Page 8 of The Last Strike

Reed looked around, momentarily forgetting where he was. He pushed up onto his knees and then used the wall for support.

“Go right, along the wall!”James commanded.

Reed ran right, keeping this hand on the wall at all times, but the wall kept moving. He took another deep breath, and then another. Eventually, he could see only one wall but his head was pounding and he was sweating.

“Keep moving, Reed. Go through the gate,”James said as a noise hovered above him. It sounded like an airplane but when Reed looked up he couldn’t see anything.

Suddenly, a man fell from the top of the fence, landing in front of him.

Reed stumbled, using the wall yet again to steady himself.

“Keep moving. You’re almost out,”James said.

James’s voice sounded distant.

“Keep moving, Reed. Breathe. Focus. Two more steps. Two more,”James said. He kept repeating two more steps, or at least Reed thought he did.

Another wave of nausea rolled through him and this time he couldn’t stop it. He leaned forward, emptying the contents of his stomach.

He heard voices behind him, but they sounded like they were a million miles away. He turned his head to see who was coming, and the men fell to their knees. Reed clutched his churning stomach as his entire body shook.

“Reed, move! Go through the gate. Focus on my voice.”

Reed looked around. Who was talking to him?

He took a step forward and stumbled.

Asher

“Reed, get up!” James screamed, leaning forward, his fists balled on the desk.

Asher’s heart was in his throat—his fists were balled up too—but his eyes were on the footage from the drone hovering nearby.

Reed seemed to lift his head and look around. What was he looking for?

“Sarin. I think they’ve used sarin on him,”Samuel said quickly.“It’s odorless and he wouldn’t have realized it. He has all the signs: confusion, rapid heartbeat, rapid breathing, nausea, blurred vision.”

“Reed, stand up. Listen to me. It’s James, and I need you to stand up. I need you to move! Come on!” James urged. “Samuel, keep the drones on until this dose wears off enough that he can see straight. He’s getting fresh air, he just needs time.”

“Copy,”Samuel said.

Reed got to his knees, swaying, and then fell forward onto all fours.

“Crawl forward,” James said, and Reed moved like a toddler just learning how to crawl. “Can you see the gate?”

Reed seemed to squint, like the gate was a mile away, but it was probably only ten steps.

“I’m tired,”Reed said, his voice slow, his words slurring.

“I know, but you have to go through the gate,” James said. “Take big, deep breaths.”

Reed inched forward, swaying again, his movements increasingly jerky like his body was twitching uncontrollably.

Asher looked away.

He felt responsible for this.

“Shit!” James swore. “Samuel, use those drones. Buy him some time!”

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