32
They toucheddown just outside of the town of Rabak on the secret compound long abandoned by the US government where his men had set up shop. Reaper had barely cut the engine before he ripped open the console, grabbed the serum, and jumped out of the helicopter. “Caroline, stay here with Melissa. I’ll be back for you in just a minute.”
He had to get to his men. He had to get to them now. The empty expanse of packed dirt between him and the low-lying building overgrown with vines stretched out in what seemed like miles but was only fifty feet away. Before Reaper took his first step, Thornton, Hicks, and Diggs rushed across the expanse meeting him underneath the slowing propeller.
“Shit, man, talk about cutting it close.” Thornton stood expectantly his arms hanging loose but ready at his sides. All three of them had the shadows of sleepless nights hollowing out beneath her eyes. They’d lost more weight. Their jaws and cheeks were more stark and sharp.
“I ran into a few explosions, held us up.” Reaper hopped on his left foot, struggling to maintain balance and rip open the flat zipper pouch at the same time. “Here.” He shoved the entire contents at his men.
All three of them looked down, but not one of them made a move to grab a green vial.
“Is that all of it?” Diggs asked almost hesitantly.
He’d forgotten for just a second, somehow in the mad rush and the pain and trying to make sure Caroline stayed alive, that he was short one crucial vial. “That’s it.”
Hicks’ towering massive frame took a step back, his dark blue eyes full of realization. “It’s okay; we know you did what you could. You two, take your dose now. I’ll take the rest to the team inside.”
No, he didn’t want this. He didn’t want to lose a single man on his team. Unbidden, Reaper felt the strong urge to glance back at Caroline. She had one hand on the open door and a right foot halfway to the ground. Her gaze was locked on him.
Hicks continued, “Diggs, get a dose to Quantum ASAP. His vitals are spiking; he needs an injection now!”
Hicks grabbed one vial and took off running for the compound. None of them would take a dose and leave a single man on their team out.
Just like Reaper wouldn’t.
But he was their leader, it was expected of him to sacrifice for the team—not Hicks. Not Thornton or anyone else.
“Reaper?” Caroline asked hesitantly at his side now.
“You need to be with Melissa, she’ll be disoriented when she wakes up,” he said hoping he could distract her.
“She’s awake and a little drowsy but lucid. You think one of your guys could carry her inside?”
Before Reaper could speak, Hicks was striding off in the direction of the passenger-side of the helicopter. He wasn’t gonna take that dose, not unless Reaper knocked him unconscious and shot him up himself.
Thornton took another step back, as if reading Reaper’s mind. “Hey, man, you know I’m not going to do it. None of us will. We all took the vow—so that others may live.”
Reaper felt his insides cracking. He’d known they’d be stubborn, but he’d hope to convince them. “What if we each took part of the dose and saved enough for the last man from each of our vials. We can make up nearly a whole entire other dose.”
A doubtful shadow crossed his tanned face, “We could try, but there’s no guarantee.”
Caroline slid her arm around his waist, and Reaper clutched her to him. “There are no guarantees, but it’s our only hope. We need time.”
“Let’s go inside, put it before the entire team for a vote,” Thornton said.
Reaper checked to make sure that Hicks got Melissa out of the helicopter okay and then hopped on his good foot through the open door into the small makeshift barracks. Inside, stifling heat circulated by a lazy overhead fan greeted him.
Shep and Juarez leaned over a man stretched out on a small cot on the floor in the corner. Diggs was between them, injecting the serum into the man’s arm.
Quantum.
Dammit. He’d always suffered more than the rest of the team, overload from the enhancements kept him on the brink of death by seizure. He needed the serum more than the rest of the team.
With Caroline’s help, Reaper crossed the room and maneuvered himself down onto the floor at Quantum’s sweat-soaked head. Just like Caroline had before, Quantum’s eyes moved restlessly beneath his closed lids, his fingers and legs twitched and jerked.
He’d never seen him so out of it; Winters hadn’t allowed it. And since escaping, none of them had missed a dose; they couldn’t risk losing control.
Quantum’s twitching slowed but didn’t stop. What if he needed another dose?
