Fade - Fighting Fate #3

by Maree Green

  Picking off two more fighters, I jumped a ditch and scrambled closer to the slab. Taking aim, I fired off a few more shots. “Johns!” I yelled over my shoulder. “How you doing, man?”

  I heard him grunt. “Fucking awesome, dude.”

  Searching the enemy’s fighting points, I kept a watch of anything that looked remotely like a grenade.

  Rushing the last ten feet to crouch behind the slab, I let out a long, slow breath. “Good, then get up and get your fucking ass over here!” Popping up, I fired off a random shot, taking a quick look at our position. “Sarge!”

  I heard him fire off a few shots. “Get Johns out of here. I’ll cover you. I need to find Gardner.”

  “Fuck you,” Johns grunted, staggering to his feet. “Get your sorry ass over to Stephenson first, or I’m not going anywhere.”

  Sergeant Cooper let loose with a string of profanities, but they were obscured by the round of rapid fire he unleashed across the street. Following suit, I took out a fighter who just appeared around the corner, hoping Johns would hurry the fuck up and get his ass behind me now.

  “That wasn’t a goddamned request, Corporal. Get the fuck out of here!”

  The sound of Johns’s growling curse behind me told me he’d finally made it. I didn’t feel good about leaving Sarge behind, but I didn’t want to get a new asshole torn for disobeying orders, either. Squatting, I turned to confirm what he wanted me to do, but stopped when I heard a cough behind him.

  Sarge turned at the sound. “Motherfucking shit.”

  Confusion slowed my brain for a moment. It wasn’t until he started crawling over the rubble and lifted an arm that I realized it was attached to a groaning Gardner. I tried to work out how the fuck he could’ve been lying there, with only a thin layer of dust to conceal him, without us seeing him. Catching sight of the blood smeared across his forehead, I quickly guessed he must’ve been knocked out.

  “Fuck . . . ” Johns muttered, awkwardly scrambling onto his knees. “I’m over this shit. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

  Bullets spattered close to where Gardner was lying, quickly reminding me I should be providing cover. Moving slightly to the side to make room for Johns, we perched ourselves either side of the slab and tried to give Sarge as much cover as we could.

  Hearing a roar from both Nelson and McAdams, we all gave it everything we had, while Sarge got Gardner to his feet and started dragging him across the open gap.

  About a third of the way there, Gardner collapsed. Ready to throw all caution to the fucking dogs, I prepared to sling my rifle over my shoulder and run the gauntlet to go help, but then Sarge hoisted him up over his shoulder in a fireman’s lift and ran. The guy fucking ran!

  “Must be our turn,” Johns grunted beside me.

  Time was pressing. More enemy fighters were coming. Ammo was running low. I had to agree.

  Giving Johns a hard look, I nodded to his legs. “You good?”

  “I’d run even if my fucking leg was broken,” he said with a sneer.

  “Then let’s fucking do it.”

  As soon as Sarge reached the others, we took one last, deep breath, and ran.

  I could hear Nelson and Sarge firing ahead of us, trying their best to give us some cover, but I could also hear the enemy.

  Johns labored beside me as we ran, his mouth set tight, grunting each time he stepped onto his right leg, making me think his leg really was fucking broken. Together, we jumped the ditch and scrambled up over the broken piles of concrete. We were so close. Less than half the distance to go.

  Darting around the back of a burned-out car, we hurried to climb over a crumbling wall. Knowing Johns was struggling, I gave him a foothold, hoisting him upwards until he was almost over the top. “Jump! I’ve got this!” It wasn’t that high. I wouldn’t have any trouble climbing it myself, but then I heard Nelson shout the last thing I wanted to hear in that moment.

  “Incoming grenade! Take cover!”

  I didn’t think. I just acted. With a hard shove, I sent Johns over the wall and threw my body the opposite way.

  This time, everything did seem like it slowed down, yet at the same time, everything moved so fast, my brain had no chance of keeping up. The only thing I could think was that there was absolutely nothing in this world that could’ve prepared me for what came next. No training guide. No marine recount. Not even my own.

  All I knew was that I was hit with a force so heavy, and a sound so loud, that it felt like my body was being ripped apart.

  Then there was only darkness.

  Chapter 45

  Amy

  Deployed time: 10 weeks + 2 days

  With legs folded underneath me, I sat back on the couch in Amber’s den, grinning, while Mia’s mouth hung open. She’d flown in from interstate for the weekend, and Amber had convinced me it was the perfect opportunity for me to tell her my news. Sitting there, watching her eyes widen with each ticking second, I gathered she was a little shocked.

  “Holy shit,” she finally managed to say.

  Out of all the people I’d told so far, this seemed to be the general reaction. It actually made me laugh now.

  A grin began to spread across her lips. “Oh my God, Amy. That’s incredible.” She bounced up and down a little in her chair, her eyes sparkling. “I’m so excited for you. I love babies.”

