My girlfriend’s entire family was taken hostage by terrorists. As members of a special operations team, it was our job to rescue them. During the firefight, I took a bullet shielding my girlfriend, Lisa. Just as I was breathing a sigh of relief, thankful for my body armor, I saw blood seeping through my uniform. A quick check revealed the horrifying truth: the vest Lisa had given me wasn’t bulletproof. It was a standard-issue cotton vest. As I stared at her, my eyes filled with pain and confusion, Lisa’s voice was flat, devoid of emotion. “I gave your vest to Noah. He’s new. He doesn’t have your skills. He needed two vests to be safe.” I clutched my side, my voice tight with rage. “You thought he wasn’t safe with one vest, so you took mine? Were you trying to get me killed?” Lisa’s face twisted in annoyance. “Why are you so selfish? Can’t you think about the rookie for once? It was just a vest.” “Besides,” she added with a sneer, “it didn’t hit anything vital. What are you crying about?” I knew arguing was pointless. I patched myself up as best I could and sent a secure message to my father, the director of the agency: Wounded in action. Requesting immediate evac. Mission compromised. Abort. 1 A short while later, Lisa, as team leader, received the director’s order to stand down. She stormed over and grabbed me by the collar, her eyes blazing. “You’re the one who tattled, aren’t you?” “Do you have any idea that my parents and my brother are in there? Every second we waste puts them in more danger.” “And you requested to abort the mission? Are you trying to get them killed?” Her violent shove tore open my makeshift bandage. Blood poured from the wound, pooling at my feet. I pressed hard against my ribs, gritting my teeth against the pain. “We walked into an ambush. The enemy knew we were coming. Going in now is a suicide mission.” “And another thing,” I added, my voice strained, “I’m shot. Is it wrong to call for a medevac?” Before Lisa could answer, Noah chimed in, his voice dripping with condescending sarcasm. “Come on, Mason. You’re a veteran of this unit. Are you really calling it quits over a scratch?” “It’s embarrassing, man.” “Besides, we’re here to save Captain Hayes’s family. Your future in-laws. And you’re just going to walk away?” “Are you a coward, or does our captain just not mean that much to you?” His words acted as a signal. The rest of the team turned on me. “Mason, if you’re scared, you should train harder. Running away just makes you look weak.” “‘No man left behind’ is our motto. You get a scrape and you’re calling for mommy? The other units will laugh us out of the service.” The searing pain was bad enough, but their mockery was a fresh kind of agony. I let go of the wound, pointing to the blood that was now pulsing out in a steady rhythm. “Are you all blind, or did you check your conscience at the door? Does this look like a scratch to you?” The other team members fell silent, but Noah just smirked. “You think getting shot makes you a hero? Stop showing off.” Lisa stepped forward, her expression disdainful. “Why is it that everyone else is fine, and you’re the only one who got shot?” “It’s because you slack off during training. When it comes to real combat, you’re useless. And you have the nerve to complain?” I wanted to defend myself, but the pain was a steel band around my chest, squeezing the words out of me. As the blood loss mounted, my vision blurred. The world started to sway. Thank God I had sent that message. Otherwise, I’d be dead for sure. Just when I thought Lisa would finally order a retreat, I heard her give the command to advance. “Everyone, on me. We hit them now, before they regroup. We take the compound and rescue the hostages.” I struggled to my feet, the pain a white-hot fire in my side. “You… you’re disobeying a direct order?” A smirk played on her lips. “I’m the field commander for this operation. I have the final say.” “And I’m not going to let a coward jeopardize the mission.” Seeing the manic look in her eyes, I knew there was no reasoning with her. “Lisa, I understand you’re desperate. But I’m wounded. I can’t go on. I have to wait for evac.” “No!” Noah cut in before Lisa could respond. His eyes were cold and calculating. “If we leave him here, he’ll tell the director that Captain Hayes deliberately disobeyed orders.” “The only way to protect ourselves is to make him complicit.” “If he dares to say a word, we’ll pin the whole thing on him.” 2 The other team members, intimidated by Lisa and Noah’s authority, quickly agreed. I looked at Lisa, her face an icy mask. “Lisa,” I said, my voice thick with emotion, “including today, this is the fourth time I’ve saved your life.” “The first time was four years ago. I pulled you out of a pile of bodies and