Time Sensitive Target

Part 8 - To The Bone

Jase adjusted his NVG's after the three mike call. The helo lurched and he steadied himself with Ant's shoulder. Ant nodded at him in respect. He wasn't happy the American was going to be first man in, but he tried to concern himself with the hostages. And that cunt al-Raheem, he was going to kill him. He'd shoot him in the groin first, let him bleed out while he watched. He'd 'dead check' him before exfil, of course. A shot to the neck first then one to the head. As far as al-Raheem was concerned, they were meeting in 43 hours at the Turkish border. He had no idea a surprise party were on their way.

Jase wasn't looking forward to the inevitable confrontation with Ant. He was a hard man, he kept himself to himself and showed nothing but his general hardness. There was nothing to suggest he would step aside when it came to al-Raheem.

"Doors open"

The command came through their earpieces and the helo door slid open.

"3 - 2 - 1 - go"

Jase plummeted towards the ground and pulled his chute. They landed exactly where they needed to be, and once everyone was assembled they began the rest of the journey on foot. Ant held his gun with comfort and wondered for a moment if the girls were still alive. There was a strong possibility they were dead, and if they weren't already then they were certainly dying. They had enough blood for two transfusions, but they needed at least one of those in case any of their team was wounded and starting to bleed out. The plan was for immediate exfil but they had to be prepared for some unknowns.

"One klick out," Jase updated into comms. Across the bare stretch of desert he could see the cluster of boulders where the tunnel entrance was concealed.

Everyone was ready. Sonny steadied himself by Jase's side, he was the only other one in on the DEVGRU side op and he'd have Jase's back until the day he died. Of course for the two of them, that was likely to be sooner rather than later.

                                        *

Paige writhed in pain on the cold ground. She had been stripped down to her underwear and lashed with the bullwhip as punishment for the attempted rape. Reels of entwined barbed wire dangled from a small chain link on the ceiling, the tiny metal teeth forming a choker around her neck, clinging on to her throat like parasites. The last shot of adrenaline had burned through her veins, and as she dry heaved something dislodged in her chest and she vomited dark red blood, her frail frame lurching forward with a violence that seized her limbs.

A spatter of deep crimson misted Bazish's boot, which he studied silently with an unreadable expression. He sniffed slightly and pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers to soothe an itch, and in the same manner of nonchalant action drove the blood speckled boot forward in a precise blow to Paige's ribs. She was already breathless from the brutality of vomiting whilst her body was in such a fragile state, so she made no sound as his foot collided with her bones. The force crippled her into a convulsing heap, face down in the shallow puddle of her bloody regurgitation. The tender flesh protecting her jugular groaned in reluctance as the barbed collar tugged strenuously, fresh pearls of blood weeping from the gashes.

Even in her state of limbo, Paige could detect an edge of frustration to her captor's behaviour. He was less sadistic, but more impassioned. The control he had measured to inflict unspeakable depravity upon his two hostages had disintegrated, leaving him unhinged and in fear. He had lost one of his bartering tools, with no knowing how that would impact his deal. His own life hung perilously in the balance; if he couldn't deliver the prisoners he had sworn to the elders, they would never allow him into the inner folds.
The last hand he had to play was Paige's withering life, and he had to instil the fear of losing her to the Americans.

Another lash ripped through Paige's skin, overlapping with a raw wound still moist with blood in a latticed effect. The reaction was apparently displeasing to the administrator. Paige lay soundlessly, still toeing the line between excruciating awareness and blissful unconsciousness. Bazish yanked the wire hard, jolting her back into recognition and giving her no choice but to attempt to haul herself upwards to ease the tension against her mangled skin. The barbs snatched into her throat, fresh blood seeping from the lacerations, the snakes of red beginning their course in an imbrued race as they oozed down her breasts and further south. Her wrists were raw, to the bone in parts where the piercing wire there had embedded itself nearly entirely into her flesh.

Against all of her pride and self-regard, again Paige begged for death to a darkened face that laughed in response. She prayed for it to a god she didn't believe in, but there was no relief. So she lay contorted on the concrete ground dripping in her own blood; suspended from the ceiling; heaving and bleeding and slipping in and out of consciousness; waiting, praying, for death.

                                         *

The tinny scream of rusted metal across the floor coaxed Paige to attention, the pitch black of the basement bringing the realisation that she was alone. Her captor had made a hasty departure, the whip carelessly discarded like an innocuous prop. The blanket of darkness shrouded her, eyes adjusting to the dingy surroundings until she settled on the outline of Jas's lifeless form, staring numbly from hooded swollen eyelids. She daren't relax her body, not even the little that she could. Paige knew death would not be far away now, the raspy wheezing breaths felt shallow and a sickly netting of sweat adorned her forehead in fever. She kept herself braced for the punishment to continue and the silky relief of finality to wash her away.

Pap - pap - pap

Paige dragged her closing eyes back open wearily, it was a new noise. Whenever a sound came from outside the door she conditioned herself to prepare for pain; her muscles spasmed as they constricted in anticipation, trembling with no control.

She shook as the door swung open and she clenched her eyes shut, trying to stretch her back as tightly as possible so the next lash would hurt less. She attempted to steady her breathing but still couldn't breathe through her nose, so it came out as raspy panicked panting. She heard multiple footsteps behind her. Oh no. The pap sounds- had they been gunshots? Had they killed Bazish? She let out a small verbal shiver as she realised if her captor was dead, so was her protector. She would be raped and passed around from camp to camp, sold in to slavery and raped some more. Footsteps were directly behind her, something made light contact with the back of her head.

"No!" She let out a strangled cry. She could barely talk, the wire was so tight against her throat.

"Shhh, shhh. You're safe, you're safe," a voice soothed. The stark lights were switched back on, illuminating the blood covered floor. There were two people crouched over Jas's body.

"No!" She cried again. She was dead, why would they do that to her? When they didn't listen Paige moved her bound wrists so her arms were flat on the ground and tried to drag herself towards her friend. She groaned through gritted teeth as the wire tore at her neck and her ribs crackled in protest.

"Stop- stop! Stay still," two impossibly large black boots stood in front of her face, and she rocked on to her side to ease the pain. The lights had completely disoriented her, and the shock from the adrenaline was starting to wear off. The familiar shakes began after pearls of sweat formed on her forehead. She swung her head back until it hit the ground and felt her eyes begin to roll.