Four Summoners Tales Part 80

"We searched him," Bunny finally said. "Definitely a boy."

Finn kept shaking his head. "No, you're wrong . . ."

I snapped my fingers in front of his face. He blinked and stopped shaking his head. His eyes were bloodshot and there were dark smudges under them.

"Hey-listen to me, Finn," I said, pitching my voice low and calm, "you're in shock and you're not making a lot of sense. You've got to calm down and-"

"No, I-"

"Shhh," I said. "It's cool. We're clear and we're safe. We searched the area. It's just the four of us, and help is on the way."

He gradually calmed, but only halfway. "What's . . . what's our status? Why is there all this blood on my clothes?"

"We're piecing that together. We found the spot where Rattlesnake Team ambushed the opium convoy.All of the Taliban are dead, the opium's there, but there's no sign of your guys."

Finn gave me a sharp look, penetrating and unblinking. "You're sure about that, Joe? You haven't seen them?"

Before I could respond, Bunny said, "Nah, we ain't seen hide nor hair. But we think they ambushed another convoy a couple hours ago."

Finn stared at him. "You're sure it was them?"

"Not sure of anything today," said Top. "But whoever did it used M14s. Cla.s.sic SpecOps ambush scenario, too. How many teams of gunslingers you think are out here? There's us and there's your boys."

Finn's eyes s.h.i.+fted away. He looked toward the town and then he looked down between his knees at the dirt.

"My team is gone," he said softly.

"Gone . . . ?" prompted Bunny. "You mean they been capped?"

Finn shrugged.

"Where are the bodies?" asked Top.

Another shrug.

"Excuse me," said Top, "you may be top-kick of that team, Finn, but I'm still a first sergeant and you're a master sergeant and I asked you a question.Where are the bodies of your team?"

Finn closed his eyes. "Gone," he said again, but then he added, "They've been taken."

"Taken by who?" demanded Bunny.

"I-don't know," said Finn. I had the weird impression that he was hiding something but not actually lying to us. When I made eye contact with Top, I could see that he was in the same place as me.

I placed my hand on Finn's shoulder and gave him a rea.s.suring squeeze. "Listen, brother, you've been out here for ten days and it's pretty clear you've been through some s.h.i.+t."

"I've been through h.e.l.l," he said without looking at me.

"If we're going to help you, then we need to know everything that happened."

Finn shook his head. "It's too late for that, Joe."

"What do you mean?"

"Telling you won't make it better. My guys are lost." "Maybe not," I said, putting some edge into it.

He gave me a pitying look like I was a nave idiot who didn't have a clue about how the world worked.

"I . . . ," he began, then stopped and swallowed. He brushed a tear from his eye. "Joe, I don't know why I'm even here. I should be dead, not them. I thought that was how it was supposed to work. Me, not them. It wasn't their fault."

"What wasn't their fault?" I asked gently.

"That they . . . that they were lost."

I noticed that he kept avoiding the word "died" or "killed." He called it "lost." He said they were gone.