Page 139 of Viral Justice

His mouth did another excellent fish-out-of-water impression before he gathered his wits and growled at her. “Don’t you dare give up now, you stubborn, hard-headed woman.”

She almost laughed. “I’m not giving up, I’m strategically retreating.”

“All retreats, surrenders, and capitulations have been canceled.” He leaned down and pointed a finger at her. “No exceptions.”

The weight on her chest had gotten a lot heavier, pressing down, making her fight to breathe. “Promise me you’ll follow your own orders, sir,” she managed to say just before the heavy blanket of night closed over her head.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Max watched Ali loseher battle with consciousness. She wasn’t responding well to the antibiotic cocktail. Her labored breathing and the bloody discharge worried him the most, but she’d also been badly beaten.

“I want her on a plane and back to the base as soon as possible. She may have broken bones or have a small internal bleed,” he said to Dr. Samuels and the two nurses who’d entered the tent.

“Sir,” one of the nurses said, “it’ll take some time to get an isolation medevac prepped and here.”

“As soon as possible,” he said, not caring that he sounded like an inflexible asshole.

“Yes, sir.” The nurse saluted and left the tent.

“Sir,” Dr. Samuels said to him in a careful tone. “I took a closer look at the powder Stone breathed in under the microscope. There are anthrax spores in it, but also flour and cinnamon.”

“Cinnamon?”

“It’s quite irritating if you inhale it.”

There could be only one conclusion. “He used it to facilitate the spores getting deeper into tissue.”

“That’s my fear as well,” Dr. Samuels said softly. She put her hand on Max’s shoulder and squeezed.

“Increase the dosage of the antibiotics and shorten the time between doses.” Unconscious, Ali looked far too small to be the lethal physical threat she was. Her size and bruises made her look vulnerable and beaten.

One of the nurses came back inside. “Sir,” she said to Max, “There’s a boy out here who asked to speak to you.”

Max exited the tent and found Coban waiting by an armed soldier.

Max waved the soldier away and crouched in front of the boy. “What do you need? Food? Water?” he asked in Arabic.

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