Lethal said, his rifle still aimed at the downed male.
“I think… I think there’s a pulse,” she said, tucking her handgun into her waistband.
“Scorn, stay alert,” Lethal said, then he knelt beside Nina. He reached out a hand and pressed it against the male’s throat. He leaned over and listened for any breath at all, then for the heartbeat. “It’s there, very faint, but it’s there.”
Without further hesitation, Nina reached for her knife and sliced the male’s shirt, dropping the knife beside her and ripping the cloth the rest of the way from his chest. She tilted his head back and cleared his mouth, then began CPR. She continued to administer CPR until Lethal signaled for her to stand off for a moment. He felt for a pulse again and shook his head. “It’s still there, but no stronger.”
Nina went right back to performing CPR. A moment later she sat back. “I’m getting a metallic taste and scent. He’s been drugged.”
“Naloxone?” Scorn asked.
“Yeah,” Nina answered.
Scorn flipped up the front pocket of his shirt and removed what looked like a small, thick wallet. He opened the flap and extracted a syringe filled with Naloxone, then stepped forward and handed it to Nina.
Nina reached for her knife again and sliced one leg of the pants the downed male was wearing, baring his upper thigh to her. She pulled the clear plastic top from the syringe, then stabbed it into his thigh, none too gently.
“Entering!” Steel said, as he and his two team members approached the room to be sure no one shot them thinking them unfriendlies.
“What do you have?” Steel asked.
“Two males, check the other one,” Lethal said.
Feral went toward the cage on the opposite side of the room. “Locked,” he said. He glanced over at the cage Lethal and Nina were now in with the first male, then at the lock on the door. He slung his rifle over his body like Nina had, then reached for his handgun. “Clear,” he said, then fired at the lock keeping the second cage locked.
“Got you covered,” Valor said, standing behind Feral with his rifle trained on the downed male.
“This one’s breathing, too,” Feral said.
“Shoot him with Naloxone. If they drugged one, I’m sure they drugged both,” Lethal said.
The male Nina knelt beside began to stir a little.
“Can you hear me?” Nina asked. “You’re safe. You’ve been rescued.”
The male didn’t open his eyes, but his chest rumbled.
“Get out of the cage, Nina,” Lethal said.
“No, I need to be sure he’s okay,” she answered.
The male’s head lifted just an inch or so off the ground before he dropped it back to the cold, hard floor making a cracking sound.
“You in there?” Nina shouted. “Wake up. This is not your day to die.”
The male’s eyes fluttered, then slammed shut again.
“What do they call you? Are you One, Two? Wake up!” Nina ordered, standing up and backing a bit away from him since his limbs were beginning to move more.
Lethal stood opposite her with his rifle at the ready. He had no desire to kill any Variant citizen, but, if necessary, he would. Nina had been training with the medical teams back at Alliance and when they found Variant people, she usually assessed them and determined the best way to administer whatever they needed until they could be brought back to Alliance. He didn’t like it, but, telling her she couldn’t do it was like telling him he couldn’t do something — so he tolerated it, and watched over her closely while she went about her new self-appointed position of medic to their team.
The male struggled to open his eyes, one of them halfway, the other less than that. He was still out of it, and not in control of his body, but at least he was moving now.
“You hear me? You’re no longer in danger. We’re here to free you,” she said, her voice loud to be sure he heard.
The male lifted his lip and snarled softly.
Nina raised an eyebrow and stepped forward, kicking his leg as hard as she could. “Do not fucking snarl at me. I’ll lock your ass back in this fucking cage!” she threatened.
The male’s eyes widened then he appeared to focus a little better before he slowly grinned at her, then let his head fall backward again to slam onto the floor once more.
“You still breathing?” she shouted.
“Nnnnggghhh,” he snarled.
“Good,” she said, walking out of the cage.
Lethal followed her out and closed the door to the cage the male was lying