Page 21 of Her Eternal Warrior

“Who said that?”

She laughed. She’d said that. The problem was she couldn’t recognize the voice because she sounded like she’d been smoking five packs a day since she was a ten-year-old.

I’m right. I do need to quit with the boo-hoo.

She did her best to shove upward so she was sitting up. “I’m not going to die in mud. NECT has Kidnapping and Rescue, and if that doesn’t work, they’ll pay up.”

“Keep it down in there. You need to be quiet.”

“Who said that?”

Great, now I’m hallucinating. Figures.

She took a deep breath, trying to get her head on straight, then started hacking up a lung. She clutched her torso, trying to keep from jostling her rib, but it was no use. Spikes of agony sparked along every nerve ending until she was crying out in pain between coughs.

“Honey, can you try to be quiet? Just for a little bit.”

“Who are you?”

She heard the padlock being jostled. Great, time for another picture. They’d have to carry her out of here this time. There was no way she could walk.

Then she heard something at the back of the shack. It sounded like something was cutting and pulling at some boards that made up the back wall. She watched as three small boards were cut out, a little larger than a cupboard.

Weird.

“Ms. Rivers, it’s time to go.”

She looked at the glittering eyes that were mostly covered by a rubber or plastic poncho. She heard what he said, but he made no sense.

“Go where?”

“Ms. Rivers, we don’t have much time. Come over here and crawl out, and we’ll take you to safety.”

The mercenaries didn’t wear ponchos like that. “Who are you?”

“I’m Braxton Walker, I’m a member of the United States Navy. I’m here with my team, and our job is to get you out of here. Now please get over here so we can finish our mission.”

This has to be a hallucination. I’m drowning to death in the mud.

“Jenny, did you hear me?”

“You’re not real.”

“I am real, and I need you to get over here.”

Maybe he was real. She could hear the urgency in his voice.

“I’m sorry, but if you are real, this won’t work. I can barely sit up, let alone crawl over there. This won’t work.”

He looked at her for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, he said, “I understand.” He backed out of the hole and she was just left looking at the pouring rain.

Jenny stared at the hole. That man had to be real, didn’t he? There was a hole in the wall, so that meant he was real, right? He didn’t just disappear, did he?

She heard the same sawing and pulling and soon the hole was bigger. The man. What was his name? Oh yeah. Braxton. He was crawling into her muddy shack. He was fast. “Okay Jenny, let’s get you out of here.” He crouched down beside her, then put one arm beneath her legs and one arm around her back and picked her up like she weighed nothing. Her head lolled down, like her neck was broken.

“Shit.” He shifted, then somehow her head was resting against his chest. It felt good to be resting on the clean water of his poncho. He strode over to the hole and crouched down again. Then he threaded her through the passage and another set of arms gently picked her up into the same kind of hold. This man also held her so that her head was resting against his chest.

Who were these men?