Noah: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Hell Squad Book 6) (16 page)

“I’m going to give you a painkiller.” He pressed an injector to her neck. “We need to get out and get to the convoy.”

She grabbed his hand. “Noah…we both know I’ll never make it.”

“Honey, we’re in this together.” He cupped her cheeks, forcing her to meet his gaze. “Whatever happens. No more running from each other, no more lies, no more ultimatums. It’s you and me, whether you like it or not.”

Even in these dire circumstances, she smiled. “Really?”

“Yep, whatever happens.” He got an arm around her back. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

He hauled her to her feet. She felt a sickening wave of dizziness but gritted her teeth. The pain was ebbing, the drugs easing it away.

She had to do this. Because she knew from the obstinate tone in Noah’s voice that if she didn’t go, he’d stay with her.

And then they’d both die.

She had to get him out.

She braced herself. “Let’s go.”

***

Noah kept his arm tight around Laura as they headed out of the prison area. She was limping badly, each one of her breaths a harsh inhalation.

A muscle ticked in his jaw. He was getting her out of here, one way or another.

It was slow going up the spiral ramp. As they neared the top, he heard screaming and the sounds of fighting.

And the sounds of the raptors.

He also smelled smoke. His gut cramped. The base—their home and haven—was being torn apart.

Noah gripped the laser pistol in his right hand harder.
Just get to the convoy
. That was the only thing he could focus on right now.

“Ready to move?” he asked.

She looked up at him. Pain had etched deep lines on her face. “No. But I will give it everything I’ve got.”

He didn’t doubt it. “Go.”

They hobbled forward. Noah tried to take as much of her weight as he could. He led them down empty tunnels when he could, but finally, they reached one where he heard fighting around the corner, and they had no option but to go through.

He paused and peeked around.

His chest went hard. He saw base residents battling raptor soldiers. Lasers were firing and raptor poison was eating into the walls. Dead bodies—mostly human, he realized, his chest hurting—littered the ground.

Just get to the convoy.

“Come on.” He held her tighter and they moved toward the melee. The smoke shrouded them, and the crazy fighting did, too.

Then one raptor spun and spotted them. He let out a vicious snarl.

Noah shot him in the face.

They hurried on. Noah caught a glimpse of Chef—the big man in charge of the base’s cooking—wrestling an alien to the ground. God. For a single second, Noah slowed, caught between wanting to get Laura to safety…and wanting to help Chef.

Then Laura gasped.

Ahead, three large raptors rounded the corner at a run.

Shit
. Noah fired. One raptor stumbled, but the others kept coming. He set Laura against the wall.

The first raptor charged him. Noah heard Marcus’ voice in his head, talking him through his fight moves.

Noah slammed a kick into the raptor’s side, and when the creature grunted and leaned forward, he followed through with a hard punch to the face.

Pain reverberated up Noah’s arm, but he ignored it. He aimed the pistol toward the alien’s chest and fired.

As the raptor fell, he saw the other one headed for Laura. She’d snatched up a raptor weapon from the ground and was holding it steady.

The raptor kept coming. Laura fired.

The green goo splattered across the alien’s chest, and he let out an inhuman snarl as he dropped to the ground.

Noah ducked around him, grabbed Laura and yanked her down the tunnel.

As they moved, he felt her steps get slower, less coordinated.

“Come on, honey. We’re making good progress.”

“Liar.” She drew a deep breath. “We aren’t even halfway.” Her face fell. “There will be more raptors between us and the exit.”

“We’ll make it.”

“Noah—”

“We’ll make it. Now shut up.”

But soon Laura slowed to a walk. A quick glance down made his heart slam against his chest. Her shirt and trousers were soaked with blood.

They were nearing the end of a tunnel when he heard a strange clicking sound.

The sound echoed around them, raising the hairs on his head. They slowed and Noah glanced over his shoulder.

A creature stepped into view, its gaze on them. It walked on its back feet, with a long tail for balance. It was big, covered in feathers, and while the teeth in its mouth were large enough to cause nightmares, it was the huge, sickle-shaped claw on each hind foot that made Noah’s blood run cold.

“Don’t run,” Laura whispered. “Velox.”

The damn thing had “predator” stamped all over it, and right now, they were the prey.

