Page 17 of Leave Me Behind
He must feel my gaze because those pale blue eyes lift to mine, his brows furrowed with annoyance. My instincts tell me to steer clear of him, but I know that won’t work. We’ll have to get along eventually, even if he is the world’s biggest asshole.
“I look forward to working with you, sir,” I say with a manner of respect. Though, it tastes like poison coming out of my mouth. I just want to forget about last night and start this mission on the right terms.
He doesn’t let his eyes trail away from me as he says cruelly, “I want you to quit, Bun.”
My chest drops and the other men stop talking as their attention is drawn to us.
I can’t hold back my offended scoff. “That’s not happening.”
Bradshaw stands and shoves me back by the shoulders. My ass presses against the cinderblock wall and heat spreads through my entire body like wildfire.Stay calm. Stay calm. You can’t punch your superior. Not on the first day, in the first hour.
“I don’t want you as my second. None of us want you on the squad,Bunny. You couldn’t even keep your prior first alive. What was his name?Jenkins?” My heart stops and he sees the anguish race across my features. His eyes flicker with regret for a second, but the resolve doesn’t leave. He’s standing over me, hands braced on either side of the wall, trying to make me feel small.
Oh, fuck this. No one talks about Jenkins like that.
“You don’t want me on your squad because I won’t die as easily as your last second. What was his name? Oh, I guess it wasn’t worth remembering because I sure as fuck don’t know it. At least you’veheardof Jenkins.”
Bradshaw’s pupils expand and his face is horror-stricken for a millisecond before he controls the emotions.
Yeah, that didn’t feel very good. Did it, big guy?
I want to unsay the words the second they leave my mouth, but anger makes them stay. Bradshaw’s eyes fill with hatred. He fists my vest and furiously slams my back against the wall. My head rocks back toward the cement, but instead of impacting on stone it’s cupped by Bradshaw’s hand, his knuckles taking the brunt of it. The force shakes down a few of the framed awards from the wall and they crash around us.
A few audible gasps sound from the opposite end of the room but all I can focus on is Bradshaw. Even he’s blurry through the brimming tears that I furiously blink away.
Bradshaw’s teeth are gritted together, keeping venomous words back I’m sure, but it doesn’t stop the force with which he holds me against the wall, keeping me pinned with pure rage. My airways strain at the pressure and as my wits come back to me,my hand flies to his wrist. He doesn’t let up; he only searches my eyes.
“You’re as good as dead,” he finally says darkly—a sinister promise.
The others watch us with twisted expressions. Harrison has his hand extended toward us like he’s going to interject, but he doesn’t speak out against Bradshaw.
“Not if I let the enemy kill you first,” I spit back at him. Bradshaw’s eyes widen with disbelief. “I’ll bet that’s how your last second died, saving your ungrateful ass. If I die, it’s because I’ll be taking a bullet for you too and thatfuckingsucks.” I lift my knee swiftly, intending to nail him in the balls but he releases me quickly and steps back. His knuckles are bloody where he took the impact from the back of my head.
There’s a new flame in his cold eyes and I know that this is going to be a long,longnight.
The chopper pick-up is vacant with the exception of our small squad. The helicopter blades block out all other sound as it descends to the circular pad. The seven of us lower our heads and swiftly move into it with nothing but our backpacks strapped to our backs. Eren takes up the rear and boards last.
Bradshaw sits to my right side while Jefferson is to my left. Pete, Harrison, and Ian sit across from us. We each wear muffled headgear so we can hear the instructions for our mock mission and training. Eren stands in the center, holding a handle in the center of the helicopter ceiling and speaks loudly through his mic.
“Malum Squad, we’ve located a group of armed specialists for a Level Red operation. They’ve taken five hostages deep intothe Rocky Mountains. Our mission is to find them, extract them safely, and return to the pick-up location by seventeen hundred exactly three weeks from today. I want you to take everything in this training seriously. That means if you get hit, you’re out. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Sergeant,” we all say in unison.
He hands out our guns, loaded with dummy bullets that pop with a red dust substance upon impact. I don’t think it’s been approved for general military use yet. They like to have the dark forces practice with all the new equipment “downstairs” before handing them out to the people who matter “upstairs.”
I take the sniper rifle from Eren as he hands it to me. I’m used to handling them and the weight doesn’t bother me one bit. The others eye me distrustfully. Ian even looks a bit arrogant, hoping for me to fail once we get out there. Not only do I need to prove myself as a marksman, but I have to excel at the hand-to-hand combat too.Please, God, don’t let my sparring partner be Bradshaw when the time comes.
I bring my eyes back to my feet, reminding myself not to let the others get to me. It’s hard to be the black sheep of the group, especially after coming from my last squad. It took years to get their respect. I only have one month with Malum.
My thoughts fade as I watch the others get their weapons. One of my specialties is, unfortunately, observation. I can break down a person’s position and mannerisms in a matter of minutes. Though this squad is a bit harder to read than most, you can learn a great deal about a soldier based on the weapons handed to them.
Jefferson and Pete both get machine guns and assault rifles. They are our fireteam. The ones that have the heavy-duty weapons that can wipe out the enemy quickly and loudly.
Bradshaw shifts his leg and bumps my knee. I glare at him and he gives it right back. His hollow eyes pierce me and only fuel my hate-fire.Focus on cataloging.
Ian gets an assault rifle and a bag with radio equipment for airstrikes. He’s the least armed and the one we need to rely on for communication. He’s a signaler, but I already knew he was a dark air force member based on the raven wings tattooed on his neck.
Harrison gets a grenade launcher. Obvious, the grenadier.
