“Roscoe, please go be sure the men are signing up as we requested,” General Ferriday asked.
“Yes, sir,” Roscoe answered. He stared at Lethal for another moment before turning to walk away and walking right into Feral.
Feral grinned at him, elongated incisors peeking from his lips. “Hi,” he said, like he would if he was flirting with a woman.
Roscoe just stepped back to put a few inches between them.
“Something to be said for being aware of your surroundings at all times,” Feral said, still grinning. “Good thing I’m friend and not foe.”
Roscoe looked from Feral to Lethal and back again. “You put your name on that list?” he barked at Feral.
“At the top,” Feral answered, smiling even bigger and pursing his lips to imitate giving Roscoe a kiss.
Roscoe sidestepped Feral and moved toward the table the men were still milling around.
“He’s contributed to all of you being here today. He’s just a little stuffy about regulations,” General Ferriday said.
“You don’t challenge an alpha,” Steel said in a voice that added an unspoken duh on the end of the sentence.
“He’s pretty alpha himself. I think he just forgets he’s not the only one who is. Especially here,” the General answered.
“Here,” Valor said, taking the papers back from Lethal. “We’re going right here,” he said, pointing at the name of the city on the article, then on the map he produced from the papers in his hand and showed to Smitty.
Smitty looked at the city name Valor pointed to, then the place on the map. “Alright. Give me about twenty minutes and I’ll have a flight plan drawn up and filed with Roscoe. See you boys at the third chopper pad.”
“You should use the time to have your squad outfitted in the uniforms we’ve provided to any who work for us and care to take advantage of them,” General Ferriday suggested.
“What uniforms?” Lethal asked.
“It helps make us look more professional. Should I have to intercede on your behalf, I can claim you were on official business. We plan to make a name for ourselves in any way we can. Possibly in delivering aid for disaster relief, security if anyone is interested in working it. Providing evacuations in volatile areas of the world. Anything that can make our organization stand out and be recognized as honorable as well as give us a steady income to support those of us who are back here holding down the fort,” General Ferriday explained.
“Wouldn’t it be better if we weren’t identifiable?” Lethal asked.
“Only if you plan to attack Washington D.C.,” Ferriday answered.
“It’s only Michigan tonight,” Lethal answered.
“Uniforms are in the supply building. Tell them you need BDUs,” Ferriday suggested. “There are several different options for uniforms depending on the job. All are navy blue, gray, and black in some form or fashion.”
Lethal nodded. “We’ll change into them.” He started to walk away, but met the General’s gaze. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Don’t disappoint me, son. Come back alive and do not blow up Michigan. This has to be a precise military operation just like every other mission. You cannot risk our entire operation for the single focus of one male, even if that male is you.”
“I am very aware of that. We know precision. If we weren’t precise we’d have been killed as punishment,” Lethal answered.
“Very well. I’m trusting you. Don’t forget to get your cell phones from Smitty. They’re already on the helicopter with your weapons. Call if you need backup.”
“They have backup,” Feral said.
Lethal looked to the tall, muscular male waiting to be included. He regarded him for a moment then inclined his head. “Come on. We’re anxious to be on our way.”
Chapter 21
Twenty minutes later six dangerous, brutal men jogged through Alliance on their way toward a waiting helicopter. They were all dressed in matching navy blue BDU style long-sleeved uniforms that despite their understated color and official appearance, couldn’t help but emphasize their individual builds and musculature. Each man was a sight to behold from their black laced boots to the small, gray Alliance emblem on the left side of the chests of their BDUs, to their black shielded helmets. Each male was a force to be reckoned with, and it was easily seen by all who glimpsed them run by.
Smitty sat in the helicopter, having completed the preflight check and waited for his team to board. He grinned to himself as he glimpsed them headed his way. This was no ordinary military team, and he could not be happier that he’d been assigned to them.
He watched as the first man came to a stop at the helicopter and turned to be sure all his squad boarded before he did. This male was the infamous Lethal. “Welcome aboard, Lethal,” Smitty called out. “Your helmets should already be synced with communications.”
“Affirmative,” Lethal answered. “Cell phones?” he asked.
“Introduce your men so I give them the right phone, and so I know who I’m dealing with,” Smitty said good naturedly.
“Scorn, Valor, Steel, Two, Feral, and myself,” Lethal answered. As he called their names each male either raised a hand or called out ‘yo’.
As the males were introduced, Smitty handed them their cell phones, and also pressed a button on a control box mounted to his right.
“What are you doing? What is that?” Lethal asked.
“Identifying each of your men with their corresponding helmet. Those helmets are yours from now on, registered to you, you might say.”
“Males,” Two said.
“What’s that?” Smitty asked.
“We are males. No longer men,” Two grumbled. “Males.”
“Potato, Potahto. You’re good to me, I’m good to you. Pleasure to be a part of the team. Please keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times, boys and girls. The ride could get a bit bumpy,” Smitty said, grinning to himself while he called out, “Wheeee!”
Steel flipped up his face shield and shared a what-the-hell look with Scorn over Smitty’s sense of humor.
