Page 62 of Freedom Fighters
Between their legs, Carmen could see Garrett. He sat with his back to the wall, his arm held up high because the handcuff around his wrist was attached to a pipe running across the wall above his head. There was blood on his neck where it had trickled from the wound on the back of his head. The blood looked dry.
Garrett watched her with a peculiarintensity.
The medic kneeling over her spoke. “The bullet passed through your shoulder. I’ve stopped the bleeding and stitched both entry and exit wounds. You may find you’re weak for several days. You lost a lot of blood.”
She swallowed. “Thirsty.”
The medic looked at the guards. “Find some drinking water.”
The guards didn’t move. One of them turned his head and spat.
“Sorry,” the medictold Carmen. “Perhaps later.” He packed up his things, then picked up a black garment from the floor and held it out to her. “Do you want me to help you put it on?”
Carmen took the garment and rested it over her breasts, hiding them. She shook her head. The movement hurt.
The medic got to his feet. “Try not to open the stitches.” The dryness of his voice said he didn’t expect her to follow thatadvice. He left without looking back.
The two guards stayed where they were. One of them glanced at the other, with a smirk.
Carmen tried not to interpret the smirk. Instead, she struggled to sit up without using her left arm, which was as flexible as a piece of lumber and as heavy as one. The medic had used local anesthetic. Just flexing her fingers hurt.
While the guards watched her withgrowing restlessness, she ignored them and struggled to put the top on. Although she didn’t look at him, she knew Garrett monitored the guards. She could almost feel his tension, from all the way across the small room.
It was a sleeveless singlet top. It looked as if it would be large enough to cover her properly, even with the bandages. She laid the top on her knees, so the hem was facing her,then picked up one edge and slid it up her left arm, threading her fingers through the armhole as it passed over her hand. When she had it bunched up around her bandaged shoulder, she worked the hem over her head.
For a few seconds she was blind.
“Carmen, watch out!” Garrett cried.
She yanked the top down, pushing her head through. A guard was reaching for her, his fingers inches from her breasts.She rolled back onto her shoulders and brought her foot up. They hadn’t stripped her completely. She was still wearing the heavy steel-toed boots that everyone in the unit wore as a substitute for army boots. With her knee almost to her chest, she rammed her boot into the guard’s exposed crotch with all the strength she could muster.
He howled and dropped to his knees, his hands cupping his testicles.His face turned a dirty gray. He toppled over onto his side, his knees curled up and his breathing ragged.
The other guard was caught flat-footed. He fumbled to haul his rifle around to aim at her. Carmen pushed herself up off the blanket and onto her knees. It felt as though the guard was moving slowly. She had all the time in the world to bat the rifle away from her. She reached out her handand gripped his genitals through his pants and squeezed as hard as she could.
The guard made a breathless, wheezing sound and dropped the rifle. A pair of handcuffs fell from his pocket as he bent over, his hands covering his crotch. His face was red with pain and fury.
Carmen pushed at his shoulder and he fell to the ground next to hiscompadre.
She pushed her other arm in and through thetop and yanked it down over her torso. Then she picked up the handcuffs, grabbed the closest ankle and fastened one end around the bony joint. She dragged the boot over to the other guard and fastened the other end around his ankle.
“There’s no camera,” Garrett said, speaking English, “although I don’t think these walls are soundproof.”
“I don’t care.” She stepped over the guards. She couldn’tmove fast and by the time she reached Garrett, she was exhausted. She fell to her knees in front of him. “You shouldn’t have tried to reach me.”
Garrett drew his free arm around her. “You shouldn’t have tried to cover me. You drew their fire.”
“You should know better.” She gripped his shirt to hold herself up and draw closer.
His answer was to kiss her. It was hard and brief. “Check the guards.One of them might have a key for the cuffs.” He spoke urgently. “I know you’re weak. I know how you’re hurting, but you need to do it now, before they recover.”
She nodded. “I just need a minute…”
“No.” He shook his head. “Now, Carmen. They’re getting stronger with each passing second. You need to dig deep.”
It’s mental. You know, now, that you’re stronger than you think.
She swallowed. Shewas so thirsty! With a growl that pulled from her belly, she pushed herself to her feet and worked her way over to the guards. Theywererecovering. They both had color in their faces again and they were breathing more easily.
