They tried everything they could to stop Merrick's bleeding. Still, he lost consciousness. Overwhelmed by hopelessness, Kick fell sitting on the floor.
Hesh groaned in frustration and shook Merrick lightly. "Merrick. Merrick. Please…"
The Federation's assault on Fort Alpha was unexpected. When all was lost they were ordered to stay behind covering others' retreat. While most of their soldiers made it to the extraction points, their own retreat was cut off. They pulled out and hid in the basement of the infirmary. He restored communications and contacted Keegan and Logan, who had gone to the city three days ago.
He knew they weren't going to make it. But he didn't know watching his commanding officer die would be so heart-rending. And Hesh only made it worse. He's still calling his name.
Kick pressed a button on the comm. "Keegan. How long until you and Logan are here?"
"We are in a helicopter. We will be there in thirty minutes." Keegan replied.
"Merrick will bleed out before you arrive."
Keegan remained silent. He must be feeling defeated. Soon he will be the last of the original fourteen Ghosts. Kick thought.
"I'm taking Merrick outside and surrender. If the Federation gives him medical attention he might survive."
Hesh raised his head and stared at him in shock. "No, Kick. You can't do this."
He watched Hesh, and reached out a hand to caress his face. He didn't want to leave him. He wanted to stay with him. Hesh watched back, his pine green eyes gentle and sad.
"We can't just watch Merrick die. I'm so sorry." Kick said.
"Don't do this, Kick. They will just let him bleed out." Keegan said. There was pain in his voice and Kick knew who he was thinking about. "And they might kill you."
"Or maybe they won't. I can't give up this chance."
"I'll go." Hesh bent down and wrapped Merrick's arm around his shoulders.
Before he could stop him they heard Logan's growl through the comm. Hesh paused. "Logan…"
Logan continued growling. Then he made some strange sounds. He's trying to speak. Kick realized.
"Hesh. Your injuries are less severe. You have a better chance to escape when they are here." He has to convince him to stay… "And Logan needs you to stay."
Logan whimpered, protesting.
Kick took Merrick from Hesh and handed him his tablet. "Some security cameras are still functioning. Use this to watch their feeds. Tap here."
Hesh embraced him. He didn't want to leave him. He wanted to feel his body and his touch again…
Kick stood up, carrying Merrick over his shoulder. Merrick groaned weakly, still unconscious.
The Federation soldiers were escorting their captives, disabling mines, tending their own wounded, setting up their own defenses… He avoided them as best as he could lest they found out where Hesh was hiding.
He was spotted by two Federation soldiers near the armory. They aimed their shotguns at him, shouting. Kick put down Merrick, and raised his hands above his head.
More Federation soldiers ran toward him. A captain took command, signaling two soldiers. "Seize him."
"Treat his injuries." Kick shouted to him.
A Federation soldier knocked him on the head with the stock of his rifle. Kick blacked out, and fell to his knees. They pulled his arms behind him and bound his wrists together with zip ties. Another Federation soldier dragged Merrick away from him, leaving behind a trail of blood. Kick struggled. They hit him again. He crumbled to the ground.
The Federation soldiers saluted. They dragged him up and turned him around, forcing him to face someone approaching. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the Ghosts' former commanding officer. Keegan was right. He would just let him bleed out. Kick watched Merrick, his heart breaking.
"Kick, is it? I don't believe we've met." Rorke closed the distance between them with a few strides. He pulled off Kick's mask, mockingly held it in the air and studied its pattern. "Reports tell me there are three of you. Another one is Hesh, correct? Where is he hiding?"
"You will not have him this time."
He was punched in the nose. He collapsed. Rorke shouted orders. "Put that one on an infirmary bed but let him bleed out. Take this one."
They dragged Merrick away. Kick kept him in his view until he disappeared behind a building. I'm sorry, Merrick. Goodbye…
They dragged him across Fort Alpha to the Command Center. Once in the war room Rorke tore the zip ties off his wrists and threw him into a chair.
"You are an intel specialist, aren't you? Why don't you crack into your colonel's database and hand over what's inside. Ours is being ineffective and the boss is losing patience." Rorke cocked his .44 Magnum.
