Hot Zone (Elite Force 2)

“You are correct,” she said, shaking her head and laughing through more tears.

Reaching up, he knuckled aside the dampness on her cheeks. “And everyone else? What happened?”>“Yes…” Her fists gripped his shirt, her teeth chattering. “Yes, yes, I’m okay…”

His arms locked harder as the shouts around them grew so loud he couldn’t hear her anymore. But he could feel her, warm, vibrant, and alive. Relief rocked through him so hard he could have sworn another aftershock shook the earth. She was talking and coherent. The rest they could fix later. He tried to put his eyes on Jocelyn to make sure that threat wasn’t coming for Amelia and he saw what looked like the woman’s unmoving form a few yards away.

He started to roll to the side—

The ground trembled harder. Damn it all. It truly was another aftershock. Even though they’d been through at least twenty already, still the smell of panic, of fear, filled the air. People dropped to the ground, covering their heads, while others scrambled away.

And the shuddering continued, a rougher one this time as the world around him rattled. Lights on poles swayed. Generators hopped as if they were as insubstantial as Matchbox cars.

Shit. Realization mushroomed inside him. This wasn’t just a quick tremble. Another earthquake swelled up from below like an underground train exploding upward. Screams mixed with the thunderous cracking.

Pain shot up his leg, but he blocked the sensation, focusing everything inside him on staying curved around Amelia. He could hear her breathing and chanting the Lord’s Prayer over and over.

He couldn’t even let himself think of how badly she might have been injured. He would deal with that once he was sure the rest of the world wasn’t going to crash down on top of them—or crack open beneath them.

The deafening noise around them shifted. The earth quieted.

No more thunder or screams cut the air. Instead the odd stillness was cut with a low keening, crying and shouts, aftermath noises. The earthquake had ended.

So why was his whole body still shaking?

He forced his eyes open and realized the quake hadn’t been as bad this time. The world hadn’t caved in. Only toppled light riggings, collapsed a tent, and flipped a couple of generators. Already, uniformed rescuers were making tracks to restore order, check for injured, with Cuervo and Brick leading the pack. Hugh pushed with his arms to lever himself off Amelia, to help.

But he couldn’t seem to move.

Amelia stared up at him, confusion pinching her eyebrows together as she stroked his face. “Hugh? You’re okay.” Her arms wrapped around him. “Thank God, you’re okay. I can’t believe how you pushed me out of the way of Jocelyn like that, but thank you, and I’m so sorry I didn’t say this earlier. I lo…”

The sound of her voice faded as the world went fuzzy, narrowing. Damn, he was losing consciousness… He tried to hold on, to focus on Amelia’s face and stay right in the moment. But the darkness dragged him under.

***

Amelia screamed.

She’d made it through everything life had thrown at her this week, but seeing Hugh’s eyes close, fearing he had died? Her composure shattered like the fragmented glass from dozens of broken bulbs glinting all over the ground.

Scrambling backward, she worked her way out from under him so she could get help. Her eyes homed in on the tipped light pole pinning one of his legs. Somehow it had missed her—Hugh had taken the hit for her.

But his trapped leg didn’t explain why he was unconscious. Fear dropped her to her knees beside him.

“Help!” she screamed. “We need help over here!”

She stroked Hugh’s hair, and yes, she knew she was babbling, hoping the sound of her voice would pull him back to her. Her fingers grazed along a lump, where he must have hit his head when he’d landed.

“Ma’am.” A guy in uniform knelt beside her, the patch on his uniform just like one she’d seen on Hugh, “That Others May Live.”

She choked on a well of hysteria. Why the hell hadn’t she gotten on that plane faster so he wouldn’t have needed to save her? Again. “He has a bump on his head. You need to—”

“Yes, ma’am. We’ve got it. My name is Jose. I’m his friend and we’ll take care of him. Now you need to be checked—”

“I’m fine. Him. Hugh.” Sheesh, she was turning into a hysterical idiot. She’d survived under a collapsed building for two days, and now she was losing it?

Because this wasn’t about her. This was about Hugh, losing Hugh, a man she loved so much it was tearing her apart inside to see him lying there lifelessly.

Jose grabbed her shoulders. “Listen to me. That plane is going to leave very soon. And we need to get as many out as we can in case another earthquake hits.” His voice was calm and clipped with authority made to cut through panic. “We want him and you on it. We have about five minutes. Understand?”

“Got it.” She shot to her feet to prove she was unhurt and cleared back.