Heroes Lost and Found (33 page)

“A firefighting team pushed through to meet you. I came along for the ride.” He pulled me upright, letting my head rest on his chest. “Everyone’s fine, but we’ve got to get out of here.”

He wasn’t wearing his leather jacket, and his white T-shirt wasn’t white anymore, stained black and brown with dirt and soot. I pulled the mask away in time to cough, the spasms rocking me down to the core.

“I think…”

“Less talk, more walk. Breathe.” Hunter began to walk, dragging me beside him.

I took another deep swallow of the oxygen, noticing the plastic tube led back to a small tank slung over Hunter’s back. The coarse fabric strap dug into his chest, scraping along sweaty blotches of his shirt.

“You need this.” I reached up to pull the mask off.

“Like hell I do,” he shouted as he slapped my hand away. “Damn it, I’ll tie your hands and toss you over my shoulder if you try that again.”

“Always with the kink,” I whispered as I sucked on the clean air.

He chuckled. “Always such a damned tease.” His tone softened. “I’ll be fine.”

Around us a series of bulldozers and other machinery ground and whined as they went to work, digging through the scorched earth to form a firebreak. I spotted Dykovski, still trapped in his armor, being dragged by three men plus Steve. Ahead of us Harris rode on a stretcher carried by a pair of paramedics, Rachael holding on to his hand as the medical team hustled them through the crowd of firefighters moving past us in the opposite direction.

Peter popped up beside me, carrying his own small green tank of oxygen. “We’re good, Jo. We’re all good.” He patted my shoulder. “We’re all good.”

I looked at him, my eyes aching and itching. My mind was a huge ball of dryer lint, so I nodded.

Hunter shuffled me along. “The main camp is just ahead. We’ve got the bus there, and we can get Harris out via ambulance.”

“How bad?” I croaked.

“We don’t know. Could be a flash burn, from what I saw. Might not be too serious once they clean him up.” He gave me a shake, seeing my expression. “Don’t think the worst until we get the official word, ’kay? Give him a chance.” A boyish smile broke free. “Maybe it’s his turn to get lucky.”

My right foot skipped along the ground by the toe, dragging a trench in the soil. It was too heavy to pick up. The air became less dense, the roaring behind us diminishing with every step.

We moved into an area untouched by the fire, the smoke now only a faint memory.

I finally found the strength to focus in on the man half-walking, half-carrying me. “Lord, Hunter. You look awful.” I took another shot of oxygen, trying to offset the pain from saying just a handful of words.

Dried blood coated his upper lip and there was a large bruise coming up on his chin. The soot on his face looked like medieval war paint, and I could have sworn I saw a tear in the corner of one eye.

“You haven’t seen yourself in a mirror lately.” He laughed and shook his head. “We make quite the pair.”

The crowd burst apart around us, and I spotted the large black bus by the side of the road. Bill sat behind the wheel with a newspaper in his hands as if he were waiting for a bunch of seniors to wander out of the casino after the lunch buffet.

Jessie bolted down the steps of the bus and charged at us. “Are you okay? Is she okay? Is everyone okay?”

Hunter held up a hand, stopping him before impact. “She’s fine. We’re fine. Everyone’s okay.” He glanced at the medical team carrying Harris. “More or less.”

“I’ll tell David.” Jessie smiled as he skidded to a stop. “He’s been tearing my ear off.”

“I’ll call him back in a bit,” I offered, knowing the bookstore owner wouldn’t be put off for long. “Make sure you point out I’m okay.”

“Sure.” Jessie headed for the bus, relief showing on his face.

“Here.” Hunter gestured towards one of the three ambulances sitting nearby. “Let’s get you checked out.” He paused. “Again.”

“Smartass,” I rasped as I pulled off the oxygen mask.

I sat on the bumper of the ambulance and let Hunter strip off my jacket, the overheated leather smoking in spots. My white T-shirt was soaked through with sweat, offering anyone who was interested a good view of my sports bra.

