Morning Star
Chapter 16
Trivette and Alex sped along the road, each looking out into the desolate surroundings for signs of their friends and loved ones. After an hour of seeing nothing Alex suddenly noticed something glinting in a clump of bushes on her side of the road. Trivette's car skidded to a halt and he got out, gun ready.
Moving carefully Jimmy crept towards the object and, slowly moving the bushes aside, discovered a set of wheels.
"Its okay Alex, you can come out. It's Gage's bike."
Alex got out of the car and walked towards her husband's partner and her good friend. Still shaking a little from fear of what she might have spotted, Alex laid her hand on Jimmy's arm.
"Look's like he ran out of gas and stowed his bike here. He must have carried on by foot."
"Nothing would stop him from finding Sydney. Nothing." Alex spoke quietly.
"They are very close aren't they? I just hope that when this is all over they might be able to..." Trivette trailed off, silently praying that his friends would get a chance. "But Alex, this would have happened yesterday and there is no sign that he returned here. Where could he be?"
"There Jimmy." Alex replied, pointing. Just over the horizon both Alex and Trivette were able could see the same cluster of buildings that Gage had seen the day earlier.
"That's miles away. On foot and in this heat, not a pleasant trip at all."
"Looking for someone you love is never a pleasant job." Alex replied.
"Let's go then." Jimmy nodded and tried to smile at Alex, hoping he looked convincing enough to fool her. Trivette had a feeling that their troubles were only just beginning.
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Sydney was just so angry that she wanted to scream. She was back in a dark, damp jail cell in the basement of one of the old Psych Hospital buildings. Her leg was hurting her immensely and she, a Texas Ranger, was so weakened that her assailant had been able to simply pick her up and, despite her best efforts, carry her away. Carry her away from Gage.
Gage. Out there alone, seriously injured. He couldn't be dead. He just couldn't be. He had just told her he loved her and she had finally opened up her heart. Surely she would be able to feel it if he were dead. And if he was dead, how would she be able to....NO! He simply could not be dead.
The pain in her body and the ache in her heart too much, Syd did begin to howl. She pounded the floor and the walls with all her might, yelling and screaming until she was hoarse.
It was no use. No one came. No one responded.
Tears threatened to spill but Sydney bit her lip and held them at bay. This was no time to be weak. Gage needed her. And she needed her strength.
Syd began exploring her prison and soon, to her great surprise, discovered that her latest attacker had failed to lock her prison door. She swung the door open and felt her way along the corridor heading towards an area where she could see the faintest gleam of light. In the pitch blackness of the underground cells, it twinkled as brightly as her morning star and Syd suddenly felt confident that she, and Gage, would make it out of this alive.
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Walker awoke to loud screaming, very close by, and he tried to call out. But no noise would come from his parched throat. His battered body throbbed as he tried to move towards the location of the screams. Unless there were other captives it had to be Sydney and although he had never known her to scream like that, if that woman who had attacked him had done half as much to his junior partner, he could sympathize with her pain.
Rolling on side and agonizingly realizing that his right arm was broken, a moan managed to emerge from his lips.
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Syd stopped short in her quest to find the light as she heard a faint moan. Where there other people being held down here? Gage?
"Hello?" she called out quietly. "Gage? Is that you? Hello?"
She heard another moan in response. It sounded quiet close. She inched her way back along the corridor, each action causing the stitches on her leg wound to re-open. She could feel that her thigh was now swollen and probably infected. It felt like she was carrying around a set of lead weights.
"Keep making noise." She told the mysterious moaner. "It's the only way I'll be able to find you."
This time she heard a louder moan, from the cell across the corridor to her left. She stepped across the way and found a set of bars, but these ones were locked.
"Hello?" she called inside, her voice still hoarse from screaming and increasingly dry as she could feel her temperature rising with the infection in her leg. "It's okay; I'm not here to hurt you. I'm a Texas Ranger."
The person inside the cell moaned again and managed to crawl towards the entrance.
"Sydney?"
She knew that voice! It wasn't Gage, it was ...Walker?
"Walker? Is that you? What happened?"
Sydney sat down on the floor and reached inside the cell to touch his face. She could feel his characteristic beard as he nodded in reply. His eyes were both swollen shut and she could feel what she imagined was dried blood matted in his hair.
"Gage?" he managed to rasp.
Syd blinked back the tears that immediately flooded her eyes as she heard her partner's name. She pushed her emotions aside and did her best to present the facts to her boss.
