Freefall Read Online Free PDF Page B

chaos. Her body was shaking with fear and tension, and she was beginning to think she had no other choice but to move forward alone.
    Another fifteen minutes, she promised herself. She would wait that long before heading for the distant hills that would hopefully offer her some shelter during the day and also give her a bird’s-eye view of the terrain below. Fifteen minutes passed, and then five more. Panicked that Brent must have been one of the victims in the skirmish over an hour before, Amy stood and prepared to set out. Somehow she had to find a way to send for help.
    She heard her name whispered softly. Whirling around, she saw Brent standing behind her.
    â€œI was so worried!” Not thinking, she moved into his arms and held on. Warmth washed through her as one of his arms came around her waist. She shifted to look up at him, sliding her hand down onto his arm. It was only then she noticed the slick wetness on her fingers. Her eyes widened, and she tried to stem the panic attempting to surface. “You’re bleeding!”
    â€œWe have to get you out of here,” Brent told her, leaning against the boulder for support.
    â€œCan you make it up to those rocks?” Amy asked warily. “I thought there might be some caves where we could hide.”
    Brent nodded. He didn’t release her, instead allowing Amy to keep her arm around him and support some of his weight. They moved slowly, barely making it to the protection of some caves as the sun rose in the east.
    Amy helped Brent sit down at the mouth of a shallow cave and immediately shed her pack to take a look at the damage. “Take off your shirt,” she told him, reaching to help him undo the buttons. He winced in pain as he shifted and let Amy help him remove his combat vest and his shirt to reveal his bulletproof vest. Beneath the vest was a T-shirt, the right sleeve red with blood.
    Brent looked down at his arm. “I can’t tell if the bullet passed through.”
    Amy took a deep breath. She moved to examine the wound, finding the small hole where the bullet had entered the fleshy part of his arm just below his sleeve. Gently, she then lifted his arm to study the underside, where a larger wound was still bleeding. “It looks like it passed through, but the exit wound doesn’t look good.”
    Brent leaned back against the wall of the cave. “Look in my combat vest. There’s a med kit in one of the pockets.”
    Amy started riffling through the pockets. That’s when she saw a hole in his vest, this one without an accompanying bloodstain.
    â€œWere you shot more than once?”
    â€œI got hit once in the vest. It just bruised a couple of ribs.”
    â€œI’m afraid it did more than that.” Amy held up the remains of his communications headset.
    Brent closed his eyes in frustration.
    Amy opened another pocket, this time coming across a pocket-sized Book of Mormon. “You’re Mormon?” she asked, surprised.
    â€œYeah.” Brent nodded. “The med kit should be in the next pocket over.”
    Still absorbing this new information, she opened the next pocket and found the medical supplies. She pulled out a plastic bag that contained an assortment of items, including bandages. She found some antiseptic and applied it to both wounds. Brent winced in pain but said nothing as she went about cleaning the wound.
    â€œThere’s a syringe with a local anesthetic in there. I’m going to need you to give me a shot of that, and then try to stitch up the wound,” Brent told her. She glanced up at him quickly, her eyes wide with surprise. “I’ll lose too much blood otherwise,” he explained. “And we don’t want anyone to be able to track us.”
    Amy’s heart lodged in her throat as she considered actually using a needle and thread on human skin. Skeptically, she asked, “Are you sure you trust me to do this?”
    â€œI’ll walk you