Tried & True (THIRDS 10)

HE HAD no words.

Dex couldn’t bring himself to open his mouth, much less attempt to speak. When Sloane put out the call to arms in Unit Alpha, the speed at which their fellow agents volunteered and got geared up left Dex speechless. Their unit had ten squads. A total of five had been available to mobilize, and of those five, not one had remained seated when Sloane asked that anyone willing to help them march into battle to retrieve Sergeant Maddock stand. Dex had never seen anything like it. Not that he’d expected any less from his fellow agents, but it still struck something deep inside him. At the HPF, he’d thought he’d been a part of a brotherhood. One that would have his back and fight along with him for what was right, but in the end, they’d turned on him. Cast him out for doing what he’d sworn to do when he picked up his badge. They hadn’t even given him a chance. By contrast, everyone in his unit was there because they believed in what they were doing. They believed in fighting for a better world.

Sixty THIRDS Defense agents filled the armory, preparing for nothing short of a military strike, twenty in their Therian forms, including Hobbs and Ash. Taylor was attaching pieces of armor to his uniform as he gave his team a pep talk. Seb was checking on each member of Theta Destructive and Rafe on his team from Alpha Ambush. Alpha Pride and Beta Pride, two fierce teams with twelve total Therian Defense agents who were solely lion Therians, were all in their Therian forms and ready to tear shit up. All together they had fourteen lion Therians in Therian form, and six tiger Therians in Therian form.

Dex’s gear weighed a fuckton with the armored plates, pads, and additional weapons, the special material of his uniform making it more difficult to be fatally wounded if the Makhai’s men were using armor-piercing rounds. Of course, no armor or uniform was completely impenetrable. There were only so many hits it would be able to take before it fractured and something made it through. If they hit him, he had to hit back harder.

Sloane turned to everyone now gathered in Destructive Delta’s armory. Seb let out a loud whistle that got everyone’s attention. They all turned to Sloane.

“I wish there was time for me to tell you all what this means to us, but for now, I hope a thank-you will be enough. Every Team Leader has their entry point. Destructive Delta will focus on finding and retrieving Sergeant Maddock. He’s our priority. We have direct orders from Sparks to retrieve the Sarge at all costs. We’re going in hot. Stay safe, and we’ll see you on the other side.” Sloane swallowed hard and smiled, his eyes glassy. “Being a part of this unit has been an honor.”

Everyone cheered, whooped, or roared before rushing out toward the garage and the awaiting BearCats. Each team’s set of Recon agents were on standby and ready to move out should their teams need the backup.

Dex climbed into the BearCat and strapped himself in next to Sloane on the bench. With Hobbs and Ash in their Therian forms, Rosa did the driving. The engine of the massive vehicle roared to life, rumbling and growling as they headed out for the turnpike. If luck was on their side, at this time of night, they could make it in half an hour. Sloane and Ash had come up with entry points for all the Team Leaders, and while they were busy distracting the Makhai, Destructive Delta would come up alongside the light rail line. Sparks had already put in calls to delay the train at Norfolk Street Station and Warren Street Station. Between their Therian sight and night-vision gear, they’d be able to see what they were walking into, though they had to be extra vigilant as they ventured into the pitch-black of the crumbling structure. The darkness could either work for them or against them, especially since the Makhai’s mercenaries were all Therians.

Time went by in a blur, and before Dex even blinked, the BearCat came to a stop. Sloane gripped Dex’s gloved hand, giving it a squeeze, and Dex squeezed back. Everyone stood, and while his team picked up their shields, Dex turned to Cael and grabbed him by the vest, pulling him close. They put their helmets together, and Dex patted his brother’s chest.

“Be safe, Chirpy. I want Dad back as much as you do, but we go home together, okay?”

Cael nodded. “I know.”

Letty opened the back doors. As their team jumped down, Dex turned to Sloane. Feeling kinda out of sorts, he was overcome by a sense of yearning to be close to Sloane, which was funny, considering Dex carried Sloane’s DNA inside him. How much closer could they get? He kissed his fingers and placed them to Sloane’s visor. With a soft smile, Sloane mouthed the words “I love you.” They jumped down from the back of the truck Rosa had backed up between two large rental trucks in a parking lot off Central Avenue.