"He found me Walker and got me out of here but then we were attacked again. He's been shot, twice. Once yesterday, in the arm and this morning it was badly infected. And then again, in the shoulder, about an hour ago when I was brought back here. I don't know how he is...we just left him there, he was unconscious and bleeding, I couldn't..."
Her voice broke and even through his pain, Walker could hear the desperation of someone who had been unable to help a person they loved. He knew that feeling well, he had lived through this kind of pain before, first with the death of his parents and in more recent years, when Alex had been in some difficult situations. Even if Gage did make it through this, Syd would live with the guilt of leaving him for a long time, even though it hadn't been her fault.
Trying to bring her thoughts to the present, Walker asked. "Trivette?"
"I don't know - I haven't seen him. How did you get here?"
Walker, wavering between consciousness and unconsciousness, haltingly began to tell Syd, when suddenly the basement was flooded with light as a doorway at the top of the stairs opened. They heard footsteps stomping down the stairs towards and looking up Syd could see the silhouette of two figures marching towards them.
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Trivette and Alex continued to drive along the road, each continuing to scan the surrounding landscape but silently believing that they would find their answers at the Psychiatric Hospital.
A ways down the road they discovered, to their horror, a patch of pavement where there had clearly been a skirmish. Last nights torrential rains had washed away much of the evidence, but there were still skid marks on the ground from at least two different vehicles and bullet casings, from a gun that was not Ranger issue.
"Let's keep going Alex. "Jimmy gritted his teeth as he got back into the car. This was looking worse and worse. He should have come back here earlier. He was following Walker's directions yesterday when he had returned with the coroner and overseen her investigation into the deaths of the three hoodlums who had been murdered execution style by the side of the road. But now...those men were already dead and he had missed valuable time searching for his friends. If anything happened to them, any of them, he would never be able to live with himself.
Trembling Alex got back into the car. She had known James Trivette long enough to know when he was really worried, and this was one of those times.
They continued down the road and slowly the abandoned structures on the Psych Hospital property came into clear view. Only, they did not look so abandoned now.
There were two vehicles parked out front of one of the desolate and vandalized buildings. One was a nondescript black four-door sedan. The other matched the description of the van in which Syd had been taken.
Slowing the car to a halt outside the main gates of the property, Trivette got out, once again readying his gun. When Alex opened the door to follow he shook his head no.
"Oh no Jimmy." She whispered to him. "I am coming with you."
'Walker, forgive me.' thought Jimmy as he gave in to Alex's determined look. She might look delicate but she was a force to be reckoned with when her husband's life was in danger.
"Stay low. Follow my lead."
Alex nodded in agreement with his terms. She didn't really want to be out here doing this, and truth be told she was scared, but Syd's life and maybe Walker and Gage's life too depended on her and Trivette. There was no way she was going to wait in the car.
Thankful that she had worn casual shoes today rather than her usual pumps, Alex followed behind Jimmy as he crept along the edge of the Hospital property, his sights on building marked "A" and the one man who casually stood guard outside with a lit cigarette hanging from his mouth.
The man, dressed in black, leaned nonchalantly on the roof of his vehicle. It was apparent to Trivette that the man was not overly concerned about his illegal presence on the property of the abandoned hospital. That is not to say that he would be unprepared to fight, Jimmy could see the man's gun in a holster at his side, but rather that they would have the advantage of surprise when they attacked.
From inside they could suddenly hear screaming. It was faint but it was clear. Someone was in pain. Wanting to run inside but knowing that was not an option, Trivette and Alex stayed hidden in the long stand of bushes which lined the pathway to what was once a state-of-the-art medical facility. Planning to make his move soon Jimmy motioned again for Alex to follow him, and they moved closer to their target.
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The two figures moved quickly towards them. Her back against the metal bars of the cell where Walker was imprisoned, Sydney stood up favouring her left leg. The light from above now filled the basement corridor and Sydney could see clearly who her jailor was.
"Rebecca Jenkins?" she gasped.
"Only just figuring that out are you Ranger Cooke?" the woman sneered. "I bet Ranger Walker there has managed to fit the pieces together."
Reaching over she gently stroked Syd's face where the dark bruise stood stark against her otherwise flawless skin. "Such a shame, you are a beautiful woman Ranger Cooke. I could find a profitable position for you." And then grabbing Syd's hair, she yanked her head back and hissed at her; droplets of spit hitting the Ranger in the face like drops of venom. "But you killed the father of my baby and the man who did all my leg work in the drug trade. Without him alive, my business has dropped significantly and my clientele are beginning to shift their interest to other suppliers. It's a man's world out there, I'm sure you know Ranger Cooke. As women we must work extra hard to be taken seriously. Les Myser was my key. How ever will I support my baby without him?"