The whine of the propellers increased in volume as Smitty began to lift the helicopter from the ground. The rest of the team flipped up their face shields as well and tried to peer out at the ground as they took to the air. “Up, up and away!” Feral called out, playing off Smitty’s sarcastic instructions as they took to the air. Two smiled at Feral when he got the reference he was making.
Smitty laughed out loud. “Yeah, this is gonna be fun, boys.”
“What is so damn funny? Ya’ll are just strange!” Scorn snapped, irritated that he didn’t get the personal joke.
“It’s from kids’ movies. You don’t know them?” Smitty asked.
“Memories erased. Nothing beyond being a guinea pig,” Valor explained.
“Then how did…” Smitty started to ask looking at Feral and Two. When Two glared at him, he decided to act like he didn’t notice. “Never mind,” he said, closing his mouth and watching the controls in the cockpit of the chopper.
Lethal watched as well as their helicopter veered off sharply to the right and two more helicopters approached for a landing. He felt sorry for the poor bastards on those choppers. Over the next few days they were in for some reality checks.
“At least they’re free now,” Valor said, almost as though he knew what Lethal was thinking.
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
General Ferriday, Roscoe, and Law stood just before the helicopter pads and waited for the incoming team and their rescues to arrive. The first helicopter touched down but waited until the second had as well before the occupants began climbing out of it. First out were two of the rescue team, still loosely armed just in case, followed by the three males that had survived their liberation. More of the men on the rescue team got out after them. Law could hear one of the rescue team explaining briefly that they had arrived at Alliance. As they approached the trio waiting for them, they were introduced. “This is General Ferriday. He’s the r
eason you’re free today. This is Roscoe, he’s the professional face of Alliance,” the man stopped and waited for the man he didn’t know to introduce himself.
“I’m Law. I’m your representative while you’re here in Alliance. I represent all of us who are being rescued and brought here. If you need anything, or have any questions that are not readily answered, come to Law, or to one of the governing board that will be voted on in the near future. Roscoe runs the business end of things, logistics, strategies and such, and the General is funding it all. We owe them our lives.”
The introductions were interrupted as the occupants of the second helicopter rushed past them. One man had a female in his arms and he was surrounded by three other team members as they hurried her away.
“They ready for her at the clinic?” the General asked.
“Spoke with them this morning. They are ready and waiting,” Roscoe answered.
“We’ve got food, warm, safe lodgings, entertainment, jobs if you want them, medical care — which everyone is required to go through at least once just to get a recording of you and your vitals, and even psychological help if you’d like to take advantage of it. I suggest you do. Before I take you to your quarters so you can get cleaned up and comfortable, is there anything else you want or need?” Law asked, having learned most of the spiel from the General when he arrived himself.
“Shovels,” one of them said.
“Shovels?” Roscoe asked.
“Got two males down. They’re on that chopper. None of us rests until our fallen are at rest,” one of the newly rescued answered before turning and walking with the other two surviving members of their squad to the second helicopter the female had ridden in on. Somberly they removed the body bags holding their fallen squad members.
“I understand,” the General answered, looking toward the helicopters. “We’ll get you help.”
“Don’t need help,” the male called back, “just shovels.”
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
Acker barged into the medical clinic with Nina in his arms. She’d curled into his chest and not said a word since she’d mumbled her name.
“Right through here, Acker,” a female voice said worriedly.
Acker followed the woman, leaving his two men behind where the nurse had met them. “It’s alright. I told you it would all be just fine, didn’t I? See? Now here we are at the clinic and the nurse is going to make sure you’re okay.”
Acker felt the woman he was holding tense up. “No!” she said shakily, trying to free herself from his arms.
“It’s alright. I promise!” he assured her, trying to keep her from falling from his arms.
“No, no doctors,” she sobbed. “Please,” she begged.
“It’s alright, it’s okay. You don’t want any doctors, we won’t have any doctors. It’s just me. See? I’m Nurse Parkins. I’m not going to hurt you. I just need to make sure that we take care of you the best we can if you’re injured.”
The woman didn’t answer, but she kept squirming.
“Acker, let her go. Let her sit on the exam table. She’s scared,” Nurse Parkins said.
Acker walked over to the exam table and set Nina on it. “I promise, no one will touch you. I’m standing right here. We just need to get you taken care of. You’ve obviously been beaten, you look like you’re starving. Please let us help you.”
Nurse Parkins sat in a chair and motioned for Acker to be quiet for a moment. “I don’t know exactly what you’ve been through, but I have an idea. I’ve taken care of every woman that has been brought in to Alliance so far. I know you’re all afraid of doctors. I know that some of you are afraid of nurses as well,” she said, reaching up and pulling the little white hat off her head. “But before being a nurse, I’m a woman, just like you. And I’m in awe of all you’ve survived. Each of you is so much stronger than I ever imagined being. My heart breaks for you, and I even feel guilty that I was safe and sound while you endured all you did. Please let me help you. No needles, no drugs, no doctors. Just me. And if you want to talk to a psychologist, we have one available for you. She’s a woman as well.”