Dex’s earpiece crackled to life, and they heard Seb’s quiet voice.

“Theta Destructive in position. We’ve got movement all around the property. From my location, thermal shows at least twenty outside and undisclosed number inside the three structures.”

Seb was followed by Rafe, Taylor, and the other Team Leaders confirming their positions. Everyone was ready.

“Standby, we’re moving into position,” Sloane replied. He motioned for everyone to follow, and they fell into formation, hurrying after him as they took the long way around the station to the Norfolk Street entrance in case there were spotters close by. The station had been cleared as Sparks had instructed, with a guard blocking each set of stairs, four in total. The huge tiger Therian stepped aside as Destructive Delta headed his way. They swiftly made their way down the steps to the platform, and jumped down onto the lines.

“Watch your step,” Sloane ordered as they hurried down the tracks and through the tunnel beneath Newark Street to the other side. They stayed close to the building. Thanks to the dilapidation of the place, it was surrounded by a dense forest of overgrown trees and shrubs. The roofs were one bad storm away from blowing off, which meant no one would be up there.

Their earpieces came to life again, this time it was Austen. “Okay, teams. We’re looking at twenty armed hostiles guarding the perimeter off Newark, Central, Lock, and New. Rutgers’s parking lot is a no-go. We got a couple of snipers on the roof of the health institute across the street, and one on the roof of the truck rental place across the prison. He’s facing Central at the moment.”

“Copy that,” Sloane said quietly.

Shit. That was right next to where they were. Sloane signaled for Calvin

to keep an eye on the roof to their left. Sloane motioned to the ledge with his right, then signaled Hobbs and Ash over. The two leaped up onto the grass ledge with ease. Sloane placed his shield on the ground before turning to Dex and lacing his fingers together. Letty took Dex’s shield from him so Dex could grab hold of Sloane’s vest and hoist himself up onto the grassy ledge. He took his shield from Letty and silently leaned it against the brick wall surrounding the prison. The rest of the team followed suit, each helping the other getting up and moving equipment. Then it was just Sloane, and everyone put their backs into it, pulling up a two-hundred-fifty-pound Therian wearing almost sixty pounds of gear.

Once Sloane was up, they fell back into formation. The brick wall became lower as they got nearer the student parking lot. One by one, just as they had before, they got up over the wall and landed on the other side in a thicket of trees. The area was pitch-black, but Dex had no need for night-vision goggles. He had his own built in. His eyes picked up what little light there was, helping him make out shapes and movement in the shadows. The closer he was, the clearer the image, but where he once would have seen nothing but black blobs, now he could see objects.

“Destructive Delta in position. Begin extraction,” Sloane said into their earpieces. “Cael, you’re up.”

Cael walked ahead of them. He removed his backpack and pulled out his thermal imaging binoculars. Once he’d secured his backpack, the team covered him as they moved silently forward, Cael scanning the structures. There were three buildings on the property, each one as derelict as the other. Mountains of illegally dumped trash littered the ground, along with whole sections of brick wall that had fallen off the buildings, windows that had collapsed outward, shattered glass panes, hills of drug paraphernalia, a sea of empty food and water containers. The smell of rusted metal, mold, rot, piss, and shit burned Dex’s nose, and for the first time he regretted his Therian sense of smell. Holy fuck.

Any feral Therians or poor soul unfortunate to end up here had either been run off by the Makhai or were hiding. Dex would guess hiding. He could hear subtle rustling in the trees around them and had spotted several glowing eyes low to the ground, but nothing advanced toward them.

“Shit.” At Cael’s curse, Dex stilled, along with everyone else on the team. “I think I found him.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?” Rosa asked.

“He’s in that center building there on the third floor. It’s a cellblock with four floors. There’s dozens of armed Therians on each floor, just inside the entrance and around the building.” Cael handed Dex the binoculars, and Dex looked at the building. He swallowed past the lump on his throat. There on the third floor, in the center inside what looked like a cell, was Tony, sitting in a chair, his head hung low. Six armed Therians were inside the cell with him. Suddenly there was a flurry of activity.

“Shit, I think we’ve been made,” Dex said, handing the binoculars to Sloane, who took a quick look before his voice came in over their earpieces. How the hell did they know?

“Alpha teams, go, go, go!”