The Federation soldier working on the computer turned his head over his shoulder and glared at him with hatred. Kick couldn't help but twist his mouth scornfully.
Rorke suddenly aimed his .44 Magnum at his thigh and fired a shot. Kick shouted in pain, putting a hand to the wound. The Federation soldiers in the room jumped, and remained silent.
"I promise it will be easier for you if you cooperate." Rorke grinned.
Kick gasped for air, still pressing the wound. "Beg your boss to be patient. I promise it will be easier for you."
Rorke strode to him. Kick raised an arm, blocking the swing of his fist, and reached for the knife strapped to Rorke's belt with another hand. Rorke hit him in the eye first. And he grabbed his shoulder and slammed him on the table. Kick grabbed the edge of the table, but still collapsed to the floor.
Rorke placed a foot on his right palm. As he put pressure behind it Kick felt excruciating pain and heard his bones cracking. He groaned.
"Back in my days Ghosts didn't accept weaklings like you." Rorke broke his right arm with a powerful blow. Kick blacked out. He awoke when he did the same to his left arm. Splintered bones protruded through tears in his upper arms.
Rorke dragged him by the collar to the computer and pushed the Federation intel specialist away. Kick struggled weakly, and was forced to his knees. His head was pressed against the desk.
"Tell me why Elias allowed you to join while working on it." Rorke put his undamaged left hand on the keyboard.
This brute force…He thought about the story… So menacing and unbeatable. He would never match him even without injuries. He clicked a few keys.
The Federation intel specialist was far from cracking into Colonel Olsen's database. He could send a backup to his own tablet and delete everything from this computer. He began working on it.
The Federation intel specialist frowned in puzzlement. "What are you doing?"
"Shut up." Rorke said. He grabbed his head and knocked him against the desk again. "Come on, Kick. Do tell me."
But they did allow him to join, didn't they? Keegan took him on an infiltrating mission when he was listed among the candidates to join the Ghosts. It was eight years ago, but his memory of it was still as clear as day. The next day Keegan wrote a report and Elias welcomed him.
"Keegan believed I was qualified." He clicked a few keys, exploring the computer. Its drone control system was disabled by the Federation prior to the attack. That's why they didn't receive drone support.
"Ah. So it was Keegan, eh? He will be disgusted at his own judgement when he sees you in this state." Rorke smirked.
He growled and fought against him. Rorke grabbed him by the shoulder and threw him against a whiteboard. It collapsed beneath him. Kick supported himself with his left hand on the whiteboard, trying to get on his feet. The Federation intel specialist took the seat at the computer desk, fingers flickering over the keyboard.
Rorke drew his .44 Magnum and aimed it at his head. "Tell me whether you think it's loaded before I pull the trigger."
A window shattered. Rorke dodged a knife thrown at him and fired a shot at a figure darting in. He barely evaded it. Keegan… He was still in the civilian clothes he had worn into the city, without face paint and arms. He lunged himself at Rorke, knocking him against the table.
Rorke quickly got the upper hand, spinning Keegan around and knocking him against the table. Kick struggled to stand again. His bones cracked but this time he succeeded. He rushed to the Federation intel specialist. A bullet fired by a Federation soldier found its way into his waist. Keegan kicked Rorke away from him, making him block the Federation soldiers' sight of Kick. They turned to fire at him. Keegan ducked under the cover of the table.
The Federation intel specialist drew his handgun. Kick grabbed the barrel and pushed it aside. A shot fired. Rorke charged toward him. Kick snatched the handgun in time and pulled the trigger. The bullet missed Rorke by an inch. Keegan grabbed Rorke's shoulder from behind. They fell to the floor, exposing the Federation soldiers to his sight. Kick fired at them, killing them in a second.
The Federation intel specialist recovered from the shock and reached for his wrist. Kick fired the last bullet into his head. Just at this time he heard gunfire coming from the infirmary. Hesh… Logan…
He clicked the keyboard. The security camera feeds appeared on the screen. Hesh rushed up the stairs, returning fire at a squad of Federation soldiers. Logan was in the infirmary ward on the fourth floor. He was in civilian clothes, too. He threw a Federation soldier out of the window, carried Merrick's body over his shoulder, and ran toward the stairs.
