Wrong Time (8 page)

Chapter 8

While sitting at a security monitor, a
man was watching Zane and his men break into the back of their facility. He alerted
his superiors, and there was no doubt in his mind that these intruders would be
taken care of very soon. As Zane stepped through the newly opened back door, he
let his eyes adjust to the darkened facility. They were in what looked like a
large storage area. It was filled with many boxes and crates. As he scanned the
area, he saw a large door in the distance and walked over and opened it. It led
to a stairwell that went down. This was what they were looking for. Zane and
his new unit quickly, but just as quietly, went down the stairs. When they
reached the bottom of the stairwell, they were faced with a large door. One man
stepped in front of Zane.

“I’ve got this, sir,” the man said as
he walked to the door.

Other soldiers stepped to the front and
readied their weapons for the enemies that they would undoubtedly see on the
other side. The first man slowly began to open the door, and suddenly, Zane
felt an immense heat and saw a bright light. He collapsed to the floor. All
that could be heard were the agonizing screams of the men near the door. Then
the sound of gunfire began.

Michael was standing near the back, and
he couldn’t believe that the door in front of them had exploded when they tried
to open it. It must have been rigged with explosives, he thought. There was no
time to worry about what had happened, though. As the loud sound of screams and
guns being fired began to echo into the stairwell, Michael lost his composure.
He couldn’t fire, and he couldn’t move. He just stood in that one place and
watched as his squad attempted to charge forward, while being slowly but surely
picked off. Dan began to retreat.

“We have to get these men out of here.
This is a lost cause,” Dan said to Michael.

Michael only stood and stared into the
distance. He was in the middle of a combat zone, and his mind was broken. Any
healing that he thought he had done just wasn’t enough for him to hear the
haunting screams of men dying all over again.

“Hey, snap out of it!” Dan said as he
slapped Michael in the face.

Michael snapped to his senses enough to
at least hear Dan.

“I’m going to try to get as many people
out of here as I can. Help me get everyone to retreat back up the stairwell,
and if you can, help me find Zane.”

Dan then walked back toward the few men
that were still fighting and began to yell for them to retreat. Michael,
meanwhile, started scanning the area for Zane. There were so many bodies, and
Zane could have been anywhere, but somehow, Michael spotted him. Zane’s face
was visible, but he was buried underneath another man’s body. Michael quickly
pulled the man off Zane and began to drag him away from the scene. Zane’s face
was somewhat bloodied, but otherwise, he looked fine. His eyes were open, but
he didn’t seem to be aware of his surroundings. Michael eventually picked Zane up
and threw him over his shoulder. Then he started to run up the steps. Dan was
close behind him. Once Michael reached the top of the steps, he just kept
running until he was completely out of the building. Within a few seconds, Dan
and nine others joined him. The twelve men ran as fast as their legs would take
them back to their trucks and jumped inside.

“Zane, can you hear me?” Michael asked.

Zane was unresponsive. His eyes were
open and moving around, but they were blank, and his hearing seemed to be
nonexistent.

“We have to get him to a hospital quickly,”
Dan said as he began driving the truck.

Michael felt hopeless. Almost all of
his squad had been wiped out in what felt like the blink of an eye, and what
did he do but just stand there and watch it all happen. Dan looked over at the
traumatized young man sitting next to him and felt pity.

“It’s okay. We knew that we didn’t have
much of a chance of winning this one. At least you made it out of there alive,”
Dan said.

Michael only nodded. Inside, Michael felt
even worse than he had when he was a sniper. Then he did things that directly
killed enemy soldiers, but today his inability to control his own body had cost
the people around him their lives, or at least that was what he was telling
himself. After noticing the look of guilt in Michael’s eyes, Dan spoke.

“This isn’t your fault. There’s nothing
you could have done. I’m just glad that you were composed enough to find Zane
and get him out of there.”

As they pulled into the hospital and
the emergency workers took Zane from Michael, he felt hopeless. How were they
supposed to fight an enemy that was not only ferocious but also spread
throughout the entire world? Michael buried his doubt, and as best he could,
pulled together the pieces of his shattered mind. Then he walked into the
hospital behind Dan.

The next morning, Dan made a call to Campbell
and began telling him about what had happened the night before.

“Is he okay? What have the doctors
said?” Campbell asked.

“The sound of the blast made him
temporarily lose his hearing, but it’s already starting to return. The bad news
is that the blast burned his eyes, and he’s currently blind,” Dan said.

“Oh, God! Is he going to regain his
sight?”

“The doctors believe he’ll eventually
regain his sight on some level. Some of the damage to his eyes is permanent.
He’ll be able to see again, but he’ll never be the same sharp shooter that he
used to be.”

“I should have never had him in the
field. A decorated veteran like Zane deserves better than to go out like this.”
 

“He’ll never be able to serve in the
field again, but I wouldn’t feel so guilty yet, sir. Zane will find a way to
make himself useful. If you really want to help the guy, you should try to
think of something that he can do while he’s recovering.”

“You don’t think that he’ll want to
retire now?”

“I seriously doubt it. If I know Zane,
he won’t rest until the people who damaged his eyes pay for it.”

“All right, I’ll think about where we
can place him. Is there anything else that I need to know?”

“Yes. I need to get Michael home right
away.”
 

“Why?” Campbell asked.

“He needs to talk to someone soon. I
think that something broke in his mind back at the facility. He might not be
cut out for combat, after all.”

