by Ilsa J. Bick
Gholam held Jack’s eyes another moment then slid a step back. “This is not finished, Captain. We will have words.”
“Looking forward to it.” Then Jack nodded at Tompkins. “Which way?”
It was a long slog. Finally, Tompkins stopped at a double X duct-taped to stone at a junction. “This is the second to last turnoff. We go right and then, about a hundred yards further, there’s another fork—”
“Again, with the fork,” Gholam muttered. “Always these forks.”
“Go on, Tompkins,” Jack said. “Which way after that?”
“Left, sir.” As Tompkins dragged in another labored breath, Six nosed his thigh. “I’m good, boy.” Tompkins tried on a grin that kept slipping. “Don’t worry.”
Oh right. From the anxious shuffle of the dog’s feet, Kate didn’t think the dog bought it, either. Not that there was a damn thing she could do about it, or about Pederson, who’d not uttered a peep the whole way. The doctor’s complexion was the color of curdled milk going bad. His right hand was a sickly, cyanotic blue from the tourniquet, but it couldn’t be helped. No amount of QuikClot was going to help shredded arteries, and he had to be in a lot amount of pain.
“And the exit?” asked Jack. “After that last fork?”
“Maybe fifty yards further on, sir. Once you’re down there, the exit is so wide, you should be able to see daylight.”
“Or twilight.” Lowry gave a pointed look at his watch. “Ninety minutes past Maghrib now, sir.”
Which meant the sun would be completely gone soon, and with it, the last afternoon of this last day in Afghanistan. Or what might be her last day.
In a way, the sun’s taking its leave was good news. No light meant someone trying to kill them would have to work that much harder. Of course, if they had night vision goggles, all bets were off. They had theirs. Never leave home without them. Though Kate had never cared for them. The goggles felt restrictive. She always had the sense that other things were happening out of her line of sight in which she might catch as a flicker from the tail of an eye if she wasn’t glued to whatever the goggles showed her. Irrational, of course, but that didn’t make her dislike them less. Plus, NV could be defeated, and easily. All it took was a thin sheet of polyethylene plastic, something easily picked up at any hardware store, a little patience, and an inherent ability to hunker down, lie still, and make like a rock.
The bad news was, the lack of light might be a potential problem when it came to a rescue. Sure, the guys up in a chopper would be able to see them, though telling the good guys from the bad was dicier.
As they began to move off again, she felt a light tap on her shoulder. “I must...eh...” In the lantern light, Amir’s skin was coppery with a sudden flush. He looked embarrassed. “How do you say it? Pass water?”
“Close enough.” It wasn’t up to her. Wasn’t this in Gholam’s job description? But she could see why he’d decided not to make a big deal about it and especially now. Gholam might make Amir cross his legs until tomorrow, the guy was so pissed. At the thought of taking a leak, her own bladder cramped. With all the water she’d guzzled today, it was a wonder her eyeballs weren’t yellow. She lifted her chin toward a tunnel a few feet behind them. “Go. I’ll tell the others. You know which way to go after this anyway. Go right, then left.” And don’t make a mistake. The last thing she wanted was for Amir to trip a booby trap and then explain to Jack why the guy was so much steak tartare.
“Yes. Of course. I will be rapid.” Ducking his head in a quick nod, Amir limped off then rounded the corner, and passed out of sight.
At the head of the line, just behind Jack, Gholam said, “Well, then, what are we waiting for? Let us...how do you say it? Give me a moment. It is something your Robin Williams said.” The major snapped his fingers twice. “Let’s blow this Popsicle stand, yes?”
Maybe the guy was trying to smooth things over. If so, it worked. There was a moment’s pause, and then everyone except Pederson, who wouldn’t know a joke if he tripped over it, and Six—who was, well, a dog—broke up, smothering their laughter behind cupped hands.
It’s the tension. The joke really wasn’t that funny. Hearing it come out Gholam’s mouth, though...Kate bit her knuckles to keep the giggles from bubbling over.
“Jesus,” Tompkins gasped as tears streamed down his cheeks, “don’t make me laugh. Hurts like hell.”