The female paramedic moved in with the blood pressure cuff and the thermometer. One went around my arm, the other in my ear. I wasn’t sure which went where, my attention on the group of rescue workers trotting by carrying what looked like some sort of obscene torture weapon.

“Wassat?” I waved a hand at the firemen.

“They’re going to use the Jaws of Life to pry Dykovski out of the armor.” Hunter brushed some grey ash from my jacket as he put it over his arm. “Without the power cell it’s a dead weight. And we sure as hell ain’t going to give him a new battery to get him out.”

I spotted the Agency men on the other side of the bus, the black SUVs lined up in a row like their human counterparts. “Where’s Outrager?”

“Around here somewhere.” Hunter rubbed his bruised chin, sounding rather pleased with himself. “I believe he’s trying to stay off our radar. Don’t know why.”

I glared at him as the paramedic struggled to keep me still long enough to get a reading. “What happened?”

“Stop moving and I’ll tell you.” He nodded at the woman who jumped at the chance to get her numbers. “Outrager ‘forgot’ to tell us about the robots in the cache. He wasn’t that worried about Dykovski having access to them since the armament wasn’t heavy, just the lasers, and he knew we could handle that easily enough. A nice warm-up exercise for the Protectors in his warped Agency mind.”

“Except for the part where they ended up setting fire to the damned forest.”

“Yes, well, he didn’t think that far ahead. He thought ratings instead of reality. The Forest Service is going to want to talk to him for that one. Probably a fat fine in the Agency’s future.” He rubbed his upper lip, wiping away the flakes of dried blood. “We then went on to discuss the importance of full disclosure to your Guardian and to your team about all items, be them ever so small and seemingly insignificant like, say, attack drones.”

“Ah.” I smacked my lips as the paramedic passed me a plastic bottle of water, the condensation dribbling down the sides. “I knew you liked it rough, but I never figured—”

The woman interrupted. “Appears like smoke inhalation for right now, bumps and bruises old and new. Blood pressure is a bit high but understandable, given the circumstances. Would you like to go to the hospital?”

“No thanks.” I slid off the bumper, barely finding enough strength to stand up. I tapped my forehead with the edge of the open bottle. “You’ve got better things to do than deal with old broads who don’t know when to stop breathing.”

She laughed as she put away the equipment. “Take care.”

Hunter took my arm as I headed for the second ambulance. Harris lay on a stretcher as the two paramedics wrapped gauze around his eyes, the top of his head now hidden under miles of white bandage. Peter and Rachael stood nearby, sharing the same oxygen mask. Both had shucked their jackets, now only wearing the sweat-stained white shirts.

I nodded to Rachael as I drank half the bottle in a single swig. She wiped her eyes, letting out a sniffle. Peter kept his arm around her, wearing a thin, strained smile.

“How you doing, Harris?” I didn’t try and touch him.

“That you, Jo?” He smiled. “Think I’ll need a hairpiece?”

“Hey, tell them to take the rest off. Bald men are all the rage. You’ll be fighting the girls off with a stick.” I looked at the two men. “You airlifting him out or driving?”

“Too volatile to fly.” The larger paramedic jerked a thumb at the road. “Take us a bit longer, but he’s stable.”

I nodded and turned my attention to Harris. “Keep us updated, dude. And don’t go pinching the nurses. We don’t need a harassment suit right now.”

He laughed and stretched out his right hand, letting it hang in the air between us. I clasped it and squeezed it tight.

“Thanks for everything, Jo.” Harris swallowed hard. “I’m sorry ’bout everything.”

“Don’t be,” I replied. “We’ll be by to visit you in a bit. Let me tie up the loose ends here.”

Rachael stood back as the paramedics loaded Harris into the ambulance, the stretcher bumping inside the cab. She lifted her hand as if to wave and then paused.

“He’s going to be fine,” Peter said. “Can’t keep a guy like that down.”

“Like what?” she asked.

“A hero,” he answered, a note of pride in his voice. “A real hero.”

