Mike gave Tammy a pleading look. “Tammy, we’re trying to deal with things here. We’re doing our best. Just let us do what we can, ok? Let us do our duty.” With that he looked at Dan and Abi with a stern look. They both cowered under his stare.
The conversation ended there, with all three soldiers walking back to their stations.
IT WASN’T UNTIL AN hour later that somebody spoke up again.
There was a flurry of sound and activity, as BB had made radio contact. BB and Mike were fully occupied with the radio, and within a minute they had sent Abi upstairs again.
Tammy could hear a hatch opening upstairs and gasped at the sudden and loud sound of the hatch hitting the roof.
Mike turned to Dan. “Go help Abi. Get that smoke up there.”
Tammy quickly followed Dan as he went upstairs.
“Dan! What’s happening?”
Without turning, Dan replied. “We might have a lift out of here after all!”
He got upstairs and immediately ran to a storage locker in the corner. Tammy followed him and noticed the open roof hatch nearby. Dan rummaged through the storage locker and after a few seconds lofted a tubular object with a triumphant “A-ha!”
He walked over to the open hatch and called up to Abi, then handed the object to her.
Dan went back downstairs, followed by Tammy.
“Smoke is ready to go, chief.”
“Ok good. Exfil in about three minutes. Go tell Abi to hit that smoke in two!”
“Hooah!” Dan replied and turned back towards the stairs.
Breanne and Steve had approached, knowing something was up. Mike saw them, and patted BB on the shoulder.
“Stay on the line with them until they acknowledge the smoke. Then get to the roof asap!” BB nodded and turned back to the radio as Mike turned to the civilians.
“There is a Marine helicopter inbound. They should get here in about two and a half minutes. I need you folks to get on to the roof of this building. Follow me.”
He led them upstairs and towards the hatch. There were metal ladder rungs along the wall under the hatch, which oddly reminded Tammy of a submarine – although she had never been on one.
Mike stood beside the ladder and coaxed Breanne up. “Let’s go! We don’t have a lot of time.”
“Climbing is not my thing!” Breanne exclaimed as she nearly lost her footing halfway up. Eventually she made it to the hatch, where Abi and Dan assisted her up onto the roof. Steve practically flew up the ladder after her. Tammy followed last.
Once she got on the roof, Tammy had a better feel for her surroundings. She could see many figures moving in the distance. She watched as Abi flicked something off the metal tube she had in her hands, then she tossed it to the corner of the roof. Within seconds, a thick purple smoke started to emanate from the device.
Tammy thought she could hear a helicopter in the distance and started scanning the horizon. Sure enough, the steady rhythmic sound of rotors announced the impending approach of a helicopter.
“There!” Steve was the first to see it. He pointed. Tammy could see nothing at first. Then, a shimmer, as the sun’s rays reflected off something. Slowly, the object became visible.
Thirty seconds later, it had arrived. It was huge – the biggest helicopter Tammy had ever seen. She figured that it was as long as a Boeing 737 airplane. The noise it made was deafening.
Everybody had made it to the roof. The helicopter hovered fifty feet above them. A door slid open along its side, and a metal contraption swung out the door, a person already tied off to it. Seconds later, that person was being lowered to the rooftop.
“It’s the marines!” BB called out beside her.
“BB get over here!” Mike called. The radioman quickly stepped over to Mike and the team.
The marine touched down and quickly stepped out of the harness he had been strapped in to.
“Sorry folks we ain’t got baskets – you’ll have to get strapped into this here contraption! One at a time, now. Ok kid you go first!” He pulled Steve towards him. Before the boy could say or do anything, he was strapped in.
A second marine had his head poked out the open door of the helicopter. As soon as the marine on the roof gave him a signal, the harness, and Steve, started to rise up.
Tammy wasn’t watching them anymore though. She could see that something was going on with Mike and his team. Abi was crying, and Mike had his hand on Dan’s shoulder.
Abi made her way over to Tammy, just as the harness was being lowered again.
“What’s going on, Abi?” Tammy asked.
Abi shook her head at first, struggling with something. “We’re all fine. So how did he get it?”
“What do you mean, Abi?” Tammy tried to keep her voice calm. Behind her, Breanne was about to be lifted. Just then the helicopter dipped a few feet, and Breanne lost her footing and smacked the roof hard. In the next instant she was pulled up as the helicopter overcorrected. The marine had held on to her and also got lifted a couple of feet in the air.
“You feckin’ EMU!” He yelled.
“I think I broke my ass!” Breanne screeched.
The next moment, the helicopter had stabilized, and Breanne ascended.
Tammy turned back to Abi, who almost had a grin on her face. Tammy was sure it was nervous energy and not malicious sadism. Heck, Tammy almost felt the urge to laugh as well.
“Abi.” Abi looked up to meet Tammy’s eyes. She looked over her shoulder at her team. All of the sudden she blurted it all out. “He’s infected. Dan. He knows it, too. He says it’s getting real bad. He’s not coming with us.”
“Oh no...” Was all Tammy could think to say. She looked over and saw BB say his goodbye, leaving Dan alone with Mike.
Tammy watched Mike wrap Dan up in a bear