Noah and Laura backed up slowly.

The velox stepped closer.

“They’re fast, Noah. Hell Squad have tackled a couple. They aren’t easy to take down.”

And Noah had a laser pistol and Laura was injured.
Dammit to hell.

He raised the gun. Whatever happened, he was fighting. For himself, for Laura, for a chance to live. It was time for Lady Luck to be fucking kind to him for a change.

The velox screeched and charged.

Noah shoved Laura hard. She fell, but she was out of the way.

He held his ground. “Come on, then, you feathered freak!” He fired the laser. It didn’t even make the alien slow down.

He braced himself.

The sound of laser fire was a deafening roar in the tunnel.

The velox’s body shuddered under the impact, then flopped forward onto the floor. Twitching.

Its feathered head landed an inch from Noah’s boots.

He looked up…and saw Hell Squad moving forward, weapons raised.

Noah had never seen a more beautiful sight. “Damn glad to see you guys.”

Marcus stepped ahead of his squad. “What the hell are you doing down here? You should be with the convoy.” Then the soldier’s gaze fell on Laura. She was sitting up but clutching her stomach, blood coating her hands. “Dammit. Shaw?”

The sniper hurried forward and knelt beside Laura. “Hey, sweetheart. Got yourself a little nick, there?”

Laura gave a hiccupping laugh. “Paper cut.”

Shaw’s lips twitched. He pulled out some sealers from his field first aid kit and shoved the shredded, sodden remains of Noah’s handiwork aside. “Well, then, this sealer will suck onto your skin and stop that bleeding in a second.”

“Thanks.”

“Noah.” Marcus’ voice was low and urgent. “Raptors are pouring into the base.” He cast a grim look at Laura.

“I’m not leaving her!”

Marcus made a frustrated sound. “Never said that. We’ll help you get as far as we can.”

Noah nodded. “Thanks.”

“The old ventilation shaft will be safest. Not too many aliens at that end of the base.”

Noah frowned. “It’s a long ladder to the surface.” It would be hell on Laura.

“Then you carry her if you have to.”

Yeah, he would. With a nod, Noah helped Laura onto her feet. He heard her try to muffle her pained groan and he squeezed her arm. “We’ll get to the convoy, and get Doc Emerson to look you over. You’ll be fine.”

Laura shot him a wan smile.

They moved through a few tunnels, dodging burning piles of debris and dead bodies, slowly making their way to safety. Noah stared at the bodies—both raptor and human as he passed. He recognized a few faces, but there was no time for grief right now.

He only prayed that most people had made it to the convoy. And that his untested illusion system would work.

They rounded a corner.

“Incoming,” Cruz yelled.

Noah swiveled his head. A huge group of raptors was headed their way.

“Move faster,” Marcus shouted.

Noah tried, and he knew Laura was using every last bit of willpower she had to stay on her feet.

“Noah!”

Her cry made him look forward.

More raptors were emerging from the smoke in the opposite direction.

They were trapped.

Chapter Fifteen

Laura smelled the harsh stench of smoke in her nostrils, heard Hell Squad and Noah firing their weapons, and felt the excruciating agony of her injuries. But all of her senses were muted, as though she were moving through a fog.

She saw the raptors moving in, firing their weapons. Marcus was roaring orders. She blinked and everything came back into focus.

“Laura? Laura? Stay with me.” Noah’s face pressed close to hers. “Hell Squad will keep the raptors busy, and we need to get past them.”

She nodded. Even with the pain tearing through her, she loved looking at him. The pain was real, what she felt for him was real, and however long they had together, it was all worth it.

And she wanted more.

She was going to fight for more.

“Ready?”

She nodded, gathering the last of her reserves.
Get to the exit. Get to the convoy
. She chanted the mantra in her head. Then Noah would be safe.

Marcus and Cruz flanked the pair of them. Cruz snatched a grenade off his belt and activated it.

“On three,” he said. “One, two, three!” He tossed the grenade.

Noah and Laura ran. Behind them, the grenade exploded with a loud bang, and Marcus and Cruz directed their fire at the oncoming raptors. Laura glanced back and saw the rest of Hell Squad fighting the aliens coming from the other direction. Shaw was taking the enemy out with steady headshots, Gabe was fighting hand-to-hand, Reed was lobbing a grenade, and Claudia was closest to the raptors, firing a carbine and a laser pistol at the same time.

