FanFic: "Ground Fire" (Hawaii Five-0) - Chapter 4 of ??
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CHAPTER FOUR
"They aren't dead." Unable to prevent it, Chin softly verbalized their common thought again as he and Steve hacked steadily through the darkening jungle. He knew Steve heard him and agreed even though there was no answer. By that point, only that single-minded belief dared keep them optimistic and Chin felt the necessity to once more say it out loud. "The Coasties would have found them. Or at least, they would have found something by now."
Their near-constant yet overtly quiet contact with the rest of the rescue contingent was by sat-phone. Stress rose as every brief update proved to be consistently negative which toyed maliciously with their gut instincts. The dour updates were grating on strung nerves made worse as the threat of rain increased and night fell at an alarming rate.
"Let's assume a two hour head-start at worst case." Steve paused every few feet to listen and study not only the depths of the jungle, but also the closest leaves and uneven ground for clues. "Injured and unprepared for the terrain, they will be moving slowly and carefully."
Neither of them were willing to consider that Kono and Danny had been killed in the crash. Fingering torn leaves and a badly bent sapling, Steve smirked. Injured certainly, but not dead. And perhaps not so badly injured if they were on the run. So regardless of other negative opinion, unpleasant updates, and because of their unspoken gut instincts, he and Chin sensed the jungle was still the correct choice. So much so, they had three Coasties plus a medic waiting on the beach with a chopper for retrieval.
"Down." Fist flying suddenly up in the air, Steve dropped to a knee with Chin reacting instantly. Slamming the night vision goggles down into place to improve his sight, Steve waited before pointing off to their far left. On a rocky rise, two stealthy figures moved in and out of view amongst the heavy jungle terrain. He wanted to smile and then realized that he was when Chin happily squeezed his shoulder.
"They're definitely alive." Chin whispered. His own tone included a smile because the existence of the two mercenaries now fully proved their theory without a doubt. "I see only two." He felt Steve nod and then shift under his hand. They would split up now to flank widely around the two dangerous men in an attempt to gain ground and get ahead of them or put them in a crossfire.
Or, if the opportunity was presented first, incapacitate each accordingly. Permanently.
Tracking far ahead of their intended quarry, Steve chuffed a throaty sound in approval. Danny and Kono were aiming for higher ground and his hand blindly sought Chin's body when he caught a distant glimmer of movement.
"Up." Fisting the front of Chin's vest, Steve held his breath as he frantically searched the higher ridge. "There." It was brief and both men almost missed the subtle shifting of dim silhouettes nearly hidden by thick jungle growth.
"They have about a two mile lead. Maybe." Steve desperately swung his gaze back to the two pursuers soon to become unwitting prey. "Could be less." Without a doubt there, the mercenaries were moving quickly despite the darkness in comparison to the three figures above. However, they were also not entirely fleet of foot and hesitant about the path to travel. It indicated that perhaps they, too, were not properly outfitted for the impromptu jungle pursuit.
Chin was moving on an eager, silent jog towards the far left of their quarry before Steve finished his sentence. Based on angle, Steve was already traveling straight up the incline to, at minimum, insert himself between the two small groups.
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They were all struggling now. Each in their own damaged way as they crawled, tripped and tried to gain ground away from their pursuers. One faint glimpse of the two armed mercenaries was all it had taken to provide an initial rush of adrenalin. But bodies were not cooperative and they were fighting to stay on their feet. Their destination was a dark out-cropping which seemed just as far away as it had for the last many minutes. It would give them shelter and a bit of protection from what they all knew would be a pending fire-fight.
Except for the sound of his own harsh breathing, Al Totorro was silent as he put his head down and fought his way forward step by slow step. Hands still cuffed, he was either pushed or pulled upwards without remorse, but he wasn't complaining. The detective had led the way upwards for the large majority of the trek to keep a slow by steady pace. Pausing occasionally to qualify the line of sight towards their goal and to ensure that they were free of any unforeseen traps, no one had felt the need to speak. However, by some silent agreement which Totorro had entirely missed, the female officer was in the lead now as her teammate faltered.
