Slave to Love (23 page)

To my left is a fire stairs that will give me roof access and I can try and make my way north from there. Wind was out of the south this morning, so that should bode well for me to make it as far as I can in a smoky situation.

“Garber,” I yell, as soon as I’m out of the staircase. “Gaaaarberrrr.”

Smoke and flames are obscuring a portion of the north roof. Calculating Jeff’s angle, I cut a sharp left and see him partially obscured by rubble.

“What took you so long? Get this shit off my leg.”

My boy is still with us and a hundred pound weight lifts from my heart.

“Give me a second, dude, and I’ll get you freed.” I start lifting the concrete from his leg. “You’re not going to be dancing anytime soon. Your tibia and fibula have seen better days.” With the third slab removed, I can see his leg. “Let’s get you out of here.” And with his arm slung around my neck, we start making our way to the stairs.

“It had to be an inside job, Hale. Someone in that bunker? Are they targeting someone else?”

“I don’t know. I thought we had this thing airtight. What didn’t I see? Lean all your weight on me,” I direct as we hit the steps.

“We are clear of all dissident threat,” the message plays in my ear.

“We’ve got them all,” I advise Garber.

“What’s that sound?” he asks.

“Emergency sprinkler system.”

“Shit,” he growls, “Hale, get to the bunker now. That was the target. This was just the diversion. They’re all going to drown in there. This place is equipped with a high-flow military grade sprinkler system.”

And in one stunningly painful moment, it’s all clear as day. The bunker was always the primary target and trapped inside to drown are all the TFV1 participants, my staff and Sierra Stone.

Leaving Jeff in the stairwell with a handgun and my shirtsleeve tied tightly around his thigh, I’m at full speed across the facility to the south end where the entrance to the bunker is located. Calling into my microphone, “I need all available men to the bunker, they’re flooding out in there.”

By the time I reach mid-building, I’m wading through knee deep water rushing down the hall. It’s impossible to move fast in the current.

“Palmer, can you hear me?”

“Yes, boss.”

“Cut all sprinkler systems immediately. This place is on its own well system, figure out a way to take that down for now.”

“I’m deploying two men immediately.”

“Do we have an alternate way to access the bunker?” We’ve got to stop the flooding and we’ve got to get them out.

“I need your fingerprint, Hale, to override. How quickly can you get here?” Palmer’s voice is stressed.

“The water is slowing me up,” I’m quickly losing breath. “Probably still three to four minutes out.”

“Hurry.”

The halls seem interminable as I fight the deepening tide of water. I’ve got to get to them before they all drown. I need to save every single person in that room. I cannot let them drown. Not one single one of them. Including my mermaid.

My lungs are burning, my muscles fatigued. The hallway where I need to turn is finally in sight. I visualize basic training and I am twenty years old and indestructible. Wading through water. Nothing, totally easy. Save a roomful of people. I’m your man. Lead everyone out of here. Hell, that’s why you recruited me. This is what I do.

“Palmer, I’m within visual.” I pant.

One of the guys breaks away and wades to meet me. Grabbing my arm he helps to get me through the last of it.

“Here’s the keypad, Hale. Your right thumb followed by your code.” As I input the numbers, I say a silent prayer for what we will find behind the door.

The reinforced steel door starts to slowly move open, hampered by the pressure of the water on the outside, but after the seal lock is broken and the first few inches of movement, the pressure built up by the significant amount of water taken on in the smaller chamber forces the door open with a rush, sweeping the occupants from within the bunker as if they were toddlers riding in a wave pool.

“Station men down the hall to grab everyone and get them to their feet. And I need someone taking headcount.” I yell.

Sputtering people float out in the initial wave and then it begins to slow off.

“How many are we missing,” I yell.

“We have all but three.”

“Come on,” I say to two of the guys. And we make our way into the bunker.

Immediately I see her hair floating around her, like a mermaid, gently swaying in the tide.
Mermaids are supposed to breathe underwater,
is the thought going through my head. So this is all wrong, because Sierra is definitely not breathing.

Scooping her into my arms, “I need a place to perform CPR,” I yell and two men are there to help, to take her from me. But I can’t let go. I will not let go. Not until she is breathing again.

“Right here, Hale.” Palmer yells out, pointing to a table that is well above water level.

I lay her down gently and simultaneously put my cheek near her mouth and nose and grab her wrist to feel for a pulse.

Quickly, I turn her head and water streams from her mouth and nose. Moving the mermaid necklace to the side, I direct one of the men, “Start chest compressions now,” as I begin mouth-to-mouth.

Tilting back her neck to make sure her airway is clear, I cover her mouth with mine, exhaling into her. Her chest rises and I fill it again. My counterpart has his rhythm down and I send more air down into her lungs.

C’mon, mermaid, breathe for me. We’ve got a date tonight, you and I. Now’s our time. I need you to breathe, baby. You’re my mermaid, you can breathe underwater. You don’t understand, I can’t lose you this way. Not this way. Breathe, baby. I need you to breathe, Sierra.

