THE BRAVO BOYS - SNAKE EATER [book three]

Chapter FORTY FIVE

Shelby Quinn

Al Aqsan, Strysakstan
...Four years ago...

Glinting steel peels a visceral ribbon of flayed flesh from mutilated muscle, when the razor sharp blade of a rebel freedom fighter slices across my abdomen.. Rivers of blood, pain, fire and acid burn in a torturous trickle over the surface of my skin and the wounds weep where he cuts me open..

Forsaken on folded knees, a hollow gargle of anguish dribbles from the corner of my gaping mouth as my head lolls forward and exhaustion defeats me to the desire of death..

Why won't they just kill me already?

"Guh-ughh.. Stop- Please.." I choke out through a wheezing breath.. "I told you everything already! I'm just a soldier, I don't know what you people want!'

"You tell uz again!" The masked rebel who holds the highest rank in the room bellows in contempt while he punishes me some more.. Unrelenting with another thrust of his knife he persists, this time stabbing the blade deep into the tender meat of my hip.. Glaring down at me through the black coals, a cold callousness haunts his obsidian irises..

This man is a monster.. An animal without remorse or conscience.. In his eyes I can see the devil and he is thirsty for my suffering blood..

A cry of agony is torn from my chest as unforgiving steel burrows deep and I throw my head back to the sounds of the rattling chains that bind me to the bloodstained concrete.. Those restraints which prevent my escape or retaliation, also slice my wrists and cut off my circulation.."Ahhhhh! Fuck!" My throat is dry as sandpaper and my screams scar like they were made of razor blades..

The rebel dungeon smells of sour sweat, acidic urine and salty blood.. The air down here is heavy, metallic and rancid.. The humidity is thick with the scent of rotten meat and decay, the lingering traces of my fallen brother's remains still lay scattered around upon the grimy concrete floor..I can fucking taste death all around me, and with every inhale I struggle to control the violent impulse to gag and wretch..

"What iz you name?" The maddening fire of fifty thousand volts sizzles as the rebel connects the negative clamp to the old car battery.. The cruel currents rush through razor wires that are tightly tangled around my torso.. Electricity burns like a flaming fuse through my veins to seize my heart, causing it to freeze and jolt in a manic arrhythmic stutter.. I gasp hopelessly for breath as my every muscle tightens and spasms involuntarily.. "Gaaaah! My name is Sergeant Shelby Anne Quinn of the United States Marine Corps!" I groan through gritted teeth, hunching forward on my knees to curl into a ball.. "I am the leader of Fireteam Tango!"

There is no reward for my honesty, only more punishment.. "Who sent you here?" Coiled knuckles collide with my already bruised cheek as he continues to interrogate me, asking the same questions he asked a week ago.. And the week before that.. And the week before that..

It doesn't make any sense since I have already answered their questions a hundred times over, but still he asks..

Steadying myself from the disorientation of his heavy blow which rattled my brain to near scrambled, I hiss in pain as I draw my shoulders back and lift my chin with more pride than I'm sure he'd like to see.. "My team was stationed in South Al Aqsan to defend the city from rebel attack.. The Strysak Armed Forces are conducting official military operations all over the Yabinka district and we were directed to assist.. I was supposed to be performing a recon sweep- That's when you picked us up.. That's all I know, I swear.."

"Who will pay for you?" He barks in demand.. "You have husband Amerikanskiy?"

"No.. Nobody- there's nobody.." I shake my head, spitting out a mouthful of the thick blackened blood that marks my internal bleeding.. "It goes against US policy to negotiate with terrorists.."