carried you for three days and three nights across the desert.” “You cried, you said you’d spend the rest of your life repaying me. You swore you’d never betray me.” “I know I don’t mean anything to you now. But please, for all the times I saved you, just give me a chance to live.” My words seemed to reach her. She hesitated, about to speak, but Noah cut her off. “Lisa, you can’t be soft now.” “Leaving him here will ruin everything! He could sabotage the entire rescue with one call.” At his words, Lisa’s expression hardened. “Stop trying to guilt-trip me with ancient history. That was a long time ago.” “You’re the only one who knows the layout of their compound. If you don’t come, how are we supposed to rescue the hostages?” “That’s right! Mason has to come! No playing dead,” Noah added quickly. Looking at their ugly, determined faces, I knew that reason was off the table. I played my last card. “Don’t be stupid. The director of this agency, Director Evans… he’s my father. If you do this to me, he won’t let you get away with it.” Noah burst out laughing. “That’s hilarious, Mason. I didn’t realize you were so desperate to save your own skin you’d start making up dads.” The others joined in. “Our Director Evans? Why would he have a kid with a different last name?” Lisa slapped me hard across the face. “Mason Turner, I am so ashamed to have ever called you my boyfriend.” “Say one more word of that nonsense, and I’ll put a bullet in your head myself.” She pressed the barrel of her gun against my forehead. I knew they were serious. Arguing was futile. But I had one condition. “Fine. I’ll go with you. But you have to make Noah give me my vest back.” “I’m shot, I can’t move well…” “Shut up!” Lisa snapped before I could finish. “You’re wounded, which means you’re useless in a fight. Why waste a vest on you?” “I’ll say it again. Noah is new. He has no experience. He needs two vests to be safe.” Hearing her say those words, so full of blatant favoritism, was a dagger to my heart. I couldn’t believe that the woman who once looked at me with so much love would now, for another man, completely disregard my life. Ever since Noah joined the team, she’d been different. Obsessed. Her eyes followed him everywhere. I had thought it was just a crush, an innocent attraction. I never believed she would betray years of shared history, of life-and-death situations, for some pretty boy. I was a fool. When I didn’t move, Lisa racked a round into the chamber, the sound echoing in the tense silence. She pressed the gun harder against my head. “Don’t think I won’t pull the trigger. Get up. Now.” 3 Defeated, I clutched my wound and struggled to my feet. “I’ll help you, Mason,” Noah said with a sickeningly sweet smile. Before I could refuse, he slammed the butt of his rifle into my side, directly on the wound. The pain was so intense tears sprang to my eyes. I shoved him away with all my might. “Get off me!” Noah yelped and fell to the ground dramatically. Without a word, Lisa lunged at me, shoving me hard. “What the hell is your problem? Noah was trying to help you!” Noah seized the opportunity to add fuel to the fire. “It’s okay, he’s just mad I’m wearing his vest. I can take it. As long as he calms down and leads us to the hostages, it’s worth it.” His words sent Lisa into a rage. She slapped me twice, hard. “Don’t think you can bully Noah just because he’s a good person. I won’t allow it!” she screamed. “If you hurt him again, I’ll make you pay double!” The slaps were powerful, leaving my ears ringing and my face stinging. But the pain in my heart was worse. I didn't have the strength to explain, nor the desire. “I can walk on my own.” “It’s not that you don’t need help,” Noah sneered. “You’re just looking for a chance to run.” Lisa shot me a look of pure disgust. “Mason, if you screw this up and my family gets hurt, I will make you regret it.” She turned to Noah. “Watch him. If he tries anything, you have permission to execute him on the spot.” Her voice was cold. “We’re in a combat zone. Accidents happen.” I knew she was speaking for my benefit. I also knew she was capable of it. These were her people. If she gave the order, they would follow it without question. I had to play it smart. I just had to hold on until the evac team arrived. Noah pulled me to my feet and forced me into a run, completely ignoring the fact that my wound was bleeding more and more heavily. After a few minutes of this brutal pace, I was struggling to breathe. Black spots danced in my vision. I felt like my heart was about to give out. Suddenly, shadows flickered in the alley ahead. “Take cover,” Lisa hissed. “Movement ahead.” Before I could react, Noah shoved me forward, throwing me out into the open at the intersection of two alleys. At