Tension is high as Foss gives the orders.
(09Dec07)
(Previous chapter: Connection)
Chapter 11:
Orders
The sound of a billion spatters in the night almost drowned out the sound of trudging as Foss and Declan battled their way through the forest. The rain had been falling for about fifteen minutes. Since their short rest some time ago, Foss had carried Kyle over his shoulder without stopping. It became clear to Declan that Foss had not oversold himself to Kyle as the man for the job when it came to teaching him how to condition himself. It also became clear to Declan why he and Kyle had both feared Tom Foss so much in the beginning. He could tell that Foss was in pain, but somehow he was putting that aside and focusing on his current mission. The man was unbelievable, and Declan had to admire his focus and sheer stamina.
Declan, on the other hand, was not feeling quite so focused. He was cold, wet and his ankle was throbbing mercilessly, reminding him of its presence with every step. He pulled the collar of his jacket up as far as it would go in an attempt the keep the cold rain from running down his neck more than it already had. It had been the end to a perfect nightmare, Declan bemoaned to himself as he limped awkwardly. He looked sidelong at Foss, but knew there was no point in talking to him because he wouldn't get a reply. The man was too breathless to hold any kind of conversation. Declan walked beside him guiding the way with the industrial flashlight and nearly jumped out of his skin when Foss suddenly spoke.
"What's that?" he panted loudly, the rain almost drowning out his exhausted voice.
Declan squinted ahead into the rain and saw that the beam had caught some fallen logs that blocked the trail. Then he recognized them.
"Foss, we made it!" he couldn't keep the relief from his voice, because he knew that on the other side of those logs were parked two vehicles.
"I…don't…mean…that," Foss puffed. "I…mean… that…noise."
Declan, still reeling with relief, made himself listen. A few paces further on he became aware of a noise that hadn't been there before, a low, muffled sound seeping in from somewhere behind Foss. He dropped back a bit, still shining the flashlight ahead of them. The sound was there again and Declan's eyes widened as he pinpointed its origin.
"I think it's Kyle!" Declan said, becoming animated.
Foss carried on dragging his feet along, determined to reach the fallen logs. Declan hung back and hovered with his head bent down trying to determine if Kyle was awake. He didn't think so, but every now and then he heard Kyle murmur. Declan couldn't tell if there were any coherent words in the muffled sounds, because Kyle's face was pressed against Foss' jacket.
"I'm serious, Foss! Stop!" urged Declan grabbing the man's arm.
By the time Declan got a response from Foss, they had reached the fallen logs. Foss stopped and his knees almost collapsed, so he braced them against the nearest log, which was about thigh high. Declan wriggled the rucksack off his back, dropped the flashlight and braced himself underneath Kyle.
"I've got him. Let go!" Declan ordered loudly so he could be heard over the rain.
"No!" Foss barked. "On…here!" and he rested Kyle's legs against the mossy wood.
Declan realized what Foss was doing and supported Kyle's weight and pushed upwards. Foss let out a loud cry as he let go of Kyle's legs and wriggled his way out from beneath him before falling to his knees with exhaustion. As Foss let go, Declan was unable to stop the momentum and Kyle fell backwards with a painful sounding thump. Foss knelt on the ground and continued to suck in loud, gasping breaths, while Declan straightened up and leaned over Kyle sprawled out across the tops of the mossy fallen logs, patchy sprigs of fern sticking up here and there around his body. It was too dark to see properly, so Declan grabbed the big flashlight and sat it on the log a little way from Kyle. In the dim light, he could see the dark spots of rain appearing on the front of Kyle's jacket, which up to that point had been kept dry by Foss' back. He could also see that Kyle was lying on his back shivering, the rain splashing onto his face, and he seemed to be muttering something to himself. Declan scrambled up the log beside him, wincing as he wrenched his sore ankle on a protruding branch stump in the process.
"Kyle?" Declan called gently, laying his hand absently on Kyle's chest.
