Gabe: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Hell Squad Book 3) (13 page)

And it was then Gabe saw the clear boxes stacked by the wall. All filled with an orange fluid.

A trap
. It had all been one giant trap.

Another guttural word from One Eye and the hellions launched at Gabe.

He shot the first right through the eye. The other two were leaping at him in a flash. Gabe yanked out his knife and a second later, the creatures’ weight hit him, driving him to the ground.

They seemed to know all the weakest spots in his armor. They ripped and clawed at him, jaws snapping. He felt a lash of fire, smelled his own blood. The damned things were no mindless beasts. They were learning.

“Another grenade!” Someone shouted.

Another boom outside in the hall.

“Fuck, Reed is down. Reed is down. Cruz, get him.” Marcus’ voice was strained.

Gabe was in hell. He fought to keep the hellions’ jaws away from his face. His squad was injured.

He wondered if this was it. If this was the day that Hell Squad finally lost. They’d never find the Genesis Facility. And Gabe would finally die at the claws of the raptors.

Then he thought of Emerson.

Fuck no
. She was waiting, and his team needed him.

With a giant heave, he rolled. Using all his enhanced strength, he slammed his knife into the mouth of the nearest hellion. Its teeth raked along his armor, but he finally hit something and blood gushed out of the animal’s mouth. Gabe swung around and slammed the blade into the second hellion as it poised to strike. He hit tough scales, but he used his legs, putting everything he had into working the knife deeper.

The hellion made a horrible keening cry and flopped to the floor.

Gabe staggered to his feet, a little lightheaded. The raptor and the hybrid woman were gone.

He rushed out into the hall. He skidded to a stop, his chest tightening.

The corridor was filled with dead raptor and hellion bodies.

At the far end, near the stairs, Marcus was on his knees. He was coated in blood and gore, his chest heaving. Claudia was sprawled on the ground to one side, her dark braid stark against the white tiles that were smeared with blood. Shaw was wrapped around her and—bile rose in Gabe’s throat—the back of the sniper’s armor was torn open and pitted with shrapnel. He’d clearly taken the brunt of the grenade blast.

On the other side of the corridor, Reed and Cruz were lying in heaps against the wall, where the blast had obviously thrown them. Neither were moving.

Gabe ran forward. He had to get them out of here.

“Marcus?”

The other man blinked slowly, his eyes unfocused. Gabe then noticed a piece of shrapnel lodged in his leader’s head.
Damn
.

“Come on.” Gabe heaved Marcus up. “I need you to carry Claudia. Can you do it?”

Marcus turned to look where she lay and nodded.

“Okay.” Gabe yanked a field iono-stretcher off his belt. It took him three seconds to open and activate it. It hovered off the ground, using electrohydrodynamics to produce the thrust to stay in the air. He quickly picked up Reed and laid him on the stretcher. Then he hefted Cruz over one shoulder and clumsily managed to get Shaw over the other. The exoskeleton in Gabe’s armor helped take most of the men’s weight, and his enhanced strength helped, too. Still, it was awkward and left him unable to shoot well.

“Let’s go.”

Marcus weaved up the steps, Claudia clutched in his arms. Gabe nudged the stretcher and it floated up. They made it to the top and Gabe directed Marcus to the main entrance.

Gabe paused at the doorway. Outside, the night was dark. He didn’t want to risk those bat-like aliens attacking again.

In the parking lot, he scanned all the accumulated trash that had built up. It looked like someone had made a small camp there at one stage. He spied an old propane tank.

Please still have something inside
. He turned a little and aimed his carbine. The sustained burst of laser hit the tank and a few seconds later, it exploded. It bathed an area of the parking lot with light.

“Go. Stick to the light. Get to the Hunters.”

They ambled across the lot. Gabe kept praying no more hellions or raptors poured out after them.

The Hunters appeared out of the darkness. A very welcome sight.

Gabe dumped Cruz on the ground beside the vehicle. He loaded Shaw in the back, then Reed, and finally Cruz. Their second-in-command stirred a little, but the others were so silent it made Gabe’s gut cramp.

Next, he helped Marcus get Claudia in the front.

“Can’t lose a Hunter,” Marcus said.

Shit
. Gabe eyed the second vehicle. It would be a blow. It was impossible to replace, but Marcus was in no shape to drive it.