"Don't...you...dare...compare...yourself...to...me." Syd spat at the woman in return, as Rebecca rubbed her swollen tummy emphasizing that to hurt her would be to hurt her unborn child, an innocent in this whole situation.
Just then a gunshot was heard outside. Letting go of Sydney's hair Rebecca immediately turned to her ever-silent body guard and ordered him to go upstairs and investigate.
Taking the brief opportunity of Rebecca's turned head; Sydney kicked her aggressor in the shins with her 'good' leg and swung at her face with her right arm. The punch connected as Rebecca turned back to look at Syd and she let out a howl of pain and indignation.
"You little bi..." she began, scratching back at Sydney with her nails and aiming for her eyes. But Sydney was too quick for her. She wriggled out her grasp and into the open corridor. Another gunshot was heard from above; this one sounding like it was directly over top of them in the building. It was followed by a loud thud. When her guards failed to reappear at the entrance to the stairwell Rebecca panicked and began to fleeing for the stairs just as a shadowy figure, much smaller than her two brutes, filled the light in the upper doorway.
"Walker? Sydney?" Relief washed over Sydney as she heard Trivette's familiar voice, just as Rebecca made it to the top of the stairs. "Rebecca Jenkins? What are you doing her? Were you taken too?"
"Trivette – grab her, she's the one who took me." Syd yelled.
Reacting a moment too late to Sydney's words Trivette let Rebecca pass him and Syd could hear the pregnant woman running away just as Sydney reached the stairs and tried to climb, her injured leg greatly hampering her ability to move swiftly.
Turning to go after Rebecca Trivette raced to the door of the derelict building and found Alex there, holding Rebecca tightly, keeping her arms twisted behind her back and thus rendering her unable to escape. The two bodyguards, whom Trivette had shot, each in the leg, had been secured to the front grill of the van with a single set of handcuffs.
"Impressive Alex!" Jimmy smiled, a real smile for the first time in more than a day. "Where did you learn to do that?"
"Well, one can't be a Ranger's wife and not pick up a few things along the way." Alex returned his smile briefly as Trivette secured Rebecca's limbs with strips of cloth torn from his shirt, her arms behind her wrapped around a small tree. Her pregnancy afforded her the luxury of some shade from the sun that was not granted to her two thugs. "Walker?"
"I don't know." Jimmy shook his head. "Syd's down there. Go – I've got these guys. I'm going to call for back-up."
Dashing inside Alex made her way to the stairs calling for Sydney.
"Alex?" she heard Syd's incredulous voice. "Down here! Walker's locked in a cell, he's really badly hurt."
Her heart gripped with fear for her husband Alex made her way down the stairs and into the darkened basement. Reaching Syd, who had returned to Walker's cell, she hugged her friend with relief and knelt down to reach through the bars.
"Walker?" Alex spoke softly. "Oh my god, what's happened to you?" her heart broke catching glimpses of his face covered in dried blood, his purple and blue eyes swollen shut. She stroked his hair and his cheek as he came too again.
"Alex?"
"Yes honey, it's me. Its okay, Syd's here and Trivette's here, we're going to get you out of this place and take you home. Angela's been missing her Daddy."
Leaving Alex and Walker alone, Syd stumbled towards the stairs again and struggled up to find Trivette. When she reached the top and stepped out in the daylight again, the bright light of a sunny Texas day sent stabbing pains through her head.
Trivette met Syd as she reached the entrance way to the building and caught her just before she collapsed.
"Whoa Syd, I've got you." Jimmy set her down on the porch of Building A and took in her rough shape. She looked like she had been through hell.
"Gage..." she mumbled, starting to choke and cry. "Trivette, Gage is hurt."
"Okay Syd, where is he? Downstairs?"
Syd shook her head frantically and pointed towards the forested area of the property in the far distance.
"In the woods?" Trivette confirmed with Syd who began struggling out of Trivette's arms in an attempt to go to her partner. "No Syd, you can't go. You can barely walk and you're burning up with a fever. Back up is on its way; as soon as they are here I'll go get him myself.
Syd began to sob in Trivette's arms. "I think he might be dead." She whispered just before she passed out.
