I know Atlas will have my back, but this is one of those times where I have to act, and I have to act now.
The second one of them steps through the door, I grab him. Taking a hostage in this type of situation won’t work. Extremists are all about dying for the bigger cause. I’ve dealt with enough over the years to know if I try to get out of this by bartering their lives for mine, they won’t hesitate to take out their buddy as well as me.
Which is why I do the only thing I can do. I get guy number one in a headlock, throw my knife at the other one before he can walk through the door, and then pray it hits him.
I’m the best Mike Bravo has when it comes to knives, but it’s easier to hit a target when I can actually see it.
I take out the first guy with my bare hands, and the second guy drops to the ground before Atlas even has a chance to round the corner.
I’m that fast and that lethal.
People tend to forget that about me when I’m in goofball mode the majority of the time.
“Check the building for bodies,” Trav’s defeated voice says in my ear.
As I step by the guy with my knife sticking out of his neck, I check I got the job done properly. His lifeless eyes tell me all I need to know.
Atlas passes me with his gun drawn, and I follow. We don’t have to go far to find who we’re looking for.
Four twisted bodies are dumped unceremoniously in a back room in various states. Two look like they were target practice for bullets, and the other two look like they were tortured before their throats were slit.
It never gets any easier. Especially when the fallen are on our side.
I approach one who’s in a pool of their own blood and kneel, reaching for their dog tags that are covered in so much red, I can’t read the name.
“Grab the tags, mark the building,” Trav says. “If there’s an air strike coming, we need to get out as soon as possible. The military can come claim the bodies themselves if they think they can get here in time.”
As much as Trav would want to take the bodies back ourselves, he won’t risk our lives for four dead soldiers. Our mission was clear. Bring back any survivors.
I move to the next guy, one of the ones who’s been shot to hell. His cheeks below his tactical goggles are pasty white, and he smells like death, but when I reach under his neck to find his chain, his mouth drops open, and he takes a large gasping breath while his hand grips my wrist firmly.
I almost scream like a kid on Halloween because I’m almost sure this dude’s a zombie, but then Trav’s voice fills my ear. “We’ve got a live one. Stabilize him and get him to the roof. We’re incoming.”
“Check the others,” I order Atlas.
The guy beneath me tries to fight me off, and it’s understandable he doesn’t realize we’re the good guys.
“Hey … Hey,” I say soothingly.
It calms him some. Or he’s too weak to keep fighting.
“We’re going to get you out of here, okay? We’ve got you.”
Atlas appears at my side with a … coffee table? “Put him on this like a stretcher. Make sure you don’t move his neck too much.
I don’t care if the chances of this guy surviving are less than one percent. I’m taking whatever hope there is left and throwing it all this guy’s way.
We manage to move him. He winces and grunts, and then he passes out. I think he’s dead until I check his pulse.
“Still with us,” I say.
Atlas stands once we get our guy stable. “I’ll find us a way out of here.”
I stay with … I realize I never got to check his tags to get a name.
He slips in and out of consciousness and at one point grips my hand. I hold it tight and reassure him we’ll get him out of here.
“Grr …” He tries to say something.
“Shh, don’t talk.” I can’t imagine what the last twenty-four hours have been like for him. To be ambushed and then dumped like the dead but having to stay quiet and still so they didn’t know he was still alive …
He shifts like he’s trying to get comfortable, but I pin him down.
“Don’t move. You’ve lost a lot of blood.” I can only imagine the pain he’s in.
I’ve been shot before, but this …
I force a smile. “My name is Iris, and I’ll be your cruise director. We have a lot to do on the agenda today, like stay alive and don’t bleed out, so how about we focus on that, okay?”