“I’m seeing an approximately ten-foot by ten-foot building under camouflaged netting due east, roughly two hundred yards from your current location.I’m reading three heat signatures inside.Two are sitting across from each other at what appears to be a small table, and the third is sitting in a chair, unmoving against the northernmost wall,” Ace reported.
Apollo couldn’t sense a survivor he’d never met until he got closer, so they’d need to move in and hope it wasn’t three guards.
“I’ll take the lead,” Apollo said.“If we find a survivor, we’ll move in.If not, we move on.”There was no need compromising their mission if there wasn’t a survivor to rescue.They’d continue on ghosting through the trees and finish their recon of the area.They needed a better picture of what exactly was going on this side of the lake and right now, this was the best way of doing it.
Apollo headed in the direction of the hidden building, reaching out with his senses and stopping several times to touch the ground to ensure they were still alone.The mental hospital was on the same property, but too far away for them to see.Soon, they made out the faint glow of a single light coming from the building covered in netting.He reached out again and felt it for the first time.It was faint, but there was one survivor in that building.Shit.
“I’ve got one mutant.The other two must be guards,” Apollo announced.
“From their positioning and heat signatures, I’d say the two moving at the table are likely the guards, while the one sitting alone is our guy.They might be tied up,” Rocko said.
“Agreed.How do we proceed?”Griffin asked.
Seconds later and before Apollo could answer, the door opened, and a man walked out, closing the door behind him.The guy went over to a bush and unzipped his pants to take a leak.
“Griffin, do it quietly,” Apollo ordered.
The guard never saw it coming.Griffin went beast mode, scooped up the man, and carried him far away into the darkness before the guy ever knew he wasn’t alone.There wasn’t a sound, absolute silence, the same way he’d dealt with Soloman, Xavier’s father, who’d threatened to blow them up back in New Orleans.
That only left one guard and one prisoner inside the hidden building.They’d wait him out.Sooner or later, the second guard would open the door to look for his friend.
Apollo inched up the side of the building until he was beside the door, then listened for approaching footsteps.He didn’t have to wait long.
When the door opened, the guy said, “How long does it take you to piss, man?We gotta wake this fucker up for another round of questioning.Personally, I think the boss just likes torturing these mutant fuckers, the guy knows shit.”
Apollo reached out and took hold of the man’s throat.With a simple thought from Apollo, he interrupted the man’s heart rhythm, causing his heart to stop mid-beat, and with a soft gurgle, the guard slumped to the ground dead.It had taken him seconds to snuff out a life with a mere thought, but Apollo found no pleasure in that knowledge.Rocko emerged from the darkness, looking from the dead man to Apollo before entering the building.It hit him then that Rocko had never seen him use his abilities to kill someone.Did this make him a monster to his lover?
There wasn’t time to figure that out now.Apollo followed Rocko inside and scanned the room.Playing cards lay on the table where the guards had been sitting, and across the room slumped an unconscious man tied to a chair.It was Tom.He recognized the man from the pictures Mary had given them, even though he was covered in cuts and bruises.
“We have Tom,” Apollo announced into the comms.“Alert Renee, we’ll require her assistance.”
“Roger,” Ace replied.
“Jagger, we’re on our way back with one survivor.”
“We’ll be waiting,” Jagger responded.
“How is he?”Apollo asked Rocko, who was busy cutting the ropes and checking Tom over.
“He’s unconscious and covered in wounds, but I don’t believe it’s anything Renee can’t handle.Let’s get him out of here,” Rocko said.
Apollo holstered his gun and bent to pick Tom up.Rocko led the way out of the building, with Blade and Damon providing cover.Halfway back to the boat, Griffin rejoined them; the only sign of damage was a slight cut on his cheek, which would be healed by the time they reached home.
“Will they find the body?”Apollo asked him.
“No,” Griffin stated.
“Good.The second one doesn’t have any marks on him to indicate we were here.Autopsy results will identify a heart attack.”
They continued on in silence.Tom was too light; they had to have been starving the man over the past couple of months of his captivity.He made no noise, and Apollo could barely hear his breathing.The quicker they got him back to Renee, the better.Apollo doubted Tom would have survived another question period with those two assholes.One bright spot, those two wouldn’t have a chance to ask anyone any more questions.
Jagger and Hendrix were waiting for them.He handed Tom to Hendrix and waited for the entire team to climb onto the boat before following them.Soon, they were miles away from the mental hospital property, and he noticed Tom’s eyes open as Rocko and Blade were bandaging a wound on his thigh.
Rocko placed a calming hand on Tom’s chest and said, “You’re safe.Mary sent us.”
Tom’s eyes widened.
“My Mary?”Tom asked, his voice cracking.