Because of that change in position, Totorro felt him fall first as the once firm hand dropped off his back. First the detective was there and pushing from behind, and then he simply wasn't. Caught up in her own single-minded objective, the female officer hadn't yet noticed and Totorro fought her upwards hold on his cuffed hands.
"Stop." He croaked out as the warmth of the hand left an empty imprint on the back of his stained dress-shirt. "Stop. Something's wrong."
"Fell." Tortorro got the one word out as Kono hissed irritably at first, turning in anger when he seemingly dropped spent to one knee. But he bobbed his chin behind them as he sucked in whistling breaths of air. "He fell."
On the trail below them, Danny was face down and weakly scrambling in the dirt as he completely failed to regain his feet. "Shit, Danny." Staying low, Kono tried to see down the slope, but was unable to see signs of movement. Based on the tingle she felt through her toes though, the two men were close. Much too close.
"Not going to do anything." The muffled vow was from Tortorro as he fisted his cuffed hands into the ground.
"You move a muscle, brah, I shoot you here and now. I don't care who you are or what happens after that." He knew that the officers were doing their damnedest to keep him alive. The threat wasn't entirely invalid though based upon the woman's very demeanor.
Drenched in sweat and pale from her own painful injuries, she was not in the mood to be reckoned with and so, Tortorro nodded again.
"Help him. We have to move." He was anxious too as his nerves ratcheted up a notch. Her eyes were narrowed distrustfully though as she tried to quickly gauge his intentions. "I won't do anything. You need to help him." It was true and with Danny unable to get up, Kono had no choice but to accept the convict's promise.
Keeping sideways in case Totorro tried something, Kono quickly skirted past him to snare Danny's right arm and to retrieve his weapon from fisted fingers. Doing her best to ignore the pained gasps, she was stunned to feel how very weak he'd become during their ascent.
"I got your gun. Now lean on me." Kono fought to get Danny to his feet, taking a large majority of his weight and then wondering how they were even going to take one step. Eyes wedged shut, Danny vainly bit back moan upon moan as his body shuddered from exhaustion. His inability to get enough air prevented him from truly speaking which was further complicated by blood loss and pain.
"Danny. Walk." He heard Kono's voice through a fuzzy tunnel and yet did nothing.
"Yeah." Completely in agreement, he pushed the sound out. Synapses misfired continually though as his feet refused to listen to his brain which in turn, was thwarted by an uncooperative body.
When he slipped down from his position behind Tortorro, Danny had barely noticed until his cheek connected with the uneven ground. Muddled and confused, he knew he needed to get up. Yet, he was only partially vertical now due to Kono's sheer physical determination. As muscles seized and a solid wall of vertigo destroyed any sense of his remaining equilibrium, walking became utterly out of the question.
"Walk. Move, Danny. You need to get up." Kono was urgently pleading with him. He stubbornly tried to comply yet continued to fail, never wondering where the second set of hands suddenly came from on his opposite side. Whatever had happened though, as he hung his head weakly, he was supported equally and then moving upwards again. Then it sunk in and he forced his head up and his eyes to open in alarm. Tortorro.
Danny sucked in a ragged breath and waited as their eyes met. Tight-faced and grim, the criminal shrugged and simply offered him support. Next to him, Kono stiffened but said nothing.
Watching the two struggle below, Tortorro had growled under his breath. His arm ached and his ribs were constantly engulfed in flaming, rigid pain. The female officer had her hands full and simply had to forgo a few minutes of guarding him to aid her friend. He had glanced at the upwards slope which was blurry not only from poor eyesight, but also nighttime darkness. Then he had stared blindly at his own cuffed hands and tested his strength.
He knew that he could do it and be done with them.
Instead, he scowled angrily as he slowly resumed his own feet and slid the few paces down to insert himself under the detective's left shoulder. Once the man's arm automatically draped loosely over his chest, Tortorro grabbed the lax wrist between his fisted hands and lifted. Their eyes met and he couldn't do more than offer a lame shrug before glancing towards the female officer.
"What?" His spontaneous act even stunned himself as he caught the female officer's surprised expression which slowly morphed into one of acceptance. "So what." Unexpectedly defensive, Tortorro pursed his lips as he readjusted the detective's weight uncomfortably.
"You can shoot me later."
~ to be continued ~
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