More breaths sent into her.
I will breathe for you as long as I need to.

“How far away is help?” I scream between breaths and then clamp my mouth down on Sierra’s again.

A gurgle erupts from deep in her chest and I pull my mouth away and quickly turn her head to the side as a mixture of water and vomit erupts in spurts, followed by coughing and gasping and then more vomiting. I’ve turned her on her side and have her propped against me.

“You’re going to be okay, baby. You’re going to be okay.” I brush her wet hair back from her face. “Everything’s going to be all right.”

“Texas Guard has arrived.” I’m informed by someone.

“Let’s AirEvac her out of here and we’ve got a wounded man in the north stairwell. His right leg is in bad shape. He’s going to need fluid resuscitation.”

“Sir, will you be going with them?” Someone asks.

“Yes. I’ll be there in a moment.” There’s a part of me that feels responsible for everyone here and making sure that they leave here securely. That is typically what I would do.

But this time, I realize there is only one place I need to be and that is with the people I love.

Grabbing Palmer and two other guys, we head upstairs and quickly find our logistics guy and the site commander with the Texas Guard.

“We’re moving everyone to Camp Mabry for individual debriefing, Mr. Lundström.”

“You realize how sensitive this is?” I need to make sure my guys let them know with what they are dealing.

“We do, sir, and Homeland is going to be coordinating everything.”

“Okay, great.” Turning to Palmer, “Make sure Colonel Hoffman is brought into this immediately. I’m going with Ms. Stone and Mr. Garber to Brackenridge Hospital. You can get hold of me there.”

And with that, I begin sprinting across the lawn so that I don’t hold up their flights to the hospital any longer.

My lungs are burning. I
want to cry out, but I can’t. It hurts too much. And then I feel a sharp pain in my finger.
Where did that come from?
I wonder.

Opening my eyes, a nurse is squeezing my finger, trying to get blood into a little tube.

“Welcome back,” she whispers with a smile.

“Where am I?” my voice isn’t more than a weak croak.

“Shh, don’t strain yourself. You’re at Brackenridge Hospital and you are going to be just fine.”

“How did I get here?” The effort to speak is enormous. My lungs and windpipe are searing.

“Shh, don’t talk. You were AirEvac’ed in early yesterday afternoon. Your boyfriend can give you all the details.” She looks at me kindly.

“My boyfriend?” I have no idea what she’s talking about.
Early yesterday afternoon?

She motions over to a sleeping figure in a chair, “He must’ve just fallen asleep. He’s been by your bedside since you arrived.”

In the dim light, Hale rests in a chair wearing hospital scrubs. The scruff on his jaw is heavy.

“Get some more rest. Your body needs it. I’m going to give you something to make you comfortable and it will also help the burning feeling in your lungs.” She empties a syringe directly into my IV line.

I want to protest, I want to talk to Hale, find out what happened, but by the time she finishes injecting the medication, I can no longer keep my eyes open.

I feel his hands in my hair. His voice is gruff with emotion even though he’s speaking at little more than a whisper. “That was a scary few minutes there, mermaid. I couldn’t let myself think the worst. That just wasn’t an option. If you think I’m going to let you go that easily, well, you don’t know me.” He continues to caress my hair. “We really need to get away. Maybe the mountains, go up to Wyoming. I would say the beach,” he chuckles, “but I think the only water I’m going to let you near is the shower and that’s only if I’m in there with you.”

I wonder if this is a dream. My mouth is beyond dry. Opening my eyes, it’s not a dream. Hale is sitting close to the bed, up near my head.

“I need water.” He gives me an odd look at the request. “Thirsty.” It hurts to talk. My throat and chest are in agony. I feel bruised and broken.

“I think you are allowed these.” He puts a spoon of ice chips to my lips. They cool my parched lips and throat for a moment. Only a moment.

“More.” He feeds me another spoonful. Looking around, I spy a small Styrofoam water pitcher and point to it with the arm not bound by an IV.

“Okay, I’ll ask the nurse.” He walks out of the room and I notice he’s in blue scrubs and remember a memory from waking last night. A few moments later he’s carrying a large cup with a lid and a straw. “She said to sip it slowly. They don’t want you getting sick.”

I can feel the ice cold water travel the entire journey down to my stomach, cooling the flames as it moves along. “What happened? Is everyone okay?” I have no voice and Hale has to put his ear close to my mouth to hear me.

“All the participants are okay. Jeff is down the hall with his right leg a bit messed up, and we lost two perimeter men.” The pain in his eyes feels like a stab to my chest as he shares the update with me. I know him, he is beating himself up for all of it. Taking on full responsibility.

“Do they know anything yet?”

Shaking his head, “Homeland and the FBI are handling it.”

“Up until that it was such a success.”

“Yeah, it was.” Taking my hand, he leans down and presses his lips to the inside of my wrist. “You scared me, Sierra.” He’s lost in his own thoughts for a moment. “Do you know how to swim?”