Page 67 of Leave Me Behind
twenty-six
. . .
Bradshaw
Jefferson is sprawledout on the ground and coughing up blood, his gloved hand clutched across his chest as red blooms from his vest.
My brain works on overdrive. I don’t have time to be distracted by his wounds. I drag my gaze across the battlefield. The smoke is quickly fading with the pounding rain falling heavily on my shoulders.
A flash of movement draws my attention and I raise my M16, finger on the trigger. The soldier is dressed in different camo than ours, though it’s a close resemblance—the difference of only a few pockets and designs on the front vest. I pull the trigger and don’t blink as the soldier tilts back with the force, falling to the ground and twitching with their last breaths.
What the fuck is going on here? This is more than just an ambush. This is organized and they knew exactly where we were landing.
Any trust I had left in Bunny fades.
A gruesome snapping sound redirects my attention to a group of bushes. I approach with caution, aware of the fact that I don’t see or hear any of my comrades or Ghost soldiers.
The leaves of the bushes are bathed in blood, lingering longer now that the rain is tapering off. The thick drops fall to the earth slowly, infusing the brisk air with a sting of iron. It hits the back of my throat and claws at the worry that this blood might belong to one of my squadmates.
A lone figure rises from the underbrush, wobbly from a fight. I still and unsheathe my KA-BAR, keeping low and waiting for the soldier to turn. With our uniforms looking so similar, it would be foolish to cut their throat before I’m certain.
They breathe heavily, the hot clouds of their breath plume around their mask. Then they turn their head and look right at me. My chest constricts as I instantly recognize her in my own image. For a moment it feels like I’m staring at myself, drowned in blood. The matte black of the skull mask and helmet are slick and glossy with red. She looks like a devil. The same one I see when I look at myself in the mirror.
I don’t say a word and neither does she.
Bunny jerks her head up and her arm flashes before I manage to follow the motion of it. Twenty feet away a soldier cries out as her knife burrows deep into his spinal column. He falls to the ground and she’s already darting toward him to finish the job.
I force myself to keep her pace and grip her wrist before she can pull her knife out of his back. Her head flicks up to me. God, I wish I could see her eyes past those goggles right now. Does she even look like herself when she kills like this?
“We need to keep one for questioning,” I order in a low voice.
She hesitates but finally nods.
I take a breath and look back to the empty forest. Jefferson was in bad condition.
“Clear, half a klick west from the intended drop zone,” I mutter through the radio.
Bunny remains settled on the soldier’s back but keeps her head up and alert.
After a few terribly long minutes the radio clicks in my ear. “Clear on the eastern front, quarter klick from landing,” Eren says calmly.Where the fuck have you been?My teeth grind together, but I wait for everyone else to respond before slowly standing. A few more gun shots ring out in the distance.
Jefferson was the only one who didn’t respond.
“I’m going to go check on Jobs. Stay put,” I tell Bunny. She doesn’t acknowledge me, but I don’t have time to wait for a response.
It doesn’t take me long to find Jefferson. He’s still groaning in pain and exactly where I saw him a few minutes ago. He clutches his stomach painfully and gasps for air.
I fall to my knees and start unzipping his vest. “You’re okay,” I bite out, but I’m not sure he hears me. Jefferson keeps taking in long unwavering breaths.
After I remove his vest, I quickly lift his shirt to inspect the wound. Jefferson groans again but I dismiss it. The bullet went straight into his gut, probably hitting mostly intestines, being so low. Hopefully it didn’t hit his kidney.
“We need an evac, Jobs is down,” I say as calmly as I can through the radio.
Eren responds instantly. “We’re on the way. Don’t leave his side; we’re pulling out and regrouping at the alternate drop after we get Jobs out of here. This site is compromised.”
I hold down on his stomach and watch Jefferson’s expressions go from fear, pain, then to confusion.Shit.I’m not sure he’ll make it through this.
A sharp cry rolls through the trees and my head snaps toward Bunny’s direction. She wouldn’t kill our only hostage, wouldshe? I grit my teeth and force myself to stay put. If I leave Jefferson right now, he might not make it.