Slowly Nina raised her eyes to the lady sitting in a chair a few feet from her. The woman seemed sincere. She glanced over to Acker who smiled at her. He’d promised that no one would ever hurt her again. She gave a tiny nod of her head and the nurse started rolling the chair she was sitting in toward her slowly. She didn’t even get up, just rolled the chair. “Thank you,” the nurse said.
Nina nodded.
“Can you tell me your name?” the nurse asked.
Nina didn’t answer at first, but then she just shrugged non-committally and shook her head.
“Do you not remember or you’d prefer to not tell?” the nurse asked.
Nina shrugged again.
“Sorry I didn’t hear you when you told me the first time. There was so much going on and your voice was so soft I couldn’t make it out,” Acker said.
Nina looked toward him but didn’t respond.
“Doesn’t matter,” the nurse said. “My name is Jackie. My husband was asked to help the General here at Alliance Ranch as rescues came in. He’s a medic. When it came to light that women were involved, he called and asked if I’d like to come help too. So, we both live here now.”
Nina just listened, she didn’t feel like responding, but after all Acker had told her on the helicopter ride in and what Jackie was telling her, this entire place was set up and dedicated to saving those like her, and the males she and women like her had been given to.
“Can I take your blood pressure?” Jackie asked, holding out a blood-pressure cuff.
Nina thought about it, then reached out and took the cuff from Jackie, running her hands along the inside of it.
Jackie realized that Nina was checking for needles or something that could inject or cut her. “Here, let me activate it and you can see for yourself how it inflates from beginning to end.” Jackie stood back and watched as the blood-pressure cuff inflated, then deflated, and Nina examining it the whole time.
Finally, Nina handed it back to Jackie and nodded, holding her arm out.
Jackie slipped the cuff on Nina’s arm, then took the reading. “Your blood pressure is low. Have you been given any drugs in the recent past?”
Nina nodded.
“Do you know what they were?”
Nina shook her head. “Hormones maybe? So I wouldn’t fight the males,” she whispered quietly.
Acker closed his eyes and chewed on the inside of his cheek. What this woman had been through made him sick to his stomach. He’d been upset by the others, but for some reason, this one got him worse than the others.
“Can I listen to your heart?” Jackie asked.
Nina nodded.
Jackie slipped the ear pieces of her stethoscope into her ears and handed Nina the end to hold against her chest. “You place it over your heart for me.”
Nina held the stethoscope over her heart until Jackie nodded to her and smiled. “Very good. Doesn’t sound irregular. How about your back? Can I hold it there and listen to your lungs?”
Nina nodded and let go of the end of the stethoscope. Then she unbuttoned the top of the shirt she wore and let it fall back off her shoulders while she held the front over her breasts.
Jackie stepped beside the table to reach behind Nina and listen to her lungs. When she saw the scars on her back, her eyes filled with tears, and she glanced at Acker who was having a hard time controlling his emotions as well. She managed to get herself under control and listened to Nina’s lungs. “There’s a bit of a rattle. If you don’t mind, I’ll give you some antibiotics to take orally. They’ll take care of your lungs and also the cuts on your neck. They look infected.”
“’Kay,” Nina said. “They’re just antibiotics?” she asked quietly.
“I promise you, they are just antibiotics. You’re welcome to use my books over there, or my computer to look them up and make sure they are what I tell you they are. The colo
r, markings, and shape will all be identifiable.”
“There’s no easy way to say the rest of this, so I’m just going to say it. The last thing I want to do is upset you. But, I’m supposed to document all the cuts and abrasions on your body, as well as any scarring. If you feel up to detailing any abuse, I’m supposed to record that too. Some of the women have been happy to get it all out; others haven’t wanted to. But it’s all so we can gather more proof against those that orchestrated this entire tragedy against you and the men involved.”
“Wasn’t their fault,” Nina said on a whisper.
“Wasn’t whose fault?” Acker asked, outraged that she’d try to explain away the actions of the people that had abused her so horribly.
“The males. They were drugged. Every day they were drugged. The days they drugged me, too, as horrible as they were, were good days. When they didn’t drug me…” she couldn’t even finish, she stopped talking, shaking her head as silent tears tracked down her cheeks.
Acker didn’t think, he reacted. Before he knew what he was doing, he had her in his arms again, and was holding her to him, soothing her. His fingers brushed across one of the scars on her back and somehow he just knew.
“Those were the days you fought them,” he said. Nina nodded as she kept her face buried in the crook of his neck.
“Nobody is ever going to hurt you again. You don’t have to be afraid anymore. We’re going to get you home to your family and…”
“No! No! Don’t call them, don’t send me back! Please!” she begged, becoming hysterical and fighting to be out of his arms.
Acker didn’t know what to say, what to do. “Okay, okay. I couldn’t anyway, we don’t know your name. But I won’t, I promise.”
Nina calmed a little as he continued to reassure her that she wouldn’t have to go back to her family.
After her breathing returned to normal and her tears had stopped, Jackie tried to speak to her again.
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