Riding on Whispers (the Wolfegang series Book 3) (23 page)

I kneeled next to Wolfe and tried to wipe some of the blood from his face. I had to get his heart beating faster, and get more blood to his brain so he’d wake up. I took both hands, made a fist, and slammed them down on his chest over and over. His breathing was still really shallow. I gave him another light slap. “I really need you to wake up,” I whispered in his ear. “Please, just wake up, and then I’ll get us out of here.”

I didn’t know what else to do, I couldn’t just leave him. I felt helpless and I screamed my frustration. I wouldn’t leave without him – I couldn’t. I would stay if I had to, and figure out a way to get us out later. Break out of the brig, and then escape. I’d survived torture before, I could do it again.

There was a choking noise, and I scrambled to get Wolfe on his side. He vomited blood and started gasping.

“Wolfe!” I was so relieved I could feel the tears streaming down my face. “I can’t believe it.” I rubbed his back, doing what I could to help him.

“Kat, what are you doing here?” he wheezed. “It’s too dangerous.”

“I’m fine,” I said. “We need to get out of here.” We didn’t have much time, and I was frantic. Getting back to our shuttle was a whole new set of problems I really didn’t want to think about at the moment.

“Your brother?” he asked.

“Don’t worry about it.” I pulled Wolfe up and he held on to me to keep his balance.

Wolfe stared at me and traced my face with his finger. He wiped away my tears, and then brushed the hair back from my face. “Thank you,” he said.

“I owed you,” I said. “I wouldn’t leave without you.” I put his arm around my shoulders, and propped him up.

Wolfe smiled then, and held me close. For once, I let him. I knew those feelings, the need to feel safe, to be near someone you could trust. His warmth spread through me, and chased away the fear.

I slid my arm around his waist. I’d have to help him walk with how weak he was. “Now let’s get out of here,” I said.

With my free hand I activated my comm. “Ricky, I have Wolfe. We’re heading to the shuttle now.”

“All right, hurry.” Ricky’s voice was panicked. “The inside of that base looks like a kid just kicked over an anthill, and now all the ants are very angry.”

I’d worry about how he knew what anthills were later. “Copy.” I closed the transmission. “Can you run?” I asked Wolfe.

He smiled at me. “I can certainly try.”

We hobbled towards the door together, and were about to make it through when something knocked me to my knees.

“What just happened?” I looked up at Wolfe, and felt dazed.

His face was full of horror. “Are you all right?” he asked. He sounded frightened, but I wasn’t sure why.

Did I just trip and fall? “I think so,” I answered. My back felt warm. I touched where it tingled. My hand came away covered in blood. “Is that what I think it is?” My voice shook as I realized what had happened. I’d been shot.

“Don’t think you’re going to get away from me that easily.” Donnelly’s voice was triumphant.

I looked over my shoulder, and saw him leaning on my pulse rifle. My own gun shot me. Well, that sucked. Everything felt hazy, and it was hard to focus.

“Don’t bring her into this, Cole.” Wolfe’s voice was distant. I tried to get up, but I couldn’t get my body to do anything; I couldn’t feel my legs.

That was when I went into shock, and began shaking violently. I fell over onto my side, and my vision became skewed. I wanted to turn so everything would be right side up, but my head was too heavy. My blood seeped onto the floor, and I lay in a giant pool of my own plasma. I placed a hand on top of the blood. “Chase.” It was weird saying his first name.

There were more shots, and I was lifted up. I wondered if I could survive a shot that might’ve severed my spine.

Wolfe’s breath was warm against my face. “I’m getting you out of here.”

“We’re a little conspicuous,” I muttered. My voice sounded dead. I coughed. I felt like I couldn’t get enough air. “I think I’m bleeding into my lungs,” I commented.

“I know!” Wolfe roared. He pushed through the doors and picked up his pace.

“Ricky, prep the infirmary ward for immediate surgery. We have a blast wound to the lower back.” It sounded like he wanted to say more, but he refrained after glancing at me.

It was weird how my back didn’t really hurt. I felt so separate from everything. If I was dying, wasn’t I supposed to see something? Which begged the question, if I saw nothing, did that mean I wasn’t dying?

My breath came in little gasps, there was too much fluid in my lungs for me to breathe properly. I grew dizzy from the lack of air, and closed my eyes. “Chase, I’m going to sleep. Wake me up when we get there?” I sighed, and let myself doze off.

When Chase Wolfe looked up, he saw her face, concerned and worried. Chase was glad Kat was there. She
did
care for him. Suddenly he was overcome with worry. She shouldn’t be there; it was too dangerous. He told her so, but she ignored him as usual, and helped him up.

“Thank you,” he told Katerina. He couldn’t help himself; he’d been so worried Donnelly would take his revenge out on her. Wolfe hugged her, trying to reassure himself that they were okay.

Her tears made his heart break. He wished he could fix her world. The shadows in her eyes were still there, and so was the pain, but she smiled at him. His heart swelled.

“Now let’s get out of here.” She wrapped her arm around his waist, and he tried not to think of how many times over the last few weeks he’d wished he could be that close to her, and now she was helping him walk. The situation that allowed him to be so close to her was almost tragic.

Walking hurt; everything hurt. Chase ignored the blood, the bruises, and the cuts. Because that’s what he was good at. He was a soldier. He killed, he protected. He glanced at Kat. He protected her. He didn’t know why, but that’s all he wanted to do. Maybe it was how delicate she looked.

