Page 128 of Deadly Strain

It took a couple of minutes before Smoke broke radio silence with a single word, “Doc.”

Sharp nodded at her and they both headed Smoke’s way. What they found chilled Sharp’s blood down to the bone.

An Afghan man lay curled up on the ground. The visible parts of his body, hands, face and neck were covered with bloody sores. He was breathing, but it sounded like he was doing it through an old-fashioned coffee percolator. The kind his grandfather used on the stove. The man coughed, and blood droplets appeared on the ground in front of his face.

Grace knelt next to the man, but didn’t touch him in any way.

“Anthrax?” Sharp asked.

“Yes.” She looked up, glanced at the man on the ground and shook her head.

He wasn’t going to make it.

“He was left behind,” Smoke said. “Fresh tracks, two men, continue toward the base.”

“Shit.” A high point in the terrain wasn’t far. He jogged over with Smoke beside him and looked around using his scope.

Two men carrying something in a long sack were within five hundred feet of the base. They didn’t need to be close. Anywhere within four hundred feet would work for what they wanted to do. Including introducing a deadly spore to everyone inside.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Grace wanted to easethe Afghan man’s suffering, but she didn’t dare touch him. He could have spores on his skin and clothing.

His face told her more eloquently than words that he was in agony. The coughs racking his body only made things worse. She sighed and was about to move back when his hand snaked out and grabbed her wrist.

She tugged out of his grip fairly easily and crab-crawled backward, until she saw what was in his other hand.

A grenade.

A grenade with its safety pin removed. She had no idea if this grenade had spores in it, but given the condition of the dead man in front of her, the possibility was high.

The man’s hand shook and he almost dropped it on the ground. She lunged forward and grabbed it before he could release the safety lever.

No gloves on.

Damn it, wasn’t this just lovely.