Declan would never forget the warmth that coursed through his body as Kyle tilted his head ever so slightly in response. It wasn't much, but it was enough to reassure Declan. The murmuring stopped for only a second before continuing. Declan bent his ear close to Kyle's mouth.
"What's he saying?" It was Foss, who was suddenly standing up holding the rucksack, flexing his sore shoulders.
Declan listened a bit more then had to concede. "I don't know. Sounds like a foreign language to me…only speeded up."
"Hungarian no doubt," Foss commented with a measure of irony as he heaved his stiff limbs over the logs and began searching his pockets for his van keys. He disappeared round the back of his van and emerged a few moments later with something in his arms.
"Here," he ordered unfurling a plastic groundsheet. "Hold this over him."
Declan got a chill down his spine as the pungent odor of the groundsheet hit him; images of body bags came to mind as he did as he was told and held the plastic over Kyle – and partially over himself like a kid with a flashlight under the bedcovers. The sound of the rain hitting the plastic was quite deafening and Declan almost fell off the log when Kyle's eyes suddenly snapped open. He managed to get a good look before they closed again; they were dark with dilation, and disturbingly…blank. Kyle was definitely not really conscious, yet he was still muttering to himself unintelligibly, and now Declan noticed that his limbs were twitching intermittently, too. A horrible thought began to creep into Declan's mind and he tried desperately to push it away: what if Foss had caused Kyle severe brain damage? The man had admitted he'd given a massive dose of this Sed227 – more than Kyle had ever had before – and then admitted he didn't know how much neutralizer to administer. What if Foss had gotten it all wrong?
Suddenly Foss was there, lifting the groundsheet and coming underneath. He held a hypodermic needle and began inserting it into Kyle's neck. Declan could hardly believe what he was seeing, and for a split-second thought he might be hallucinating, considering what he'd just been thinking about.
"No!" he screamed. His arms were holding up the groundsheet so he could do nothing at that point except watch helplessly as Foss ignored him and pushed the plunger evenly until the reservoir was empty.
Once Foss had withdrawn the needle completely, Declan scrambled out from under the sheet, over the logs and pulled Foss backwards before the man could take a breath, knowing that if Foss hadn't been so exhausted, it never would have been possible to surprise him like that. Declan managed to swing his fist and felt it crunch against Foss' teeth before he suddenly found himself flat on his back on the wet ground. Foss stood over him, terrifying in his lack of reaction. He felt his lip, turned his head away and spat blood before walking back over to Kyle.
When Declan got back over there, Foss was searching Kyle's pockets. He retrieved something, took Declan's hand and slapped a set of car keys into it. They were Declan's. He glared at Foss, wanting so badly to kill him, but knew that he would never stand a chance; the man was too well trained. Declan looked at Foss' swollen lip, rubbed his own sore knuckles, and smiled inwardly to himself. One thing he did know was that when this was all over, he was going to take Foss up on his earlier offer of letting Declan beat the shit out of him. Declan clenched his fist and felt the keys.
"I'm not leaving without Kyle," he stated.
Foss didn't even look at him as he said, "I'm counting on that."
Declan was taken aback. Foss was his usual icy self as he felt Kyle's pulse and checked his eyes, and yet there was a distinct lack of animosity, as though none of what had just happened had just happened. Declan was struggling. He considered that maybe he had imagined the whole thing. He swept a hand back through his wet hair.
"Before you ask, I gave him the rest of the dose of the neutralizer," Foss said. "I don't have time for your interrogation. All you need to know is that yes, I lied. I didn't give Kyle the correct dose earlier because I didn't want to take the risk of him waking up and running away again. But I did give him enough to stabilize him."
Declan's mouth dropped open, literally. "What?" he uttered barely audibly. "You kept him paralyzed like this on purpose?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Foss looked up at him. "And now you're going to take Kyle somewhere safe before he wakes up."
