Page 5 of Connected

“Okay, okay, slow your damn ass down and breathe. Now, what is it?”

“He uh, he found a book. Yeah, I know when doesn’t he, right?” He frowns as everyone else in the room groans and rolls their eyes. “But this one had some uh… well, there was uh, some paperwork and an old map. He uh… oh goddammit. QT, get your fuckin’ ass in here right now.”

He grabs a hold of the blond youngster and drags him through the doorway into the room. QT stands still, nervously swallowing; there’s something about having to speak in front of the team—especially having to address Darius—that makes him so much more anxious. Without Zak here to ‘interpret’ he knows his stutter becomes worse.

“I-I c-can show y-you on the-the map.”

“Okay, so what is it? QT, c’mon speed it up we’ve not got all night.” Digby gestures him to the table where he spreads out an old crumpled and stained paper map.

Pointing with his fingers, he draws a circle. “H-here.”

“What the hell is that?” Digby cocks an eyebrow.

“I-it’s a-a… a…” he stutters badly. The more Digby’s blue eyes stare at him, the harder it makes it for him to stop. Nerves trap the words in the back of his throat and his sudden attack of anxiety silences him.

They all stare, waiting for an explanation. Digby wills him to speak and wishes Zak were here to do his usual jump-in and finish the sniper’s sentences.

“Oh, f-f-fuck…” He sighs desperately trying to force the words out, but the harder he tries the worse it becomes until finally frustrated Oz takes over.

“Sorry, QT, but time’s of the essence here. It’s an old research facility. A lab, about ten klicks out. At a guess, we think it’s a concrete bunker—the structure—and that’s why it didn’t show up on the satellite sweep. From what QT could read in the Spanish text of the paperwork, it was used by a scientific research group. Seems to have been abandoned for quite a few years. This journal that was left behind, with the book QT found, it’s our guess that the group must have come to the town for supplies. We don’t know for sure, but it shows on the map, a roadway with access out along here…” He points with his finger in a line along the paper. “It leads—at a guess, half a day’s drive—to the city. There’s an airfield there…” again, he circles an area on the map. “Which would make sense if they’re runnin’ drugs outta this place. That pathway we found, leads from here to…. the building. It’s a way to keep the run hidden from any eyes-in-the-sky.”

“All right, that’s good work, QT—all that damn readin’s finally startin’ to pay off,” Digby smiles. “Hey Bud, you get that truck up and ready to roll yet?”

“No, not quite. Should, uh, be soon enough. I gotta few more things to uh, tweak.”

Darius leans over the table and stares at the map. “Okay, so, we’ll load up and follow that path as soon as we can. In the meantime, I’ll update command and see if they’ve got anything useful they can add to the information we already have and get some idea of what we might be walking into.”

“Hey QT, you nerd-head, you know you did well. Zak’s gonna be proud of ya when we tell him,” Digby says smiling.

“D-Digby… please f-f-find them.”

“Hey, don’t you worry buddy, I know how much he means to you and I promise, I’m goin’ to find them. You just hold in there, we’re gonna bring them both home soon.” Digby strips his pants and underwear. “Hey, just don’t forget to bring my damn clothes,” he laughs.

“Ah well… what you say QT, maybe we just leave them here for the fun of it?” Darius smiles. He then grabs a tight hold of Digby and slaps his hands against his back. “You just stay safe, buddy.”

“Oh, I intend to and hey… don’t worry about me, you just concentrate on not bein’ too far behind.”

Stripped naked; Digby heads toward the door and about to leave Bud calls him back. “Hey, Diggs… are you gettin’ fat there, man?”

“Oh, fuck you, Bud.” Digby raises his middle finger and smiles before disappearing out into the darkness.

The team stares at the doorway, and it’s not long after they hear the distant sound of a lone wolf howl.

“All right, let’s do this. Bud, get back to work on that truck. Oz, QT you get this gear packed up, then hit the racks for a couple of hours’ rest. The plan is to move out as soon as it gets light.”

They all nod and QT picks up Digby’s weapons and clothes. Folding his khaki pants and tee-shirt neatly—he packs them into his kit bag—then collecting up Zak’s rifle and helmet, he holds them close to his chest and closes his eyes. Taking a deep breath and sniffing the scent on his things, QT bows his head, and quietly he prays they find them soon.

Chapter 3

Rubbing her hand over the ache in her head, Kat groans as she wakes from the drug-induced sleep. She feels groggy and sick—her mouth’s so dry it feels like she went a week without water.

With a whimpering moan, she lifts her head, and dragging herself from the cold of the stone floor, she sits up. Fighting a feeling of nausea, she flickers her eyes open, and with the bright light making her blink, she massages the sore ache in her shoulder from where she was hit with the hypodermic syringe. It hurts like hell—as if someone had stabbed her with a blunt biro and lifting her lead-heavy head; it takes a few moments for her to concentrate.

As her eyes focus and the hazy blur clears, she recognizes a person standing at a distance in front of her. “Zak? Zak, are you okay? What the hell happened?” She calls to him, but either he doesn’t answer, or she can’t hear him, and again her head slumps into her lap. Then, before she can understand exactly what’s happening, she’s lifted upright onto her feet. The dead-weight of her body is supported from falling by a thick-set-ogre of a man whose sweaty hands’ grip tightly around the top of her arms.

What the fuck’s going on?The drugged-haze continues clouding her vision but as it clears, she’s able to focus, and turning her head she looks over her shoulder to see a burly man-mountain of flesh pinning her arms aggressively behind her back.

A rapid clicking of fingers crackles against her ear and she spins around. Focusing on the hiss of air through teeth, her view of Zak is now blocked as she stares into the pair of amber eyes only inches away from her face.

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