He heard Kat say something to Ricky, but he was concentrating on pushing the pain back so he could do his job. Push it far away. He could deal with it later and not in the middle of a crisis.

“Copy.” She turned to him and asked, “Can you run?”

He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile and said, “I can certainly try.” He had to succeed. His crew was counting on him.

They ran towards the exit, and he heard a pulse rifle fire. Katerina stumbled, and fell to her knees. No. Panic tore through him. He grabbed her by the shoulders, and she looked up at him, her face contorted in confusion.

“What just happened?” she asked.

He didn’t want to know how bad it was. “Are you all right?”

“I think so,” she replied, but she looked unsure. She went to touch her back, and her hand came away with blood. It felt like someone had stabbed him.

“Is that what I think it is?” she asked. The way her voice shook made him feel so helpless.

Then a voice he recognized all too well spoke. “Don’t think you’re going to get away from me that easily.”

Chase froze. Hate filled him, turning his blood to icy rage. “Don’t bring her into this, Cole,” Chase snarled.

“You know how this game works, Wolfe. I find something you care about, and take it away from you. We’ve been playing this game for a long time now, you should know better.”

Chase’s attention snapped back to Kat. She shook violently and fell over. Blood poured from the wound on her back.

“Then you should know,” Chase said as he kneeled next to her, “that I don’t easily give up what is mine.” His voice was calm, rational, and very, very dangerous.

“We shall see,” Donnelly replied.

Chase reached for the gun lying on the ground, near one of Donnelly’s fallen soldiers.

“Chase.”

Her voice made him falter. She stared at the growing pool of blood. He had to get her out of there, and
now
.

“Yes,” Chase said. “We shall see.” He shot the rifle away from Cole, and then shot him in the chest. Chase didn’t have the time to make sure he was dead; he just needed to get out.

He scooped Kat up and into his arms. It reminded him of when they first met, only a few weeks before. “I’m getting you out of here,” he told her.

“A little conspicuous,” she said. He didn’t know how she could joke at a time like that.

Kat coughed. It was a racking, wet cough he could feel. She wheezed as she tried to breathe. It made his heart race with fear.

“I think I’m bleeding into my lungs,” she commented.

Feeling so helpless made him furious. “I know!” he yelled. He walked as fast as he could without jostling her.

Chase made it out of Donnelly’s office, and headed down the hall. He heard footsteps approaching. He kicked one of the doors open and went inside. He closed it just as a squadron of soldiers ran past.

“Ricky,” he signaled. “Prep the infirmary ward for immediate surgery. We have a blast wound to the lower back.” He glanced at Kat. He didn’t want to worry her by letting her know how bad it really was.

Her breathing quickened, he could hear the rattle of fluid every time she took a breath. “Chase, I’m going to sleep. Wake me when we get there?”

Damn it all to hell. “Ricky,” he said. “She’s unconscious. I need to get her into surgery now. Locate my position and find me the quickest exit route.”

“Yes, sir.”

Chase placed Kat carefully on the floor and took off her dress shirt, and then tied it around her waist to slow the bleeding. He checked her pulse; her heart was still beating, for the time being.

“All right, Captain, I have the blue prints up, and I’ve hacked into the surveillance cameras. I have an exit for you, ready?”

“Yes.” Chase went back to door, gun in hand, and listened carefully. No sounds of more soldiers in the hallway.

“Okay, when you exit the room you’re going to turn right,” Ricky instructed him. “Third door on your left will be unlocked. It’s a science lab. Go through that room to the exit sign. That leads you to a flight of stairs that will take you to the service area of the bar. There is a pulse rifle on the wall - take it, there are soldiers there. Then head to the hangar, I’ll have the
Wolfegang
ready to meet you. Celeste and I will do what we can to disarm their defense cannons. Just fly here as fast as you can. Celeste will be on the ready with return fire.”

Having some semblance of a plan made Chase slightly less panicked. “Excellent,” he said. “Ending transmission.”

The adrenaline pumped through Chase’s veins in overdrive. He tossed Kat as gently as he could over his shoulder and headed out. He followed Ricky’s instructions exactly. There was no one in the lab at such a late hour.

He went down the stairs, mindful of the jolts. The hallway was cold, all concrete, and the lights flickered. It made the pain in his head worse. There were a few stairs that led up and into the bar.

Chase went up them and opened the door to the bar slowly. No one was in the back. He grabbed the rifle from the wall and placed Kat down against it so she was sitting up.

Chase pressed his back against the wall that separated him from a bar full of military-trained killers. He leaned out and took a quick look. He counted twelve soldiers. Not that many, but twelve against one was never great odds. Chase had to use the element of surprise.

He slipped the knife he’d taken from Kat’s boot and tread silently. He grabbed the bartender from behind and slit his throat, gently placing him on the ground. Chase used the actual bar as a shield, got out the rifle and aimed.

He killed three before anyone had the time to react. Then they were on him, too close for Chase to use the rifle. He hit one over the head with the butt of the gun, and then he used it like a bat and swung. The next soldier was too fast. He grabbed Chase by the throat and punched him repeatedly.

“Need some help, mate?”

The soldier was pulled off of him and then blood covered the walls.

A hand was offered and he took it. Chase looked up into the most nondescript eyes he’d ever seen.

“I’m John Smith, I work for the brother.” Even the smile was nondescript.

“Thanks,” Chase said. He was still unsure how he’d gotten so lucky.