by Reed, N. C.
He hadn't heard any shooting in a while, either. What was going on over there?
-
“Is she dead?” Jody asked, his face a wooden mask.
“Thankfully,” Tandi nodded. The body of Bernice Webb had been nailed to a wall in the living room of the main house. She was nude and splayed with blood from numerous wounds as well as. . .other fluids. Neither wanted to consider anything further.
“Wasn't she...” Jody couldn't finish, looking at Tandi.
“Not anymore,” Tandi shook his head but didn't say more. He had made a promise in the dead of night that he would keep even now.
Both readied themselves to resume their search. They didn't want to continue but they had come too far to quit now. Moving down the hall they found Mrs. Webb. Tandi almost passed her by but for whatever reason he stopped and took her pulse.
“Dude, she's breathing!” he whispered to Jody, tearing off his bag. “Call the ride!”
“We haven't finished the sweep yet,” Jody reminded him.
“We need to get her to the clinic as quick as we can,” Tandi was trying to get a vein to pop up so he could start an IV. “Call Zach and then go ahead and sweep the house. Once we get her loaded we can do the others until we can account for the rest, if we can.”
“Gunner, Gunner, this is Tommy, how copy, over?”
-
“Gunner, Gunner, this is Tommy, how copy, over?”
“Gunner has you four by,” Zach replied.
“Change in op orders. One live victim. Bring the ride.”
“Roger that, Gunner copies all,” Zach slid behind the wheel. Firing up the massive vehicle he eased out of the woods and then hit the road for the Webb farm.
-
“I've got a line in and a drip going, but. . .she took a pretty hard blow to the head,” Tandi whispered. “I don't know, man.”
“Worry about that later,” Jody reminded him. “Stay on mission. Zach is inbound and this house is now clear with two accounted for. Roger that?”
“I'm good,” Tandi was calming down. As a medic his first priority was always a patient. In this instance she had to come second. Jody was where he could see outside and saw the MRAP pull up into the yard.
“Ride's here,” he said. Grabbing Deborah Webb's ankles, he left her head to Tandi and started out with her. As he backed through the door he saw that Zach had turned the vehicle to head out, rear door open, and he was now in the turret.
“Good kid,” he muttered as they loaded Mrs. Webb.
“Zach, we're gonna do a sweep and clear on the other houses. We think all the Tangos are down but head on a swivel. Read me?” Jody looked up at the turret.
“Five by, brother,” Zach nodded. “I got you.”
“Ready on me?” Jody made sure Doc was back in the game. Tandi nodded and stacked up behind Jody, hand on his shoulder.
“Entering,” Jody said and they hit the first house down from the main home. It was empty of bodies they were glad to see.
The next home wasn't empty. They found the body of Micah Webb, empty shell casings all over the floor.
“He went hard,” Jody nodded in approval. He turned to look behind and stopped.
“Aw, man,” he almost whispered as he spotted Daisy Webb. Unlike her sister-in-law, Daisy had been tied rather than nailed spread eagle against the wall but otherwise her situation was identical.
“She. . .she's gone,” Tandi said, pressing her neck for a pulse. “Nothin-”
Tandi almost had a heart attack as Daisy's head came up and she gasped for breath.
“Holy shit, get her down!” Tandi cut one side loose while Jody got the other. Tandi grabbed a bed comforter to wrap her in and they bundled her onto the MRAP beside her mother-in-law. From there it was on to the next home.
“Damn,” Jody said as he entered. Jacob Webb lay in the floor wearing at least three blood-stained bandages. Tandi moved to check him, but Jacob was gone. The rest of the house was empty of people.
The last house might have been the worst. Both had seen worse, but neither Tandi nor Jody were heartless. Matthew Webb was draped over a chair he had probably used for cover, rifle still in his hands. Behind him was the body of Ophelia Hurley, the young mother who had accompanied the Webbs when they departed. She had been tied over a table.
And in the hallway, they found the body of little Tabitha Hurley, her small head smashed against the wall.
“Fucking animals,” Tandi grit his teeth at what he saw. “What was the point of this?”