“Nanoo, nanoo,” said Lowry, snorting another laugh through his nose.
“I don’t see what’s so funny,” Pederson said. “If you’d all be quiet for five seconds, you’d hear the gunfire.”
That sobered everyone. In the stillness, Kate’s ears pricked to a very distant but intermittent crackle. Anyone not military might be forgiven for thinking these were firecrackers, but those were never regular or spaced and the echoes were different.
“West of our location,” Lowry said.
“Sounds pretty far away.” Tompkins’s eyes shifted to hers, and she knew he was thinking the same thing. Bibi and the kids had gone that way.
“Or it might be right on top of us and we don’t know it because we’re still a ways from the exit,” Pederson said, gloomily. “Anyway, it’s west, it’s probably not Stone.”
“You don’t know that, and look on the bright side,” Lowry said. “If there are shots, that means our guys are still there to put up a fight.”
“You mean, whoever’s left,” Pederson observed. “You don’t know who’s shooting. With our luck, it’s some rival gang or something.”
“Man, you really know how to suck the air out of a room,” Lowry said.
She agreed, but Pederson was right. She had no idea who’d attacked them, and it was possible there was more than one faction. If they were lucky, Stanton and his crew had partnered up with Stone and whoever had made it out of the village—and that thought made her pause. Earlier, Jack had said some things were already in play. He warned Stanton there might be trouble? Would Stanton then have relayed some message back to Kessel? Maybe so. They were late for check-in now. Kessel might already have sent help or be primed to. The questions all burned on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed them back. Not here, not now. She tossed a sidelong glance at Gholam. And especially not in front of you.
“Regardless of how far away they might or might not be, someone still has to go out there,” Pederson observed.
“Let me guess.” Lowry pretended to think. “It’s not gonna be you.”
“Hey,” Jack snapped. “Lose the attitude, Lowry. No one’s going anywhere. We go as far as the exit and then we wait until full dark. Tompkins, what is it like beyond the exit? You said there’s a road?”
“Yes, sir.” Tompkins was starting to sound winded again. “You actually can’t see much when you first get out because there’s this big bend and the walls on either side are a little high.”
“Sounds like prime ambush territory, you ask me,” Lowry observed.
Tompkins nodded. “I’m thinking…” He paused to pull in air. “Thinking they use the bend to force any vehicles coming up.” Another suck of air. “To slow down. Position some guards on the rocks above.”
“To keep out uninvited guests or stop someone else from getting away?” When Tompkins gave a grateful nod, Jack said, “And beyond?”
“Walls get lower.” Tompkins sucked a breath. “Level out to big plateau.”
“A summit?”
“Yeah, but.” Another breath. “Slope rises to the northeast.” Breath. “Falls off west. Path is pretty steep and rocky.” Tompkins pulled in another breath, but this time when he spoke, Kate caught a small gurgle. Tompkins coughed, groaned. Wiped his mouth with the back of a hand. “Even from the summit, can’t see what’s coming.”
“Okay, Tompkins, I got the picture.” Jack clapped a hand to the dog handler’s shoulder. “You ready to walk?” When Tompkins nodded, Jack shifted his gaze to Pederson. “I can take him for a spell. Or Lowry can.”
“Thank you, but no.” Pederson snugged Tompkins’
s arm around his shoulders. “I need something useful to do.”
“Once we’re there, sir, what do we do?” Lowry asked.
“Pray.” Jack didn’t soften that with a grin. “We wait until full dark and then some, and then I’ll go out onto the plateau with the radio.”
“Why not just try from the exit?” Kate said.
“If the walls are high and we’ve got mountain all around, we’ll have a much better chance of getting through if we get to more open ground. Lowry and I will go. The rest of you, I want under cover until I give the go-ahead.”
“I should come, too.” At Jack’s exasperated expression, she added, “Unless Lowry’s got an evil twin, you’ll need someone to cover your other flank. I’ve done everything I can here anyway.”
“You need to stay with Tompkins.”
“But you need. The protection more. Sir.” Tompkins hissed another breath. “Promise not to. Actively die while she’s gone.”
“Wait, I’m still here,” Pederson objected.
