36. Chapter 36
Chapter thirty-six
Galen
Galen and the team were thrown backward from the shockwave of the first blast. They watched helplessly as the initial blast set off a series of coordinated explosions around the foundation of the prison, sending the three-story brick building crashing down like a house of cards. The entire mound of rubble burst into blue flames, which spread uncontrolled.
“Alex!” Galen yelled.
Michael grabbed Galen by the shoulders and pulled him back as he tried to rush into the burning rubble.
“Galen,” pleaded Ryo, “those blue flames aren’t normal. They burn up to three thousand degrees. There’s no way we can safely approach the building.”
“Not leaving them!” screamed Galen as he broke free from Michael’s grasp and ran toward the collapsed building, now entirely engulfed in blue flames. He made it only a few feet before Andrea and Michael tackled him.
“We can’t let you risk your life, Galen,” begged Andrea. “If he’s truly invulnerable, he’ll make it.”
Galen, through his tears, cried, “Let me go! Goddamn it! Let me go!”
“Excessively high radiation readings are coming from the rubble,” Ryo said. “We need to get away now before it’s too late and the authorities arrive. There are too many questions we don’t want to answer. Get into the van now, soldier!”
Galen continued to struggle against Andrea and Michael, as Ryo nodded and motioned with his hand toward the van. Andrea and Michael complied by dragging Galen across the field. Upon arriving at the van, they threw Galen in the back and slammed the door behind them. Galen sobbed so hard he couldn’t catch his breath, while Ryo got behind the wheel and floored it.
“Breathe,” Andrea instructed, “breathe; you’re hyperventilating.”
“Fuck ya! Fuck ya all. Could have saved them!”
Ryo demanded, “Galen, get it together, or you’ll be restrained.”
Galen picked up a helmet and slammed it against the van wall, bouncing past Michael’s ear.
“Galen, I don’t want to hurt you, buddy, but if you don’t calm your ass down, I’ll knock you out. You need to bring your anger and heart rate down before someone gets hurt or you stroke out,” begged Michael.
“Heart rate…” said Galen, putting the pieces together. “Ryo, ya have the only phone. Ya can check Alex’s biometrics from his watch!”
Ryo unlocked his phone while driving and tossed it back to Andrea. She looked intently at the phone before responding that the app had stopped recording all biometric data from Alex ten minutes ago.
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” yelled Galen as he punched the van wall with his fist repeatedly until Michael grabbed his arm and stopped him.
“Galen, get your head back on and move forward. We’ve got to move forward like we always do,” said Michael.
Galen took a deep breath and abruptly stopped yelling. With his eyes closed, he thought, Alex! Alex, where are ya? Follow mah thoughts! Please follow mah thoughts!
Andrea dropped to the floor of the van, kneeling beside Galen, and grabbed his face between her hands. “Has he stroked out?”
“No,” growled Galen, “reaching out to Alex with mah thoughts. Telepathically linked at the time of the attack. Can’t concentrate. Shut the fuck up. Can usually feel him when we’re connected.”
The team sat in silence for several moments.
Andrea eventually broke the silence. “Do you feel him, Galen?”
Galen silently shook his head as the tears streamed down his face. Michael held Galen securely to prevent him from causing any more harm to himself as the van sped down the dark country road.
Ryo said they had to get back to the school and regroup before they moved out, leaving no trace of their presence.
Galen sprang up from the floor and yelled, “Stop the van, Ryo!”
“I can’t, Galen.”
“Stop the fucking van now!” yelled Galen.
Ryo slammed on the brakes, throwing the passengers forward, crashing against each other and into the front seats.
“What the fuck, Ryo? We survive the attack to be killed by your driving?” yelled Michael.
“Get the medical supplies and get out of the van, now!” said Ryo.
“Are you hurt, Ryo?” asked Andrea.
“Get out now!” demanded Ryo again.
As Andrea grabbed the medical kit, Galen and Michael jumped out of the van. Rounding the van until they could see the road in front of them, they all froze in disbelief at Alex standing in the middle of the road, holding Danyal’s motionless body. Alex dropped to his knees but held on tight to Danyal.
“Help, I’m not sure what’s wrong with Danyal. I can’t tell if he’s breathing,” said Alex in a weak voice.
Michael jumped into action, taking Danyal from Alex’s arms, and took him to the back of the van with Andrea to medically assess the situation. Alex fell forward, but Galen caught Alex’s body before he hit the road.
“Got ya, Alex.”
Alex smiled at Galen as he rolled his cheek against Galen’s chest before losing consciousness. Galen picked up Alex and carried him to the back of the van, where Michael helped him load Alex to safety and Ryo got them moving once more.
“What’s the situation?” barked Ryo.
“Danyal is severely dehydrated, so I started an IV. His heartbeat is weak, and he looks in bad shape,” Andrea replied.
“Alex?” questioned Ryo.
“Not sure,” said Galen. “His clothes are scorched. Don’t see any obvious injuries. Heartbeat is strong. May have passed out from the exertion required to escape.”
“We’re almost at the school. Andrea, I want you to shed your gear and change your shirt, then take the Jeep and get Danyal to the hospital. The address is in the GPS. Your cover story is he’s a friend you were checking on and found unconscious.”
“Alex?” asked Galen.
“We can’t risk taking Alex to the hospital. There’s no way they could give him an IV or traditional care. I’ll call PGC and have Dr. Bruno come in the helicopter; he can be here in a couple hours.”
“No!” demanded Galen. “Not Bruno. Alex would prefer Donalds.”
Ryo nodded. “Fine, fine, Dr. Donalds will be here within a couple of hours. Galen, I want you to stay with Alex and let me know immediately if there are any changes.”
“What about me?” asked Michael.
Ryo said he needed Michael to pack up the camp while Ryo started on damage control. He’d begin by anonymously warning local authorities they were entering a potential contamination situation due to the rumored activity of terrorists in the local area. He pulled into the high school parking lot, and the crew unloaded Alex and Danyal. Galen watched Andrea speed away in the SUV with Danyal as he carried Alex into the building, Ryo holding the door open.
Galen carried Alex down the hall to his room and laid him gently on the bed. Galen looked down at Alex as tears returned to his eyes. Galen couldn’t fight his fatigue and adrenaline crash anymore as he reclined on the bed beside Alex, watching his chest rise and fall.
“I’ve got ya, Alex. I’ll protect ya,” was Galen’s last thought before he closed his eyes and drifted off. Anyone who wanted to hurt Alex would have to go through me.