Page 38 of D-Day

“Yeah, doesn’t mean I have to like it. I just joined the Navy for thepolitas—the chicks.” Zorro grinned and hefted Buck back up to his shoulders, grunting a little. “You probably should slow down on the beers, amigo.”

“Fuck you, Martinez,” Buck rasped with a tinge of humor in his tone.

With a quick prayer to Santa Maria, Zorro took off at a lope and hadn’t been running for more than ten minutes when a volley of bullets sliced through the jungle, some thunking into a tree right near his head. Two directions. They were in a freaking crossfire, and his immediate action was to get off the fucking X.

The jungle was so thick it was hard to see anything, a green shawl thrown over the land, cloaked in gray and steaming with mist, nothing visible in the unnatural dusk. To make matters even worse, the steady drizzle suddenly turned into a drumming downpour.

He darted to the side not sure where the shooters were, but it was clear Santa Maria hadn’t been listening.

Sorry for the flippolitascomment.I didn’t just join the Navy for the chicks.I wanted to be part of something unique and dangerous. I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to be part of and heal warriors who never quit. I wanted to be a SEAL.

A sharp pain impacted his left side, a sensation that sent shock waves through his entire body with excruciating pulses. He gritted his teeth and went down hard, immediately covering Buck’s body with his own. The bullets intensified, the rain unrelenting, and he reached down to cover his wound, the blood seeping through his fingers and mingling with the rain.

D-Day stood there for a moment,watching Helen disassemble from the news that her big brother was down, injured. He was also shaken by his teammate’s serious injury, but also the implication that they were alone, without backup.

Finding the nuclear triggers now boiled down to him and Helen, and they were hindered by a little shit warlord who didn’t seem to care for his nation.

His immediate reaction was to get Helen out of here; his next was to comfort her, but he couldn’t be caught soothing her. Graham Butler wouldn’t soothe his own mother.

So, he couldn’t touch her, but he could talk to her. He moved closer to her and lowered his voice. “You do know that Zorro is a Navy Corpsman, right?”

She shook her head, her eyes swimming with unshed tears and anguish. He wanted to gather her against him so badly, but he kept his hands by his side. Her face softened as she looked at him, aware he was struggling.

“Everyone in the service knows the magnificent deeds corpsmen perform in combat. The corpsman rating is the most decorated in the Navy for valorous acts, and Zorro has been decorated more times than I can count. While on a mission we were all in a helicopter crash.”

She made a small sound, then tilted her head. “I thought you were trying to make me feel better.”

He smiled sheepishly. “It’s part of the story.”

“Okay.”

He smiled. She was so amazing, so sweet, and he’d been just a little afraid of her. His betrayal and naivete at the machinations of a girl was something he’d internalized after the trauma he’d suffered in high school, but trusting Helen seemed to come so naturally.

“Our LT was seriously injured, but Zorro kept him alive through combat and a run through the jungle. The doctor who took care of Joker said it was Zorro’s skill that saved him. So, what I’m trying to say is Buck is in good hands. The best hands. He won’t stop until Buck gets medical attention. No matter what.”

“What’s his name?”

“Mataeo Martinez. He’s got a way of using humor to get a point across or to break up tension. Even though sometimes I want to punch him in the face, I also find him…” He cleared his throat… “endearing and funny as hell.”

She giggled.

“If you tell anyone I said that, especially Martinez, I will have to kill you.”

She giggled again and said, “Noted.”

A door opened and D-Day leaned closer. “Push me away and say I’m disgusting.”

She did that just as Lando shuffled into the room looking like he’d been drawn through a knothole. D-Day bet the guy was thankful for the overcast day and the rain. The drug they’d given him last night was a punishing one, but fast, undetectable, and long lasting. D-Day had no regrets.

“I’m going to check on Taer,” she said, giving him a soft look before putting a frown on her face and heading down the hall.

“I’m afraid to break it to you, Butler, but that woman doesn’t like you at all,” Lando said, sitting down on the sofa. Immediately, the woman who had prepared his meal came into the room with a tray and three mugs of steaming coffee. He took one of the mugs and shook his head at the cream. Lando also took his black. The woman then bowed and headed for Taer’s room.

“I don’t care whether she does or not.” He took a sip of black brew and sighed. Not only could the woman cook, but damn she made one hell of a good cup of coffee in the middle of the Filipino jungle. “She’ll soon learn the error of her ways.”

Lando’s brows rose. “Not before she takes care of my brother,” he growled.

“No, not before, but after…” He let his words trail off ominously.

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