the same instant, I heard the tell-tale click of a machine gun being loaded just down the alley. I knew I had a second, maybe less, before I was torn to pieces. With the last of my strength, I threw myself toward the corner of a building. The impact was so hard that the crumbling brick wall gave way, collapsing around me. As the wall came down, the air filled with the deafening roar of machine-gun fire. If I hadn't moved, I'd be dead. While they were engaged in the firefight, I crawled through the rubble and found a small, dark room to hide in. I activated my locator beacon again, praying the evac team would find me soon. The gunfire outside died down quickly. It must have been a small patrol that retreated after making contact. I huddled in the darkness, not daring to breathe. My enemies weren't just the terrorists. They were my own teammates, who wanted me dead. I stared at the broken doorway, torn between hoping for rescue and fearing who might walk through it. Just as my anxiety reached its peak, the door creaked open. 4 A tall, thin figure stepped inside, a strange, twisted smile on his face. When my eyes adjusted, my heart sank. It was Noah. I curled into a ball, praying he wouldn’t see me. “Don’t hide, Mason. I see you.” I looked up. The bastard was standing right over me. “What do you want?” I rasped. Noah’s smile was predatory. “To help you, of course. My dear teammate.” “Get away from me. The best help you could give me is to leave me alone.” “Don’t be like that. I found some antiseptic. Let me clean your wound.” He reached for my bandage. I tried to fight him off, but I was too weak from blood loss. He tore off the gauze, then jammed his fingers directly into the bullet wound. He ripped the flesh, widening the hole, and a fresh torrent of blood gushed out. “Aaargh!” The pain was unimaginable. I screamed, and with a final, desperate surge of adrenaline, I kicked him as hard as I could. He flew back, slamming against the wall. That kick took everything I had left. Noah wiped a smear of blood from his lip and brushed the dust from his pants. “Just performed a little surgery for you,” he said with a cold smile. “Don’t worry. You’ll be fine soon.” “I’ve never done anything to you… why are you doing this?” “Nothing? You…” Just then, Lisa and the others burst in. Seeing them, Noah immediately collapsed to the ground, clutching his chest. “Mason, I was just trying to help you with your wound! Why did you kick me?” Hearing that I had attacked Noah, Lisa charged at me, but Noah grabbed her arm, stopping her. He didn't want her to see what he'd done to my wound. “It’s okay, Lisa. It’s my fault. He’s mad I took his vest. He wouldn’t have gotten hurt otherwise. It’s normal for him to hate me.” “Noah, you’re too kind,” Lisa seethed. “But kindness is wasted on some people. Mason is a monster, and he doesn’t deserve it.” “I’m going to teach this ungrateful bastard a lesson he’ll never forget!” She shook Noah off and lunged at me. But as she raised her foot to kick me, she froze, her eyes widening in shock. “You… your wound… it’s so bad. It was just a shot to the ribs. How are your intestines hanging out?” I used my last ounce of strength to point at Noah. “He… he did this…” “He means I was the one who bandaged him up,” Noah interrupted smoothly. He adopted a look of grave concern. “He was like this when I found him. He must have caught it on something when he was running.” He looked around at the others. “As it stands, there’s nothing we can do for him. It’s time for us to make a decision.” Lisa’s face was filled with worry. “What do you mean?” “I mean he’s not going to make it. We can’t take him with us. If the terrorists find him, he’ll compromise our position.” “The best thing we can do is end his suffering now. It’s a mercy, and it protects the team.” He said it with such conviction, as if he was doing me a great favor. The others hesitated. Noah pressed on. “If you’re not worried about him giving us all away and getting us killed, then fine. Forget I said anything.” That did it. Lisa nodded grimly. “Do as Noah says. We’ll be helping Mason… easing his pain.” With the captain’s approval, the others reluctantly agreed. Noah brought over a basin of water and a stack of paper towels. “We’ll each take a towel, soak it, and place it over his face. It will only take a few minutes.” “This way, we’re all involved. No one can snitch.” Hearing this, the others dropped their reservations and started soaking the towels, pressing them over my nose and mouth. With each new layer, it became harder to breathe. Just as I thought I was about to suffocate, the door burst open. A team of operators stormed in, their leader shouting, “Stand down!” Everyone froze.
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