“Get in beside Claudia. I’ll take care of it.” Gabe touched his earpiece. “Elle?”

“How are they doing?” she asked anxiously.

“They need Emerson. Look, I’ve got them loaded in a Hunter. I’m bringing them home.”

Elle released a shaky sigh. “Good. Okay.”

“No one’s well enough to drive the other Hunter.”

“Oh, no.”

“But I have an idea. Can you patch Lia into the vehicle’s systems?”

Elle was quiet a second. “Yes. You want her to remotely operate it? It’s not like a drone, Gabe, flying through free air space.”

“It’s either that or abandon it.”

Another expulsion of air. “Okay, let me tee her up. I need you to manually configure some stuff on the Hunter’s system.”

He glanced back at the looming stadium. “Hurry up. I want to get out of here before company shows.”

She talked him through the commands and he tapped the screen.

“Okay, that’s it,” Elle said. “Lia, you have control.”

“Got it,” Lia answered. “I’ll do my best. It might be a bit battered, but fingers crossed I can get it back to base.”

Gabe stepped back and the Hunter lurched forward, stopped, moved again.

“I’ll get the hang of it,” Lia said fiercely. “It’ll be best if I follow your Hunter, Gabe.”

“Got it.”

Just then, the propane tank ran out, plunging him into darkness.
Fuck
.

He sprinted toward his Hunter, he got the driver’s side door open, and heard small bird-like screeches in the sky above him.

He yanked the door closed…just as tiny bodies hurled themselves at it.

“Fuck me.” He started the Hunter’s engine. “Let’s get home.” He gave his teammates a glance. They were all slumped over, breathing labored from pain. His gut cramped into a hard knot.

His squad, his brothers, his family.

All hurt. Because of him.

Chapter Thirteen

“Doc Emerson, I wouldn’t mind getting injured more often if I got to see your pretty face all day.”

Emerson adjusted the scanner and shot Shaw a bland look. He was propped up in the infirmary bed, just fresh off his nano-med treatment. He looked rather dashing lounging there, and his grin said he knew it.

“You’re awfully perky for someone who almost died.” She smiled at him. “And played the hero.”

He grimaced. “Shh. Or she’ll get started again.”

“You’re a goddamned idiot, is what you are.” Claudia scowled from the adjacent bed. Her face was still a little pale, her scratches almost done healing. “Jumped on me like I was some fucking damsel in distress.”

He snorted. “Frost, no one would ever mistake you for a damsel. I was just trying to save a teammate.”

“Didn’t see you tackle Marcus or Cruz.”

“Fuck, you’re ornery. I was standing right next to you.” Shaw huffed and sat back in the pillows. “Forget it. Next time, I’ll let you take a grenade to the face.”

Claudia flopped back as well. “It was stupid and misguided…but thanks.”

A far as thank yous went, it was pretty grudging. Emerson saw the look of blank shock on Shaw’s face and swallowed her own grin.

But as she glanced over at Marcus and Cruz, both of whom had flat out refused to get in a bed, her smile disappeared. They hadn’t been injured enough for nanos, but it had been close. They still looked pretty battered and Marcus had a neat row of med glue on his head. He’d have another scar for his collection. Elle hovered nearby and Santha stood with her hands on her hips, scowling.

Reed lay in a bed, sedated, a regen patch fitted over his eye, lights blinking on it. She was damned lucky they had an optical regen machine, otherwise Reed would have lost his eye. The damage had been too extensive even for the nano-meds. He’d need several treatments with the regen patch, but he’d keep his eye and see just as well as before.

Gabe had helped bring his injured team members in, then he’d disappeared. The entire time he hadn’t once looked at Emerson, he’d refused medical treatment, and ignored her when she’d called out to him. From what she’d heard, he’d locked himself in his quarters and wasn’t letting anyone in.

God, Hell Squad had been battered before, but not this badly. Maybe a part of her had always seen them as invulnerable. But being with Gabe the last few months…she’d seen that they were just men—and a woman—under the tough reputation. Yes, they were good at fighting, were born protectors, but they needed support and protection too.

She sighed.

“Don’t worry, Doc. We’ll bounce back.”

She glanced back at Shaw. “I hope so. Otherwise there’ll be some very unhappy ladies.”

Claudia made a rude noise. “Way I see it, King of the Quickies must leave a few of them unhappy.”

