Chapter 14 #2
Gunfire cracked off in several directions, but the shots were in the distance. The teams at the doors were expecting heavy fire. The rounds, like the screaming, were muffled by the walls.
I signaled to Carson and Foster and filed in behind Carson as he took point. They were engaged in a firefight at both entry points. The attacks on the doors seemed to be doing their jobs. They were pulling the fighting to them.
I could hear the other breaching teams on my comms. As much as I wanted to rush to their aid, Adam was my priority. Our job was to get to him.
Every step I took, I prayed. I begged. I pleaded. Coming in hot was a risk, but there really wasn’t any other way. If Adam’s captors wanted, they could end Adam’s life before we got them. That was my worst fear. That I was this fucking close, and I might still lose him.
Breaching a building was organized chaos.
It didn’t matter how much you planned. Our plan was to make entry and go left.
The north team was to go right. That was the plan, but as Moltke said, a battle plan never survives first contact with the enemy.
That had been drilled into our heads during our training.
We inched along the hallway. As we reached the door we thought Adam was behind, I could hear several voices on the other side of the wall. Harsh, guttural Arabic shouting floated toward us.
Kill him!
They were ordering someone to be killed. It had to be Adam.
Foster ordered, “Go!”
Carson nodded, then yelled, “FLASH OUT!”
He tossed the flash-bang into the room, and entered, his M4 raised. Shots rang out from his and Foster’s weapons as they dropped the guys in the room who’d pulled guns on us.
I scanned for Adam.
When I found him, my guts dropped to my feet. A tango had him pulled up tight against his chest, using him as a shield. I couldn’t tell if he had a gun shoved into Adam’s back or not.
I searched, but my heart and soul couldn’t decide what emotion I should be feeling.
Adam was in bad shape. Completely naked. He was black and blue, bleeding from several locations. He had at least two bullet wounds. I didn’t know if he could even see. His eyes were so swollen.
The tango holding Adam peeked out from behind him, but I couldn’t get a fucking shot. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Foster circling toward the left. I could hear Carson behind us, guarding the door.
In Arabic, I ordered, “Daeh yadhhab.”
The man squeezed Adam’s body to him tighter, pulling a knife from somewhere.
“Brock?”
The sound of my name on his lips was so fucking beautiful.
“Yeah,” I responded.
Adam’s voice was so fucking weak. Pushing that thought from my mind, I kept staring at him and the guy holding him hostage. I watched Adam’s demeanor shift slightly. The doom and gloom lifted just a bit.
“Try Urdu…” Adam choked out as the asshat behind him tightened his arm across Adam’s throat.
I did as suggested. My Urdu was rusty as fuck, but the guy responded this time, telling me to fuck off. Basically.
I stepped forward, and the guy moved the knife to Adam’s throat. That small move exposed him just enough. Foster and I both fired, dropping the guy. As he fell, Adam collapsed, too. I rushed forward, catching him under his arms.
“Medic!” I yelled, lowering Adam to the ground. “Hang on, Woody. We’ve got you. We’re going to get you out of here.”
Adam’s hand came up to my face weakly.
“Brock…” His voice drifted off to nothing, and his arm went limp, falling to the dirt floor.
I scrambled, pulling off my gloves to feel for his pulse.
Nothing!
“ADAM!” I started CPR, screaming, “Medic!” between every breath.
Foster’s voice called out, echoing in my ear since he was still in the same room. “TOC, this is Alpha One. We need an immediate medivac. Alpha Two has been located and secured but is down hard.”
Tears poured down my face as I continued compressions. “Please, God, Adam. Don’t leave me.”
“Brock, move over. I’ve got him,” Alex said.
When I didn’t move, Foster grabbed my tactical vest and pulled me away.
I fell back on my ass, and Alex Madison, who was our corpsman, moved into place.
He slapped the AED pads on Adam’s chest. The sound of the flatline tones coming from the machine drowned out the world around me, making everything else sound far, far, away.
“Please, Adam!” I begged, kneeling over his head.
I wanted to look into his eyes and spend whatever time we could scrounge together with one another.
I no longer gave a fuck if we were able to sleep together under the same roof or hold hands at a restaurant and while we walked down the street.
I just wanted him to live. I’d take whatever I could fucking get.
Alex shocked Adam several times. His body jerked, arching up off the nasty ass floor. The smells of this room would have overwhelmed me if I’d allowed them to register at all, but all that got through for me was the glorious sound of Adam’s heart restarting. The beats were regular and beautiful.
I leaned over Adam, kissing his forehead, repeating “Thank you, Jesus” and “I love you, baby” over and over.
Foster called out to Carson, Eric, and James. “Keep everyone away from this room. No one gets through until I give the okay.”
“Roger that, Lieutenant.”
“Lieu,” Alex yelled, tossing Foster an IV kit.
I wanted to help, but at the moment, I didn’t have the capacity. I’d officially lost my shit. Foster knelt next to Adam, inserting the IV.
He handed me the bag of fluid. “Squeeze that.”
I did as ordered, still watching Adam’s face while Foster piggybacked another smaller bag of fluid. Alex and Foster continued working on Adam while I focused on squeezing that saline bag. His ragged breaths were music to my ears, only to be topped by the whirling thump, thump of a helicopter.
Foster stood, grabbing a blanket and the collapsible litter. “Let’s go! That’s Adam’s ride.”
Finlay came over to help us load Adam up. We rushed Adam out of the building to the courtyard of the compound.
We slid the litter into the chopper, and I stepped back, knowing I had a duty to stay with my team, but I wanted nothing more than to follow Adam. I turned to Foster, and he glared at me.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going? Get on that fucking bird. I expect regular updates.”
“Yes, Lieutenant,” I said around the lump in my throat.
I climbed into the chopper next to Adam and waved at my brothers as we lifted into the air.