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“Agreed. What do you propose?” Ridge asked.
“I say that we line a body bag with mylar and slip her in there,” Didit said. “Leave room to breathe in the zippered enclosure. That set up should keep her warm and dry, especially if we can get the hand warmers in her armpits, groin, and down at her feet.”
“The handles will help us with carrying and passing.” Tripwire scuffed his boot into the ground and then turned his gaze toward the sky. Tripwire had spent a summer hiking the Appalachian trail. Halo would be paying close attention to what he said about conditions.
“She’s being babysat and warmed by the dogs because she’s combative,” Halo said. “That could become a hazard on the slopes.”
“Agreed,” Ridge said. “I’d rather not medicate her. While we have permission to do so from her power of attorney, she’s had her body challenged today. I’d like to get her down and assessed by a doctor. That being said, everyone’s safety is paramount. Whoever is the escort will carry the syringe. You hand it on to the next escort, etc. It will be the escort’s call if and when to deploy the sedative.”
“Sir.”
“Very well.” Ridge put his pencil back on the paper, tapping the paper for clarification. “At the point where the carrier has reached the next tree—that’s you, Halo as Number Five—you’ll hand Mrs. Haze to Number Three, me, for carrying. Number Five becomes the escort. Number Two, Didit, you’ll radio Number One, and the two of you will release your lines and move safely down the slope to run those lines between Trees C and D. And in that manner, with handoffs of responsibility, and times for those not in an active posture to rest, we will leapfrog our way down the slope.” He looked over to Halo. “It was an hour and a half from start of mission until the subject was found. I estimate four to six on the way down. We’ll speed up once we have our rhythm. We’ll slow down when we hit obstacles. I’d very much like to get over the creek in the next hour, or things are going to get wild and hairy for us up here.”
“Wilder and hairier.” Tripwire let his hand rest on Valor’s head. “At some point, we may end up carrying the K9s to avoid injuries to them as the integrity of the slope degrades.”
“Agreed,” Ridge said. “They’ll be on leads. Leave their protective vests, helmets, and goggles in place. Turn on their location strobes. That’ll help everyone keep a visual. I can’t imagine losing radio contact in such close proximity but never say never. If that happens, we need to huddle up and make another plan.”
“Sir.”
And so they started the slow descent.
Every muscle in Halo’s body strained and quivered, trying to stay balanced and upright with Mrs. Haze in his arms. Though only a hundred pounds, her weight still tried to pitch Halo forward. At points, his escort had one hand on the rope and the other on his chest, pushing him upright. Max very quickly ended up lying across the top of Halo’s ruck. And on Halo’s turns being the carrier, Max’s weight helped to keep Halo balanced on the slope.
This was tense business.
While the brim of his ball cap kept much of the sting of rain out of his eyes, his line of sight was the length of his arm. And in the torrent, it was impossible to check Mrs. Haze to make sure she was still alive. The terrible thing was that there was nothing more they could do for her than to get her down to the care center, where the doctors waited for their arrival. That and the love of her family. He believed strongly in that power. He’d learned that lesson from his brothers in the Commandos.
When the radio call went out saying that they’d hooked into the last tree, a stream of rescue workers swarmed forward to relieve Team Alpha and race Mrs. Haze inside. Halo had no concept of time and how long it had taken to get her down. Every part of his being had focused on moment to moment. Just like in the Commandos, he lived in a three-foot world, controlling what happened in the immediate space around him.
Concentration was energy. And Halo would admit to exhaustion.
Caked in clay, when the team moved through the doors, they were met with triumphant cheers, back slaps, and thankfully hot food.
Ridge asked if they could take it to go. The dogs needed to get a once-over by their vet.
Halo wholeheartedly concurred with that request.
While they waited for the servers to package up the meals, Halo was asked to sit off to the side while the team posted their reports. He knew it wasn’t the hot wash and the mission reports that would follow today’s events. That happened as a team.
What they were doing now took place on their individual tablets.
Halo suspected this was the assessment of his performance. Command would want to hear what they had to say while emotions were still fresh and before they talked themselves into or out of a perspective. Command would also want to know what the team members thought before they talked amongst themselves. That’s the way it had been with Halo’s Australian unit, anyway.
That task accomplished, the team was filled in on the subjects. “Mrs. Haze will recover with rest. The family sends their gratitude. The man that Halo found has been identified as Ernest Gregory. His identical twin had been counted twice by the staff, and Ernest Gregory had not been missed. A sad day for the family,” Ridge said. “They offer their many thanks to the team for finding him and protecting his body.”
The men quietly gathered their bags of grub, loaded into the vans, and were on their way back into the city.
Halo allowed himself to close his eyes, and when he opened them, they were back at Cerberus’s headquarters.
Dani was waiting at the door and immediately took control of Max, saying she would give him a thorough check, looking for any signs of rattlesnake poisoning or injury as they walked away.
When Halo tried to follow her to the washroom, Bob clapped a hand on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. “Halo, you’re wanted in Command stat.”
Halo looked down at his mud-covered body. “Would it be all right to have a five-minute cleanup and a fresh set of clobber? I don’t want to drag into their offices and leave a trail of mountain debris.”
“I’m sure they’d appreciate it. I’ll call over and let them know you’re on your way.”
Moving into the shower, Halo leaned his head back and felt the luxury of hot water rinsing away the mud, if not the fatigue.