Page 105 of Viral Justice

Nolan continued to moan and Max worked faster, placing a non-stick abdominal pad over the incision and holding it in place with a pressure bandage he taped to Nolan’s lower back.

“Sergeant Nolan,” Hunt said loudly into the soldier’s ear. “Give me a clue, man, are you back?”

Nolan’s eyelids fluttered then rose and he blinked at Hunt, who put himself directly in Nolan’s line of sight. “Hunt?”

“Yes,” Hunt said with a relieved smile. “You made it, you crazy son of a bitch.”

“Made it?” Nolan frowned. “What happened?”

“You took one in the kidney, but Max just sewed you back together.”

“Oh?” He continued to blink, confusion all too evident on his face. He looked around, watched Max as he got everything out of the way and Stone covered him with his own clothing. “Stone? What happened?”

“You played Pied Piper with way too many bad guys,” she answered drily.

“Oh.” He relaxed, seeming to be satisfied with that explanation.

Hunt’s expression went from excited to worried. He opened his mouth, but Max spoke first.

“Where are you, Sergeant Nolan?”

“Some nameless village in a country none of us are supposed to be in.”

“How do you feel?” Max asked, looking at Hunt and pointing at the blood pressure cuff.

Hunt took the hint without further prompting.

“A little fuzzy.” His eyes sagged shut, then they popped open again. “And, fuck, my back hurts.”

“Eighty-eight over sixty-five. Heart rate a little elevated, but not too bad.”

Max took his penlight and shone it in Nolan’s eyes. They both reacted normally. “Open your mouth, please, and say ah.”

The routine question received immediate compliance.

Nolan’s tongue looked like a squeezed lemon.

Dehydration. Not a surprise.

“Get a bag of saline,” Max ordered. “He’s still extremely dehydrated.”

Ali ran over to the medical supplies and grabbed a bag of the fluid.

Max hung it and got it dripping into Nolan. “We need to move him. He can’t stay in this room.

“Is there somewhere we can put him, hide him?” Hunt asked.

“This place is a rabbit warren of rooms and hallways. There are tunnels that go into the rock, so, yeah we should be able to find somewhere to stick him.”

“But, the locals say this place isn’t stable. There have been cave-ins,” Ali said.

“It’s safer than out in the village right now,” Hunt argued. “People are dying all over the place out there.”

“We could put the bodies of our dead with him,” Ali suggested. “Even if they’re found, he’d look like all the other bodies.”

“It might scare the shit out of him when he wakes up, but sure.” Hunt shook his head. “Do you ever lose your cool or are you as cold as your name implies?” He nodded to Max. “I’ll go look for a likely body dump.” Hunt left.

She stood in place, ramrod straight.

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