of course not, she's...my comrade. I've already lost one soldier today. I don't want to lose another."
"You're in Africa, Sergeant Braddock. Everyone loses someone here."
Something about Jade intrigued Braddock. She was almost certainly not from Zimbala, or Africa if he had to guess. Her accent sounded American west coast to the ex-Ranger. She moved with precision, keeping her weapon at the ready; eyes always watching for movement in the darkness. She was a pro soldier, maybe not special forces, but well trained all the same.
"You aren't from here, are you?" Joe asked.
"Why do you want to know?" Jade retorted, quietly.
"Well, you're obviously not Zimbalan, are you?"
"Brilliant deduction."
"So what are you? Army? Mercenary?"
Jade shot Braddock a heated glance, "You always talk this much?"
"Sorry."
A sound from the avenue opposite them forced Jade to drop low, signaling for the rebels to do the same. Joe raised his M4 to cover the area.
Two Chimera drones moved through the streets ahead, westbound. Their searchlights swept the desolate streets of Sadoma, looking for any survivors. It was a heart pounding two minutes watching them pass by. When they did, everyone breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Chastened, they continued towards the safe zone Jade had mentioned.
After a short distance, Joe decided to try his luck again, "So who did you lose?"
"What?"
"You said everyone loses someone. Who did you lose?"
Jade stopped, as if hearing something again. Joe followed suit, listening into the night.
He heard nothing.
Satisfied they weren't being followed, Jade informed her people they were taking a quick one minute break for the stretcher bearers. Rourke stayed close with Isabella, checking her vitals.
"A husband." Jade said, sitting down on a pile of concrete and rebar.
"What?" Joe asked, not understanding.
"My husband. He died."
"Oh...sorry."
"I was working for the United Nations. Peacekeepers. I ran security at the Capitol building before all of this happened. I met my husband back when things were still sane around here. He was a friend of Donald Muzenda. Musabe's police had him killed a few months before the war began."
Joe let the woman speak, not wanting to interrupt an obviously difficult story.
"I watched as the UN pulled out, leaving the people at the mercy of Musabe. I couldn't leave. I deserted. I had to fight."
"That took guts." Joe said.
"No...it took cowardice."
Joe frowned. "I don't understand."
"For years I had to watch on the sidelines in this country as people were killed and fed to crocodiles. I didn't help them. Either because I was part of an organization that couldn't help, or I was just scared, I don't know. But my cowardice took my husband from me. Now, Olympus has taken away the one man capable of leading this country into a better life."
"Donald Muzenda." Joe said quietly.
Jade nodded. She stood up, motioning for the band of rebels to do the same.
"I'll fight them any way I know how, Mister Braddock."
This lady has nerve, Joe thought as he followed quickly behind. After another five minutes of making their way through the detritus of downtown Sadoma, Jade halted and pointed at a large collection of ancient low-rise office complexes, all painted an ugly white-yellow color. Joe saw sandbags placed here and there around the entranceways to the building. The windows were closed and shuttered.
"We're here." The guerrilla soldier said.
"What, you mean this place?" Joe had to admit, it wasn't what he expected.
"When you fight a war on contested ground, you make your home wherever you can, Sergeant Braddock."
The group was, for the moment, huddled on the far side of the street overlooking the URAF hideout. Joe could still hear the distant echoes and sounds of gunshots, mostly to the south. The sky still blazed a hot orange from the burning rebel district.
They were about to cross when Joe's comlink burbled loudly in his ear. He answered it as quietly as he could.
"This is Joe, go ahead."
"* * *.....tink....get...to...through* * *" Heavy reams of static blocked the words being spoken over the comm.
Joe clicked the comm again, speaking "I'm not reading you, repeat all, over."
"....oe, this is Brick, you there, over?"
Joe frowned as he answered the call. "Brick? What are you doing? Are you out of the city yet?"
"Negative. We lost our long range communications. Hatfield is destroyed. Something...huge just attacked us. Sarah...Miss Anders has been taken by some...machine or something I've never seen before, over!"
"What the hell are you babbling about?" Joe asked, "Where are you guys, over?"
"Somewhere in the south section of downtown, driving a technical. Where are you, over?"
Joe checked the GPS on his OpTab. The tablet device taped to his arm was still functioning, even after the helo crash, thanks to Yune's outstanding technical expertise.
"Coordinates, latitude minus seventeen-dot-eight-two-four-niner, longitude thirty dot zero-one-one."
There was a brief pause as Brick correlated the distance. "Alright, we're close. Standby, out."
Jade nudged Joe, wondering why the ex-Ranger was delaying the move, "What's going on?"
"I have some friends coming up in a technical. Something's happened to Miss Anders, it sounds like."
Jade looked like she was about to object at Joe inviting more people to this party. The safe zone location was secret after all, and they were uninvited guests.
Whatever objections she had were stalled by several more unwelcome visitors. Joe heard the unmistakable hum of multiple Chimera attack drones hovering towards their position, southbound along the avenue of the hidden rebel HQ.
The three hovering automated robotic weapons had zeroed in on their location and were training weapons.
"We waited too long!" Jade shouted, "Move to the HQ now!"
