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“Dead when we arrived. Every last one of them. False stacks of pallets hid a group of insurgents that attacked from within as forces boxed the team in from the outside. By the time we arrived, the assholes had packed up the cash and left. One of them was apparently tasked with remaining behind. He got the drop on Brock, and then Maxen killed him. Sir, something very wrong happened here. Before the raid, I mean. The intel for this location was received only hours after returning from the first raid. That intel was right about the geographic location but only that. I don’t like how they came up with this place so quickly but with such bad information.”
Knot grunts. “I’m more interested in why these guys would hide people in boxes if they don’t expect to be found.”
That particular thought hadn’t crossed my mind.
“I do agree with you, though. Get our people together. I’m pulling all of you until someone sorts this shit out. With the loss of their commanding officer and half of their forces, the Army guys will most likely be recalled anyway.”
Knot goes quiet again. I listen as he draws in a deep breath and then speaks in a much softer voice. “I’m sorry, Sadie. Brock meant a lot to all of us, you and Hosfeld especially.”
I drop my head to his still face. “Yeah, he did.”
“Do what needs to be done, and then get some rest. I’ll contact Sambi.”
“Yes, sir.”
An hour later, the remaining bodies have been collected, and the first helo returned. Base control also dispatched a Chinook to carry the fallen.
It’s a dejected bunch of current and former servicemembers that unload on base. Several base personnel, along with Bastien and Chelsea, are on the helipads to meet us. Chelsea wipes away a tear as Brock is placed on a gurney and covered. She likely blames herself for missing the sleeper crew, even though it was the Army’s job to secure the cave before she and Bash ever stepped foot inside.
Sorrow is a tangible thing among this group. I’ve never lost someone so close to me as Brock. I feel hollow, Faded Out.
All of us remain in place, standing silently until the last person is taken away, and then Avara turns to our group. “I was an ass to you, and I’m sorry. You guys are the real thing and risked your lives, losing one of your own, to protect ours. I hate we couldn’t do the same for Lawson.”
I accept his outstretched hand. “We all lost too much tonight.”
Not knowing what else to say, Avara changes the subject. “We’ve got clearance to transport your man with ours if you’d like. That would save you some red tape.”
The man clearly doesn’t know Dillan Knot, but I keep my thoughts to myself. “Thank you, Sergeant.”
Minutes later, I’m lying in my bed, staring at the ceiling. Chelsea breathes deeply and evenly after crying herself to sleep. She valued this team like family as much as the rest of us. Probably even more so. Brock’s death hit her hard.
Sleep doesn’t come easy for me despite knowing we’ll be flying out at zero-nine hundred. The longer I lie here, angry at all the mistakes that got Brock killed, the less likely I am to finally close my eyes.
Eventually, I give up trying and walk outside to sit under the dark sky near the airfield. Of all the places I could have gone, I thought to come here because Brock loved to fly. He was a hell of a pilot.
I sit on the sidewalk at flight control and lean against the brick wall facing the runway. Not long after, a dark figure approaches and takes the spot on the ground to my left. Only one person knows me well enough to look for me here.
“I’m not much of a machine right now, am I?”
Aaron’s face is drawn, his eyes are bloodshot, and his voice is heavy with emotion. “If you didn’t feel anything, I’d be worried.”
“Losing him is like losing one of my brothers.”
“I know, Sadie.”
For a long time, Aaron and I just sit, shoulder to shoulder, in silence.
The sun's first light is beginning to render the area a brilliant gold when a nudge to my arm wakes me. I lift my head from where it had fallen to rest on Aaron’s shoulder during the night. “Come on, Sadie. Let’s get back. We take off in just over three hours.”
I push up off the concrete and stretch. “Sorry,” I say guiltily. “I didn’t mean to keep you out here all night.”
Aaron offers me a sad smile. “I think we both needed it.”
Back in the dorm building, we run into Maxen, standing in the doorway to the men’s sleeping quarters. “I’m going to get packed and check in with Avara before we leave. Aaron, you contact Sambi to make sure he’s all set.”
I don’t address Maxen at all. Not for the suspicious glare toward Aaron and me after being MIA all night nor for my irrational anger that he failed to detect the presence of the man that killed Brock.
Stop it, Sadie. No one saw him coming. Not Brock, not Maxen, Chelsea, Bastien, and certainly not the whole fucking team of soldiers that were ambushed by those bastards.