  Kaeli and Jess both laughed, while Amber threw her a taunting look. “Are we going to see a little Jace running around soon, then?” she said.

  Mia shuddered. “No freaking way. There’s no way I’d bring a baby anywhere near what goes on around those boys. I’m sure it would come under some kind of parental abuse or neglect or something.”

  Giving Mia a sympathetic look, I sighed. Even though I’d seen a small snippet of what life was like for them off the stage, I’d hoped for Mia’s sake it wouldn’t be too much worse while they were on tour.

  Amber’s expression soured. “Oh, God. Don’t tell me. I nearly lost my shit over those bitches on campus last year. I don’t even want to think about what it’d be like now they’re on tour.”

  Turning the pillow over in her hands, Mia sighed. “It’s not that so much. The girls I can handle. It’s the guys.”

  “Guys?” Jess said, sitting forward in her seat. “As in our guys?”

  I smirked at that. It was funny how we all thought of the guys in the band as ‘ours.’

  Mia gave a little nod and rolled her eyes. “I’m ready to smack them all. Matt screws anything that moves. Dean walks around pretending Lila’s perfect, which just pisses everyone off. And Aiden . . . ” Glancing down at the pillow in her hands, she pursed her lips. “I don’t even know what’s going on with Aiden. Something’s changed with him. He’s withdrawn most of the time, and he . . . ” She glanced up at Amber. “He drinks. Like, all the time.”

  I frowned. That didn’t sound good.

  Amber’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Seriously?”

  Sitting forward, Mia placed the pillow beside her. “I mean, I knew they’d all get caught up in the sudden fame in some way. I just didn’t think they’d be suckered into it so much, you know? But Aiden . . . ” She shook her head sadly. “It’s hard to watch. I just wish he’d talk to me and tell me what’s going on. It’s like watching a car crash in slow motion. It makes me feel so helpless.”

  Amber huffed. “I’m tempted to get on the plane with you and go smack some sense into them. Jace isn’t being an ass, is he?”

  Lucky for Jace, Mia’s answering smile told us all we needed to know. “No, Jace is just as irritated as I am. Probably more. He won’t say anything, but I see how worried he gets. And frustrated. I mean, all of them need to be on point for the band to succeed as a whole. If one of them falls, they all fall.”

  We all gave Mia a sympathetic smile. I couldn’t say I’d like to be in her shoes with all that going on.

  “I can’t say I’m that surprised about Matt, though,” Jess said sardonically. “The dude loves his women.”


  The distant sound of a knock on the front door came amidst the giggling that followed. Sitting forward, I glanced at Amber. “Do you want me to get it?”

  Waving a hand in a dismissive way, she shook her head. “Nah, Mom will get it.”

  “What’s the deal with Aiden, though?” Kaeli said. “That doesn’t sound like him at all.”

  Mia sighed. “I really don’t know. I feel like he’s trying to hide something from me. My twintuition meter doesn’t freaking stop, so I just feel sick all the goddamned time. It’s really starting to piss me off.”

  After talking to Daniel about the whole twintuition thing with Ryan, I wanted to ask her to explain it a little more, but Kathryn walked into the room, pausing my words mid-thought.

  Her gaze found me in the corner. “Amy,” she said, her expression hesitant. “There’s some people here to see you, sweetie.”

  Surprise came first. No one came to see me. Well, no one that Kathryn wouldn’t just invite straight inside. Then came confusion and curiosity.

  Climbing from the couch, I stepped over the strewn pillows, wondering who the heck it was. As I passed Kathryn in the doorway, she lightly touched my arm, then I heard her call Amber’s name. The seriousness in her tone seemed odd to me for some reason.

  Walking through the family room, I rounded the corner toward the front door, then abruptly froze. Standing in the foyer, dressed in full uniform, were two officers from the Marine Corps.

  Both men straightened their stance the instant they saw me. As my mind began to process the meaning of their presence, my breath left me. Oh, God . . .

  “Mrs. Stephenson?”

  My gaze jumped to meet the owner of the voice. I saw his mouth move, heard the low timbre of his voice, but that’s all it was. Noise. My head scrambled to make sense of it all. To find some plausible conclusion other than the one my mind was trying to jump to.

  Something pressed against my back, warm and reassuring, but I couldn’t comprehend any more than that. The sound of my breath grew louder inside my head, suffocating me.

  Instinctively, I placed a hand on my stomach, strangely feeling a need to protect the little life inside me. My other hand moved to cover my mouth, my fingers trembling against my suddenly dry lips. Slowly, I shook my head, a fear greater than any I’d ever experienced before piercing my very soul.

  No, no, no. This could not be happening…

  Desperation clawed at me, trying to find something, anything I could hold on to, to stop me from drowning in this moment, but the fear was quickly destroying me, ready to bring me to my knees.