Chapter 16
Trivette and Alex sped along the road, each looking out into the desolate surroundings for signs of their friends and loved ones. After an hour of seeing nothing Alex suddenly noticed something glinting in a clump of bushes on her side of the road. Trivette's car skidded to a halt and he got out, gun ready.
Moving carefully Jimmy crept towards the object and, slowly moving the bushes aside, discovered a set of wheels.
"Its okay Alex, you can come out. It's Gage's bike."
Alex got out of the car and walked towards her husband's partner and her good friend. Still shaking a little from fear of what she might have spotted, Alex laid her hand on Jimmy's arm.
"Look's like he ran out of gas and stowed his bike here. He must have carried on by foot."
"Nothing would stop him from finding Sydney. Nothing." Alex spoke quietly.
"They are very close aren't they? I just hope that when this is all over they might be able to..." Trivette trailed off, silently praying that his friends would get a chance. "But Alex, this would have happened yesterday and there is no sign that he returned here. Where could he be?"
"There Jimmy." Alex replied, pointing. Just over the horizon both Alex and Trivette were able could see the same cluster of buildings that Gage had seen the day earlier.
"That's miles away. On foot and in this heat, not a pleasant trip at all."
"Looking for someone you love is never a pleasant job." Alex replied.
"Let's go then." Jimmy nodded and tried to smile at Alex, hoping he looked convincing enough to fool her. Trivette had a feeling that their troubles were only just beginning.
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Sydney was just so angry that she wanted to scream. She was back in a dark, damp jail cell in the basement of one of the old Psych Hospital buildings. Her leg was hurting her immensely and she, a Texas Ranger, was so weakened that her assailant had been able to simply pick her up and, despite her best efforts, carry her away. Carry her away from Gage.
Gage. Out there alone, seriously injured. He couldn't be dead. He just couldn't be. He had just told her he loved her and she had finally opened up her heart. Surely she would be able to feel it if he were dead. And if he was dead, how would she be able to....NO! He simply could not be dead.
The pain in her body and the ache in her heart too much, Syd did begin to howl. She pounded the floor and the walls with all her might, yelling and screaming until she was hoarse.
It was no use. No one came. No one responded.
Tears threatened to spill but Sydney bit her lip and held them at bay. This was no time to be weak. Gage needed her. And she needed her strength.
Syd began exploring her prison and soon, to her great surprise, discovered that her latest attacker had failed to lock her prison door. She swung the door open and felt her way along the corridor heading towards an area where she could see the faintest gleam of light. In the pitch blackness of the underground cells, it twinkled as brightly as her morning star and Syd suddenly felt confident that she, and Gage, would make it out of this alive.
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Walker awoke to loud screaming, very close by, and he tried to call out. But no noise would come from his parched throat. His battered body throbbed as he tried to move towards the location of the screams. Unless there were other captives it had to be Sydney and although he had never known her to scream like that, if that woman who had attacked him had done half as much to his junior partner, he could sympathize with her pain.
Rolling on side and agonizingly realizing that his right arm was broken, a moan managed to emerge from his lips.
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Syd stopped short in her quest to find the light as she heard a faint moan. Where there other people being held down here? Gage?
"Hello?" she called out quietly. "Gage? Is that you? Hello?"
She heard another moan in response. It sounded quiet close. She inched her way back along the corridor, each action causing the stitches on her leg wound to re-open. She could feel that her thigh was now swollen and probably infected. It felt like she was carrying around a set of lead weights.
"Keep making noise." She told the mysterious moaner. "It's the only way I'll be able to find you."
This time she heard a louder moan, from the cell across the corridor to her left. She stepped across the way and found a set of bars, but these ones were locked.
"Hello?" she called inside, her voice still hoarse from screaming and increasingly dry as she could feel her temperature rising with the infection in her leg. "It's okay; I'm not here to hurt you. I'm a Texas Ranger."
The person inside the cell moaned again and managed to crawl towards the entrance.
"Sydney?"
She knew that voice! It wasn't Gage, it was ...Walker?
"Walker? Is that you? What happened?"
Sydney sat down on the floor and reached inside the cell to touch his face. She could feel his characteristic beard as he nodded in reply. His eyes were both swollen shut and she could feel what she imagined was dried blood matted in his hair.
"Gage?" he managed to rasp.
Syd blinked back the tears that immediately flooded her eyes as she heard her partner's name. She pushed her emotions aside and did her best to present the facts to her boss.
