Chapter 21: Defiance
Mass grave. Edge of town. Pick up body bag marked with orange x. It's Alex. CG.
The terse text message was clear, even if the number was unfamiliar. Wild Bill swore as he got to his feet, nearly knocking his hat off in his excitement. "Cover Girl's come up with a plan t'get Alex outta there. See them mass graves over there?" he pointed out the chopper window. Recondo squinted.
"Yeah, got it. She's out there?" Gung Ho already had the door halfway open.
"Look for a body bag marked with an orange x!" Wild Bill hollered after him as Gung Ho set off at a trot down the hill toward the mass grave at the bottom of the ravine outside Goma. Perhaps he should pay some more attention to available cover, he reflected, but for the moment, there weren't many people about, and his dark clothing against the gathering darkness was hard to make out. Only someone who was looking for him would have seen him skirt the ravine till he got to the side closest to town, and stop as he got to the pile of black body bags.
Gung Ho checked all of them carefully. It was a good idea, but he didn't even want to think how much pain Alex would have suffered as her body bag was tossed down here. He was checking yet another bag for an orange x when he heard a muffled sound. A cry.
It might not be Alex, he thought even as his body sprang into movement, picking his way carefully across the field of the dead to where he could, faintly, see one bag moving, one person still alive. But even if it wasn't Alex, it was still a living person and no one should still be alive down here.
And then he touched the bag, and there was someone crying out inside it, and he found the zipper, yanked at it. And inside, blue eyes dazed and confused, was Alex. And it was Alex; not the blank-eyed, agonized, animal-in-pain Alex that she'd been since they'd found her and Flint; she was coherent and aware, albeit obviously in a lot of pain. "Ettienne?" she whispered, and Jesus, his name on her lips was the most wonderful sound in the world, he thought as he threw his shirt over her bare shoulders. It was long enough to cover her to mid-thigh.
"Ssh. Let's get you out of here. Can you stand?"
Every step across that field wrung a whimper of anguish from her; she leaned on him heavily, and if the footing under his feet hadn't been so uncertain he would have carried her. However, since he was walking on the dead (even though he made every effort not to step on a body, it was hard to see black body bags in the darkness) and he knew he'd hurt Alex more if he dropped her.
As soon as they reached the edge of that nightmarish field he swept her up in his arms and ran, ignoring stealth in favor of getting her to safety as fast as possible. As he approached the helicopter he saw the door fly open, saw Recoil and Lifeline standing there, and he felt them take her weight from him, felt them pull her up to warmth and safety and friends who cared about her, and he climbed up into the helicopter after her and just took her in his arms, ignoring dirt and sweat and blood and everything else, burying his face in her hair so no one would see the dampness in his eyes. She clung to him, her own strength gone, sobbing hysterically; he held her and let her cry. Lifeline finally interrupted them; "Here, let's get her back on a stretcher, she's bleeding again."
Alex had woken to darkness. She'd panicked for long moments, crying out, pushing at the heavy stuff that wrapped around her like a cocoon; some distant part of her mind identified it as a body bag, but she was dazed from the drugs, her body was screaming in pain, and she couldn't think clearly.
Then the bag ripped open, burst apart; she took a huge lungful of air. The smell of death was thick in the air, the smell of blood and pain, but God, it was air and she was alive, and then her eyes focused on the face of the man who had pulled the bag open, and she saw Ettienne. Joy so sharp it almost hurt brought tears to her eyes, and she knew she was crying, and she didn't care.
Every step across the field jarred her body and caused pain. The cuts left from the whipping she'd taken on her chest, stomach, pelvic region; more across her back, and welts from the electrical cords they'd used on her thighs…she gritted her teeth, tried to endure it, but when she reached down inside herself to find the strength to fight the pain, there was nothing there. She couldn't even find the will to keep her cries back. And it was that, as much as the pain, that made her cry; she'd never before found that well empty; she'd never been tested this sorely in her life.
Ettienne swept her up in his arms as they reached the edge of the field, and she just gave up to the feeling of being dependent on someone else's strength. All her life, and particularly after coming here, she'd been ruthlessly self-reliant and independent, and she'd thought that was strength; now, drifting only half-conscious as Ettienne carried her, she thought that true strength was relying on yourself until you knew you couldn't, then being able to give up was another kind of strength.
And then she was inside a well-lit helicopter, and there were military fatigues around her, and she saw Recondo and Brawler there, and she gave in to tears of relief as Ettienne sat down right there and held her. Another man finally touched Ettiene's arm. "Here, let's get her on a stretcher, she's bleeding again."
As Ettienne put her down, she saw two other figures on stretchers on the other side of the helicopter. "What—" she tried to ask, but her voice wouldn't work.
She pointed instead, and the man who had spoken told her, "It's Flint and Lady Jaye. Flint's fighting infection and Lady Jaye got hit by a bullet. They'll be okay, it was you we were worried about." He tapped his chest. "I'm Lifeline. That's Recoil, Wild Bill, Ace, and Gung Ho, Recondo and Brawler, you already know." He said, gently, "Alex…you're bleeding from the stitches I had to put between your legs. When I did them I had Cover Girl here, but she isn't now, and I need to check them. Is it going to be okay if Gung Ho helps?"
