Chapter Two

It didn't take long for Briggs to neutralize the men in the room. There were four of them stationed around the periphery and in the span of a few seconds, they were all laid out on the floor, unmoving. Briggs was having to dodge and roll all the while to avoid their return fire. He had not gotten a shot off on his true target, however. As soon as Briggs had entered the room, Sadiq had grabbed Sam around his neck, dragging him to his feet and using him as a shield. Too weak to fight back, Sam could only hobble awkwardly in Sadiq's grasp, the karambit still protruding from his leg.

The firefight came to a stalemate as Briggs hid behind a concrete pillar.

"By my estimate, you only have one shot left," Briggs called out. Sadiq's pistol had a very distinctive sound when fired and Briggs could hear it over the din of the ancillary gunfire. He had been counting Sadiq's shots, waiting for this moment.

Briggs pulled out of cover, gun pointed at Sadiq's head, though it was mostly hidden behind Sam's. Sadiq mirrored his actions, pointing his pistol at Briggs.

Sam was in bad shape. Briggs could see that well enough. His eyes were distant and unfocused, lids half closed. His breathing was labored and a large trail of blood was streaming down his leg. If Sadiq didn't have hold of him, he probably would have collapsed.

"One is all I need..." Sadiq turned his gun to Sam's head, but didn't fire.

Briggs still didn't have a shot or he would have taken it. There weren't many options remaining. He couldn't just demand that Sadiq let Sam go because that would only confirm that Sam was important and Sadiq would kill him for sure. He couldn't wait out the situation either. Sam didn't have that long. So he called Sadiq's bluff.

"Go ahead. And as soon as he's dead, you'll join him."

Silence.

Then Sadiq added, "…but I'm not going to kill him. No, he's much more useful to me alive. At least for now. You have two options here—save him, or come after me. I'd choose quickly though. By the looks of him, I'd say you have about five minutes."

In Briggs' ear, Grim chimed in. "Sam's vitals are plummeting. Briggs, you need to do something!"

Before Briggs could act, Sadiq continued. "You were wrong by the way." At that, he pulled the trigger. The gun clicked, but didn't fire. He was out of bullets. Immediately after, he threw Sam forward into Briggs and ran through the door behind him.

Briggs only managed to fire a few rounds before he had to catch Sam who was falling face-first towards the concrete floor. Though he was only half-conscious, Sam was clearly still aware of the situation.

"Go get… get Sadiq," he mumbled.

"Sorry, Sam." Briggs had no intention of chasing Sadiq. They would just have to go after him another day. Right now he had to get Sam to the medics. As soon as possible. He cut the rope binding Sam's hands so that he could lay flat on his back.

"That's… an order." The words came out weaker than the first.

"I'm getting you out of here."

Briggs didn't have any medical supplies with him, but he couldn't just leave the knife in Sam's leg. Seeing one of the dead soldiers nearby, Briggs tore a large strip of cloth from the man's shirt. Without wasting any time, he swiftly pulled the knife from Sam's leg, trying not to cause any more damage in doing so. The action tore a grunt of pain from Sam. Upon inspection, Briggs realized the knife was actually Sam's. He grimaced at the thought that it had been used against its owner, but pocketed it nonetheless. Using zipties, Briggs secured the cloth over the wound, satisfied that it would stanch the bleeding enough to extract Sam.

Next, Briggs pulled out a shot and injected it into Sam's uninjured leg. The effect was nearly instantaneous. Sam's breathing eased and his eyes opened, becoming clearer.

"Sam's going to need more than that if he's going to make it through this. Get to the roof. The chopper's on the way," Grim reported.

Extending a hand towards Sam, Briggs asked, "Can you shoot?" He knew he wouldn't be able to cover them if he was supporting Sam.

"Yeah," Sam replied, already sounding better than he had moments before.

Though Briggs could tell Sam was angry, Sam said nothing as Briggs pulled him to his feet and threw his arm around his shoulders to support him. Briggs handed a spare pistol to Sam and they slowly made their way to the roof which was a couple of floors up from their position.