An explosion of gunfire spat towards the VTOLs from the rebel position. Jade's forces surged across the street, firing at the Olympus drones as they moved. Jade lead the way, making a shrill whistle as she ran. As Joe followed behind the rebel lieutenant, he saw what looked like hidden machine gun emplacements along the roof of the facility spring up from hidden makeshift foxholes, disguised to look like building air conditioners. The emplacements were manned by two URAF soldiers firing heavy duty PKM machine guns. Together, the rebels focused everything on taking down the three drones as quick as possible.
Joe's warm nighttime walk had just become a blazing battlefield from hell.
After a terrifying ten second run, most of the rebels had reached the fortifying sandbags piled around the entrance to the safe zone. Rourke and the two stretcher bearers charged across the street as fast as they could manage. The drone's autocannons lit up the night, spitting 20mm volleys all around the darkened streets. Joe saw two rebels sheared apart by the relentless onslaught of fire, their bodies blowing apart in a grisly explosion of gore.
Joe ran back towards the stretcher and grabbed the front end to help the duo move quicker. The rebels at the HQ fired endlessly, trying to knock the machines out of the sky. One lucky RPG strike from Jade blasted a drone's rotor engine, sending the machine into an uncontrol
led spiral into the ground where it burst into flame.
"Joe, it's Brick. We're hearing a lot of gunfire from the position you gave us. Is that you, over?"
Joe was forced to awkwardly shoulder his M4A1 to answer the Brit, "Affirmative! We're under attack by multiple Olympus drones. What's your ETA, over?"
"Right now!"
From the south end of the avenue, Joe heard the screeching brakes of a vehicle heading their direction. Risking a quick glance, Joe saw an old Ford pickup round a corner and enter the gun battle. Joe squinted at the bright lights of the vehicle as he ran on towards the safe zone, hauling the injured Cordova along.
Rourke shouted from beside the stretcher. "Who's that?"
"Backup!" Joe answered.
Behind the bright lights, Joe could see Krieger manning the Browning M2HB .50 Cal turret machinegun. He unloaded upon the drones with everything the gun had. The concentrated fire of the rebels along with the newly arrived Peacemakers eventually won out. One after the other, the drones exploded from the hail of gunfire.
As quickly as the fight had begun, it ended.
Joe handed the stretcher off to another URAF rebel, who guided Rourke and the wounded Cordova inside the safe zone of the complex. Satisfied Izy was being taken care of, Joe hustled over to the truck. He saw Brick turn the engine off and step out. He was followed by a mongrel brown and black dog, who bounded out of the pickup cab and began sniffing the debris of the streets. Krieger hopped down from his firing position and fell in alongside Brick.
Joe was about to move to speak with his teammates when he felt a hard punch against his shoulder.
"Ow! What the..."
Jade was staring at him, her eyes on fire. "You idiots! Olympus will know about these drones any minute! We have to leave this entire location!"
Joe tried to apologize, but couldn't find the right words. Jade turned on her heel and left towards the HQ.
Krieger's deep, heavily accented voice broke Joe's stunned silence, "Tough woman there, yah? You must introduce us." Krieger clapped Joe on the arm, a sardonic smile stretching across his lips, "Well you are sight for sore eyes, my little friend!" Krieger said, shaking Joe's hand.
Joe nodded at his big friend, then looked at Brick. The British soldier looked worn and tired. "Tell me what happened out there."
Brick shook his head, "It ain't a happy story, mate."
Joe nodded, grimly. "Let's talk inside. You can also fill me in on who our new teammate is there." Joe pointed at the mutt, who was busy lifting his leg on a broken fire hydrant.
Brick put a hand on Joe's arm, "How is Izy?"
Joe shook his head, "Not good. We think she's bleeding internally."
Brick took a long, hard breath. "I swear, Joe. I've lost too much since I joined this team. I can't lose her too."
Joe nodded wordlessly and led his teammates inside the rebel safe zone.
UPON ENTERING the rebel safe zone, the three soldiers went to check on their wounded teammate. Jade had had Cordova taken to a corner of the very cluttered interior of the rebel complex, so she could be tended to by Rourke and the only URAF medic in the complex. Yaphet, a short, calmly tempered man, helped the SEAL get Isabella settled to check on her wounds. Joe, as an Army Ranger, was trained in battlefield medicine, but he knew the SEAL was far more adept and capable of helping his teammate for the time being. Joe stood back, ready to assist if required. Beside him, Brick waited, his dark skin pale from worry.
Joe put a supportive hand on Brick's shoulder. The SAS man shucked it off.
"How did this happen?"
"We were chased below the hard deck by a wing of Hyperions. We shot down two, but were surrounded. We knocked out another, but..." Joe shook his head, his brow tense with worry.
"So instead of aborting when you should have, you kept going? You pushed her into the city knowing full well what would happen?" There was a strong air of menace to Brick's voice.
"It was my call, I had operational command. It was either retreat and do nothing, or try to pull away as many of the bastards as possible from the attack and maybe save some lives."
"−and now here you are, in top health while she's..."
Brick bit his bottom lip. Joe could feel the man's anger.