Declan was still speechless. This man confused him more than Kyle ever had!
Foss continued as he began pulling at Kyle in preparation to move him again. "Now, it is vital that we get Kyle warmed up, or he really won't come out of it, so help me get him onto the back seat of your car."
Suddenly Declan found his voice, though it came out flatter than he intended. "Wait here." He limped off to his car and started the engine, turned up all the heating and then went to the back and pulled out a pile of sleeping bags, pillows and blankets. He made a mattress on the back seat and threw the spares over the seat in front then returned to Foss.
Foss looked somewhat surprised. "What's with all the bedding?"
Declan winked wickedly and nudged Foss' arm with his elbow. "Come on, Foss, weren't you a teenager once?"
Foss' expression was unreadable, as usual. He turned back to what he was doing and muttered, "Of course I was. Just not a very popular one."
"You're kidding me, right?" Declan oozed sarcasm.
Foss ignored him as he once again heaved Kyle over his shoulder and carried him to the car. With a lot of grunting and shunting, they both managed to get Kyle onto the back seat. He'd stopped speaking in tongues, Declan noticed, and there was a slight flush in his cheeks. He was still shivering, however. Foss loosened Kyle's wet jacket a bit then proceeded to wrap him tightly in the spare sleeping bag and blankets. When he'd finished, Kyle looked like a fly on a spider's menu.
Declan protested, "Loosen the blankets, man, or he won't be able to move when he wakes up!"
"That's the idea," said Foss as he shone the tiny flashlight into Kyle's eyes a final time; Kyle flinched and turned his head with a murmur. "Won't be too long now. You'd better get going."
Declan was suddenly nervous. "Where am I taking him?"
Foss shut Kyle's door then got into the front passenger seat. Declan walked round and got into the driver's seat. The warmth inside the car was wonderful, but his rapture was short-lived as Foss gripped his wrist to command his attention.
"You will take Kyle somewhere Madacorp doesn't know about," he ordered. "Your house maybe."
"What about you?" Declan inquired, glancing down at Foss' hand gripping his wrist like a vice.
"There's something I need to take care of here. I'll contact you later and we'll regroup in the morning."
Declan studied Foss' face. His eyes shone with clarity; it was obvious that Foss' faculties were unaffected by his exhaustion. Declan also knew there would be no point in asking Foss his business.
Foss continued with an urgent edge to his voice. "And if Kyle doesn't wake up before you reach your destination, you let him sleep it off. Under no circumstances are you to take him to a hospital, the drugs in his system will raise too many suspicions." Foss looked Declan in the eye. "Do you understand?" Declan nodded. Foss continued, "Kyle is not going to be very happy when he wakes up. He will most likely be confused and maybe scared. But you must not let him run away."
Declan frowned. "How do I stop a guy with Kyle's abilities if he wants to go?"
"Improvise," said Foss flatly. "It's all you can do."
"What about Jessi?" Declan asked, suddenly worried that she might still be wandering out in the woods somewhere.
"Kyle is my priority," Foss stated and he opened the door.
Despite his own reservations about Foss, Declan believed him. And in his own weird way, Foss had given Declan a sense of purpose at a time in his life when he was feeling particularly useless. Above all, whatever else the man had done, he had saved his friend's life, and Declan had to be grateful for that.
"Thanks for saving Kyle's life," he said as unemotionally as he could.
Foss gave a curt nod. "Like I said, we're both on the same side here." His eyes flicked back to the precious cargo bundled in blankets on the back seat. "For his sake, I'm trusting you against my better judgment."
Kyle suddenly gave a chesty cough.
"Now get going," Foss ordered as he slid out of the car. "And if anything happens to Kyle, I'll kill you." He slammed the door shut and stood in the rain while Declan turned the car round.
Declan watched Foss' soaked form shrink in the rear-view mirror then said, "Not if I kill you first."
(Next chapter: Disconnection)
