Page 77 of Secret Redemption

“Stay behind me, Frank will cover our flank. Just like before at the hotel.”

He looked into her worried eyes and then took a second to hold her face in his hands.

“Please be careful Zack, I can’t lose you,” Ava said with a wobble in her voice.

“We’ll be fine Green Eyes,” he responded, before kissing her hard and fast.

Zin opened the door, and immediately bullets started raining down on them, he and Zin returned fire, moving forward as they did. He hadn’t recognised it from the inside of the room, but he now realised where they were.

Most military personnel had done some sort of search and rescue training at this particular facility at some time or another. What a fool Hamilton was.

More gunfire cracked through the air, and they pulled back around the corner before returning fire.

“They have us pinned in the hallway, a few more minutes and we’ll have men on our asses from both sides. We need a distraction so that we can get out of the hallway,” Zack said to Zin and Frank as more gunfire pinged off the concrete beside his head.

Zack and Zin returned fire hoping to catch one of the bastards, but they weren’t grunts, they were fully trained military men who knew how to handle a battle.

An explosion shook the ground beneath their feet, causing debris and dust to fall. Automatically, Zack moved to cover Ava’s head with his arm, protecting her from the worst of it. The cavalry had arrived and not a moment too soon! The explosion allowed them a moment of respite from the gunfire, just long enough for Zack to race to the other side of the hallway and shove himself into a tiny doorway that allowed him very little cover.

Zin dropped to a knee and covered him, raining bullets at the men firing at them.

“Clear,” Zack shouted, and they all moved forward slowly. Zin resumed the lead and Zack let him know that he needed to stay close to Ava and protect her. A shout from behind had them turning and firing. More men fell as they tried to watch both sides. A blast and what sounded like a helicopter rotor filtered through the noise around them.

Thank god! They needed a way out and fast. The front became clear again thanks to Zin, and they moved forward. They rounded the corner and could see the exit was also clear.

“Come on, time to leave the party early,” Zack said with determination. Rushing to the exit they were nearly clear when a door just in front of him opened. A young soldier stepped out and looked like a deer in the headlights. With calm control, Zack fired hitting the young man between the eyes.

If it came to a young guy who had made the wrong choice or Ava, it was no contest. His relief was short lived. Another man stepped out from across the hall, and before Zack could raise his gun he fired, and two things happened at once.

Zin hit him in the body knocking him sideways and to the ground, and a burning pain exploded in his thigh.

~~~

The sick feeling in Ava’s stomach that had been building erupted as she watched in slow motion as Zin dove at Zack, knocking him out of the way of the bullet heading for his vital organs. Horror filled her as the two men went down in a tangled heap, Zin’s head bouncing off the metal fire extinguisher attached to the wall with a sick cracking sound.

Ava fell to her knees beside Zack. Blood was pouring from a wound in his thigh that seemed to have hit a femoral artery.

“Zack?” she questioned as she tore the bottom of her shirt off, fashioning a crude tourniquet around his leg and cinching it tight, making him wince.

His face was ghostly pale, but still, he tried to joke. “Well if I knew getting shot would make you rip your clothes off I would have done it sooner.”

Her hand settled on his face, and she fought to stay calm. “Watch it, my father will kick your ass,” she said and smiled. Turning she tried to assess Zin who was being taken care of by her mother and father. What she saw made her blanche. Blood was covering his entire shirt, and a huge gash on his head was oozing blood steadily. What made it so much worse was the fact that he was unconscious. Stone cold out of it and that did not bode well.

“We need to get them to hospital and fast, or neither one will make it,” Frank said steadily. Ava nodded and looked to the door as it burst open. Her hand went to the knife at her side, and her arm raised, ready to impale the first fucker that came at her, but she needn’t have worried. To her great and immediate relief Daniel, Kanan, and Drew came through the door. The three men rushed to them, sinking to their knees to check on their teammates and friends.

“Help them,” she implored as Zack started to lose consciousness too. “Come on Zack don’t go to sleep, we need you to stay awake,” she implored her heart cracking open in fear.

Zack opened his eyes, but his eyes seemed glassy and unfocused. A wan smile touched his lips, and he spoke quietly, so quietly that she almost missed it. “Kiss Riley goodnight for me,” he said, and tears clogged her throat as he slumped sideways.

“Zack!!”, she screamed as Kanan bustled around him, checking the tourniquet, before bending and lifting Zack to his shoulder.

“We need to move,” he said urgently to Daniel and Drew who had Zin between them, a wad of material pressed against his abdomen.

“Copy that,” Daniel replied. “We have a HELO out front we need to get them both to the hospital. There isn't room for all of you.”

“Just get them there,” Ava said she walked outside and noticed the darkness. Lucy and Jace were jogging towards them.

“These two need a medivac out. Can you get them to the hospital? We’ll radio in when we have a destination.”

Lucy nodded and wrapped her arm around Ava, steering her to a vehicle a few feet away. Ava strained her neck to see Daniel, Kanan and now Dane working on Zack and Zin as the helicopter rotors started to whir.

Lucy guided her into the car, her parents getting in on either side of her as Lucy and Jace took the front.

Ava was cocooned by her parent’s arms and burst into tears. Hot tears of fear for Zack tracked down her cheeks as she envisioned her empty, cold life without him. His arms never holding her again. Him never saying goodnight to Riley again. Her tears wouldn't help him though so she dried her eyes on her sleeve and took a deep shuddering breath. “Where are they taking him?” she asked Lucy.

“The closest hospital is Hereford. It has a helipad, and they know they are on their way. They should reach them in fifteen minutes. Zack is stable, and they managed to get a line in to get some fluids in him.”

It was what Lucy didn't say that worried her. “And? What aren't you telling me?”

“Zin arrested twice and they are struggling to stabilise him,” Lucy said calmly. Ava didn't need that explained. Zin was in serious trouble from his wounds, and he had done it to save Zack.