“Okay. We’ll get him an airline ticket,
and I’ll call you back with the details.”

“Thank you, sir,” Dan said.

As Campbell hung up, he felt a stinging
guilt. He had sent them into a situation where they simply couldn’t win. His
hurry to strike had left some of the best men and women they had dead and the
most experienced soldier that they had blind. It was with that guilt that he
decided what Zane’s job would be when he was ready for it.

* * * * *

That same morning, Nathan and Sam were
boarding a plane going back to Memphis. Nathan was obviously excited, but Sam
was still a bit uneasy about their operation. She received a message earlier
detailing the events in Atlanta. If Zane had failed with a large team, what did
that say for their own chances?

“We need a plan,” Sam said as she and
Nathan sat down in their seats.

“I thought we were taking the place by
brute force,” Nathan said.

“We were going to do that, but after
what happened in Atlanta, I’m not too sure if such tactics are going to work.”

“I thought this was the least secure
place that they had. Are you sure you aren’t overthinking this?”

“We may be able to take the place, but
if we just charge in like idiots, we’re going to lose a lot of lives. What
happened to the Nathan who thought the rushing in tactic was a stupid one?” Sam
asked.

She was right. He had been so
distracted by the fact that he was going home that he hadn’t even thought twice
about the danger they would be walking into.

“You’re right. There’s only one way in
and one way out of the facility there,” Nathan said.

“So what’s your point?”

“If we burned the whole place to the
ground from the top, they would have no way to get back up, and if it was done
right, the fire would spread down below.”

Sam was a little amazed, and at the
same time, a little put off by Nathan’s idea. They wouldn’t have to lose a
single soldier during this operation with his strategy, but at the same time,
they would have to trap people underground who would burn to death.

“That’s a great plan. It’s a bit evil,
though.”

“I know, but it’s the only way I can
think of where we wouldn’t have to lose anyone. We don’t have to do it. I was
just throwing out an idea.”

“We weren’t going to go down there to
make friends with them anyway. I like your idea, and I think that we should do
it.”

Nathan felt a little bad. He probably wouldn’t
be the one who was actually spreading the gasoline and lighting the match, but
his plan would ultimately kill a large number of people in a rather gruesome
way. Nathan very noticeably gave off a depressed look. Sam quickly noticed the
expression.

“Hey, since this op is going to be so
simple now, I don’t want you to come,” Sam said.

“Wait! Why?” Nathan asked.

“I’ve been thinking about it. We
recruit people like you all the time as pencil pushers. People who are
extremely intelligent, but lack purpose, are always recruited. Maybe you could
actually visit with your family tonight and feed them some story about being recruited
on that kind of basis. Then when everything is over, I could come pick you up.”

 
Nathan really wanted to see his family,
but he wasn’t about to leave Sam alone during this op. What if something went
wrong? She was recovering quite well, but her left arm was still hurt, and
Nathan just didn’t feel comfortable leaving her to complete their mission
alone.

“No, this is our mission, and I want to
be there with you when it’s complete,” Nathan said.

“Are you sure about that? I don’t mind
doing this one on my own.”

 
“I’m positive.”

 
Sam was glad to hear that he was
committed, but she was still worried about how he would react when he actually
saw the facility go up in flames. Maybe I shouldn’t worry about him so much. Maybe
he can do this after all, she thought as she looked over at Nathan’s now
determined eyes.

* * * * *

Lee was very tired the next morning,
and he didn’t feel like going to work. Trish had just fallen asleep, and he
hadn’t slept at all that night. He also didn’t feel like facing Megan after he
had stood her up the night before. He knew that he had to get up and go,
however. He drug himself out of the bed and walked to the shower. After
dressing, he and Jess got into the car and started the ride to work.

“Did Trish ever explain what was going
on last night?” Jess asked.

“No, but she was really upset all
night. I wish she would tell me what’s going on,” Lee said.

“I’m going to ask around at work. She
left in the middle of the day, so I think that something may have happened there.”

Once they arrived at the building and
Lee walked to his desk, he saw Megan stick her head out of her office and
motion for him to come in there. Oh, great. Here we go, he thought. Once he
went inside and sat down, the questioning began.

“So what exactly happened last night? I
tried to call you a dozen times,” Megan said.

“I’m really sorry. Something very
important came up. I would’ve called you if I could have,” Lee said.

“I really don’t like being stood up,
you know?”

“Once again, I’m sorry. How about a do-over
tonight?”

 
“I don’t think so. It was probably a bad
idea for us to go out to begin with.”

“Oh, okay. If that’s what you want.
Well listen, I wanted to talk to you about something, too. Is there something
that I can do besides listen to chatter all day? I feel like I’m going crazy
having to listen to that stuff all the time,” Lee said while smiling.

Megan did not smile back at him. She
was obviously very mad about being stood up the night before.

“I think that listening to chatter is the
only thing we’re going to be able to find for you for quite some time,” Megan
said while motioning with her hand for him to leave.

What just happened? My dream girl
became a monster, I hate my job, and my new best friend is an emotional wreck.
Could things get any worse or any more confusing, Lee wondered as he walked
back to his desk.

* * * * *

Jess entered her office and sat her
stuff down. Then she went to find Jason to ask him if he knew what could be
going on with Trish. Once she found him and asked the question, Jason recapped
the events of the day before.

“So do we know who this David guy was
to Trish?” Jess asked.