by Reed, N. C.
“He wanted to know what was down here,” she told them. “I told him it was just farm land and pulp woods, there were no towns or communities down this way. Wrong thing to say I guess, cause the word 'farm' caught his interest. I stressed that it was just land and that the only actual farmer I knew had died two years ago, but... I guess I didn't sell it well enough,” she shook her head. “I'm sorry,” she added.
“Do not be,” Xavier said quietly. “None of this was your doing, nor your fault,” he assured her.
“They were going to trade me to someone,” a single tear trailed down her cheek as she recalled that. “I heard them talking about it. One wanted to 'take' me, and the other warned him that the Captain had said he wanted me kept 'undamaged' because I was worth trading.” She shivered at the memory. “They still have people and vehicles in Peabody,” she added suddenly, remembering another snippet. “I don't know how many, but I heard them mention it at least once.”
“I think that's enough for now,” Xavier said, looking to Greg for confirmation. The Marine nodded his agreement and helped Gray to her feet. She locked her arms around his left arm in a near death grip.
“Let’s get you over to the clinic,” Greg said quietly. “You'll likely have to wait a while, as we have wounded, but they will see to you as soon as they can. Okay?”
“I'm just afraid this isn't real,” she told him. “That I'm still suffering from the concussion and that I'm going to come to in the rear of that Hummer, still their prisoner.”
“I assure you it's real,” Xavier promised.
“Which is just what my delusion would tell me, isn't it?” she replied, though in no way unkind.
“I suppose it would at that,” Xavier nodded. “Try and relax for now, and let your mind rest. Even if this were not real, the rest would do you good. Zach and I will remain here and continue helping,” he said to Greg.
“I'll be back in a few minutes,” Greg promised, moving away with Gray still clutching his arm.
“You keep telling yourself that, old boy,” Xavier smiled ever so gently before turning to Zach.
“She digs him,” Zach said simply.
“I do believe she does,” Xavier agreed. “Let’s see what else we can find, shall we?”
“Hey, you guys give me a hand,” Kurtis said suddenly. “Stacy took a round in the leg and needs to get to the infirmary. I dressed it, but he needs it looked after.”
“Then let us go and get him, shall we?”
-
The medical crew was swamped. Shane Golden was judged to be the worst case due to his blood loss. Tandi had started a plasma bottle on him, and they had a pint of blood ready to infuse when Shane was brought into the clinic. Once it was determined that there was no bullet or fragments in his wound, Jaylyn left Kaitlin to clean the wound and dress it while she moved on to Corey. Patricia moved to Sienna as she was led carefully inside, one eye covered by the bandage simply to prevent blood from blinding her again.
Corey's wounds turned out to have been caused by grenade fragments, most likely from the few rounds fired by the enemy Mk19 before the truck it was on was put out of commission. A hasty X-ray found nearly a dozen fragments high in Corey's chest cavity, shoulders and right arm. Jaylyn took this case herself, using the X-ray image to both guide her to the fragments and to keep count of them. With morphine in his system, Corey wasn't feeling any of that at the moment, though he was coherent enough to inform Doctor Thatcher that she was 'really hot'. The older woman smiled at the teen tolerantly, ruffling his hair as she thanked him for the compliment.
Sienna had a dozen splinters or wood fragments along her forehead, cheeks and one on the bridge of her nose. Two were dangerously close to her left eye, but had not entered the eye nor damaged the lobe.
The bullet fragment lodged in her throat was dangerous but not life threatening so long as it didn't shift before it could be removed, so Patricia worked on it first, giving Sienna a burst of nitrous oxide to keep her still and prevent her from feeling the pain.
Patricia had faltered only slightly as her bloody son was brought in, his shoulder sporting a blood-soaked bandage and his shirt missing the left sleeve. Seeing him smile slightly had relieved her, and she had turned her attention to those more seriously wounded, despite the urge to run and care for him ahead of all others. Sometimes it was a struggle to be both a medical professional and a mother.
