Outlaw

Dave helped Todd lift her from the bathtub and carefully lower her to the floor, then moved out of the way so Ron could examine her injuries. He stood in the doorway, watching the battered officer writhe in agony, and felt his anger boil over into blood lust for what the Chinese had done to her.

He reached up for the push-to-talk on his chest. “Scar Nine Nine, Mariner One Zero, jackpot. I say again, jackpot. Package secured and moving to extract.”

“Mariner One Zero, Dusty One copies. Seven minutes out.”

“How bad is she?” Dave asked.

Ron stood and led him into the bedroom and out of earshot. “She’s in rough shape.”

“How bad?”

“Probably moderate to severe pain with mostly superficial wounds. We don’t know the extent of her internal injuries, but she likely has some that could result in pulmonary or hemodynamic compromise.”

“English, Doc.”

“It means she’s lost a lot of blood and I don’t know how stable she is. Giving her the wrong medication could be dangerous, but she’s not ambulatory and we’ll have to carry her out. We can’t safely do that with the pain she’s in.”

“What do you suggest?”

“I can give her fifty milligrams of Ketamine intramuscularly. It’ll take close to five minutes before providing any relief.”

Dusty will be here in six.

Dave nodded. “Okay, do it. We need to get moving.”

Ron returned to the bathroom and knelt next to her. “Lisa,” he said quietly. “I’m going to give you something for the pain. Do you understand?”

She nodded. Dave watched him insert the needle into her thigh and slowly depress the plunger. He knew the dosage would likely break the dissociative threshold and put her into a trancelike state while still preserving her airway reflexes and spontaneous respiration. Aside from relieving her from the pain she’d endured, it would temporarily help her forget what was about to happen.

Five minutes.

“Mariner One Zero, Scar Nine Nine, we’re picking up chatter indicating hostiles are inbound to your position. Recommend you beat feet.”

“Roger,” Dave said, then turned to Ron. “We need to move. Now.”

Ron placed a comforting hand on Lisa’s shoulder and rolled her onto her side. She groaned, but it was obvious the Ketamine was already having an effect. Dave helped Ron roll her back onto a soft litter that was little more than a hammock with handles on either end, then he covered her with a poncho liner and stood.

Four minutes.

“Ready?” Dave asked.

Ron nodded.

Dave turned for the stairs, followed by Ron and Graham carrying Lisa between them, and Todd bringing up the rear as they descended to the first floor. They stacked up on either side of the open door and paused for a moment, then surged out into the darkness.

Three minutes.

After the cacophony of gunfire disturbed the peaceful evening, the night sounds were slowly beginning to return to normal. But he could still sense a difference.

There’s movement in the jungle.

“We’ve got company,” he whispered, motioning for Ron and Graham to move deeper into the foliage.

He and Todd fanned out and scanned the surrounding darkness while bounding from tree to tree in a well-rehearsed cadence to cover for each other. Just before reaching the level clearing in front of the lower villas, he froze and signaled for Todd to halt.

Hostiles.

He didn’t know if the Chinese knew where they were, but it was the only way to the beach. With their escape route blocked, they would have to shoot their way to safety.

“Dusty One, status,” Dave whispered.

The reply was instantaneous. “Two minutes.”

“Roger, this will be a hot extract.” Dave looked at Todd.

He nodded, and together they stepped out into the clearing. Dave swept his rifle to the left while Todd aimed straight ahead and to the right. Before taking two steps into the gravel opening, Dave placed his IR laser onto the figure of an armed soldier and squeezed the trigger. His SOPMOD M4 coughed, and two rounds caught the man in the chest.

To his right, he heard Todd engaging targets. Two shots. Then four. The SEALs never stopped moving across the clearing, continuing around the lower villa with Dave on the left and Todd on the right. Behind them, Ron and Graham muscled the litter and hurried to follow in their wake.

Before Dave descended into the tree line, a machine gun opened up on his left and sprayed bullets into the air over his head. He dropped to the uneven ground and rolled to his right to look for cover, then sighted over his rifle and returned fire, walking rounds closer to the muzzle flashes coming from the jungle.

“Contact left!”

But Todd had already heard the machine gun and reversed course up the hill to flank the threat from higher elevation. “Keep moving,” he growled.

Dave knew it was meant for the litter bearers, but he took it as a reminder that they couldn’t afford to get bogged down in a firefight with the helicopter less than a minute from the LZ. It would be a sitting duck on the beach, waiting for the SEALs to climb aboard.