Lean on Me (51 page)

Margaret disappeared into the pipe.

“
We need to know who is
most mobile,” Matthew looked at Leena. “We’ll be able to start
moving you out… Petty Officer?”

“
Three minutes,” Leena
said. “We finished the rigging on this end. Colin is sending the
litter. It will only get to… uh…”

“
Sergeant Flagg,” Matthew
said. “Go.”

Pete helped boost Leena up to the intake
valve duct entrance. She disappeared into the pipe.

“
Flagg was the bravest man
I’ve ever met,” another man said.

“
When we received the
assignment, Flagg said it was bogus,” another young man said. “He
said we shouldn’t go. He wanted to call you but it was against
orders. We went anyway.”

“
He convinced them to take
us here,” the Sergeant said. “He knew I could run the
generators.”

“
Ladder?” Troy
asked.

A young man threw a handmade army fatigue
rope ladder down.

“
Wow,” Alex said. “This is
brilliant.”

“
Larry taught us how to
make it,” the young man who had thrown the ladder said. “He said
you taught him after you made rope to get out of that mine. He was…
a good friend.”

With Matthew and Troy spotting her, she
climbed up the rope to the equipment loft. Eleven young men were
lying together on the loft. Their legs were broken at the shin but
their wounds looked as if they had healed. The loft was tidy and
filthy at the same time. The men had made an effort to keep it
clean. They had been on this loft for a long time.

Alex leaned over the loft to get Leena’s
pack. Matthew climbed the ladder to the loft with Margaret’s pack.
When he moved to sit on it, the metal fittings made an eerie groan.
The loft swayed.

“
I don’t think it can take
any more weight,” Alex said. “It’s one of those puzzles. Can’t get
them down without help; anymore men will take the whole thing down.
Troy?”

“
On it,” Troy
said.

Matthew dropped the pack on the metal loft
and jumped off. He went to help Leena and MJ roll two empty diesel
barrels next to the intake valve duct opening. Leena tested them to
see if they would support weight.

“
Support in place, sir,”
Leena said.

“
Copy,” Alex
said.

“
Except the guys in the
corner, we can get down, sir,” the young man closest to her said.
“We use the facilities below once a day. It’s not easy, but Larry
told us you would come so we…”

The young man began to weep. She put her
hand on his shoulder for support. Digging in Leena’s pack, she took
out a water bottle for him. Nodding, he took the water bottle from
her.

“
Our medic is here,” Alex
said. “We’ll need to take the healthiest first so he can get up
here.”

“
We’re running out of
oxygen fast,” MJ said. “Can we restart the generators?”

“
No,” a Sergeant near the
edge of the platform said. “You can’t run them and use the intake
at the same time. Plus they’re beyond loud. We carry safety ear
plugs. We’ve worn them this whole time and we’re all a little
deaf.”

“
Send notice to the top,”
Alex said.

“
On it,” Leena disappeared
into the duct.

“
Medics?” Alex
asked.

Two young men raised their hands. She tossed
small medicine packs to them.

“
I’m sure you know who
needs what the most,” Alex said.

“
We are lying in order of
mobility, sir,” the medic nearest to her said. “And
health.”

“
Good thinking,” Alex said.
“Troy?”

“
I heard that,” Troy said.
“Thank you Sergeant.”

“
We’ve notified your
families,” Alex said. “They will be waiting for you at Brooke in
San Antonio. You’ll be debriefed and will stay in medical isolation
until this is over. That’s what’s going to happen.”

Moving slowly, she crawled to Margaret’s
pack.

“
Right now, we’re going to
get you stable enough to move from here.” Opening the large
compartment, she took out liquid nutritional supplements. “Oh look,
vanilla, my favorite. Anyone?”

Smiling, she passed out the nutritional
drink.

“
They were going to lock us
in here,” the man nearest to her said. “They broke our legs so we
couldn’t get out. Then…”

“
Flagg stole their
information from them,” the Sergeant said.

