Page 14 of Trigger Discipline
The creature’s two shoulder-mounted guns whirred, one facing Gabriel and the other at Phin and Judd.
Time seemed to slow as Gabriel tried to consider his options. He didn’t have much ammo left. Even if it did, at best, it only seemed to irritate the aliens. To his right, the quadruped managed to crush the side of the pool enough to get up. Water sparkled on its smooth sides, dripping onto the ground in tiny little splats.
Gabriel backed up, head swiveling between the two aliens. He wondered which one would kill him first. Personally, he was hoping for the gun. It looked faster.
A screaming cut through the air, followed by the familiar hum of a loud engine. Gabriel looked up in time to see a police motorcycle, lights and sirens blazing, careening through the street. The bipedal alien changed its aim, unloading both guns at the motorcycle. The impact sent the bike flying, metal quickly eaten by the molten rounds. The motorcycle skidded to a halt on the opposite side of the street, wheels still spinning as the sirens finally cut out.
Gabriel saw movement out of the corner of his eye,turning to aim when an ambulance slammed into the smaller alien. The thing toppled, flying after the downed motorcycle.
The back door jerked open.
“Get in!”
Gabriel didn’t wait; he grabbed one of Judd’s shoulders and helped Phin throw him into the ambulance. The medic helped, pulling Judd in and falling back onto the stretcher to make room for the three additional men.
“Get us out of here!” he yelled to the front. The ambulance jerked forward; accelerator pressed down faster than the wheels could respond.
Phin grabbed the door, wobbling dangerously as the truck moved. Debris crunched under the tires as it heaved itself over terrain the ambulance wasn’t built for.
The medic had Judd’s shirt ripped open, assessing the blood pooling onto the floor. His face was stern.
“Can you help him?” Gabriel demanded.
“Don’t insult me, soldier boy,” The medic snapped, not looking at Gabriel. “Get out of my way.”
He shoved Gabriel into Phin so he could reach the cabinet behind him. His focus was completely on Judd’s injury, hands coated in dark blood. He rummaged through the cabinet before getting what he wanted.
Gabriel couldn’t help but look at all the blood seeping onto the stretcher. Crimson waves spread across the white sheet. The medic didn’t look daunted, yanking open a box and pulling out a tourniquet.
Shaking his head, he realized he wasn’t helping by staring. He joined Phin at the back of the truck. Wedged between the end of the stretcher and the back doors, his face was almost smashed against the window.
“Chased us for a minute but veered off,” he grunted.
Phin’s face was flecked with black. Dirt and sand stuck to his sweaty skin. His clothes were awash in blood, clinging wetly to his body.
“You hurt?”
He shook his head. “It’s all Judds.”
Without the threat chasing them, he looked back toward Judd. His face was pale, but he was conscious. Occasionally, he answered the medic’s quiet questions as he worked.
Gabriel had never been in a civilian ambulance, but it wasn’t much different. The back of the truck was open to the front, and he could see the thin shoulder of the driver as he expertly navigated the side streets. The windshield was cracked so badly he was surprised he could even see out.
On the right, a bench seat took up most of the wall, ending with a nylon netting that he supposed was used to stabilize the medic working. Or catch them if the driver had to slam on the brakes. Several cabinets lining the wall opposite the bench were open, the medic pulling stuff from them as he needed. The walls and cabinets were smeared with bloody fingerprints. He slipped a nasal cannula over Judd’s face, nudging Gabriel to the side as he pushed past to attach it to an oxygen tank.
There wasn’t much room in the truck. Gabriel was pressed up against the wall as he tried to stay out of the way. It was hot inside with hardly any airflow; the only light was coming from the window in the side door and the two back windows he and Phin were blocking.
Still, the medic worked. Shoulders hunched, he had managed to start an IV and had a bag of fluids draining into Judd. The tourniquet seemed to have stopped the bleeding, and the paramedic had the blood cleaned off so he could assess the wound.
“How is it?” Gabriel couldn’t help but ask.
“Nasty laceration,” the medic mumbled. “Lucky though.”
He scoffed, tipping his helmet back. “Lucky? That much blood loss is lucky?”
“Yeah,” the medic snapped. “His brachial artery is intact. If he’d severed that, we’d be swimming in it.”
For the first time, the medic looked up at him. His green eyes were narrowed in irritation, and there were lines around his mouth where he’d pressed his lips together. A large bruise colored his cheek, swelling already setting in.