“This MRE is good,” Blaine said through the radio.
“What are you eating?” Maddie asked.
“Turkey and mashed potatoes. Or it’s supposed to be turkey and mashed potatoes. Looks like something someone threw up, but it actually tastes like turkey and mashed potatoes. Sorta.”
“Welcome to the glamorous world of professional soldiering,” Danny said. “Don’t forget to grab some T-shirts at the gift shop on your way out.”
Will heard movement behind him and was about to reach for his rifle when he got a whiff of her scent and relaxed. She pushed her way through the branches and sat down next to him, laying a Benelli shotgun on the ground.
“Thought you wouldn’t mind some company,” she said quietly.
“I never mind your company.”
She smiled. “Wow. That’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever said to me. And that’s…kind of sad.”
He chuckled. “Sorry about that.”
“Eh, I didn’t fall in love with you for your ability to romance me off my feet. It was more the whole shooting undead creatures thing.”
“Have gun, will shoot.”
Her face grew a bit more serious. “How did the talk with Gaby go?”
“As could be expected. She’s a tough girl.”
“She really liked him. Josh. You want to talk about it?”
“About what?”
“What happened with Josh.”
“He got shot and fell off the boat. That’s about it.”
“Will…”
“Lara, I’m not sure what you want me to say. I’m sorry about the kid. I liked him. But there was nothing I could do.”
She watched him intently, trying to read his face. “All right,” she said after a while. “You can talk to me about anything. Anytime.”
“I know. That’s why I love you.”
She climbed up on his lap and sought out his mouth in the semidarkness of the woods. Will tossed the MRE bag away and wrapped his arms around her. After a moment, she pulled slightly back and looked down at him as if trying to memorize every inch of his face. She looked beautiful in the moonlight, and he found himself wanting to become lost in the crystal blue of her eyes.
“You take me to the best places,” she smiled.
“Nothing but the best for my gal.”
“Now that’s the kind of sweet nothings guaranteed to get a girl’s pants off.”
She kissed him again and put her hands on his chest before trailing down. She started to unbuckle his belt.
“Lara,” he managed to say, pulling away from her for just a moment, “I want this. God, I want this. But this is probably not the time or place—”
“Oh, shut up,” she said. “This is exactly the right time and place. We could die in a few hours. Or tomorrow. After Josh and Carly… I want to make the most of every minute and every hour with you, Will. Don’t deny me that, please?”
He nodded. “Okay.”
She kissed him again, and he slipped his hands under the warm cotton fabric of her shirt. She sighed when he cupped her breasts. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and she felt soft against his rough palms, her nipples hardening instantly. It never ceased to amaze him how sensitive she was there.
She had already unbuckled his belt and was slipping her hand into his pants when he heard the soft, familiar sound in the distance.
It came almost lazily, wafting through the night air, like something out of a dream. He wasn’t even sure how he managed to hear it with his chest pumping and other parts of him enflamed with Lara’s mouth and breasts and heated body pressed up against him.
He didn’t think Lara had heard it because she was about to pull his pants off when he put his hands on her shoulders and stopped her. “Wait.”
Lara was out of breath and flustered. “Are you kidding me?”
“No, I hear something.”
She lifted her head and listened. “I don’t hear anything.”
“You don’t hear that?”
“No.” She gave him a wry look. “Is this your way of saying you’d rather not have sex with me on the beach?”
“No. God, no.”
“Good answer.”
She climbed off him and he scanned the sky. There wasn’t enough light to really see anything beyond the halos of the lampposts around the island.
He pressed his radio’s PTT. “Danny, do you hear that?”
“I hear it,” Danny said through his right ear.
“Hear what?” Lara asked.
“I don’t hear anything,” Blaine said through the radio.
“Me neither,” Maddie added.
Will snatched up his rifle and went into a crouch. He looked southeast, toward the marina.
There.
He could hear it again, getting louder. The gradual but familiar whup-whup that was such a constant during his tours of duty in Afghanistan. It was so common that the only days he had felt something was wrong, that something wasn’t quite right with the world, was when he didn’t hear it.
Whup-whup-whup-whup.
Lara was frantically shoving her shirt back into her pants next to him. “Will, I don’t hear anything.”
“There,” he said, pointing.
She squinted her eyes at the dark skies. “What is it?”
“You don’t see it?”
“No, I—” She stopped, and he saw her mouth open slightly. “Holy shit.”
“You see it?” Will said into his mic.
“I see it,” Blaine said.
“Fuck me,” Maddie whispered.
The helicopter came in low, gliding at a smooth, unhurried pace. It had a spotlight in front, under its cockpit, and the light skipped along the water’s surface and flashed across the beach, lighting up the piers and the boats tied to them.
“Danny, do you have a shot?” Will said into his throat mic.
“I have a shot,” Danny said.
“What do you see?”
“Squat. Spotlight’s doing its job. I can’t even make out if it’s military or civilian.”
“Any guns on the side? Armaments?”
“None. But like I said, it’s like staring into the sun. I can put some holes in it, but forget about details.”
“Hold your shot.”
“Ah, you’re no fun.”
“They could be friendlies.”
“Now who’s Captain Optimism?”
They watched the helicopter keep going, swooping high above them, running its light over the woods, before raking the side of the Tower. Then it was gone, passing over the island’s eastern section.
For a moment, Will thought it would keep going, but then the helicopter began to turn, coming back for a second pass…
CHAPTER 35
JOSH
Pros and cons: What were they?
Pros: He was alive!
Cons: He had no idea where he was or why he wasn’t dead. His body hurt. His arms hurt. His left leg was numb, but not so much he didn’t notice the sudden surge of electricity shooting from it every time he tried to move even a little bit. His head felt heavy, and each time he breathed, he thought it was going to explode.
Conclusion: I’m alive!
He had woken up in a bedroom, lying on a small bed under sheets covered in Transformers characters. It took him a while before he realized the bed was in the shape of a racing car, and it was at least half a foot too short for him. His legs were draped over the end, which didn’t help the pain in his left leg any.
Josh pulled his legs back until he was almost curled on the bed. It was cold. Very cold. Which didn’t make sense because it was hot outside, rays of sunlight flitting in through white blinds over the window to his right.