The ambulance drove off, lights and siren blaring through the light grey wisps of smoke covering everything around us.

“Steve just got that crap dissolved off his hand,” Hunter offered, knowing my next question. “No harm done. Darned good idea on his part, taking a minus and making it a plus.”

“Darned good training helped them all survive.” I touched his cheek, drawing a streak through the soot-stained skin. “You trained a hell of a team.”

“You led them.” He kissed me, a short snap with promises of things to come. “No one else could or would do what you did today. Makes me damned proud to be a Protector.” Now it was his turn to stroke my cheek. “And yours.”

I turned away to avoid bursting into tears and saw the group of firefighters standing around Dykovski. Steve let out a laugh that turned into a hacking cough as he shook hands with one of the men. His leather jacket was gone, along with his shirt, the tan skin rippling with the silver veins as he flexed his muscles for one curious fan. He looked like he’d just come from a Steelers tailgate party instead of fighting his way out of a firestorm.

“Over there.” I gestured at the crowd. Hunter maneuvered me along with one hand around my waist. I grew stronger with each step, standing on my own at the end.

Peter and Rachael joined us. Rachael’s hands twitched as Peter chuckled at some shared joke, keeping a smile on both their faces.

The firemen shifted aside as we approached, showing Dykovski on his back and still in the power armor.

He glared at me through the faceplate.

One older firefighter lifted the metal claw and glanced at me. “You okay with us taking it off with this?”

“Sure.” I nodded. “And it doesn’t have to be pretty. I’m okay with losing the deposit.”

The jagged teeth dug into the small opening between collarbone and throat and slowly expanded. The metal screamed as it broke away, exposing the man underneath.

It took three attacks on various parts of the body armor before the firemen could peel it back with Steve’s assistance, allowing Dykovski to be lifted free. A few minutes later Dykovski stood beside the remains of the power armor.

The firemen stepped back. We trod forward. I spotted the Agency men shuffling in front of the firemen, forming another circle around us.

Everyone waited.

Dykovski wore a black bodysuit, the plastic clothing now slick with sweat and a thousand other liquids. His short blond hair lay limp against his forehead. He looked at me and put his hands on his hips, daring me to say something.

No one moved.

An airtanker roared overhead, the overloaded plane preparing to dump water on another part of the burning forest.

“Jo,” Outrager said, interrupting the standoff.

I looked to my right and saw a face mirroring my own in number of bruises. The tape across his nose gave him a nasal tone. He still wore the official Agency black suit, although there were a number of tears and scrapes marring his jacket. His right sleeve hung by a few dark threads, in danger of slipping down and off his arm.

He cleared his throat. “We’re ready to remove him.”

“Where are you removing him to?” Steve rocked on his feet as if preparing to fight again.

“Someplace secure. You won’t have to worry about him again.”

“Someplace secure?” Peter echoed. “Like where?”

“Someplace secure. You don’t need to know,” Outrager replied in a low monotone.

“You’re not taking him to jail?” Rachael looked around the circle, the disbelief plain on her face. “After all he’s done?”

“They can’t afford to.” I stared at Outrager, the annoying reality thumping around my dulled brain like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum. “He gets up on the stand and starts talking about the Agency and Kit Masters and tells the truth about us, and it all goes down like a cheap Parkdale hooker.”

“The public can’t find out about this,” Hunter added, the weariness in his words almost bringing me to tears. “He has to just disappear into the system. They can’t put him on trial for any of this.”

She shook her head. “It’s not right.” She slumped against Peter, the exhaustion kicking in. “It’s not what he deserves.”

Dykovski sneered as he glared at me. “That’s right, Surf. They’re going to lock me away because I know too much about you, about what you are. Nothing but a stupid freak of nature.” His eyes went from Rachael to Peter to Steve to Hunter, finally coming back to lock with mine. “All freaks. God knows what you are, but you’re not human.”

He took a step towards me.

The Agency men surged forward, Steve among them.