"He found me Walker and got me out of here but then we were attacked again. He's been shot, twice. Once yesterday, in the arm and this morning it was badly infected. And then again, in the shoulder, about an hour ago when I was brought back here. I don't know how he is...we just left him there, he was unconscious and bleeding, I couldn't..."
Her voice broke and even through his pain, Walker could hear the desperation of someone who had been unable to help a person they loved. He knew that feeling well, he had lived through this kind of pain before, first with the death of his parents and in more recent years, when Alex had been in some difficult situations. Even if Gage did make it through this, Syd would live with the guilt of leaving him for a long time, even though it hadn't been her fault.
Trying to bring her thoughts to the present, Walker asked. "Trivette?"
"I don't know - I haven't seen him. How did you get here?"
Walker, wavering between consciousness and unconsciousness, haltingly began to tell Syd, when suddenly the basement was flooded with light as a doorway at the top of the stairs opened. They heard footsteps stomping down the stairs towards and looking up Syd could see the silhouette of two figures marching towards them.
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Trivette and Alex continued to drive along the road, each continuing to scan the surrounding landscape but silently believing that they would find their answers at the Psychiatric Hospital.
A ways down the road they discovered, to their horror, a patch of pavement where there had clearly been a skirmish. Last nights torrential rains had washed away much of the evidence, but there were still skid marks on the ground from at least two different vehicles and bullet casings, from a gun that was not Ranger issue.
"Let's keep going Alex. "Jimmy gritted his teeth as he got back into the car. This was looking worse and worse. He should have come back here earlier. He was following Walker's directions yesterday when he had returned with the coroner and overseen her investigation into the deaths of the three hoodlums who had been murdered execution style by the side of the road. But now...those men were already dead and he had missed valuable time searching for his friends. If anything happened to them, any of them, he would never be able to live with himself.
Trembling Alex got back into the car. She had known James Trivette long enough to know when he was really worried, and this was one of those times.
They continued down the road and slowly the abandoned structures on the Psych Hospital property came into clear view. Only, they did not look so abandoned now.
There were two vehicles parked out front of one of the desolate and vandalized buildings. One was a nondescript black four-door sedan. The other matched the description of the van in which Syd had been taken.
Slowing the car to a halt outside the main gates of the property, Trivette got out, once again readying his gun. When Alex opened the door to follow he shook his head no.
"Oh no Jimmy." She whispered to him. "I am coming with you."
'Walker, forgive me.' thought Jimmy as he gave in to Alex's determined look. She might look delicate but she was a force to be reckoned with when her husband's life was in danger.
"Stay low. Follow my lead."
Alex nodded in agreement with his terms. She didn't really want to be out here doing this, and truth be told she was scared, but Syd's life and maybe Walker and Gage's life too depended on her and Trivette. There was no way she was going to wait in the car.
Thankful that she had worn casual shoes today rather than her usual pumps, Alex followed behind Jimmy as he crept along the edge of the Hospital property, his sights on building marked "A" and the one man who casually stood guard outside with a lit cigarette hanging from his mouth.
The man, dressed in black, leaned nonchalantly on the roof of his vehicle. It was apparent to Trivette that the man was not overly concerned about his illegal presence on the property of the abandoned hospital. That is not to say that he would be unprepared to fight, Jimmy could see the man's gun in a holster at his side, but rather that they would have the advantage of surprise when they attacked.
From inside they could suddenly hear screaming. It was faint but it was clear. Someone was in pain. Wanting to run inside but knowing that was not an option, Trivette and Alex stayed hidden in the long stand of bushes which lined the pathway to what was once a state-of-the-art medical facility. Planning to make his move soon Jimmy motioned again for Alex to follow him, and they moved closer to their target.
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The two figures moved quickly towards them. Her back against the metal bars of the cell where Walker was imprisoned, Sydney stood up favouring her left leg. The light from above now filled the basement corridor and Sydney could see clearly who her jailor was.
"Rebecca Jenkins?" she gasped.
"Only just figuring that out are you Ranger Cooke?" the woman sneered. "I bet Ranger Walker there has managed to fit the pieces together."
Reaching over she gently stroked Syd's face where the dark bruise stood stark against her otherwise flawless skin. "Such a shame, you are a beautiful woman Ranger Cooke. I could find a profitable position for you." And then grabbing Syd's hair, she yanked her head back and hissed at her; droplets of spit hitting the Ranger in the face like drops of venom. "But you killed the father of my baby and the man who did all my leg work in the drug trade. Without him alive, my business has dropped significantly and my clientele are beginning to shift their interest to other suppliers. It's a man's world out there, I'm sure you know Ranger Cooke. As women we must work extra hard to be taken seriously. Les Myser was my key. How ever will I support my baby without him?"