Stacy Pryor was assisted into the clinic by Zach and Kurtis, settled on a table not in use and made as comfortable as possible. Zach looked at Gordy, who grinned slightly and waved. Zach returned it, seeming uncomfortable, and then had left without speaking. Gordy had decided that Zach just had work still to do and wrote it off as nothing more than that.
He'd learn the truth later on.
-
Jose had taken over the scene out front, inspecting each vehicle in the line as he went. The lead Hummer had a hole in the windshield and a dead driver, courtesy of Heath Kelly's Barrett. The front left tire was also shot up, but the Hummer itself was an armored variant, and had withstood the hail of fire just fine. Ronny Tillman used a tractor to pull the Hummer to the ever-expanding vehicle park behind the three large buildings on the Troy farm.
The second Hummer in line had escaped serious damage other than blood stains and a bullet to the windshield. This could be remedied, and the still running vehicle was also added to the vehicle park.
Next in line was one of the gun trucks, the crew eliminated along with the driver due in large part to what Clay was starting to think of as the 'stun team'. Mounting a fully functional BMG along with an M240 and M249, the vehicle also had personal weapons of the crew as well as a decent supply of ammunition. It was moved around back until it could be checked out.
The Cougar was next, and Jose was delighted to find it was in pristine condition save for one hole in the turret guard and the obligatory blood stains. A six-wheel variant like their own, it would be a welcome addition to their forces, and was placed on the pad out front for Jake to look over at his convenience. Assuming it was as good as it looked, they would add it to their own group.
The next vehicle, another Hummer, was likewise in perfect order, and was also lined up on the pad for inspection.
The second gun truck was next. While the truck was clearly serviceable, it had not escaped damage. One rear tire was blown and steam was still escaping from beneath the hood. Another M2 was collected from the truck along with a Mk19 and ammunition for both, though not in great amounts. Ronny used the tractor to pull the damaged truck to the back of the vehicle park for later inspection.
The final two vehicles were Hummers, and it was here that Jose's attention was diverted. Lying in the road, his hands folded neatly over his chest, helmet covering his face, was Kade Ramsey.
Jose's interest in the remaining vehicles ended at that point.
-
“What did you find?” Clay asked as Jose walked slowly toward him.
“We can repair and use most of them or else strip them for parts, and we gained some valuable material, but....” Jose trailed off.
“What is it?” Clay felt a lead ball settle in his stomach.
“We lost Kade,” Jose said simply. He didn't know any way to soften the blow.
“Lost him,” Clay repeated slowly. “How?” he asked, for lack of anything else to say.
“Looks like a three-round burst, from belt to chin,” Jose replied. “One right through the throat. Another along the belt, beneath his vest. Vest caught the middle one,” he added unnecessarily. Like his Boss, he didn't know what else to say.
Clay leaned heavily against the tractor that Ronny had parked on the grass in front of Building Two, feeling as if his legs had stopped working.
“There's something else,” Jose hated to add, but knew he had to.
“What?”
“Zach apparently saw it happen,” Jose's voice was soft. “He... we need to keep most everyone away from that side of the battle until we can... sanitize it,”
he tried to say it without alerting anyone around them who might not understand.
“Where is Zach?” Clay asked, concerned that the teen was unsupervised.
“X took him in tow and got him under control,” Jose assured him. “He's... stable. For now, anyway. X promised he would ride herd on him.”
“Well that's just dandy,” Clay snorted. “Worst possible influence he could have, and that's who's in charge?”
“Is he the worst influence?” Jose asked. “The boy is gonna be what he's gonna be, Clay. Who better to teach him when to say 'no', than someone who already knows? X also said that he and Brick had talked it over and both of them were willing to help him.”
That sounded at least marginally better than letting X be solely responsible for Zach's supervision. Barely.