She didn't want anyone to see her like she was…but damn it, half of the army of the DRC had already seen her, had already used her and broken her, and what did a few more people matter? At least this time, when they hurt her, it would be to help and not deliberately to cause her pain. So she nodded through her tears, not seeing Ettienne's anguish at the defeated slump to her shoulders, and lay back.
Wordlessly, the other Joes exited the helicopter; she felt tears burn her eyes at their thoughtfulness, and then there was nothing but pain as Lifeline replaced the stitches. He gave her a local, but it didn't come close to dulling the massive ball of agony in her loins, and she was so exhausted that all she could do was lie there, her hands gripping Ettienne's convulsively as she tried to handle the waves of pain, tried to force herself to keep her legs open when all she wanted to do was clamp them closed and curl up tightly to protect her sex from any more abuse. Several times it got too much, and she closed her legs; each time it happened Lifeline simply stood back and waited for her to regain control enough to open them again. By the time he was done all three of them were soaked in sweat and exhausted.
Ettienne brought over another bottle of water and helped her sit up. She was so weak, her hands and arms shaking with exhaustion and fatigue, she couldn't even hold the plastic bottle of water; Ettienne propped her up with one arm and held the bottle with the other so she could drink. As she did Lifeline inspected the cuts on her back; none of them were more than superficial, but some of them were seeping and the shirt Ettienne had thrown over her was already acquiring bloody spots. He tried to be gentle as he pulled old bandages off and replaced them with fresh dressing; she shivered in pain and sobbed, but she didn't had the same reaction as she'd had when he'd been between her legs, and he wished with all his heart that there'd been a female doctor here. He'd seen the defeated way she'd drawn her shoulders in when he told her he had to look; it was yet another violation on top of everything else. She'd been violated enough already; Christ, wasn't that enough? Events had all conspired to put her in an untenable position and she was still trying bravely to endure it.
"It's all right. You can lie down now." Christ, if the goddamn UN commandos hadn't taken their gear, he could have gotten a change of Courtney's clothes and given them to Alex to try and restore a little of her dignity. Courtney wouldn't have minded.
Alex lay back gratefully. Darkness swarmed at the edge of her consciousness, welcome, desperately desired darkness. Flint was safe, they'd been rescued by his team, and now she wouldn't die knowing that he'd died because of her. Now, if only she could see Olivia one more time…but Ettienne knew about her, knew where to find her, and she gripped his hand tightly, drawing his attention to her. She looked into his eyes, forced Olivia's name past her lips. "Tell…Liv…I love her." And she finally allowed the darkness to claim her.
Ettienne almost cried out, thinking for one horrified moment that she had just died, but Lifeline reassured him as he checked her. "She's just sleeping. Let her sleep. She's not going to die if I can help it. I'm not giving up."
"Jesus," came a harsh croak, and Lifeline spun, to see Lady Jaye sitting up on her stretcher.
He rushed to her side, smiling; he couldn't help it, even though he'd been most worried about Alex, the nicked lung Lady Jaye had gotten from the bullet had worried him too. The fact that she was conscious now was a good sign. "Easy. Don't sit up all the way yet; you almost didn't make it."
"I've been taking it easy. I woke up while you were checking Alex. I decided to stay down so you could take care of her first. How bad is she?"
Well, after Flint, Wild Bill, and Duke, she was the ranking officer here. "Hold on. Let's get everybody back inside." He tapped on the helicopter door, and the other Joes came in. Relief turned into pleased surprise that Lady Jaye was awake.
By the time everyone got settled, Flint was also miraculously awake. Though still weak from the infection in his body, he was alert enough mentally to sit in, and Wild Bill tersely brought him up to date on the current status of the mission and the current location of the team.
"Duke is still out with the UN commandos, and Courtney's at the hospital. I assume she'll follow when she can," Wild Bill finished. "Oh, and this is important—the UN commander let slip the reason why this mission went south for us. Alex was set up."
"Set up?"
"Bait. She was bait." Gung Ho's voice was thick with fury. "Dey sent her out wit' a locator chip implanted on her scalp so dat when Zimurinda captured her dey'd be able to track de bastard down and wipe him out. Dey didn' care dat she'd be tortured and die horribly in the process. In fact, dey didn't come expecting to find her alive at all."
"The chip." Flint's eyes hardened "Yes. The chip. That concussion messed my head up, but I remember that." He squeezed his eyes shut, and a look of anguish crossed his face for a moment before he hardened his features into an impassive mask. "They hung us there in those trees…and Zimurinda got a knife and it looked like he stabbed her in the head with it. It was on the side furthest from me so I didn't see what he did, but he jerked this chip off her scalp—"
"Out," Lifeline said, and all eyes turned to him. "Out. The chip itself was snugged flat against her skull; the knife was to cut the skin on top of it. The transmitting/receiving wire was implanted down one of her auditory nerves, so when Zimurinda pulled the chip off he literally ripped it out of her brain." Gasps. "It's too early to tell yet whether she'll suffer any permanent hearing loss from the damaged nerve; I need to wait until the soft tissue swelling and the bleeding in her aural canal stop before I can conduct a hearing test on that ear to figure that out."
