“We’ll get you out of here and back to the facility. Shaw, how are we looking out there?”
“We’re good, Cap. Cleaning up a few stragglers. We will need to regroup quickly and go get my boy!”
“Understood.” They extracted Lia and with Shaw’s help got her back to the facility. Izzy worked on her while Shaw and Webb resupplied and prepared to find Priest. They received a call on the two-way radio.
&
nbsp; “Go ahead, Doc.”
“Captain, they moved Priest to another location 4 cliques away from the original target.”
“Did you put eyes on him?” There was a long pause.
“Doc, did you put eyes on him?” A little more forcefully this time.
“Copy, we saw him.”
“Good, we will work with him to extract him out.”
“Sir, w-we saw him but it wasn’t good.”
“Explain. Cut to the chase, damnit!” Webb wasn’t mad at Doc, it was his anxiety surging from thinking Priest may be in serious trouble or worse.
“Captain, they carried him out. He was not under his own power and was unconscious. At least I think he was. He looked bad, covered in so much blood. I couldn’t even tell if he was breathing or not.”
“Fuck!!!,” Shaw had come up behind Webb. “I am going to kill every one of these motherfuckers! I swear to God, I am killing every fuckin one of them! No, not just kill them, I’m going to make them pay!” Shaw was shouting and completely full of rage.
Webb didn’t even try to deal with him. “Tell us where you are. We are on our way.”
“Copy that.”
An hour later, the four team members regrouped just outside the new location of where they held Priest. Webb asked for a sitrep and Neville looked solemn as he briefed Shaw and Webb.
“They brought him in a couple hours ago. Six contacts were with him and we’ve seen four additional plus that fuck stick was at our fence.”
“That Brody guy?” Webb articulated.
“Yeah,” Neville responded. Neville filled them in on the layout of the building based on what he could see. They had Priest in a room at the mid north-west side.
“What’s the call, Captain?” Shaw inquired.
Webb thought for a moment, “Neville, you and Doc take the front but stay out of sight and find a strategic firing point. You guys will keep them busy and cause a distraction. Shaw and I will breach the rear door and search for Priest. We need to hit quick, so they don’t have a chance to execute him. Questions?”
“What if you have issues breaching the rear door?” Doc asked. “If so, have Neville shoot that lock out and you guys breach the front.”
“Copy that, Cap.”
“Ok Reapers, move out.”
CHAPTER 43
Priest’s entire body was screaming. He was lying on the floor of a space he didn’t recognize. He slowly looked around and knew this wasn’t the room they had him imprisoned in before. He was fighting to stay conscious so he could attempt to assess his surroundings and situation. The room was an empty bedroom from what he could determine. No furniture or carpet, just a hardwood floor covered in his blood. The blood was drying and was sticky now. His ribs hurt and were making it hard to breathe. He attempted to sit up, but the pain was agonizing. He worked through it and sat up against a wall. His breath was coming in rapid gasps. His mind was a muddled mess, and he was reaching out for a memory or a thought to grab hold of. Anything he could remember to center himself on.
Just at that moment, Lia flashed in his mind. He squeezed his eyes shut and visions of her came rushing in. The first time they met, the first time they made love, the first time they fought side-by-side. He opened his eyes and tears were running down his cheeks. His mind was in overdrive now, with memories and visions flashing like an old movie projector. Lia flashed in his mind, Webb, Shaw, Doc and Neville flashed, Izzy, Allison and the scientists flashed, Myles, Doug and Abarra flashed.
He was still taking stock of himself as the door opened and Brody, along with Thomas, came inside. They both had metal chairs that they unfolded and sat down looking at Priest. Priest was doing everything possible to not look as broken as he felt. It was hard for him to do when his body was betraying him. He was going into shock and his body was shaking. His lips were so swollen and split, he wasn’t able to keep his saliva in his mouth so he had drool running down his chin. His drool was dark crimson from all the cuts inside his mouth. All the adrenaline his body had been pumping out was stiffening his joints and making it painful to move. Thomas looked at him for a long moment.
“It didn’t have to be like this, Mr. Priest. We gave you many chances to make this right, and you refused. Now, all your friends must fight that massive horde and I guarantee you they will not survive. But just like you, they were stubborn, and they refused. So, that brings me to where we are now or will be soon. The horde will be whittled down some thanks to your friends. Unfortunately, the horde will ultimately kill all of your remaining team. We come in, mop everything up, and ultimately get what we started out to obtain. With your group and those infected crazies taking each other out, you have eventually eliminated both threats we would have had to deal with. So, I guess I should say thank you. So, thank you.” Thomas said in a condescending tone.