“Focus, Doc,” Jody shook him. “This is everybody accounted for. Time to beat feet. You got patients to see to and we need to get back, now let’s move.”
Tandi moved. It wasn't that he was weak. Far from it. He had just seen so many children used and abused around the world that it made his blood run hot anywhere he saw it.
Once inside the MRAP he was all business though, establishing a drip line Daisy and giving her a cursory exam. Jody had them moving as soon as the doors were closed.
Zach could tell that whatever the two had seen was bad. Just the part he had seen was bad. He was glad he hadn't gone inside.
“This adventure sucks,” he said aloud, the words instantly lost to the winds.
CHAPTER TWO
-
“Home Plate, Home Plate, this is Phantom, come back.”
Jon Jackson sat straight up in his chair. Phantom was the code name for the camouflaged Cougar. He grabbed the hi-band radio to reply.
“Plate copies five by, Phantom. Say traffic,” he answered.
“Inbound, ETA ten minutes. Two civilians in severe distress. Head trauma, general battery and assault. Heavy blood loss. Have medical standing by and assistance to move vics. We are clean and clear at this time. Over.”
“Plate copies all. We're on it. Clear.” JJ scribbled frantically at the scratch pad even as he reached for the local radio they used only for the ranch.
“Home Plate to all units, Phantom inbound with emergency traffic. Ground, please notify all medical personnel there are two injured incoming including head trauma. ETA is ten minutes. Phantom is clean at this time.”
“Ground copies. Moving now.”
JJ activated the intercom that ran to the clinic. Kaitlin answered.
“Miss Kait, they're on the way in with two more,” JJ told her. “Head trauma and what he called general battery. I think that means-”
“I know,” Kait sighed. “We’ll try and be ready. But we're going to need more bedding down here. Call upstairs and get us some labor down here to set up some cots or something.”
“On it,” JJ promised and did just that. Jake answered the phone and immediately started waking people up while JJ turned his attention back to the radio.
-
People were standing by when the big Cougar backed into the door, waiting with stretchers to help. Zach was out of the rear door before the vehicle had stopped moving, throwing the door open wide and out of the way. He and Tandi rolled Deborah Webb onto the first stretcher for Big Jake and Mitchell Nolan to carry inside. The next stretcher went to Daisy Webb with Ellen Kargay and Greg Holloway taking her.
“Her head feels soft in that area,” Patricia said as she examined Deborah Webb, Amy Mitchell helping wherever she could. “She's certainly got a concussion and possibly a skull fracture. There's really not much we can do for that other than clean it up. Tandi already has her on an IV and that's about the best thing we can do for now. Can you very gently use warm water and this soap,” he pointed to a small bottle, “to clean the affected area?” she asked Amy.
“Right away,” Amy nodded and went to get the required materials. Patricia moved to where Kaitlin was already tending to Daisy Webb.
“Multiple contusions and abrasions on the skins,” Patricia worked to remain clinical as she examined the young woman. “Obvious signs of sexual assault, multiple assaults, minor vaginal bleeding from several soft tissue injuries. Several bite marks, three of which brought the blood,” she
paused then and moved up to open Daisy's mouth.
“She's bitten her tongue but she also has dried blood around her lips and down her chin,” Patricia said. “I'd say there's someone out there missing a hunk of himself. Good girl,” she patted the unconscious Daisy on the shoulder. “No sign of gunshot wounds,” Patricia went on as she worked her gloved hands around Daisy's head. “Knot on the right rear upper, may be an indication of a head trauma. No broken skin or sign of bleeding. Swelling and discoloration around the right eye indicates heavy battery but orbital socket appears intact…numerous bruises, discoloration and swelling indicate a severe beating. Bruises on the upper body could mean fractured ribs, we’ll need to x-ray her as well.” Janice Hardy was writing furiously now, nodding as she went.
“Anyone else?” she asked as Tandi and Zach wheeled the x-ray machine into place.
“No,” Tandi's voice was flat and final. “This is all there was.”
The room went still for a few seconds, silence ringing loud in the crowded space.