Rorke was now on top of Keegan and pressing a knife toward his neck. Keegan emitted a low growl from his throat. The floor shook as the Federation soldiers charged up the stairs toward the war room.
He worked on the computer, bringing the drone control system back online and setting the drones' course.
Keegan freed himself from Rorke, but was quickly seized again and thrown against the wall. The door near him was kicked open. Keegan knocked the first Federation soldier coming in over. Kick slammed a fresh mag he found on the Federation intel specialist's body into the handgun, cocked it, and fired at the second Federation soldier swinging his rifle at Keegan. Rorke went for Keegan. Kick took his aim at him.
But Keegan grabbed him, spun him around, and knocked him against the wall. Kick shifted his aim and fired at the third Federation soldier coming in.
The drones approached the Command Center, firing their missiles. The impact sent Kick off balance. Keegan slid beneath the table toward him while Rorke ducked for cover.
The Command Center crumbled as the drones fired another round of missiles. Kick fell through a crack in the floor. A beam fell on him, squeezing the air out of his lungs.
A squad of Federation soldiers hurried into the wreckage, shouting. In response, the wounded and trapped Federation soldiers around him cried for help.
Keegan found him before the Federation soldiers did. He lifted the beam and pushed it away. Kick gasped for air and struggled. When he's freed, Keegan grabbed him by the waist, shouldered him, and carried him toward an opening in the wreckage.
He came… Why? Did he still see what he had seen when he wrote that report in him? "Keegan…"
"Shut up." Keegan scolded him.
But that put his mind at ease. Kick closed his eyes and smiled.
Outside the wreckage the Federation soldiers desperately ran for cover. Some tried to take down the drones with turrets and machine guns. Keegan found an unguarded jeep near a checkpoint. He put him into the back seat. There were weapons scattered on the back seat. Kick picked up a handgun, inserted a mag into it, and pulled its slide.
Keegan pressed a button on the comm. "Hesh. We are in a jeep, heading toward you."
A Federation soldier shouted and opened fire at them. Keegan stamped the pedal to the metal, throwing him off the seat. The jeep hit and ran over someone.
A missile hit the ground near them. The jeep almost rolled over. Kick dragged himself up. The Federation soldiers fired at them, but none was within the effective range of a handgun.
The infirmary was just ahead. Hesh and Logan saw them and charged out of the cover of an overturned car. Logan fired from the hip at the Federation soldiers with a rifle while carrying Merrick's body over his shoulder. Hesh followed closely behind, tossing a smoke grenade.
They leapt into the middle seat of the jeep. Logan put down Merrick's body and threw himself on him. Kick tensed up and bit back a cry of pain. "Logan…"
Logan whimpered. He grabbed his shoulders and buried his head in his chest. Kick nearly blacked out. But… it's so good to see him.
The jeep was hit. Logan finally got off him, grabbing a light machine gun from the back seat.
"Merrick." Keegan glanced over the rearview mirror.
He heard a moan from Merrick. Kick struggled and fell into the middle seat. He's still breathing… And he's watching him with feigned anger.
"He's okay." Hesh paused. "I watched the security camera feeds. They didn't give him medical attention but he's okay. He regained consciousness."
So he was an idiot, getting himself tortured for no reason at all. Kick almost laughed.
No. He was supposed to bleed out. He couldn't be wrong…He thought about the story again…It could only be described as supernatural. He would never be their equal. But he's among them, wasn't he?
Hesh settled him on the middle seat. "Hesh, I'm sorry." He took his hand. He didn't want to leave him…
"It's okay." Hesh smiled, and gently patted him.
His adrenaline ebbed away, leaving him shaky. Hesh hastily held him still. "You okay?"
"Yeah." Kick nodded.
Keegan talked into the comm. "Command, this is Ghost Six-Two. We are on…"
He was cut short by someone shouting. "Sergeant, you hijacked a helicopter right before my eyes." It was Colonel Olsen. But he quickly added. "Exfil will be there in six minutes."
Kick laid back his head. He's going to be bedridden for a while. But he's somewhat looking forward to it.