“I think that’s what he’s saying,” Lowry observed.
“Although I’m a better…” Breath. “Shot than Kate. Sir.” Tompkins coughed again. “And I can walk.”
“After a fashion,” Pederson said.
“And still handle a weapon.” He wiped at his mouth again, and this time, Kate saw a gleam of orange on his teeth. “Six can stay—”
Jack cut Tompkins off. “Absolutely not. Kate, maybe. Let’s see how Tompkins is doing.”
“Yes, sir.” From his tone, she thought he’d seen the blood, too.
Jack asked, “Pederson, how are you left-handed?”
“With a rifle?” Pederson actually seemed to give this serious thought. “About as good as I am with my right.”
Lowry rolled his eyes. “Meaning not at all.”
“I believe I just said that.” Pederson allowed a whisper of a smile. “I’ll be fine with the rifle. It’s basically point and shoot anyway. It’s the recoil that’s a problem. You know, it’s something they always get wrong in the movies. They go full auto and just bang-bang-bang and never have to reacquire.”
“No kick, no climb,” Lowry said. “Okay, I’m impressed.”
“Which was ever my goal.” Pederson shifted his gaze to Jack. “I’ll be fine.”
“I should go with you as well. I am uninjured. That way, if you take your medic, you are covered on three sides, and if you do not, at least your flanks will be covered.” When Jack hesitated, Gholam added, “I do not need your permission. All I need is a rifle.”
Jack considered the major for a long moment then jerked his head at Lowry. “Give him Kimball’s rifle and the extra magazines.”
“Thank you.” Gholam checked the weapon, expertly popping out the magazine, eyeballing the rounds nestled within. Butting the magazine into place, he nodded. “As you say, ready to rock and roll.”
This time, no one laughed.
They’d gone perhaps a hundred feet when Kate caught a small rustle and then, a scurrying noise. At the sound, Six, who was just a pace ahead, looked around sharply and let out a soft growl.
“Six? Hold up, Pederson.” Turning in an awkward semicircle, Tompkins and the doctor both took a look back the way they’d come. “You hear something?”
I did. Shit. Her pulse thumped. Someone had slipped in behind them? Possibly. Tompkins said there were multiple exits. Another slip and slide as someone’s boots slithered on stone, and she wheeled, rifle up, her finger already moving to flick off her safety.
“Oh!” The light was bright enough for her to see Amir’s eyes in alarm and both hands go up in a don’t shoot gesture. “No, no!” he said. “It is only I.”
Jesus. She was as jumpy as a long-tailed cat in a roomful of rockers. On the other hand, she had a right to be. “Don’t do that again.”
“Yeah, man,” Tompkins wheezed. “Unless you want. To end up. With a third eye.”
“I am sorry.” Amir hobbled up to join them. “I did not want to make a lot of noise.”
“Your limp is worse.” Kate frowned. “Are you in more pain?”
“No, no.” Amir waved that away. “I am fine.”
“Where did you go?” Pederson asked.
At Amir’s flummoxed expression, she said, “He had to...you know.”
“Uh-huh.” Tompkins favored Amir with a weak grin. “Everything. Come out all right?”
On Tompkins’s right, Pederson sniffed. “You do realize how juvenile that is.”
“Probably.” Suck of air. “Why I said it, Doc.”
“What has happened? What are we doing?” After she gave Amir the SparkNotes version, he frowned. “You, go out there? You’re a medic.” When she only arched an eyebrow, he amended, “It is just that you are no sharpshooter.”
“I keep.” Tompkins cleared his throat. “Telling her that.”
“I should go,” Amir said. “My place is with the major.”
“Right. Like you can move real fast on that leg. Tell you what.” Now, she clicked off her safety. “We get to that point, we can flip for the privilege of seeing who gets shot at.”
“Hooah,” said Pederson.
