“Unmarked vehicles coming your way Black Team,” Chewy’s voice sounds off over the comms in my ear.
Blowing out a long breath I wait for my lungs to empty before breathing in deeply and letting it out. I repeat this action, my heart rate slowing to where I need it to be. I need to keep the adrenaline at bay a little while longer and fight with a clear head.
“Blue Team, I got men coming your way through the woods. White, you’re their backup if they need it.” Marx’s voice calls over the line.
“Huh.” Chewy remarks. I wait with bated breath for her to continue, but she doesn't say another word.
“Chewy? What’s huh?” Marx says, his voice oddly patient.
“Petrov. He’s sent a coded message. He wants to negotiate.”
“Not while he has men coming this way. Fuck him,” Marx growls back. I open my mouth to agree with him but lights illuminate the drive and I know it’s go time.
“Incoming,” Chewy murmurs.
I brace myself and wait for the SUVs to come closer. Timing is everything and I need to be able to do the most amount of damage before all hell breaks loose. Looking to my left I notice Blanche doing the same. She’s poised low, gun steady in her hand, but that doesn’t stop her from looking my way and winking.
“Shit’s about to get real, ladies and gentlemen,” Pops’ voice says over the comms.
Gravel crunches as the vehicles get closer and I count to five before taking aim and blowing out the back tire as it rolls right by me, Blanche shooting out the front tire at the same time. I slink back into the shadows and wait. I count down from five, taking a steady breath at three. At two the doors open and slam shut, and I count the pairs of boots I can see. Six. Six men, armed and dangerous. I catch Mercy from her perch in a tree across from me, and bite my lip at the feral grin she gives me before she jumps from the tree, landing on the ground and opening fire on the men on her side of the SUV.
Pops is right. Shit just got real.
Joy
I can’t stay here. Not in the main room as I watch Violet and Joe working on Niko. He’s still a kid, barely in his twenties and he’s been shot. Protecting me, Kit. Addy, Bree, Laney May and Little Bee. His life could be cut short because of us and I’m not OK with that. Up until this point I was certain the DRMC would win. That Reid would win. Now I’m not sure if I can stomach any more people getting hurt.
“Joe, you good to administer the IV relief so I can close him up?” Vi asks, and I’m in awe. The Vi I know is Jazz’s sister and she’s sassy but also kind, and likes to laugh a lot. This Vi is bossy and capable and confident.
“You’re looking at the top of the class of IV insertion,” Joe says, teeth gritted.
They work together like a well oiled team. That’s a good thing because I don’t think Niko will be the last person lying on that table tonight. And that thought in itself makes me feel sick. Ican’t stay here, I can’t watch anymore, so I skulk in the doorway of the little room that Chewy, Remy and Marx are set up in. I’m pretty sure it’s a pantry judging by the stores here.
“You know, if you’re going to lurk you may as well take a seat,” Chewy says, not even turning to look at me.
“How did you know I was here?” I ask, edging into the room and taking the one and only spare seat, a wooden stool.
“Chewy has the hearing of a bat,” Remy says, looking over her shoulder at me with a soft smile. “I know it looks bad, but Vi was a nurse for a long time, and Joe is training to be a paramedic. Sage is also training to be a nurse. We have people who can help. And from what Vi said Niko’s wound was the best it could be, considering the circumstances. Clean through and through, missed everything vital.” She leans and pats my thigh. “Everything will work out, Joy. We’ve got this.”
She says this so confidently that I almost feel it down to my bones. Everything will be alright because it has to be. There is no other option. I don't want to lose Reid or Kit or any of the people I have come to love and look up to.
“Incoming,” Chewy murmurs, so low I almost missed it.
My eyes dart across the screens, but there are too many to keep up with. This is almost like watching a movie or something. There are flashes going off everywhere, the rat-tat-tat of gun fire and yet all the voices coming through the audio are eerily calm. I knew that these men and some of the women were trained, but I never imagined it would be like this.
My gaze catches on the screen in the top left of what looks to be the long, winding driveway. There are SUVs with the doors wide open and men moving around, some falling, some running and then I see him. Reid’s movements are so recognizable to me, even on a tiny screen in a small pantry underground. He moves with lethal grace as he stalks his prey, first taking one shot, then standing over the man on the ground and firing once more. Thismay be a fight to the death, but Reid is still humane, minimizing the suffering of the men he’s protecting us against.
“Red Team, we got drones coming in, get low,” Chewy says in her slightly robotic voice, gaze jumping around the screens.
“Argh! You motherfuckers! We got men down!” Pops’ voice comes over loud and clear before cutting out.
“Pops? Dex? Shit, Red Team comms are down.” Remy mutters as her fingers fly over her keyboard.
“White Team, we got another wave of men coming from behind, situate yourselves.” Marx barks, rolling his shoulders and hunching closer to the screen, jaw jumping. “Fuck, we got a team in the house. Blue! Inside now!”
My insides twist. Pops’ team has been hit and he’s not answering anymore. There are men scrambling all over the screens, Reid’s team are fighting men, so many men. There are flashes of people I recognize on the screens but they’re all moving too fast and are in parts of the ranch that I don’t recognize. They’re everywhere and yet none are here in the house to stop the men who have broken in and I’m finding it hard to breathe. What if they find us? What if they take our babies? What if Reid gets hurt…
“Shit! Joy, I need you to breathe! Ana!” Remy’s voice sounds far away as I float off my wooden stool and crumple to the ground.
