CHAPTER FIVE

Finding Mags was easy. Getting her out would be far more difficult. There were nearly a hundred men watching the woman currently tied to a tent pole in the sun. They'd removed her from the prison and had her in the middle of the damn desert, out in the open, exposed to the blistering heat of the Egyptian desert. But these weren't Egyptian military and royal guards. They weren't local authorities or police. They weren't even Egyptian for the most part.

"Jesus, look what they've done to her," whispered Walker. "I need to get to her." He started to walk down the hill, but they gripped his shoulder, pulling him back.

"You fucking move, and I will knock you out and send you home, Walker. We all want Mags back safe and sound, but we are seriously outnumbered. We have to lure some of those men away from camp and then move in and get her."

"H-her blouse is torn," whispered Ellie, staring at her sister through the binoculars.

"Listen, I think we need to contact VG and have them initiate her comms device," said Garr. Everyone turned to stare at him. "If we turn that on, we can let her know that we're here and give her some hope. They also might be able to help."

"Please," said Ellie, turning toward Leif. "Please, do this for her."

Leif nodded, then looked at the group of friends and teammates. They all tapped their comms, waiting for the response.

"What the fuck?" said Hiro. "We get the whole damn unit and Ellie at the same time? Tell me this isn't bad news."

"Hiro, we don't have much time, brother. I need you to initiate the comms device for Mags remotely."

"Fuck," he muttered. They heard him tapping away on his keyboard, and then he spoke again. "It's done. Her biometrics are telling me her body is under severe stress. Her heart rate is low, blood pressure is high. What the fuck is happening?"

"Hiro, I need you to keep calm, but Mags has been taken by a group of dissidents in Egypt. We've got her in our sights, and we're going to get to her."

"Why is Ellie's comms in the area as well?"

"Another story for another time, brother. Just keep everything on," said Leif, giving a sweet smile to Ellie.

"Jesus, you guys aren't asking for much, are you? You know I have to tell Cam, Luke, Eric, and Hex, right?"

"We get it. Just try to keep it quiet for now."

"Uh. Right."

"Mags? Mags, can you hear me?" whispered Ellie, staring at her sister through the binoculars. "Mags, please, just shake your head if you can hear me."

They held their collective breaths, watching and waiting, hoping Mags would lift her head, but there was no movement. Walker was itching to move but sat with the others.

"Mags, it's me, Walker. Please, baby. Please nod your head. It's me, baby. I love you."

The slightest movement of her head told them she heard. She lifted her head, staring out at the glaring desert sun, then nodded, looking up at the sky. Magnolia turned left and right, then up and down.

"I-I hear you," she whispered.

"God, baby. Just hold on," said Walker. Ellie let out a sigh of relief but then looked at the other men.

"What now?"

"We have to provide a distraction for her. Garr, Brix, Sebastian, Major, and Alistair, I need you to blow something up. Nothing historical, just something." The men looked around and then back at him.

"Like what? The fucking sand? We have nothing other than the van," said Major. Leif cocked his head to the side with a smirk.

"Are you fucking kidding me? We are in the middle of the damn desert with nowhere to run. If they come after us on foot, we lose, brother," said Brix.

"I know. But just put it in the middle of something away from the camp. We'll steal a few of their vehicles and go from there."

"The stealth netting," said Ellie. "I have the stealth netting with me!"

"Okay. That will get us in and out without being seen. We all have ours as well. Forrest and Walker, you get two vehicles away from the explosion with Ellie. Walker and I will get in and get Mags out before they have time to get back."

"I think luck is on our side," said Brix. "Look. That must be fifty of them leaving now."

"You're welcome," said Hiro. "We sent some bogus information that rival dissidents were headed toward them. They took the bait. Move now."

"I fucking love your geekiness, brother."

"Let's move," said Major, taking the others with him toward the vehicles.

They wore the stealth netting, slowly coming down the large hill of sand, making their way toward the jeeps and trucks. With half of them gone, they were able to choose which vehicles would be the fastest and safest. They had their pick of what they wanted.

"Walker? Use your shooting skills, brother. I need most of those men out of the way," said Leif.

Walker nodded, knowing that he was doing this to get him to stay put and not blow anything up unnecessarily. With his sniper rifle and silencer, he moved as close as he dared, lay down, and began picking them off like ducks at a carnival game.

As the dissidents began to scatter, it allowed the other men to kill them close range beneath the netting. Men were running toward the vehicles, not realizing they were also running toward the hidden danger.

Leif covered himself and ran toward Mags. He easily cut the ties, catching her as she fell into his arms.

"Hold on, Mags. I've got you, honey." He lifted her beneath the netting, then ran toward the waiting vehicles. With fifty men dead on the desert floor, the team piled into the two stolen vehicles and headed back north toward Cairo, the opposite direction of the other half of the dissidents.

"Mags, Mags," said Ellie, wiping her face with cool water. "We have to get her temperature down."

"Mags, look at me, baby," said Walker. "Look at me." She shook her head, tears falling from her swollen eyes.

"Leave me," she whispered.

"Fuck that! We risked our lives to get you, and I'm damn sure not leaving you now. Hold on, Mags. I love you, baby. I love you."

They drove through the night to get Mags back to base. Immediately placed on IVs, she was whisked away to be examined and treated for her wounds. None of the men would leave, not even for sleep. When Ellie came out into the waiting room hours later, she looked drained and devastated.

"How is she? Can I see her?" asked Walker.

"Sh-she doesn't want to see anyone," said Ellie. "They're putting her on the next transport home."

"She doesn't want to see me?" he said.

"Walker, they raped her. Multiple men raped her."

Walker stared at Ellie, the identical version of the woman he loved. Except they were vastly different. He started to turn and leave the room, then took off running toward the back and to his Mags.

"Shit," muttered Leif. The entire group followed him, standing at the doorway as he knelt beside her.

"It doesn't matter. Nothing matters except that you're alive, Mags. You're alive, and I'm alive. I love you. I'll always love you. You're my girl, Mags."

Magnolia was sobbing, holding his head to her chest.

"Walker? You can go back with the woman if you want to," said his commander from the doorway.

"I'd like that, sir. Thank you."

"W-Walker," she said, shaking her head. "You can't want me now. You don't know what they did."

"It doesn't matter. It doesn't change the way I feel about you, Mags. It doesn't change a damn thing. I'd still want to go to the eighth-grade dance with you." Magnolia sobbed as he held her tightly, their friends reaching to just touch her, letting her know they were there.

"You have to find them," she sniffed. "They're planning something awful, something terrible. They have a stockpile of weapons stolen from U.S. and British bases. You have to stop them."

"We'll get them, honey," said Leif. He turned to Ellie. "Maybe you should go back with her."

"No. Em and Maddie will be there for her. I need to be here and get the men that did this to her. I'm going to kill them all."

"That's my sister," smiled Mags with a sad smile, "the overachiever."

"Damn right. Don't you forget it."