“Go!” Marcus roared.

Noah pulled her forward. She focused on getting past the raptors.

A raptor lunged at them and fell under a hail of fire. They kept running, jumping dead bodies and other debris.

“Fuck you, asshole!” Claudia’s voice.

“Let her go!” Shaw yelled.

Noah and Laura looked back. A raptor had a struggling Claudia clamped in his arms. She was thumping him on the head and fighting like crazy. Shaw was sprinting toward her, while the rest of Hell Squad were firing their weapons.

“Keep going, Noah,” Marcus yelled.

“Come on.” Noah tugged Laura onward.

They cleared the raptors, and ahead, she saw the small door into the ventilation shaft.

So close.

A pained cry came from behind them. Noah yanked the vent door open. “In.”

Laura risked one last glance at Hell Squad.

She saw the raptor dragging Claudia backward now, his claws tangled in her hair. She was kicking and thrashing.

Hell Squad were converging.

Then a raptor tossed something.

“Grenade,” Cruz yelled.

Hell Squad dove for cover.
Boom
. The tunnel filled with smoke and debris and the sound of falling rock. As it cleared, Laura saw the tunnel had partially collapsed.

Trapping Hell Squad on one side, and Claudia and the raptors on the other.

“No!” Shaw cried. He leapt up to the pile of rubble, tearing at it with his hands.

The others joined him, heaving at the tumbled chunks of rock and concrete.

“In, Laura,” Noah said again. “We have to start climbing.”

Her gut heavy as rock, she ducked into the narrow shaft. A long metal ladder speared upward. She set her boot on the first rung of the ladder, ignored her pain, and started climbing.

***

Noah reached past Laura and pushed the rusted hatch open.

The blinding afternoon sun made him blink. He pushed Laura ahead of him and out the top of the vent shaft, and then followed her.

Behind him, he heard Hell Squad coming up the ladder.

He cast a quick glance around the trees. Nothing was moving. No humans, no raptors. Only smoke pouring up from somewhere beyond the trees.

From memory, he calculated where the closest entrance to the convoy storage facility was.

Hell Squad climbed out of the shaft, one by one.

Claudia wasn’t with them.

There was a grim and ugly silence. Every single one of them was aware Claudia was missing.

“Marcus, we need to go back,” Shaw bit out. His jaw was locked so tight it looked like it might crack. “We have to find her.”

“She was alive, Shaw. We’ll get her back.”

“They’ll kill her!”

“She’s valuable. They’ll question her, first. Right now, our duty is to the base, to getting the residents out safely. There are kids, and sick people, old people, who need us more—” Marcus’ voice cracked. “If you think it doesn’t tear me up to leave her with those fuckers, even for a second…”

Shaw’s hand clutching his rifle tightened until his knuckles bleached white. “They hurt her, and I’ll track down every fucking alien responsible and gut them.”

“Get in line,” Gabe muttered. Something had nicked his head and blood covered half his face. He looked like something out of a horror movie.

“She’s tough. She’s smart,” Marcus said. “She’ll be fine, and we
will
get her out.” He pinned a hard look at the sniper. “Got it?”

Shaw gave a jerky nod.

Marcus turned. “Gabe, can you carry Laura?”

“Sure thing.” The big man moved over to Noah and Laura. “Okay with you, Laura?”

Laura looked like she was about to collapse. Noah was relieved when she nodded and Gabe swung her up in his arms.

They fell into a jog, Noah directing them through the trees. Soon, he found the disguised back entrance to the facility.

After the door slid open, uncovering a wide, descending staircase, he waved everyone inside. He cast a glance back toward the trees and, overhead, he saw even more smoke rising. He wanted to punch the wall in frustration, but instead, he passed through the door and made sure it was shut tight behind them.

Their boots echoed on the steps as they jogged downward. Soon, he heard the hubbub of voices, children sobbing, someone yelling.

Noah stepped into the Swift Wind facility and paused. His chest tightened. People milled around—they had black-stained faces, tangled hair, ripped clothes. Some had injuries. Some just stood or sat looking shell-shocked.