Curtis Woodman Ch. 01

Cooper's own people were watching the building at the moment, other than seeing movement through the windows, nothing was going on. It had just started to get dark when Cooper made the call and pulled his own people out of harm's way so they could be ready to set up a perimeter further up the street.

Halo took the rooftop of the six story building to the east, JoJo took over the roof of the eight story building to the west and radioed in an acknowledgment. I heard them in my ear from the helicopter I was sitting in, once again checking my Sig. A hand rested on my shoulder and the hand then showed me two fingers, I nodded and holstered my Sig and once again checked every pouch was buckled down.

The only thing worrying me was the rope, I had done the calculations and figured it was within tolerance, the arguing point between Freddy and I was that the length of the rope I needed from the roof down, in weight, would mean I needed to travel light. Light as in a Sig as my only weapon and no body armor. I could see the concern in his eyes and thanked him, even placing my hand on his shoulder when I overruled him.

Had this been a Halo jump, then this conversation wouldn't have been necessary. But the airport was too close to the building, so I would have planes and helicopters, either commercial, personal, police or even television owned helicopters to contend with. We had thought to clear the sky for a few minutes while I jumped and landed, but the sudden silence would have been too conspicuous. It all came down to the winged suit and lightening the load so I had the maneuverability.

Rather than end up like a fly on the windscreen of a Boeing passenger jet. My mind didn't want to think what the rotors of a passing helicopter could do. I knew Freddy, he wasn't happy but was faced with the same math I had; we needed to lose the weight to get the rope on board. I also figured now was the time I would find out if my math was up to standard. The hand touched my shoulder once again and I pulled in a breath and jumped, the Wingsuit flapped and seemed to want to make far more noise than I wanted it to.

The descent and wide circle around the area had started. I couldn't get rid of an odd thought so decided to let it play out. 'So tell me Curtis, what did you do today? Who me? I dressed up like a bat and flew round in circles until I landed on an abandoned office block roof to rescue my friend's wife and family. Just the usual then? Yep.'

I could now see the laser-light that JoJo was using to mark the building and adjusted my flight trajectory ever so slightly. The light went out a second before I landed so JoJo must have seen me. I landed feet first, but rolled before coming to a halt flat on my back. Thank God no one saw that.

Pulling the suit off was a relief. While I tied the rope off I touched the button to my comms button. "One. Sound off."

"Halo, three to the east on the fifth floor.

"Seven, (JoJo) two to the west on the fifth floor."

"Two, (Freddy) six on the ground floor, charges set."

I dropped my rope over the edge and harnessed myself to it. I stood on the parapet for a second looking out over the city and its lights, paused for a moment more to admire the beauty of this fare city and then pushed my comms button.

"Let's do this. Two, I need that door."

I then leaned over the edge and with Sig in hand, I speed rappelled down the outside of the building. If anyone had been able to part the darkness, they would have seen a man dressed in black and running down the outside of a supposedly abandoned building.

I knew I wouldn't hear the silenced sniper rifles Halo and JoJo were using. Both buildings they were on were residential and we didn't want to scare the crap out of the residents. Counting the floors as I rappelled passed them, the shattered window I came to was a big hint that I had arrived, the extra five feet of rope a sharp reminder that this is where I get off. The two dead bodies further in were a gift from JoJo as well.

Now unhooked and free of my harness I again pressed my comms button. "Two, (Freddy) do your thing. Halo and seven, (JoJo) I'm in your hands, let's go."

I ran past another shattered window and three dead bodies, the forth almost made it to the stairs and' safety. My running must have alerted the person inside the tent in the far corner of the fifth floor. When I pulled open the flap she recognized me instantly even through the HRT uniform and face mask. I cut the ropes on her wrists and handed her the knife.

"Remember how to use one of these?"

She smiled, she sure looked dangerous when she did that. "Hell yes." Was her immediate reply. The explosion from the ground floor meant that help was now in the building. As Kitten cut through the ropes binding her daughter, I heard six more explosions and that worried me.

What came over the radio next only confirmed it. "One, this is Halo. They have cut the roof off, incendiaries. The roof's already ablaze, they must be using an accelerant."

Don't you just hate it when all those hours of planning, turn to shit so quickly.

*******

"Kitten, we need to get you and Cub out of here and now. We have five floors to get to the ground, we've got to head for the fire exit."

I didn't have the time for her to fight me on my next statement and fortunately Kitten only nodded her head when I told her that it would be quicker if I carried her daughter. The fact I had reverted to Brooke's call-sign wasn't lost on her, or that her daughter had a designation either.

Kitten grabbed a blanket and wrapped her daughter in it. "Uncle Curtis is going to carry you sweetie, mommy is going to be right next to you but we can go see daddy faster if we let uncle Curtis carry you. Okay baby?"