The going was slow. Sam was still weak and out of it, even if less so than before the injection Briggs had given him. It didn't help that he had a small limp due to his wounded leg. What would have taken thirty seconds at any other time was taking several minutes. They were slowed even further when they ran into a couple of Sadiq's men.

One found them at the base of the stairs leading to the next floor. Sam saw him first and fired. His arm was heavy and uncoordinated, throwing off his aim. However, a bad shot for Sam was still pretty good. He had been going for a headshot, but ended up shooting the man straight through the neck. The man fell to the floor, gurgling and clutching the spurting hole in his neck. The splinter cells pressed on only to be waylaid once again at the top of the stairs. The pistol was silenced, but the second man must have heard it or his dying comrade because he was waiting for Sam and Briggs. Luckily, he wasn't the crack shot that Sam was. A bullet grazed Briggs' arm and smashed with a loud clink into the metal railing behind him. In an instant, Sam had fired a return shot, but his aim was suffering even more by that point. The bullet hit the man in his upper left arm, causing him to stumble back a step, but he still retained hold of his gun. Seeing this, Briggs let go of Sam, allowing him to slump to the ground so he could grab his own weapon and finish the man off.

They didn't meet anyone else after that. Once again on their way, Briggs could tell Sam was deteriorating. The extra minutes were wearing on him. His breathing started to pick up. His head sagged and his arm drooped, barely capable of carrying the pistol.

"C'mon Sam, stay with me. We're almost there." Briggs let an air of command creep into his words, hoping that Sam, ever the soldier, would respond to it. But it did no good.

As they neared the last flight of stairs, Briggs heard the gun thud on the ground and Sam's feet stopped moving, forcing Briggs to let go of him. Sam fell to the ground, unconscious, but still breathing. Briggs quickly stowed the fallen weapon and slung Sam over his shoulders, using one of his arms and legs to hold him in place. Hearing the helicopter on the roof above them, Briggs ran up the steps and straight into it, laying Sam down on a row of seats.

"Get us to the Paladin, now!" Briggs barked at the pilot.

"ETA five minutes," was the answer.

"Make it three." Briggs looked down at Sam and then up at the pilot, his face full of concern. The pilot glanced at Sam and Briggs in turn, giving Briggs a slight nod of understanding before he turned back to the controls.

The ride seemed an eternity to Briggs. All he could do was watch as Sam's breathing went from near-hyperventilation to barely perceptible. He sat opposite Sam, arms rested on his knees, chin rested on clutched hands. His lips moved noiselessly in a silent plea for haste. Left with nothing else to occupy his mind, Briggs resorted to counting the ever-lengthening time between Sam's breaths. At one point, the count reached fifteen seconds and Briggs had rushed forward, sure that Sam's heart had stopped. But Sam drew in another choppy breath, starting Briggs' heart again, but leaving his nerves frayed.

Unable to contain his anxiousness any longer, Briggs reached out to Grim. She had been silent since they had begun their extraction, knowing full well that Briggs didn't need any updates on Sam. He was experiencing any change in condition first-hand.

"Grim?"

She clearly knew what he was going to say. "Medics are standing by at the loading bay."

"ETA thirty seconds."

Briggs picked Sam up in preparation for their landing. Once inside the airplane, Briggs didn't even wait for the helicopter to touch down. He leapt from the open door a few feet above the floor, having to throw an arm out to catch himself. Sam's extra weight had nearly borne them to the ground. Recovering quickly, Briggs met the medics who were hurrying a gurney towards them and placed Sam atop it.

As soon as they had their patient, the doctors immediately started calling out necessary meds to be administered, a catheter already present in Sam's arm. Grim was there too, and she grabbed Briggs by the arm when he made to follow Sam.

"There's nothing more we can do for him now. We would only get in their way."

Briggs sighed and relaxed marginally, no longer pulling against her grasp. On his face was still a look of defeat. "It took too long to get him here. He's not going to make it."

"You don't know Sam like I do. If anyone could survive what happened, it's him. He'll make it."

Neither fully convinced nor willing to argue, Briggs just gave Grim a tense smile, the corners of his mouth barely lifting. He met her eyes only for a second. Then he turned and headed into the depths of the Paladin.