“All right, let’s clear everyone out so I can get this done,” Patricia ordered, clapping her hands together twice. “Tandi, help me roll her. . .there,” she placed the film beneath Daisy's body. “Okay, clear the room.”
-
“Deborah Webb is unconscious and unlikely to regain consciousness anytime soon,” Patricia reported twenty minutes later as the group gathered around. “Her skull has one fracture that actually bled a small amount into her hair. It's possible that will keep her brain from swelling and the blood looks capillary in nature, which is good. Bad is the fact that she took severe head trauma behind and above her right ear. That spot is soft and gives in two places, with the x-ray indicating an actual break rather than just a fracture.”
“In other words, her skull is cracked,” Tandi explained and Patricia nodded.
“There's exactly nothing we can do about that,” Patricia said. “It will heal or it won't. That's all.” She paused for a moment before moving on.
“Daisy. . .Daisy suffered a massive gang rape,” Patricia saw no reason to sugar coat anything. “She also likely has a concussion though not nearly as serious as Deborah's. Her eye is swelled nearly shut but the orbital isn't broken, and neither is her jaw. She bit her own tongue and probably bit the shit out of one of her attackers so her mouth is full of bacteria and that is bad but we can at least rinse her mouth even with her unconscious. Her real problems will begin when she wakes, but. . .I’ll have to let Beverly deal with that while I try and take care of her physical needs.”
“Like I said, there's little we can do for Deb. She's beyond what we can do other than prayer. For Daisy, we need to keep her head elevated and clean her up. Both need blood so we need donors for that. And we still have to monitor Sam and Luke while we do all that.”
“I’ll do it,” Janice raised a hand and Patricia nodded.
“Then let’s get to it,” she turned to the others. “There's a lot to do.”
-
By the time Patricia and her assistants had finished their work, Clay was back, having slept a good six hours or more and gotten some breakfast. His reaction to the late-night rescue mission was mixed at best.
“So... let me get this straight,” he said once Tandi had given his report. “You three went and did the exact thing I said we weren't going to do, endangering three people who are vital to the defense of this farm and the people who live here, endangering a vehicle that would certainly be used against us if captured, and leaving evidence behind that at least some of us were lured away by this tactic, alerting the enemy that we might fall for it again in the future. I leave anything out?” he asked with fake solicitousness.
“Uh. . .no, that about covers it,” Tandi replied. He had felt pretty good about what they had done until Clay started listing all the risks they had exposed the farm to.
“We managed to rescue two people,” Jody offered.
“One of whom is unlikely to recover and will be a drain on our resources,” Clay nodded slowly. “So, we've saddled ourselves with someone who will require constant care and attention, occupying our medical personnel and drawing from our dwindling medical stores.” He closed his eyes for a moment to gather his thoughts.
“We also killed seven bad guys,” Tandi tried again.
“And left them there as proof we responded the way they wanted us to, at least in part,” Clay didn't open his eyes as he replied. “You know, it's not that I don't appreciate that you rescued Miss Deborah and Daisy. It's not. But you did it even after I said we weren't going to, and after we had to put Joshua Webb down when I told him we couldn't do it.”
Neither man had a reply to that and so remained silent. Clay let go a deep breath and stood, his eyes opening once more.
“I guess in the future, you guys just do whatever the hell you want and don't bother asking me,” he said softly. “No one around here listens to me anyway. So... stop referring your issues to me from now on and work them out for yourselves. You’ll do it anyway if you don't like what I say, right?”
Tandi and Jody both looked stricken by those words and immediately started trying to convince their Boss that they hadn't just blatantly disobeyed him. The problem being, of course, that they had done just exactly that.
“I think since I'm not needed here I’ll just head home,” Clay said into the silence. “I need to ride the fences and cut some firewood anyway. See ya later.”
-
“I hate to say I told you so,” Greg started.
“But you did,” Mitchel Nolan nodded. “I admit, I didn't see this coming. He's always been cool with stuff like this before. Oh, he'd be mad as hell. But then he'd get over it and move on and then everything would be fine.”