Even at such a young age she grasped key words her mom was using and looked at me, she was sure her mother's daughter. The face mask didn't fool her, she looked directly into my eyes and I smiled behind the mask in the hope she caught that smile.

She did and her smile grew as mine did, her arms came up and she said. "Carry, Uncle Curtis."

Lifting her into my arms I showed her what to hang onto, she only nodded once. Then Kitten pulled the blanket over her daughter's head and promptly poured every water bottle over her she could get her hands on.

Cub screeched and then giggled. "All wet momma."

The noise from my radio gave us a fresh impetus. "One, this is three (Chad). The fire is fully engaged, they set the building to burn to the ground with you all in it, get out now."

Again clicking down on my comms button, I said. "Halo, you and seven (JoJo) keep them away from us from above, the rest of you secure the doors to the east of the building."

Thankfully all acknowledged. The last to do so was Halo. He knew I had his family in my hands and now in the process of getting them out. All I asked in return was that he team up with JoJo and do the best they can to keep the scavengers off of us.

There was no, ready, set, go... We just nodded and ran for the fire exit. The scavengers knew instantly that the fire exit was the only chance we had. Between Halo and JoJo they cut right through that delaying action; we found all four of them dead by the door. Kitten kicked it open and Cub seemed to seek some comfort in holding on just a little tighter, my right hand had my Sig in it, my left arm was around Cub. I held onto a spare mag in my hand but I wasn't even sure I could change mags in a hurry when I was empty.

As we ran I listened to my comms, a strange sniper talk was going on between Halo and JoJo, if targets moved out of direct line of fire, they would hand over the target to the other and have that one waiting in anticipation for said target to come into line of sight. This night would have made them the most lethal pairing I knew of.

We managed the first three floors with ease and that alone worried me; however, the gunfire from below told me a great deal. I grabbed Kitten's shoulder and stopped her journey down the stairs. My boot attacked the fire door and it opened, Kitten followed.

"Three and Two, (Freddy & Chad) keep making noise at your position, I need the rest of you to concentrate your firepower at the west of the building."

Kitten had already crossed the second floor and used her shoulder on the door, which caused the guy behind it to take a step back and me to drill a hole in him. He was making a quicker exit from the building than us when he toppled over the rail. Unknown to us both, we failed the last test. Kitten tripped a wire on the last step to the ground floor and the foyer beyond the only door in front of her; a homemade incendiary exploded behind me, covering my whole back with sticky fire.

I didn't shout, it would have slowed Kitten down. Cub must have sensed something because I felt her hang on tighter. It was that one act that kept me moving. I had promised my best friend that I would get his wife and child back. That promise wasn't negotiable.

I had to compartmentalize everything. That's a dangerous thing to do in this situation but I just prayed the cavalry would arrive before the fire reached its conclusion. Cub was safe, tucked into my chest and holding onto my webbing as I ran. Because of my forward motion the fire couldn't grab a firm foothold on my HRT uniform, something that would rapidly change when I came to a stop.

Kitten flung herself at the door and kept running into the foyer. The scavenger standing in her way now rested in peace, due to a bullet to the head. That was when I just couldn't keep running anymore.

I fell to my knees and let go of Cub. Her head popped out of the top of the blanket and she looked at me. Her silence spoke volumes; she had tears in her eyes and I said. "Please don't be sad, you're safe now."

Kitten scooped her daughter into her arms and screamed as I fell forward. This time the pain was winning. I heard the familiar sound of boots on floor. The cavalry had arrived and breathed a sigh of relief. I could stop now, they were safe. But that safety brought with it its own price and it was time to pay up.

I was facing my own hell now. Kittens scream followed me there. "Curtis your backs on fire."

The pain was so real and with the remaining air in my lungs, I screamed. My body was held down and yet felt like it was being thrown about. Something was stuck into my neck, the darkness came and the pain went away.

*******

I was told sometime later that Freddy took over command seamlessly. The cordon around the building was lifted just long enough for an ambulance to arrive and disappear, never to be heard from again. Halo and JoJo joined the Unit, masked up and all marched out in a blaze of publicity shots with Brooke now carrying her child in her arms and a bunch of masked up, ugly looking HRT folks almost surrounding her.

Freddy let Cooper know that the whole building was booby-trapped and not to let the fire people inside. So, one part of the news crews watched the team pack up and leave, the other half watched the building burn to the ground. Forensics were going to be busy for a while, that was for sure.

For the next few hours, Cooper stood in front of the burning building letting the news crews know that enough information on the kidnapping had been seized from the burning building to continue his own investigation. Meanwhile across town a couple of shredding machines were busy when Cooper's men crashed that little party, waving warrants and arresting some very interesting people that really didn't want the cameras from the press that followed Coopers people taking pictures of them in handcuffs.

The ambulance pulled up at Walter Reed Hospital. The fact that the burn victim was wearing a HRT uniform raised a few eyebrows, but everyone knew where this call came from. Asking questions that weren't medical was something that these people didn't do.

