Rainbow Six: Bloodlines

"EL LEÓN" - Chapter 2

     Moments later, both Jackal and Kruger were kneeling over Mira. Kruger hastily let his backpack slide off his shoulders and reached in for a first aid kit.

     Ryad brushed her cheek with his hand. "Hang on, Elena. Help is here."

     She moaned softly, wincing as pain spasms rocked her body.

     "I know. You're good. You'll be fine."

     "Roger, Ghost Lead," Kruger said to someone over his radio. "We're clear." He popped the med kit open and produced a syringe. "My team's entering the building. Giving your friend some morphine sulfate."

     Ryad nodded, and his new alley stuck the syringe in the woman's thigh. Her eyes fluttered. Her mouth opened slightly, and a weak gasp escaped her lips.

     Kruger pressed a bandage to her wound in an effort to stop the bleeding. As he did, footsteps sounded from behind them out in the hallway. Three armored men entered the room, led by a bearded man wearing a blue baseball cap.

     Two of them joined Kruger in tending to Elena. The man in the blue cap strode up cautiously, seeing the bodies of Vivas and The Djinn nearby.

     "Wow." Nomad raised his eyebrows and gave The Djinn's corpse a tap with his boot. "You tangled with this fucker?"

     Ryad nodded, his focus still on Elena's eyes.

     "Do you know who this is?"

     One of Nomad's men nudged Jackal out of the way so he could get to a better position to tend to Elena. Jackal stood slowly. His head was throbbing. His adrenaline was finally leveling off.

     "Do you know who that man is?" Nomad repeated.

     "No."

     The man in the blue baseball cap shouldered his rifle and extended his hand. "Call me Nomad."

     "Jackal." Ryad shook Nomad's hand, casting another nervous glance down at Elena.

     Nomad rested his hands on his chest rig. "That's The Djinn. One bad mother. He's on more than a few Most Wanted Lists."

     Ryad spat at The Djinn's corpse. "He connected with Thiago Pérez?"

     "Mm. Señor Pérez's top hitman. Ex special forces, all that good stuff."

     Kruger stood. "She's stabilized. You guys got this?"

     Weaver and Holt voiced an affirmative. Midas started sweeping the area for intel.

     "Kruger, where's that vault at?" Nomad gestured to his backpack. "I brought the good stuff."

     "Downstairs. I'll show ya."

     Ryad watched them leave, uncertainty teasing his nerves. He took a deep breath and turned to the men caring for Mira. "Will she be okay?"

     "Yep." Weaver wiped his brow. "Bullet went clean through, luckily. We've got the bleeding to stop. She's chill thanks to the morphine, but we gotta take a closer look at possible internal damage. Here ain't the place for that."

     Holt eased Mira's head up and slid the flat of his backpack beneath her as a headrest. He looked up at Jackal. "You two had a rough few days or what?"

     "What do you mean?"

     "You look like shit. She looks like shit. You both are all bandaged up." Holt adjusted the headset over his ears. "The hell have you been up to? What are you doin' here?"