Chapter 13
Dead Man
An had not grabbed her pack.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Wailing, the girl wrung her hands. She looked like a disaster victim after an earthquake. “It was too heavy, and I couldn’t lift it, I couldn’t—”
“I understand.” That was all she could manage. Kate thought she should probably try to comfort the girl more, but she couldn’t; she was too pissed. While she understood…and she did, because her pack was heavy with all those little things like food and water and extra batteries and her feet, her extra parts, that she needed to, oh, you know, survive. And forget about all that, there was her medic’s bag with its SAM splints and antibiotic and gauze and duct tape and… It hurt her head just to think about it because, of course, and it went without saying that not only didn’t An have her pack with its meager supplies anymore, Paulsen didn’t have his, either. She could blame that one on herself. She’d been the one to shuck him out of it. She was an idiot.
“Stop it, Kate.” Jack’s voice was a dash of cold water. His tone was cold, hard, clinical. “Focus on what you can do next.”
If he’d had a face to laugh in, she would’ve. What do I have, Jack? An’s pack was back in the rubble, along with hers. Between them, they had two headlamps, two water bottles, her knife. A half-used roll of duct tape. Fire-making supplies she always kept in a cargo pant pocket because you just never knew and a couple of energy bars. Oh, and several extra clips of ammunition for a rifle that was probably as broken as a discarded child’s toy tommy gun and Paulsen’s handgun. The only thing she could do for Paulsen was bandage the break with what she had in her MOLLE, which would also pretty much deplete what she had. There was nothing she could use for a splint or crutches. You tell me what the hell we do now.
Jack didn’t reply. Perhaps he knew a rhetorical question when he heard it.
“You know, I read a book once.” Paulsen’s chalky skin was so tight and his eyes so sunken he looked like a skull. “Guy fell while he was climbing some glacier. He’d have died straight off if he wasn’t roped to his partner, except his buddy couldn’t pull him up. Meanwhile, the guy’s weight is dragging his friend off the ice. Finally, his friend cuts the rope. The guy falls, like, a hundred and fifty feet or something. He survives that, but one of his leg’s is toast.”
An palmed tears from her cheeks. “What happens?”
“He crawled. His buddy’s, like, having coffee or something and beating himself up for cutting the rope when all of a sudden this guy crawls into camp. He made it because he was going downhill, knew where he had to go, and still had supplies and plenty of water. Everything else sucked, but he had at least something. That, and a whole lot of luck.” Paulsen’s teeth showed in a rictus. “I’m thinking I’m fresh outta luck.”
She understood, but it took An a few moments.
“What?” The girl threw a wild look at Kate. “We can’t leave him!”
The urge to point out they might not have had to make this choice if only An would’ve left well enough alone was so strong she nearly choked on it. Turning aside, she busied herself with pulling bandages and a pitiful half dose of antibiotic powder from her MOLLE pouch. Thing was running on empty now. She didn’t have enough left to treat a hangnail. “Only for a little while. We’ll leave him light and water and something to eat. The cave’s breathing, which means there’s an opening somewhere. All we have to do is find it. We find it, we get out.”
“And then you guys get help.” Paulsen’s eyes touched Kate. “Piece of cake.”
It wasn’t, and they both knew it. She set An to divvying up their meager supplies while she patched up Paulsen, tenting gauze loosely over the wound. As she smoothed on a last bit of duct tape, Paulsen said, his voice low, “You guys should take the water and the food. You’re going to need it.” When she only looked at him, he continued, “I got everything I need. Here.” Digging in a pocket, he held out a hand. “In case you need them.”
“Kind of useless without that pistol.” She stared down at a clutch of bullets. “What am I supposed to do, throw them? I’d have better luck with harsh language.”
He managed a weak grin. “Bet you’ll figure something out. Worst-case scenario, you break ’em open, use the powder to help start a fire. Just take them, okay? Spare clips for the rifle, too,” he said as she opened her mouth. “You just leave me my Glock, I’m good.”
“Paulsen.” She didn’t know him, wasn’t sure if she even liked him, but then recalled that he and Wynn had been the only ones to try and help back at camp when Miin seized. Jean didn’t lift a finger, and she knew all along.
A small giggle drifted from somewhere behind. A glance over a shoulder showed a blissful Dax on his back while An scrubbed his belly. Turning back to Paulsen, she said, “We’re getting out. We’ll send help.”
