Chapter 22: No Man Left Behind
The gates groaned open at their approach. Throughout the whole trip, Cole had kept an eye on Gadron’s reflection in the mirror. And hell, watching him breathe was like seeing a robot following a field manual on human respiration. Inhale, hold, exhale, all timed like a metronome – like he was forcing himself to do it. Even his blinking had that same mechanical bullshit going on.
He’d seen a lot of different reactions to combat stress, but none of them came close to this.
A medical team stood waiting by the gate as they pulled up to a stop. One of them stepped forward to meet Dalen.
“Sergeant Dalen,” the lead medic called out, “any injuries?”
Dalen shook his head, nodding toward Elina. “The Slayer healer rendered her aid. Best to have them seen again, though.”
The medics moved to help Vanner and Tellis down from the shuttle, offering them potions to recover their energy and stamina. Both men were steady enough on their feet, but looked ready to sleep for a day.
One of the medics approached Gadron as he dismounted, but the man just waved him away. “I’m quite alright,” he said.
Cole watched the Corporal’s mechanical breathing. What a brilliant conversation that would be – pulling aside a medic to report suspicious breathing while the guy was literally counting breaths right there.
Better to approach this with subtlety. “Hey.” Cole flagged one of the medics. “Corporal’s probably got some sort of uh… survivor’s guilt. Might wanna have someone evaluate him.”