I was just told fragments of what went on at the hospital by my people, when the medical staff heard it they asked my people to stop. I was a big target when that boob-trap went off, my back was one big burn area, from my neck, upper arms/shoulders, and lower back. Bradly had managed to stop the drizzle spreading any further and I sure owed him a damn good bottle of Malt Whisky for making that happen.

After pulling the shrapnel out of the mess that was once my back, the surgical team placed auto-skin grafts on the worst burned areas. The surgeon talked to Freddy when he came out of the operating theatre. The English accent was noted but not asked about, it was going to be the next few hours that where critical. The grafts needed to take before infection managed to grab too big a hold. The surgeon did note that due to the high physical fitness of the patient, it was going to be a positive.

All Freddy did was thank the surgeon and asked him to convey said thanks to the rest of his team. I don't think he was expecting so much and yet so little from the man in front of him.

As hours turned to days and days turned to weeks the list of people allowed to see the patient slowly increased. There was always a man or sometimes one single woman that sat outside the patient's room. The hospital tried to discourage this, saying that the patient didn't need to be guarded in a hospital. Within the hour the Hospital's administration people told the nurses and doctors to offer food or drinks, but to leave the guard alone.

When the hospital deemed the patient fit enough to travel, another ambulance came for him. His file was handed to one of the people that sat outside his room and Mr. Smith was never heard from again.

*******

Rick was there when the ambulance took me to the ranch, Constance was close to tears and had to excuse herself for an hour before Brooke went in search of her and dragged her back into what was now going to be my room, it must have cost a damn fortune converting this room into a mirror image of a hospital room. I'm sure the full time nurse didn't come cheap either.

The new doctor tried cutting me out of the information loop and always talked to Constance rather than me. I put a stop to that straight away, much to his annoyance. Rick came back a week later with a woman, a nice lady until she told me that she was going to be my physical fitness trainer, the tattoo of the Marine Corps on her upper arm told me I was in for one heck of a ride When I was allowed out of bed I was given something akin to swim shorts and told that was it.

.

And so began the balancing act of getting fit again, using stretching techniques that didn't figuratively pull the skin off my back. The lack of anymore clothes was also a contributing factor since Marine girl didn't want anything rubbing on the new skin. So the pool was a great equalizer in both getting me fit and keeping the grafts from drying up.

It took months to get me back to good health. Every time I tried to push the boundaries the hardened skin would break and bleed. Between Constance and Brooke, they took turns applying cream to my back and arms. It was as embarrassing as hell and I sure felt uneasy about it. Both women ganged up on me and told me that it was the least they could do.

Life at the ranch was slow and perfect for me to get better, I sent the Unit home to their families, except JoJo stayed, although she would disappear for a day or two from time to time. It seems she was helping Cooper mop up and used her old job under the joint relationship we have between our countries to circumvent those trying to monitor Cooper's investigation.

He saw a great promotion looming. I got to see a child's smile every time she came into the room, and that hug sure does make my heart beat more loudly in my chest.

JoJo and I watched the news as those that had managed to evade the law, suddenly succumbed to it. We had a quiet dinner party that evening and our plane left late the next day.

My boss was sitting in my chair when I got back. Good thing I knew the drill, I was officially placed on leave, pending a medical review of my fitness.

*******

Some months later, I was sitting alone on a bench that had one of the best views of our countryside contemplating my life and future. I was alive because I had six of the best people in this man's army not only looking out for me, but each other. I loved my job, and even better, I got paid well to do it.

My back was now healed, or at least as healed as it could be given the damage to it. The skin grafts had knitted well enough that it no longer cracked and bled, my bodies own fluid system had simply learned to re-route, to keep the skin alive. I had done a couple of walks with a backpack, slowly adding weight to it over time and that was thumbs-up time as well. An hour ago I sat my final assessment with the doctor who took over when I came back from America. He had now signed me off and sent that same information to my boss.

It was as my thoughts were just turning to another peaceful evening aboard my boat that my cell rang. My boss welcomed me back and said he would be leaving my seat no later than six this evening, ready for me to take over tomorrow. My eyes once again scanned the beauty of this landscape. I thanked him; he knew why and harrumphed down the phone before severing the connection.

My eyes once again scanned the beauty of this parks landscape. A young family stepped out of their car, the mother put the stroller together and a small child emerged from the child's seat in the back. They all smiled at each other and set off to walk the trail around the lake.

Yes, I loved my job, my friends, and as I watched those three people walk that trail, my heart missed a beat or two before I realized what had crept up on me. I chased it away; it had no place in my thoughts at the moment. The smile also took a hit as my thoughts turned to the doctor's last words to me.

"You're not getting any younger Curtis, your body was able to find its way back from this and in a way I hope you look on this as a second chance."

I shook his hand and wished him well; he noticed I didn't answer him.

Yes, I love my job... But what else is out there for me...