"Don't...you...dare...compare...yourself...to...me." Syd spat at the woman in return, as Rebecca rubbed her swollen tummy emphasizing that to hurt her would be to hurt her unborn child, an innocent in this whole situation.
Just then a gunshot was heard outside. Letting go of Sydney's hair Rebecca immediately turned to her ever-silent body guard and ordered him to go upstairs and investigate.
Taking the brief opportunity of Rebecca's turned head; Sydney kicked her aggressor in the shins with her 'good' leg and swung at her face with her right arm. The punch connected as Rebecca turned back to look at Syd and she let out a howl of pain and indignation.
"You little bi..." she began, scratching back at Sydney with her nails and aiming for her eyes. But Sydney was too quick for her. She wriggled out her grasp and into the open corridor. Another gunshot was heard from above; this one sounding like it was directly over top of them in the building. It was followed by a loud thud. When her guards failed to reappear at the entrance to the stairwell Rebecca panicked and began to fleeing for the stairs just as a shadowy figure, much smaller than her two brutes, filled the light in the upper doorway.
"Walker? Sydney?" Relief washed over Sydney as she heard Trivette's familiar voice, just as Rebecca made it to the top of the stairs. "Rebecca Jenkins? What are you doing her? Were you taken too?"
"Trivette – grab her, she's the one who took me." Syd yelled.
Reacting a moment too late to Sydney's words Trivette let Rebecca pass him and Syd could hear the pregnant woman running away just as Sydney reached the stairs and tried to climb, her injured leg greatly hampering her ability to move swiftly.
Turning to go after Rebecca Trivette raced to the door of the derelict building and found Alex there, holding Rebecca tightly, keeping her arms twisted behind her back and thus rendering her unable to escape. The two bodyguards, whom Trivette had shot, each in the leg, had been secured to the front grill of the van with a single set of handcuffs.
"Impressive Alex!" Jimmy smiled, a real smile for the first time in more than a day. "Where did you learn to do that?"
"Well, one can't be a Ranger's wife and not pick up a few things along the way." Alex returned his smile briefly as Trivette secured Rebecca's limbs with strips of cloth torn from his shirt, her arms behind her wrapped around a small tree. Her pregnancy afforded her the luxury of some shade from the sun that was not granted to her two thugs. "Walker?"
"I don't know." Jimmy shook his head. "Syd's down there. Go – I've got these guys. I'm going to call for back-up."
Dashing inside Alex made her way to the stairs calling for Sydney.
"Alex?" she heard Syd's incredulous voice. "Down here! Walker's locked in a cell, he's really badly hurt."
Her heart gripped with fear for her husband Alex made her way down the stairs and into the darkened basement. Reaching Syd, who had returned to Walker's cell, she hugged her friend with relief and knelt down to reach through the bars.
"Walker?" Alex spoke softly. "Oh my god, what's happened to you?" her heart broke catching glimpses of his face covered in dried blood, his purple and blue eyes swollen shut. She stroked his hair and his cheek as he came too again.
"Alex?"
"Yes honey, it's me. Its okay, Syd's here and Trivette's here, we're going to get you out of this place and take you home. Angela's been missing her Daddy."
Leaving Alex and Walker alone, Syd stumbled towards the stairs again and struggled up to find Trivette. When she reached the top and stepped out in the daylight again, the bright light of a sunny Texas day sent stabbing pains through her head.
Trivette met Syd as she reached the entrance way to the building and caught her just before she collapsed.
"Whoa Syd, I've got you." Jimmy set her down on the porch of Building A and took in her rough shape. She looked like she had been through hell.
"Gage..." she mumbled, starting to choke and cry. "Trivette, Gage is hurt."
"Okay Syd, where is he? Downstairs?"
Syd shook her head frantically and pointed towards the forested area of the property in the far distance.
"In the woods?" Trivette confirmed with Syd who began struggling out of Trivette's arms in an attempt to go to her partner. "No Syd, you can't go. You can barely walk and you're burning up with a fever. Back up is on its way; as soon as they are here I'll go get him myself.
Syd began to sob in Trivette's arms. "I think he might be dead." She whispered just before she passed out.