“
That’s why they killed
him,” Alex said.

“
But they never got it,”
the man nearest her said. “He stole all of their plans, everything,
and… He told me you’d find it.”

“
Fey?” Troy asked. “I think
we’ve figured it out. Permission to begin work?”

“
Go,” Alex said.

A litter filled with oxygen bottles and a
couple of rope ladders arrived on the pulley system.

“
Who can move first?” Alex
asked. “We need to move weight off here to get our medic
up.”

“
I can, sir,” the young man
nearest to her said. “I’ve been working the generators.”

She held out her arms and hugged him.

“
Welcome home,” Alex
said.

In her arms, she felt him give a small
sob.

“
I thought you’d never…” he
said in her ear. “And we’d…”

“
Welcome home,” she
repeated. “Let’s get you out of here.”

The young man pulled back from her. Wiping
his face, he gave her a big smile.

“
My girl’s waiting for me,”
he said.

He gave his team a wave. In swift, practiced
moves, the young man used his knees on the rope ladder rungs to
make a swift journey to the floor.

“
Lean on me.” Matthew
grabbed the soldier.

With MJ on his other side, they carried him
to the intake valve duct. MJ strapped an oxygen bottle onto him.
They lay him feet first on the fabric litter Colin and Margaret had
modified for the pipe.

“
Morphine?” MJ
asked.

“
Yes, please,” the young
man smiled.

MJ shot his arm with a morphine injector.
Matthew tugged on the pulley and it began to move.

“
Wait,” Alex
said.

Everyone turned to look at her.

“
Word,” Alex said. “Larry
gave you a word.”

“
What,” the young man said.
“My word is
what
.”

“
Thank you,” Alex
said.

“
See you on the other
side,” the young man yelled.

They heard him hooting and laughing as he
slid through the tunnel. Alex hoped he would be unconscious when
they got to the vertical drop. MJ tried the ladder with his full
pack. The metal fittings groaned. He set the pack down and was able
to climb the ladder to the loft.

“
Medics? Raise your hands,”
MJ said.

Climbing over men, MJ made his way to
consult with the team’s medics. After a quick consult, he left them
to work on a couple of men near the back edge of the loft.

“
Who can go next?” Alex
asked.

“
Take me,” three young men
said at once and laughed.

“
One at a time,” Alex said.
“We can only take you out one at a time. Medic? Who’s
next?”

“
Garcia,” the medic pointed
to one of the young men.

“
Don’t worry,” Matthew
yelled from below. “Everyone gets out today.”

“
Oxygen levels are
dropping,” MJ said. “We need to get the oxygen up here.”

“
Yes, we must hurry along,”
Alex hugged the young man. “Welcome home.”

“
We’re supposed to be dead.
Suffocated,” the young man in front of her said. “They shot Larry
and…”

“
I’m glad you made it,”
Alex looked at his misshapen legs “Can you make the
ladder?”

“
Not well,” The young man
shook his head. “I’m healthy but my legs are bad.”

“
Troy?” Alex
yelled.

“
Got it,” Troy passed a
drill to her. “Wall.”

Alex pressed all of her weight and strength
against the drill and made a hole in the cement wall. She leaned
over to pass him the drill. He gave her a two-inch eyebolt. She
screwed it into the wall. He’d already rigged one end of the rope
through an eyebolt in the blast door. He gave her the other
end.

She slipped the rope through her eyebolt and
gave the end back to Troy. He pulled the rope tight to create a
sturdy line. The men would be able to move hand over hand on the
line while dangling their injured legs. She helped the man move to
the edge of the equipment loft. Hand over hand, the young soldier
moved into the space. Matthew and Troy grabbed his hips.

“
Mattie can you get his
word?” Alex asked.

“
On it,” Matthew
said.