"Believe me, I would trade places with her in a second. If it wasn't for Izy, we'd all be dead. We were in a suicide spin−she must have regained some control before we crashed. If she hadn't..."
The medic, Yaphet, looked up at the group. "Please if you are going to fight, go elsewhere!"
Brick swallowed, "Will she be okay?"
Yaphet turned back to his charge. "She has many internal injuries. I am doing what I can."
Rourke looked up from his place at Isabella's side. "You guys may as well go. I'll call you over if anything changes."
A terrible feeling of helplessness tugged at Joe's guts. He and Krieger turned and moved back into the outer foyer of the rebel complex. Over his shoulder, he saw Brick stay back for a time. The ex-SAS soldier took Cordova's hand in his and squeezed it.
"You'll be alright, luv. I'm right here."
* * *
"...I swear my friend, I've never seen anything like it."
For the past five minutes, Krieger had brought Joe up to speed about everything he and his teammate had been through over the past twenty-four hours: the meeting with Muzenda, the Olympus attack on Hatfield and the tall armored warrior. As they spoke, Joe's eyes continually wandered over to where the young Marine pilot lay, still being tended by Rourke and the rebel medic. Brick stayed close, holding Isabella's hand as if afraid to let her go.
Joe tried to take his mind off the proceedings. Around them, Zimbalan rebels were packing up and preparing to move out to another location. He spotted Jade Masters giving orders to her subordinates. He knew she was angry at him for messing up what was probably a perfect hiding place for her people. Every so often, she would send a withering glare in his direction, forcing him to avert his eyes awkwardly.
Krieger's deep voice brought him back to the problem at hand.
"If I had to guess, I would think the machine was malfunctioning. It kept saying, error error, gibberish you know? It recognized reporter. We tried to shoot it, but nothing happened." Krieger pressed a hand against his chest, painfully. "He broke three of my ribs. Not easy, no?"
"What happened then?" Joe asked.
"Lady reporter just walked up to it. She wasn't afraid at all. He scooped her up under one arm after nearly killing us, and then just jumped away, like goddamn superhero."
Joe shook his head. There were only so many ways a mission could go so FUBAR, so fast.
"Did you guys contact the Colonel about this?" The Ranger asked.
"Not yet. No time, we could only contact you."
Joe was not looking forward to breaking the news of all of this to Walsh. He was about to hit the comlink when Rourke called them over to the wounded pilot. The two men hustled quickly over to join the Brit.
Cordova's once vibrant olive skin was now a pasty white. Her eyes were fluttering open and shut, as if trying to stay awake. Joe looked at the SEAL. Rourke shook his head.
"I'm sorry Joe. There's too much internal trauma. Without a medivac..." The SEAL shook his head.
Brick looked up at the medics, his eyes filled with pain. "There has to be...you have to do something!"
Yaphet took a deep breath. "I am sorry, my friend. This man is correct. We have tried to make her comfortable but−"
"No!" Brick shouted loudly. From the holster at his side, he yanked his sidearm out and pointed it at the Zimbalan medic. Yaphet started, but then forced himself to relax as he stared down the gun barrel.
"You will help her! Just...do something!" Brick's eyes were filling with tears. Unbidden rage flashed across his face.
"Brick−" Joe reached up slowly and placed his hand on the barrel of the gun. "−this won't change anything."
His hands shaking, Brick lowered the weapon. "God damn it." He dropped the gun to
the ground.
"Alistair..."
The voice was so soft, the men barely heard it. Isabella's hand reached up weakly towards the SAS soldier. Brick took it in his own, squeezing it tightly.
"I'm here, luv. I'm not goin' anywhere."
"Good...I...I can't see very well." Isabella's voice was so faint, they had to strain to hear.
"I'm right here. I'm holding your hand."
"Yes−I feel it. Joe..."
Joe leaned over the dying pilot, trying to manage a smile. "Hey Izy. It...it'll be alright I promise."
"You're...a lousy liar Joe."
The Ranger tried to hold his emotions back. It was a losing battle.
Isabella's lips quivered as she spoke. "No...I like it, its...quiet here. First rest I've had since joining the...group." She coughed suddenly, startling everyone surrounding her. "Brick...I'm scared...I can't−"
"Come on luv, this ain't nothin'."
"I can't see you...anymore..."
"I'm right her Iz. I'm right here."
"I...I..."
She drew a breath in−
Then let it out.
Brick lowered his head onto the stretcher, his whole body shaking. Joe fought to hold back his tears. In his time as a soldier, he'd seen more men die than he wanted to remember, each death staining his soul forever. But something about this was different. Izy had been a shining light for them all in hard times, her attitude always bringing them up when things were down.
And now she was dead.
Another fallen soldier.
Yaphet gently moved his hand down Isabella's face and closed her eyes.
Krieger stood away from the others, his head bowed, arms folded. Rourke stepped back from the table, his face hard and unreadable. Joe knew the SEAL had tried his best, but that wouldn't make the loss any easier.
The light that had lit the way for the Peacemakers these past months of hellish fighting had just gone out. Now they would have to find their way in the darkness alone, without Isabella Cordova.