Shaw scowled, one hand twisting in his sheets. “So help me, Frost, I’m going to—”

“Uh-uh.” Emerson patted his sheet-covered leg. “No violence in the infirmary. You’re supposed to be resting.” She shot Claudia a pointed look. “Both of you.”

She left them grumbling. She was beyond worried about Gabe and now that Hell Squad were on the mend, she needed to check on him.

As she neared Marcus, his blue gaze zeroed in on her. “You going to see him?”

“Yes.”

“He took risks tonight.” Marcus’ tone made it clear he wasn’t happy.

Gabe may have taken risks, but he hadn’t paid the price for it. Her chest tightened. His friends had. And she knew Gabe would have trouble dealing with that.

“Oh, and he quit,” Marcus added.

She started. “What?”

“He quit the squad. Wouldn’t say anything else.”

She closed her eyes. “I’ll talk to him.”

“I never wanted him off the team. I just want Gabe—the steady, fucking excellent soldier—back.”

“He’s not the same man he was a few months back, Marcus. None of us are the same.” And she suspected before the aliens were done, they’d all be forced to do things to survive, things they’d never have contemplated in their lives before the invasion.

Emerson headed down the tunnel. Gabe wasn’t going to let her in. She was going to have to barge in and make him see reason.

She stopped at the comp lab. As always, she rolled her eyes at the sign on the door—
Shh, genius at work.
The inside was a chaotic mess. Desks topped with comps filled most of the space, and Noah’s team of geeks worked at their computers. The rest of the place was overflowing with computer parts, tools, wiring and other electronic things she couldn’t identify.

Noah looked up from his messy desk. Today his long, dark hair swung loose, brushing his shoulders. “Doc.”

“Hey, Noah. I need a favor.”

He set down…whatever it was he was working on, and inclined his head.

“Gabe’s locked in his quarters, won’t let anyone in. Can you code in my print so I can talk to him?”

“Heard Hell Squad got hit pretty hard. And Gabe brought them all home.”

She nodded. “He shouldn’t be alone right now.”

“All right.” Noah tapped his screen. “Done.” He paused. “Sure you want to take on a brooding, angry solider like Gabe?”

She lifted her chin. “Yes.”

Noah sat back. “Ah, it’s like that, is it? Never picked Elle and Marcus. Santha and Cruz, yeah, they go together like microchips on a motherboard. You and Jackson…that I didn’t see coming, either.”

“I’m in love with him.” God, saying the words aloud made her feel a bit dizzy.

Noah smiled. “He’s a goddamned lucky man. Go get him.”

Emerson hurried down to the section where Gabe’s quarters were. She stood in front of his door, took a deep breath, and entered.

It was dark.

His quarters were just one large room—bunk against one wall, postage-stamp-size kitchenette in the back corner, one sofa making a lounge area opposite a comp screen.

He sat on the couch, still in his blood-splattered armor. He didn’t turn his head.

“Go away, Emerson.”

His voice was flat, dead, empty.

She decided to get mad. It wasn’t hard. She was mad he was hurt, mad he wouldn’t let her check him, mad he’d quit Hell Squad.

“Your team needs you and you’re sitting here in the dark feeling sorry for yourself?”

He turned his head now, his jaw tight. “I said leave.”

God, she really wanted to check him over. She could see the chest panel of his armor was badly damaged. He had to have injuries under there.

“You should be in the infirmary, if not for yourself, for your squad.”

“They aren’t my squad. Not anymore. And they sure as hell don’t need me.”

Her heart beat heavier. “You quit.”

“Yeah. They’re better off without me.”

“You’ve been a key part of Hell Squad since Day One, Gabe…”

“I’m no good for them,” he burst out.

She sucked in a breath. “That’s not—”

“I almost got them all killed.” His yelled words echoed in the small room. He clenched his hands and pressed them to his forehead. “Marcus has just found Elle. Cruz has a baby on the way. And they were both almost dead bodies because of me. Reed’s eye—”

“Is okay.” She didn’t say anything else. She recognized that he needed to get this out.

“I didn’t stay with the team, didn’t work with them, didn’t have their backs. I let a fucking raptor lure me into a trap like a green academy recruit.”

“Gabe, please, listen to me. The mission went wrong, and it sounds like you made a bad choice, for the right reasons. But your team members, they’ll recover, they’re recovering right this instant. You’re a vital part of that team.”