“
Flagg told us about
Midsummer Night’s Dream
,”
the dark haired Sergeant nearest to her said. “They came back to
check, you know, to see if we were dead. We kept quiet so they
didn’t know we’d survived. We thought you were them.”

“
Ok, we can get all your
updates when you’re topside,” MJ said. “Save your strength. We’re a
long way from the surface. We have to get you out of
here.”

“
Larry always knew.” Using
his elbows, a young man scooted over to her. “He knew they were
going to kill him. He said it was to dishearten you. They want to
send you into a depressive spiral again. He said you shouldn’t feel
bad about him. He made us each memorize this. ‘If you see the Fey,
tell her I never lived, loved, or had a chance to be my best self
until I met her. I’m eternally in her debt. Tell Helene I love
her.’ That’s it.”

Alex’s hand went to her heart hearing
Larry’s sweet words.

“
Oh, and he also said, you
were the only one who stands in this guy’s way,” the young man
said.

“
But he doesn’t know you,”
the young man lying next to him said. “Larry was very specific. He
doesn’t know what you can do or know you well. You have to stop
him.”

“
You have to stop him,” one
of the medics repeated.

“
He’s pure evil,” a faint
voice came from a young man near the back edge of the
loft.

The men grunted in agreement.

“
Fey?” Matthew held oxygen
bottles with masks on them. She leaned over to grab
them.

“
We need to put these on,”
Alex said.

Alex secured one to her vest and strapped on
the mask. She ferried the rest of the oxygen bottles up to the
young men and helped them put it on.

“
We’re ready,” Troy
yelled.

One at a time, she hugged the young men. She
found out their names, the special person they wanted to meet at
the hospital, and listened to their stories. Through all of her
interactions, she welcomed the men back to the land of the living.
Matthew and Troy were able to get them onto the litter and to the
top. When only the sickest two men were left, Alex sent the team
medics to the top.

Troy and Pete joined her on the loft.
Between the four of them, they were able to get collapsible back
boards under them. MJ tied the men to the boards. With MJ and Alex
on either side of the top of the board and Matthew and Pete on the
bottom of the board, they slid the men out of the equipment loft.
Troy and MJ got down from the loft to help Matthew and Pete get the
sick men into the pipe. Alex sat back on her heels.

“
Sir?” Troy said from the
ground. Alex leaned over the edge of the loft. Troy gave her a
digital camera. “Pete took all the photos down here.”

“
Thanks,” Alex
said.

“
Alex? You remember: ‘Take
it now or never get it,’” Matthew said.

“
Yes,” Alex nodded.
“Sergeant?”

Pete made a motion with his hand to Bill.
The dog put his nose in the air. He sniffed until he caught a
scent. He hurled himself toward the wall under her. Snapping and
barking, he lunged at the wall. Troy took a can of spray vegetable
oil from his fanny pack. Matthew came to the other side with a
plastic specimen cup. Matthew nodded to Pete, and, as they had
practiced, Pete called Bill back. Troy sprayed the oil where Bill
had been pointing and barking. When the tiny nano-drone fell,
Matthew caught it in the specimen cup and screwed on the lid. Bill
took off to the next drone. One at a time, they collected five
nano-drones from the LEB.

While they worked, Alex took detailed
photographs of the loft. MJ followed her with the video camera.

“
Sir? Fey?” Leena said from
the intake duct.

“
Up here,” Alex
yelled.

“
It’s Colin,” Leena said.
“No one can get a hold of Julie.”

Alex saw Jesse appear beside her.

“
You’ve got to get there,”
Jesse said. “She’s just starting to miscarry.”

“
Go,” Alex pointed to Leena
and Troy. “Use the pulley, it’s faster.”

F

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Leena turned around and took the litter out
of the LEB. Matthew helped Troy onto the barrels.

“
Alex…” Troy
started.

“
I’ll be right there,” Alex
said. “Pete, you and Bill are next. MJ, you go after
them.”