“I'm gonna say something you may not like, but you need to hear it,” Jose interrupted Clay's train of thought. “There are hard times coming, Clay. Damn hard times. And you know that. Nothing you do or say is going to change that, nor is it going to change the boy. Whether you want to admit it or not, we need him. Hell, we need ten more just like him! He is tough, determined, and in no way squeamish. He gets the job done. You need to learn when to not know something, Boss. You used to know that, back in the day. Remember?”
“I remember,” Clay nodded slowly. “I also remember that we were in a foreign country surrounded by terrorists.”
“Look around you, Clay,” Jose pointed to the bodies scattered across the ground. “If these bastards don't fit the description of terrorists, then no one does.”
Clay admitted that was true. He still hated it.
“It seems like using him,” he said softly, almost to himself.
“You are using him,” Jose nodded once, firmly. “Just like you use the rest of us. And yourself. We're all tools once the shooting starts. And we stay that way until the shooting ends. Xavier knows when to pretend to be civil, and he can teach Zach the same things. Let this be. We just need to clean up, cover up, and shut up. You can pretend it didn't happen, but as the Boss, you deserve to know.”
“Fair enough,” Clay nodded absently. “Get it done. Keep the civies away. All of them,” he added, nodding to the tractor. “No sense in getting talk started.”
“I'll take care of it,” Jose promised.
-
“Someone has to tell Olivia,” Zach said out of nowhere. Xavier looked at him for a moment, not understanding.
“Excuse me?”
“Olivia,” Zach repeated. “The girl who lives with Gordy's grandparents. She... her and Kade, they were... talking, of a sort. She needs... she deserves to know.”
Xavier almost cursed but managed to choke it down instead. This was not his job, nor was he equipped for it. He set off to find Clay or Jose and pass this information to them.
Clay was the first one they found and listened as Zach explained again. Shaking his head sadly, Clay acknowledged that it had to be done and that it was his job to do it. Finding out where she was supposed to be during an alert, he set off to the school shelter, where Olivia was under cover with her sisters.
He found her there helping keep the kids occupied and entertained. He caught her attention and waved for her to join him outside. He had made a stop along the way to collect Lainie, who was occupying one of the positions behind the Sanders' homes during the battle. The redhead's eyes watered as he explained what was happening and she agreed at once to accompany him there.
Olivia was smiling nervously as she emerged from the shelter, but that faltered as she saw the look on both their faces.
“Olivia, there's no easy way to say something like this, so I'm just going to say it,” Clay told her softly. “Kade was killed in battle. Zach told us the two of you were close, and I... I wanted you to hear it from one of us, officially, rather than later one as a rumor. I can't tell you how sorry I am.”
Olivia looked at him, blank faced, for so long that he almost asked if she had heard him. She finally managed to try and talk, but had to stop and clear her throat. Her eyes were wet with unshed tears as she looked at them.
“I need to... I should get back to work, I... I guess,” she faltered again and the tears broke free. Lainie embraced her softly and the teen buried her face in Lainie's shoulder and began to sob uncontrollably.
“Go ahead,” Lainie said to Clay, mouthing the words more than saying them. “We'll be fine.”
It was a long walk back to where things were still happening.
-
“Baby boy, you need to learn to duck,” Patricia sighed, looking over Gordy's wound. The bullet had gone all the way through, so thankfully no bones or other connections were broken. It was just a messy, painful wound. She was rigging a sling for his shoulder to hold his arm still. The wound had required ten stitches front and fourteen back to close.
Gordy had been next to last to be treated, his wounds being less severe or threatening than anyone else. Stacy Pryor was laying on a table, resting, currently having his wound cleaned in preparation for having the bullet removed.
“How are the others?” Gordy asked her, wincing as he stood.
“Shane is out cold, but also out of danger it appears,” she told him. “Jaylyn is still working on Corey, and Kaitlin is assisting her. He had a lot of grenade shrapnel that has to be removed. He should recover, but it's a messy wound and it will take time.”
