Page 70 of Brody

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A blanket fell over my shoulders. I whirled around, newly acquired gun halfway out of its holster before I realized who stood beside me.

“Damn it, Mag,” I shouted, shoving the gun back into its holster. “Don’t sneak up on me. I nearly shot you.”

Beside me, Magnus eyed my hand, which was still on my gun, but he didn’t look worried.

“You? The expert sniper? Nah. You’ve got too much control for that.”

“Not right now, I don’t.”

Off to the side, I noticed Trent holding out another blanket for Ellis. It seemed like everyone was suddenly showing up out of the woodwork. The once secret mausoleum was turning into a regular hangout spot.

Still, with the arrival of other people I trusted, I was finally able to let my guard down. I practically collapsed onto a nearby log and hung my head in my hands, letting out a long groan as the tension in my shoulders released.

“This last day has been hell, Mag.”

Ellis sat quietly beside me, barely moving the log. If it wasn’t for the way he pressed up against my side, I may not have even realized he was there.

Magnus, in contrast, was impossible to ignore as he roughly slapped my shoulder.

“Tell me about it. When you two disappeared behind that cave-in, I thought for sure you were dead. I ran into town to get help, and Creed just suddenly showed up.” Sighing heavily, he ran a hand through his already disheveled hair, pulling free what little remained in his blond braid. “I thought I was dreaming when he just appeared out of nowhere. What is he even doing here?”

“I was hoping you’d tell me,” I said, shaking my own head. More gunfire could be heard coming from inside the mausoleum, faint but unmistakable. “We’ll have to ask him about it later, but for now, I’m just glad he’s here.”

“Yeah,” Magnus agreed as he took a seat on a nearby stump. “Oh, by the way. here. I figured you’d probably need this.”

He and Trent handed over a few water bottles, granola bars, and some jerky. It wasn’t much, but after not eating anything for over a day while hiking miles underground and then fighting for our lives, Ellis and I were both starving. Even such basic food tasted like a five-star buffet.

With my stomach no longer growling at me, I immediately felt much better. I put an arm around Ellis, intending to comfort him, but there wasn’t really anything to say. The situation was what it was. No amount of words were going to change things.

All four of us ended up sitting there in silence, listening to the noises of the forest as we waited to see what would happen.

It took nearly an hour, but eventually, Creed reemerged with a few of Deputy Hillard’s officers in tow. They brought with them some of the cult members that had attacked us, tied up in handcuffs and dumped face first onto the forest floor.

Only half the cult members that attacked us were present. I didn’t question what happened to the others. Whenever Creed pulled out a gun, he never left his enemies alive.

Surprisingly, the man that Ellis had shot was still alive. A hasty bandage had been wrapped around his stomach, which at this point was more red than white. He was unconscious due to the blood loss, but was clearly still breathing.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to get some information out of these fuckers,” Creed said as he dumped the last captured man into the ground. “Although, I’m regretting keeping so many alive. It’s going to be a bitch getting all six of them out of the forest while they’re handcuffed.”

The man that Ellis had shot groaned into the dirt, and Creed nudged him with his foot. “Well, depending how long it takes, maybe only five.”

If we were out on the battlefield, I would have agreed with Creed. Lugging a prisoner who was already on death’s door through the forest wasn’t worth the effort when time could soon solve the problem for us. However, when I looked over at Ellis, I noticed the ashen tint to his face as he stared at the man he had shot. Ellis wouldn’t speak up. He’d let the man bleed out if I said it was the best option, but it would also haunt him.

Ellis had already been through enough. He didn’t need this burden as well.

“Six,” I said with a tone of finality. “We’re taking all six of them back. Alive.”

At first Creed looked at me with confusion, but quickly got the message when I glanced pointedly over at Ellis.

“Right. We’re taking all six back. Guess I better bandage this guy up a bit better so he can actually get to a hospital.”

As Creed went to fetch more medical supplies from the officers, I watched as the tension melted away from Ellis. After so many years of military training, I hated leaving an enemy alive unnecessarily. It was just one more danger that could come back to bite us in the future. Yet, I didn’t regret it.

Whatever threat we may face later was worth the peace that I was able to bring Ellis now.

Deputy Hillardand the other law enforcement officers took their time clearing out the underground tunnels, making sure that no other members ofThe Tamed Soulshad slipped their notice. They didn’t find anyone else lurking around, but they did find something interesting that they said we should see.

All five of us—Creed, Magnus, Trent, Ellis, and myself—were brought back down underground into a tunnel we hadn’t seen before. Apparently, there was a whole system of them branching out from the mausoleum that led to various points around the forest, and even a few that seemed to lead in town. The place they wanted us to see wasn’t too far away, and after only a few minutes of walking, we found ourselves in a large area that had clearly been dug out a long time ago.