"How could they put something that invasive into a living human being?" Lady Jaye shook her head. "And did she know—"
"She knew," Flint nodded grimly. "She knew this was going to be her last trip into the DRC. She knew she wasn't going to get out alive. I think she thought her death would be quick. And I think she believed that the long-term benefit—getting this rogue Colonel—was worth whatever price she had to pay." He finished softly, "I don't think she knew to just what extent this conspiracy went—and what both sides had planned for her. And it's not over. That chip isn't just a tracking device; it retains audio testimony. And Zimurinda wanted it destroyed because it has evidence that could convict him. And he knew about it, which means that he has a mole in the ICC. And that leaves her with her life still in danger. And mine; since we are the only two who he's certain knows about the mole, he'll come after us both. I'm not that worried about myself, we're leaving as soon as Cover Girl and Duke get back—but Alex…"
"We have the chip," Wild Bill said. "Cover Girl found it stuck in the mud caked in your boots, Lady Jaye." He held it out to Flint, who eyed it with revulsion before shaking his head. Lady Jaye took it, examining it curiously. "Cover Girl took the GPS tracker out and tacked it to a chip cannibalized from her cell phone. We mocked the cell phone chip to look like this one." He held up another chip that looked practically identical to the one Lady Jaye held. "The UN guys probably won't let us leave until they have it, so when Duke gets back we'll give them the mock-up and keep the real one. When we get back to HQ we'll analyze it."
"What about Alex?" Lady Jaye asked. "What do we do with her? General Hawk specifically forbids bringing civilians, much less mission targets, to HQ. Do we leave her here, to be captured and raped and tortured again? Do we drop her off at the ICC, knowing she'll be targeted for assassination? In fact, is there anywhere in this world she'll be safe, knowing that someone in the ICC is on the side of the people who want her dead? No matter where they are in the ICC, no matter what level, just being part of an internationally-recognized organization gives that mole a lot of options to strike at her, if they're desperate enough."
Silence as they all considered the possibilities.
Gung Ho was the first one to take a stand. "I'm not letting her go it alone. She been t'rough hell already, and no one's been on her side t'rough dis whole nightmare. Her employers, the ICC, are supposed to support and train t'eir people adequately to do de job de ICC asks dem to do. Dey haven't done that—she wasn't prepared for dis, and t'eir security is apparently so shoddy dat someone in t'eir organization was subverted. De UN, de ones who are supposed to keep de peace and protect and serve de global community—dey just hung her out to dry, sacrificin' her in favor of de 'greater good'." Oh, the bitterness in his voice.
"And us. We walked into dis lookin' at her as a mission. I saw her as a 'mission'. You know what? She's not a 'mission'. She's a human being who's endured more den anyone should have to in an entire lifetime. If we can't figure something out, I'm stayin' wit' her and resignin' my commission." A sound of tearing cloth, and suddenly his rank, insignia, and Joe identifiers were in the hand he held out to Flint. "I know you t'ink I'm just doing dis because I, as you said, want to get in her pants. After what's happened to her, if she ever even looks at a man again I'll be shocked. And dat's not de reason I'm doing dis. I'm doing dis because it's de right thing to do, because as a human being wit' a conscience and a soul, I can't stand by and watch dis slaughter happen wit'out doing somet'ing. If I have to die in dis Godforsaken hellhole to protect her wit' everyt'ing I have and everyt'ing I am, so be it." He dropped his insignia at Flint's feet and turned toward the helicopter door.
"Wait, Gung Ho." Flint sounded tired. "I agree with you. You forget—I saw what happened to her. Jesus…" his voice broke. "It was the hardest thing I've ever done, listening to her scream all night, and then seeing what they did to her the next day." His head dropped between shoulders propped on his knees; Lady Jaye reached out tentatively to touch his shoulder, to take his hand and squeeze it in a gesture of sympathy. He pulled his hand away and straightened up. "I'm going to buck orders and bring Alex with us back to base. General Hawk can't forbid it if he doesn't know. And once we get there, he won't be able to turn her away if she's already there." Gung Ho started to say something, and Flint raised a hand. "I'm not done. I'm well aware that I'll face demotion and court martial, probable discharge and possible prison over this. So be it. If anybody has a problem with my decision, let me know now. I won't hold it against you; anyone who agrees with me will likely face court martial and demotion too, if not discharge or, God forbid, Leavenworth."
"I'm with you." Lady Jaye was first to speak.
"Me too," Wild Bill raised his hand. All around the chopper, with no exceptions, hands rose. There wasn't a single Joe who didn't agree with Flint's decision.
"We're all with you on this, Ettienne. Here. Take your badges and stuff back." Flint handed Gung Ho's insignia back.
And the helicopter door opened.