“We weren't protecting a small community full of people who are important to us, either,” Jose Juarez noted. “What the hell were you three thinking?”
“Zach didn't help plan this,” Tandi said at once, defending the teen. “As far as he knew, this was a righteous mission with his name on it.”
“Which still leaves the two of you, running off without a word to anyone, doing something the boss had already refused. Saving the two women aside, it was a stupid thing to do. I seem to remember someone else doing something similar a few months back.”
“We've had much rougher missions than that,” Jody pointed out.
“Not when your loved ones were waiting behind you without your protection,” Juarez replied harshly. “You just told Nate not long back that we weren't in the bush anymore,” he turned to Tandi, who nodded at the reminder. “That we couldn't just run around like we once did, killing indiscriminately and drawing attention to ourselves. All you two have done is turn the heat up a little higher.” He shook his head as he started for the door.
“Where you going?” Nolan called out.
“To try and talk to the Boss and smooth this shit out before we end up with a royal clusterfuck all the way around.”
-
The sound of an ax working rhythmically drew Jose Juarez to where his commander was chopping wood. Shirt off, Clay was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. The tan he had just made the scars stand out more. Jose had been there when some of those scars were made.
“Boss,” he called out rather than spook Clay by coming up on him by surprise. Clay stopped working and looked up at him.
“Pancho,” he nodded. “What's up?”
“Trying to get a handle on this flying circus we created,” Jose shrugged.
“Good luck with that,” Clay encouraged.
“I heard you weren't too pleased with the night action,” Jose tried to ease into things.
“Did you now?” Clay asked dryly.
“I can understand how you feel,” Jose said.
“Can you?” Clay asked seriously. “Are you the one responsible for all this shit? All these people?”
“No, but you aren't either,” Jose noted. “At least not alone,” he amended. “Everyone has a stake in what's happening. Even if
it's just for themselves, you know?”
“I suppose,” Clay agreed. “Then why is it I seem to be the only one who takes that seriously? Why am I the only one who sees the threats around here? Or takes the blame when shit goes bad?”
“You aren't the only one,” Jose shook his head. “Don't read so much into a knucklehead play on their part, man. They wanted to try and get anyone still living away from that crowd, that's all.”
“I get that,” Clay nodded. “I wanted to do it, too. Simple fact is, or was, that it put us all at risk. They took Zach with them which is worse. He's well trained but still just a kid. It's not that they did a bad job, Jose. It's that they shouldn't have done it at all. I said we weren't going to go. I'm supposed to be in command, right? Everyone expects me to make the decisions, but then when I make them, no one listens. Enough,” he shrugged, “I'm just going to sit back and let everyone do their own thing from now on. It will be a hell of a lot easier on me that way and that's for sure. You guys have been doing as you please so far and it's worked out okay for you, so why not go with it. I got plenty of work to do around here to keep me busy as it is.”
“Clay, don't do this,” Jose said quietly. “I know things haven't gone exactly to plan and that we've made some mistakes, but we haven't done too badly, have we?”
“No, just got John killed, put the farm at risk and left us uncovered when we have a known enemy at the gate,” Clay nodded absently. “Not too badly at all.”
Jose didn't flinch at the hit but only by the greatest effort.
“I don't know why I expected it to be like when we were in service,” Clay admitted. “I thought we'd just continue on like before, everyone doing their job the way we've always done it. The same way things had worked out so well before. We do our jobs, we take care of business, and we survive. Just like always.”
“That worked for about. . .twenty minutes, I guess?” he laughed harshly. “Well, maybe half-an-hour,” he added with a snort. “I've put myself under a great deal of strain and stress over all this, you know? Worrying about every little thing and trying to make sure all the bases were covered and that we were all safe. I'm tired of doing that, Pancho. Tired of trying to stretch things to make sure everything gets done only to have people going behind my back and doing whatever they damn well please. If people aren't going to listen to my instructions then I'm not going to keep being responsible for all this shit. You guys work it out however you want I guess and let me know what I can do to help. Stand a watch or whatever.”