Page 12 of Call Sign: Thunder
He heard the sound of a helicopter in the distance and knew help was on the way. Apparently some of the guards on the ground heard it as well, as they were rushing to get into the tower lookouts, planning on maintaining their advantage.
It was time. He rushed forward, staying low until he got to the side entrance. The door was unlocked and he opened it quietly, hoping to maintain his element of surprise. An ordinary business office greeted him once he was inside. File cabinets. Desks. Chairs. Nothing unusual.
The scream of the woman being tortured met him through the thin wall of the office and Zach was thrilled to see the door on the opposite side of the space that to lead to the warehouse.
He crept along the floor, keeping low and opening the interior door slowly.
His target was now in sight less than ten yards away. He forced himself to ignore the woman. She was a distraction at this point. He gave all of his attention to the three men in the room. The brothers were arguing in Spanish. He couldn't make everything they were saying, but the sentiment was clear. They were afraid.
How do you like feeling afraid, assholes?
He wished the third man in the room were closer to the brothers. That way when he rushed the room, all three bogies would be in range together. The doctor hovered close to their victim.
Time was running out. He needed to make his move. The brothers would be armed. They were the most dangerous threat in the room. He could only hope his hunch was right and that the doctor was unarmed.
He didn't leave his cover. The brothers never knew what hit them as Zach squeezed the trigger, plugging two bullets into the center body mass of each of the Blanco brothers. Both men fell to the ground as Zach rushed forward, weapon drawn, now pointed directly at the doctor standing behind the screaming woman.
The man's eyes were frantic as he recognized a United States Marine pointing a weapon at his chest.
Zach saw the syringe the man now held against the neck of the immobile victim. The threat was obvious. Come any closer and he'd inject her. He had no way of gauging the threat level of that little needle, but knowing how fucked up Carlos Blanco was, he suspected it was not good.
"Drop the needle and I won't hurt you." Zach took another step closer, moving slow, but refusing to lower his weapon. Out of the corner of his eye, he checked for movement, relieved when there was none.
"Suelta el arma."
"Fuck you. I'm not dropping my weapon."
"La mataré ."
"And I'll kill you one second later."
Zach saw the fear in the doctor's eyes. He wasn't a warrior. The only weapon the man had was a syringe. He had a plan.
Zach held his hands up as if he were surrendering. "Okay, okay. Don't hurt her anymore."
The hand with the deadly dose wavered, falling away from her neck just a few inches. It was the window he needed.
Zach's aim was true. It only took one second to re-aim and pull the trigger, striking the doctor in the chest and catapulting him backwards. The needle flew out of his hand, ricocheting to the floor.
He did a four-point turn, clearing the building for additional unfriendlies before stuffing his Beretta in the back waistband of his pants and rushing to the desperate woman's side.
He took a second to assess her situation. She was still flailing, as if she were unaware of what was happening around her. Her naked body had a sheen of perspiration, but the wicked raised welts peppered across her thighs, breasts and even her stomach confirmed she'd been beaten. Her long sandy blonde hair was a mess from her fighting to be free. It covered most of her face, but he could make out the dark purple bruising across her left jaw where she had been punched... they fucking punched a helpless woman. If they weren't already dead, he'd enjoy killing the fuckers all over again.
Chapter Six
ZACH
They were running out of time. He stepped closer, reaching out slowly while he spoke in soft tones. "Shhh. You're safe now. I'm gonna get you out of here."
If he didn't know for a fact that she spoke English from her shouting out in the forest, he'd swear she didn't understand. She was hurting herself by continuing to attempt to get her arms free.
He got more aggressive, swishing her hair away from her face and placing his hands on either side of her head to stop her thrashing. The second their eyes met, he knew she'd been drugged. And from the looks of things, they'd given her an overdose of whatever the hell they gave her. Her eyes were black her pupils were so dilated. Her chest rose and fell in rapid, shallow pants as she gasped for air. Most alarming, her skin felt cold to the touch in the hot air.
Not only would she not assist in her own rescue, Zach knew he would need to carry her. With dread, he worried he might even need to knock her out himself just to keep her from fighting him. He had to try to connect with her. Make her understand what was happening.
Holding her head firmly to keep her looking at him, he leaned in close to speak close to her. "Hey there. I'm here to get you out of here, but you need to help me by calming down. Can you do that?"
Her eyes fluttered frantically, trying to look around. He made her focus only on him. "What's your name? My name is Zach."