“Sienna is still knocked out on nitrous, but I removed the fragment from her neck and the splinters from her face. She's going to be sore for a while and have some scaring, but she should be fine. Stacy still has a bullet in his leg, but I'm going to let Jaylyn deal with that since it's more her specialty than mine. So far as I know, that's all the wounded we had.”
“Good fortune,” Gordy nodded. “Sienna's eyes okay?”
“Yes,” Patricia replied. “The bandage was just to keep blood from her eye. Both eyes are fine.”
“Is Corey in any danger?”
“Not unless Roddy hears him telling Jaylyn how 'hot' she looks,” Patricia laughed softly. “He's high on morphine right now so he is feeling fine. When he comes down, that will be a problem. He'll be in a good deal of pain for a while, I'm afraid.”
“He's a bullet magnet,” Gordy shook his head slowly. “He got hit before, in the same position.”
“I remember,” Patricia nodded. “Morphine had the same effect on him last time as well.”
“Well, I think I'm going home and shower,” Gordy told her.
“Go to Building One and shower there, first,” she told him. “Abby should have you some shorts waiting and a tee. You can leave your bloody clothing there to be cleaned and disinfected.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Gordy was suddenly very tired. “Love you, mom.”
“I love you too, my baby boy,” she mussed his sweat soaked hair and then kissed his cheek. “Go clean up and get some rest. Doctor Mom's orders.”
-
“I don't see how we can do anything about this,” Jose said, shaking his head. Their information had been that there were another fifteen men in Peabody with two Hummers, and at least one more gun truck. They were sitting guard on the group's supplies and some two dozen or more 'trade goods', which meant young women or children.
“We're down six people,” Jose continued. “Kade is gone. Shane, Corey, Gordy, Stacy and Sienna are out of it for the next several days to weeks, depending. That's an entire team we're missing, numbers wise. We can't muster enough people to go and get the job done. I'm sorry, but there it is.”
“I agree,” Clay nodded sadly. “I wish it weren't so, but I agree. We don't have the manpower. We just don't.”
“Are you just going to leave them there?” a female voice spoke and both turned to see an unfamiliar woman standing nearby.
“Miss Gray, isn't it?” Clay stood. “Glad to see you're up and about. How are you feeling?”
“I've felt better,” she admitted. “Aren't you going to help those other women?” she asked again.
“We were just discussing that,” Clay replied honestly. “We don't see a way we can do it. They would outnumber us by a two-to-one margin. And that's assuming we're willing to leave our families unprotected or under protected while we're gone. Which we aren't.”
“You can't just leave them there,” she objected, though softly, more of a plea than a demand.
“We didn't leave them there, miss,” Jose pointed out. “We didn't put them there. We lost a third of our people in this fight. Without them, we just don't have the numbers we need to do it. Otherwise we would try, at least.”
“Is this why you tried to recruit people like me, before?” she asked.
“Well, one of the reasons,” Clay answered. “Things like this, or responding to attacks in Jordan or elsewhere nearby, mounting and maintaining patrols in our region, things like that. All of that requires people, bodies if you will, and we don't have enough. We didn't even before we lost so many today, I'm afraid. So while I would truly love to move on Peabody and free those women and kill their captors, I don't see a way to do it. We're just not strong enough.”
“I'll volunteer,” Gray said. “Holloway asked me to and I didn't want to, but if you'll go after them, then I'll join.”
“That's very nice of you to offer after the fact, but as we explained then, the time to do so was when we had the time and opportunity to train you,” Jose didn't pull any punches. “That time has passed, now. Also, your town leaders aren't very happy with the idea of us recruiting from Jordan, so we've decided not to do so, and told them that. We're going to simply do what we can with what we have.”
“And after today, that means protecting ourselves,” Clay finished. “We just don't have the people to do anything more, Miss Gray. I regret it more than I can say, but it really is a simple case of numbers, and we don't have them.”
“You can't just abandon them,” she repeated, her voice small, almost a whisper.
