Page 59 of Deadly Strain

Sharp had sat down next to her while her thoughts ran wild in her head. He was still and so, so quiet. She hated what she had to do next. He deserved some time to process what had happened, but none of them had time to come to terms with it.

She put a shaking hand on his arm.

He leaned in close.

“We don’t have any protection against the anthrax. For the discovery patrol to get infected, it has to be in the air. How are we going to take samples without putting ourselves at risk?”

“We’ll get Leonard to collect some, then land a safe distance away to pick them up.”

“Safe distance, huh. How far is that?”

He shrugged, his eyes sunken, his face haggard. “Make an educated guess. We’ll land wherever you want.”

“Wonderful.” If she chose wrong, it could mean all of their deaths.

A hand waving from the front of the aircraft caught their attention. Clark was signaling Sharp to put on a headset. The only one available was the one Cutter was still wearing. Sharp took it off his head and put it on.

He listened for a moment, then started yelling into the mic. Despite the noise from the rotors and engine, she could hear every word Sharp said.

“Commander Cutter is dead, thanks to you.” He paused, then said, “Our bug expert knows what she’s doing, and her chain of command supports her. Special Forces soldiers are trained to handle unconventional warfare and think independently. I don’t believeyou’recompetent to issue orders on the situation. Stop while you still can.” He pulled the headset off and threw it on the floor.

“That son of a bitch is trying to blame us for this clusterfuck?” Hernandez asked, his eyes glittering with anger and unshed tears.

“Oh yeah.” Sharp’s voice sounded as angry and disgusted as she felt. “He’s so mad I could hardly understand him, but it’s clear. He’s going to make the case that we and the doc are at fault for all of it.”

“There’s just one problem with that,” Grace yelled so all of them would hear. “Colonel Maximillian gave me and the A-Team at the village specific orders. I’m sure he contacted Marshall to explain why the site couldn’t be cleaned right away.”

She made eye contact with Hernandez. “Do you know if Marshall followed Max’s orders?”

“I never heard of any orders from anyone else. Cutter didn’t mention anything about it either.”

Frustration made her want to hit something. “Did he do anything productive while Sharp and I were dying slowly in the desert?”

No one said anything.

She tried a different question. “How long did it take him to send out search-and-rescue after our helicopter went down?”

Hernandez looked like he wanted to punch someone. “About six hours. We didn’t even know your bird had gone dark until three or four hours after you took off. Marshall claimed you took the bird against orders to a different location and weren’t responding to hails.”

“The lying sack of shit,” Sharp said. “He’s out of his mind.”

“We’re coming up on the village fast,” Hernandez said. “What are we going to do when we get there?”

“Can you get in touch with Leonard?”

Hernandez turned around and yelled at Clark in the copilot seat.

Clark said something back and Hernandez reported back to her. “Clark is talking to him now. We’re ten minutes out and clear to land. Leonard says he has new samples ready for you.”

“Tell Clark to land at least a quarter mile from the village and the field where the cows died. Ask Leonard to leave the samples then back away.”

Hernandez nodded and yelled at Clark.

Now all she had to do was wait to arrive at the village.

Horror crept toward her from every direction. Cutter’s body, moving with every jolt and sway of the helicopter, the fear and anger on the faces of the men around her. Nausea threatened to tear her apart from the inside out, her shaking fists clenched so tight the skin over her knuckles was white.

Her hand itched to slide over to Sharp’s, to seek out his strength, to have his long, strong fingers entwined with hers. Holding hands was inappropriate for so many reasons. She was the ranking soldier. Cutter’s death was her responsibility and hers alone.