Page 13 of Beta Team-The Saviors: Part two
“The tanks are fucking slow,” I grouch, making her laugh.
“Yeah, yeah. Sounds like an excuse to me. In all seriousness, though, I’d do anything for you guys and Kira. Now, let’s show these assholes who run this show.”
“Gavin and Tyler,” Axel says, pulling our attention back to him, “take the walls down on each side of the guard tower. As soon as you breach, we’ll move.”
These motherfuckers have no idea what they’ve done, messing with Ari and Jason. Gavin and I line the tanks up, bracing ourselves for impact. The guard in the tower fires off rounds, even though it’s useless. They bounce off the outside of the tank, and I jerk in the seat when I smash into the wall.
“Woooooooo!” I howl, watching the wall crumble under me. The tank crawls over it without an issue, and I stop right on the other side. I open the hatch on the top and pull myself out. When my feet touch the ground, I feel the team surrounding me. It takes us two steps before pandemonium erupts, and we’re taking shots from all sides. We move as one, taking them down one at a time. Tivon made sure we had the right ammunition for their armor, and it slices through like a knife through butter. I still have no idea what to think of him, but so far, he’s helped us by getting us in here. I can even be thankful that he saved Kira, but that doesn’t mean I have to like him. There’s something weird about the way he talks about Ari, and I can’t put my finger on it, because too many other things have been going on.
“On your right, Tyler,” Nolan says in my ear, and I swing around without question, pulling the trigger.
“Thank you, my adorable little computer nerd.”
“Fuck off,” Nolan laughs. “On your left, Gav.”
It goes like that until we finally breach the building, but something already feels off. It’s entirely too quiet as we creep into the main lobby. Axel produces a keycard that he must have swiped from a dead guard and swipes it across the card reader. The light flashes green and when we open the door, I realizewhyit was so quiet in the lobby. They were all waiting for us. We all open fire, dodging out of the way when they shoot back.
“Goddamnit,” Kai hisses. “That was close.”
“Tyler,” Nolan says. “Ari and Jason are in the last cell on the left.” We caught the end of the struggle with Ari and the guards on the cameras. I know for a fact that Ari isn’t going down without a fight.
I just need them to hold on for a few more minutes.
6
JASON
Igently pull my shirt away from Ari’s shoulder, and the bleeding still hasn’t slowed. He groans when I push back against him, and his body sags.
“Ari.” I beg while pushing him to sit upright where he started to slump. “Please stay awake.”
“I’m trying, Sweet cheeks.”
Ari’s voice is fading, showing me that his body is about to give up. He’s been beaten to a bloody pulp, so much so that his eyes are almost swollen shut and his face is just about unrecognizable. When he first walked into that cell, I had to fight everything in me not to break down and cry just at the sight of him. But even with that, he fought like hell to try to get me out. He even took a bullet for me.
Ari’s head rolls back on his shoulders, and he’s getting heavier on my side. “Babe, please wake up.” I’m afraid if he passes out that I’ll never be able to wake him up again, and I can’t lose Ari. The weight of them insinuating that the rest of the guys and Kira are dead is already tearing me apart. Ari doesn’t seem to believe it, but I can see the pain in his eyes. “Ari, Baby, please.”
“It’s okay,” Ari answers, his voice barely a whisper. “I’m just going to close my eyes for a second.”
“No. No, you’re not.” I push him to sit up fully, making him hiss in pain. “You can’t close your eyes. You have to stay with me.”
Ari shakes his head like he’s fighting off the fatigue. “I’m here, Sweet cheeks.” Ari reaches up to touch his nose and winces when he makes contact. “Motherfuckers broke my nose. It hurts.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t touch it, then.” Ari turns to look at me and even with his swollen eyes, I can tell he’s glaring at me. “I’m just saying.”
“It’s good to see you haven’t lost your sarcasm. How’s the heart?”
I can’t tell him the truth. He has enough to worry about. But it’s irregular, beating out of my chest one minute and slowing to dangerous levels the next. I’ve dealt with this since I was a kid, and it's easily managed with medication, but one missed dose can throw it all out of whack. I don’t even know how many I’ve missed at this point. Add in the fact that they gave me something so I would pass out, and it’s not looking good. “It’s okay.”
“Don’t lie to me, Sweet cheeks. How bad?”How the hell does he do that?
“I’ll be fine. It’s a little off.”
Ari grabs my wrist before I can stop him, holding his fingers over my pulse. “That’s way too fast, Jason.”
“I’m aware,” I say softly. “But there’s absolutely nothing we can do about it. We need to worry about you.”
“The next time someone comes in here, we make a run for it. We don’t stop until we’re outside these walls.”
