Page 103 of Darling Wildfire
“Fuck, boss—good to hear your voice, I was about to send Preach back for you—we’re fifty yards east of the target perch. A team has us pinned down with a sniper and AR in the roost.”
“Copy.”
Instead of heading east, I headed toward the enemy team to catch them from behind. I saw them spread out along the edge of the treeline near the perch with the sniper and AR trained on my men pinning them down in a depression between some fallen trees.
I settled down on my stomach, forcing aside the surge of pain it caused and brought the AR I’d found up to look through the sights. Between the AR and the handgun, I only had a few bullets—I hoped it would be enough.
“I’m in position behind the enemy, at your two—” I muttered into comms.
“Do you have a better bead on the sniper?” Atlas asked.
I adjusted to take in the perch.
“I can take out the gun,” I said, although my target was the man’s hand on the trigger. It was the only thing visible sticking out of the doorway.
“On my go,” Nyx said.
I steadied myself and readied for the shot.
“Fire when ready,” Nyx said.
I breathed out and pulled the trigger. I watched the bullet slam into the gun right above the man’s trigger finger. I didn’t wait but trained my gun on the nearest enemy on the ground and took him out.
“Go!” I called as the enemy hurried to regroup. I had time to take out one more before bullets bit into the ground around my hiding spot. I jumped up and ran through the trees, hearing bark explode as I passed. A ricochetwhistled past my ear.
“Atlas—get the target across the line!” Nyx shouted over comms.
Minutes later the buzzer sounded, and I collapsed heavily against a tree, gasping in air and clutching my side. I ripped the comms unit out and headed back towards the DZ.
Nyx looked relieved when I came limping out of the treeline.
“Fuck! Where have you been?” He took in my disheveled state—wet, bloody and covered in mud. “You went for a swim? Seriously, T—leaving us to fight the war—bad form—” His words got cut off as I punched him in the shoulder, my eyes scanning him for injuries.
“I’m fine—” he said. “Atlas took a ricochet but nothing deep. Kane got shot in the leg but he's good. Preach might have a concussion but he looks worse than it is—”
He wasn’t wrong. Blood covered Preacher’s entire head, but he bared bloody teeth at me in a grin and gave me a thumbs up.
Nyx looked back at me. “You look like you were waterboarded.”
“Little waterlogged, yeah,” I said, trying to breathe around the stabbing pain in my side.
The doors opened and I stumbled as I took a step towards them. The ground lurched under me as a wave of dizziness assaulted me. Nyx was at my side in an instant, throwing my arm around his shoulder. I stumbled my way through the double doors. The last thing I remember was Nyx trying to speak to me as he carefully lowered me onto the ground and then the darkness took me away.
I woke up in the infirmary.
The stab wound had nicked my lung and ended up being a little more serious than I’d first thought. I had a broken rib, and the bullet wound on my arm had gone all the way down to the muscle. There were also copious amounts of cuts, scratches and bruises. By the time I returned to our quarters, Nyx was beside himself with worry. It looked like he’d been pacing in front of the door again and when the guards brought me back; he watched me limp in with relief.
“You look…like death,” he said.
“Gee, thanks,” I muttered.
They’d given me painkillers, but I felt like one big walking bruise. Icarefully walked over to my bed and pulled on sweatpants before sinking down against the pillows.
“Do you want food? Water?” Nyx asked.
I shook my head, hiding a smile as he hovered. They’d given me fluids, and I didn’t feel like my stomach could handle food yet. He sat down on the edge of his bed and leaned on his forearms. He was watching Kane who seemed to be inspecting every inch of the space.
“He’s been doing that since we got back,” Nyx muttered.
