As Reno led John out the rear of the transport, someone groaned. Reno turned around and saw a raised hand. He climbed over the bodies to help the newly discovered survivor.
“Sergeant Matthews.”
Blood ran from Matthews’ nose as he stared up with blank eyes. Reno and John pulled the man into an upright position.
“Can you move, sir?” Reno asked.
“My goddamn arm is broken and I’m pretty sure my kneecap is on the other side of my leg.”
“We’ve got to lift him out of here, John.”
“The hell you are. Just go. Leave me here.”
Reno shook his head. “Not a chance.”
“That’s an order!” Matthews said with a cough.
“Yeah, well, we’re not in the army,” John said.
Reno and John each grabbed an arm and lifted the sergeant up. He let out a painful moan as they maneuvered him out the back of the transport, which had come to a stop laying on its driver’s side.
A haze of black smoke hung over the roadway and the stench of burning rubber made Reno gag. He looked to the sky, just waiting for the next round of explosive laser beams to finish the job. Off the side of the road, though, he noted that there were woods.
“Over there. Come on.”
Reno and John picked up Sergeant Matthews again and together they hobbled to the side of the road, slid down the embankment, and headed for the trees. Reno’s biceps felt like they were on fire, and the only thing that kept him from dropping the sergeant was the leftover adrenaline from their escape.
Reno said to John, “Let’s set him down h—”
The ground rumbled. Reno and John dropped the sergeant and went down themselves. Reno landed on his stomach and covered his head. Leaves and branches rained down upon them, but nothing injured any of the three men further.
When Reno sat up and looked back toward the highway, fire had engulfed the transport they had just escaped.
17
Dusk came, and it brought with it a slight chill. Reno shivered once, then tried to ignore the feeling. He wanted to keep Sergeant Matthews as comfortable as he could, and even though he knew the prideful soldier would never complain, Reno understood that he was hurting, lying in the tall grass with the injuries he’d sustained.
“We can’t keep him here much longer,” Reno said. “He needs real medical attention.”
“What do we do besides wait for someone else to come by?” John asked. “You think it’s safe to venture out in the dark?”
“I don’t think it’s safe anywhere, at any time. We just gotta hope someone is traveling the highway and not getting blown up by those lasers.” Reno stood and patted down the front of his pants. “Stay here.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to walk up to the road. Stick around and keep the sergeant awake, keep his mind off his pain.”
Reno pushed through the trees and then climbed up the embankment to the shoulder of the highway. He stayed low, casting furtive glances into the darkening sky but not seeing any pulsing lights or polished metal.
The transport was nothing but a charred corpse, the men who’d died inside having been unintentionally cremated, as well. The smell of diesel and sickly-sweet burned flesh forced Reno to put his arm over his nose.
Looking both ways, Reno saw no movement, human or otherwise. Where were they supposed to take Matthews, and how would they get him there? Reno thought of Maya. She would have been able to get them out of the situation by hot-wiring one of the vehicles that had survived the blasts from the alien ship. He pictured her face and her warm smile.
He looked out at the still highway. “I hope you’re okay out there, and that you’ve found your kids. See you again soon, God willing.”
“Reno!”
He spun around. John’s voice had come from the woods.
“Come quick!”
Reno stumbled down the hill, ignoring the twinge in his ankle. Surprisingly, the strain had seemed to settle into a low-level ache which didn’t bother him unless he thought about it. Reno pushed through the low-hanging Magnolia trees, their scent a welcome distraction from the reek of death left on the highway. He stopped at the bottom of the embankment and looked at John, who was standing over Matthews. The soldier lay on his back, his body convulsing and his eyes rolled back in his head.
“I don’t know what happened. He just started doing this.”
Reno kneeled next to Matthews. Blood trickled from the corners of the sergeant’s mouth.
“Shit.”
“What?” John asked.
Matthews clutched at his stomach, squirming and writhing on the ground.
“Probably internal bleeding,” Reno said. “Blunt force trauma from the accident.”
“Shit. Tell me what I can do to help.”
The man on the ground shuddered, his eyes shooting open as if he’d been electrocuted.
Reno stared into Matthews’ bloodshot eyes, then glanced back at John. He shook his head. John sighed, but Matthews spoke before Reno could say anything.
“I-I need to...”
“Don’t try to talk,” Reno said.
The soldier stared up at Reno, giving him a slight nod. His eyes shifted slightly, seeming to look past Reno. Then Matthews took a breath, which turned into uncontrollable wheezing.
Reno stood and pulled John out of earshot. He whispered. “There’s nothing we can do for him. He’s hemorrhaging. Probably has a collapsed lung. The only way to save his life would be to get him into surgery right now.”
“We’ve got to get him out of here.”
“How?” Reno looked at John, understanding that the cop didn’t want to give up on the soldier. “We don’t have a vehicle. We can’t just carry him.”
“Maybe one of the cars left on the highway has the keys inside.”
Doubtful, Reno knew. But he had to let John do everything he could for Matthews. He nodded.
“Go have a look if you want. I’ll stay here with him. Maybe you’re right and—”
Reno cut his sentence short and turned when he heard soggy hacks. He saw Matthews with his hand raised, a knife firmly in his grip. Reno walked over and kneeled, taking the knife from the soldier’s hand.
“What are you doing?”
“Do it.”
Reno’s brow furrowed. “Huh?”
“Help me end the pain.”
Reno swallowed, his eyes wide. He glanced at the knife, then looked over his shoulder at John before facing Matthews again.
“No. We’re going to try and figure this out.”
“I heard you. Nothing you can do. Except this.”
Reno stared at the knife in his hands. What Matthews was asking for wasn’t something he could do. Even if it was the most humane option, he couldn’t kill a man. And he could see in John’s eyes that the cop couldn’t do it, either.
Yet, if Matthews had had the strength, he never would have asked Reno.
The realization hit Reno then. He couldn’t let the man suffer. He’d never experienced internal bleeding himself, but he had dealt with plenty of patients who had. It was recognized as one of the most agonizing experiences any human could endure. Reno didn’t know how quickly Matthews was hemorrhaging. He could last minutes, or he could last hours. Was Reno prepared to sit with the man and watch him slowly die, all the while in magnificent pain?
Reno sighed, gripping the knife until his hand began to sweat. He felt John’s eyes on them, but the cop had said nothing.
“Go see if you can find some keys in a vehicle so you and I can get out of here.”
“What about Matthews?”
Reno turned around so he could make full eye contact with John.
The cop shook his head. “Don’t do this, man. Let’s see if we can find a car first.”
“It’s what he wants. Now, go and see—”
Both men looked toward the highway when they heard footsteps and rustling coming from the high grass. Reno froze, and he held up one finger to John, who had heard the noises at almost the same time.