  Then I heard it. “ . . . Missing in action . . . ”

  My desperation clung to it, and I begged him with my eyes. “Daniel’s missing?” I tried to continue, to form the words that would lead me to the answers my soul needed, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t.

  “Yes, ma’am. The Commandant of the Marine Corps extends his deepest regret at not being able to offer you any more information, but wishes you to know you will be further advised as more information becomes available.”

  A hand squeezed my arm. I swallowed hard, trying to push down the lump in my throat. “But he’s alive, right?” I needed to hear him say the words.

  Something that resembled pain flashed in his eyes. “I’m sorry, ma’am. We don’t have any more information for you at this time, but the Commandant of the Marine Corps understands the importance of keeping loved ones informed on the health and safety of your marine. As soon as any information on his whereabouts becomes available, you will be advised directly.”

  He couldn’t even tell me if he was alive?

  “I don’t understand. What happened? How did he go missing?” There had to be some kind of sense in the situation, didn’t there? I needed there to be logic. I needed him to give me something to hold on to.

  The officer shifted uncomfortably on his feet, but his body remained rigid, his chin held high. “We don’t have much information at this time, ma’am. All we know is his team was involved in a rescue mission out of Raqqa when they were scattered by an IED.”

  IED? My brain scrambled, searching for meaning before locating the answer somewhere in its depth. IED: Improvised Explosive Device.

  Something surged through me at an unbearable speed. I thought it might have been dread. Or helplessness. It was like this moment had untethered me. My anchor had been ripped from my body, and I was now falling, with no way of knowing how to stop it.

  What was I supposed to do now? How was I supposed to deal with this? How did these people expect me to just continue on with life, not knowing if my husband was even alive?

  Pain twisted in my gut. I gasped.

  Oh, God. Don’t let him be dead. Please, don’t let him be dead.

  Chapter 46

  Daniel

  Deployed time: 10 weeks + 3 days

  MIA: 3 days

  Amy,

  I wish I could talk to you. I wish I could let you know I was all right. But I can’t. All I have are my thoughts, and all I can do is think about what I would like to say to you. I hate that you’ve probably already been told I’ve been captured and I hate that I’ve done that to you. Please, just know I will do everything I can to get home to you. And our baby. You both mean more to me than you can possibly imagine.

  All my love, Daniel.

  Pain.

  Darkness.

  That’s all I knew.

  I had no idea where I was, or what day it was.

  It had been some time now since I’d stopped wondering if my team members were somewhere close by, looking for me. I knew the chances of them still being in Raqqa were almost non-existent. I just hoped they’d all made it out okay.

  Shifting on the hard concrete floor, I let out a hiss as pain ripped through my left shoulder, a lingering reminder of the dislocation I’d discovered when I’d first woken. I’d managed to put it back in, but it had taken an enormous amount of willpower to do it. That shit fucking hurt.

  I’d passed out again not long after that, and when I woke again, I was lying on some kind of blanket I didn’t remember seeing before.

  Unease had lingered in the pit of my stomach from that moment on. I wanted to know where the fuck I was, and who the fuck had put me there. Common sense told me it was most likely not friendlies. The locked door suggested the same. But hope was ever present.

  The first time I’d heard sounds of someone approaching, I’d prepared myself for the worst. It had almost made me physically sick, but in that moment, I’d said my goodbyes to Amy and the little life we’d created together, praying they both knew just how much I loved them.

  But instead of a sadistic fighter coming through the door, like I’d expected, I faced a small man in a white robe, who appeared neither hostile nor friendly. As he’d stepped inside the small, darkened room, he’d watched me with deeply wary eyes. Then, with slow movements, he’d placed a tray of food and water on the ground beside the door and left.

  I’d kicked myself when he quickly slipped back through the doorway again and closed it behind him. I’d been so caught up in needing to protect myself from an enemy attack, I didn’t give myself the chance to consider what I might need to do if one didn’t come.

  As I stood against the wall, listening to the sounds of movement on the other side, I tried to be more prepared. The second the man appeared, I stepped forward.

  I met his gaze with determination. “Where am I?”

  His eyes narrowed with caution, his hands tightening on the tray he was holding to his stomach.

  I tried again. “Who are you?”

  The rush of Arabic that followed confused me. I shook my head. “I don’t understand. Do you speak English?”

  A flicker of clarity sparked in his eyes before he shook his head, more Arabic flowing in explanation.

  Frustration made me take a small step forward. “I need to get out of here,” I said, pointing to myself before pointing out the door. “Can you help me?”

  The man’s eyes na
rrowed, leading me to believe he wasn’t happy with my request. He shook his head and barked out something in a sharp tone.

  I watched him for several moments, trying to determine his role in my situation, before deciding it didn’t matter. The only way I was going to find out if he was an enemy or friend, was to try to leave.

  Striding for the door, I tried to mold my expression into one of someone not to be messed with, but the man was quick to block the door, a flurry of harsh Arabic exploding from his mouth. His body language was definitely not friendly.