Page 13 of Call Sign: Thunder
With relief, he saw her confusion. She was listening. He kept talking. "I'm with the marines. We're here to rescue you, but you need to stop hurting yourself."
Her mouth opened. She was trying to talk. All he could make out was "Dad?"
She was young, but Jesus, did she think he looked like her father? He pushed down his irrational anger.
"No. I'm Zach. My friends call me Thunder."
This time she repeated so he could hear. "Did Dad send you?"
He didn't even know who she was so how could her father have sent him? "No. I don't even know your name." Now that she had stopped flailing, he'd begun to undo the buckles holding her in place.
It took her several attempts to get her name out. "Allie."
"I like that name, Allie." And he did.
He had just released the last restraint when the sound of gunfire nearby penetrated the warehouse walls. They needed to get the hell out of there.
Zach knew it was going to hurt like hell, but he had no other choice. He scooped Allie into his arms, ignoring her cries of pain. "Wrap your arms around my neck, Allie. I've got you, but I want to keep my right arm ready to shoot if we come under fire."
Good. She understood. She was so weak that she could barely hold on as he ran back toward the office. They'd exit the way he'd come in.
She felt fragile in his arms. An irrational surge of anger almost consumed him as he listened to her weak whimpers of pain and fear. He pushed it down to keep his mind on the mission. He needed to get them to the rendezvous.
He traced back to the pallets below the south window, stopping there long enough to pull his radio out of his pack.
"Thunder checking in. What's your twenty, Superman?"
"On foot. One click south of your position. ETA five minutes."
"Roger that. Had to make my move. Target was in danger. I've neutralized immediate danger and secured the asset. We are on foot and headed your direction. Try not to shoot us by accident."
"When we get back to base, you and I are going to have a long chat about what it means to receive and follow orders, marine."
Zach would deal with the fallout later. Right now, he just needed to get them the hell out of dodge. "Yes, sir. I'd expect nothing less, sir."
He could hear the humor in Major McIntyre's voice. "Try not to get yourself shot in the meantime. I want that ass of yours whole when it gets the chewing it deserves."
Zach grinned. "Yes, sir. I'll do what I can."
He was about to replace his survival pack on his back when he found Allie near convulsing. Her skin was clammy and cold to the touch. Whatever they'd given her had dropped her core body temp. He first reached into his pack and pulled out a bottle of water.
"Allie. I need you to drink water. We need to try to flush whatever shit they gave you out of your system." He held the bottle to her lips. She was shaking and they ended up spilling as much water as made it down her throat.
"Thank you," she whispered.
He replaced the bottle. He'd give her more when they were safely on the helicopter on the way back to base. He pulled the thin survival blanket from his pack next, spreading it out before wrapping it around her shoulders. It wasn't large, but it was meant to keep soldiers warm if trapped in the wilderness in bad weather. It would help warm her and preserve her dignity. He didn't like the idea of the ten soldiers they were about to meet up with seeing her naked and beaten body.
He made a final sweep with his binoculars. The chaos in the compound continued, heightened by the screams from inside the warehouse as the three dead bodies were found. They needed to move and fast.
Zach scooped Allie up again, this time the thin blanket was between his arms and her skin. He took the time to pull the blanket up over her front.
"Can you hold on to my neck again, honey? I'm gonna need to move us fast."
Arms circled his neck. Her head was tucked into the crook of his neck. He caught a whiff of an unexpected scent. He was sure he was imagining things.
He went slow, retracing his steps to the location in the wall where he'd entered. The bloody body of the first guard he'd neutralized laid exactly where he'd left it, still obscured by the brush. The guards on the wall would have no trouble seeing the body soon once the rising sun crested over the horizon. It was just one more reason Zach needed to book it.
Three minutes later, they were deep enough in the surrounding forest for Zach to relax a bit. He slowed, catching his breath as he took cover in the middle of a particularly thick set of ground cover. He wanted to check on Allie. She'd begun moaning several hundred feet before as if she were in pain.
