The world swam in and out of focus for Exalibar. The coppery taste of blood filled his mouth, and every breath sent a fresh jolt of pain through his ribs. A distant, frantic voice was pulling him back from the comforting darkness.
"Exalibar! Exalibar, get up!"
Theo was shaking him, his face pale and smeared with his own blood, his eyes wide with a panic that was barely contained.
Exalibar groaned, forcing his eyes open. "Instead of wasting energy shaking me," he slurred, his voice a ragged whisper, "why don't you... carry me out, huh?"
Theo stared at him, a hysterical laugh bubbling in his throat. "Have you looked at me? Do I look strong enough to carry all 4 of you at all? Plus, I have no idea how to..."
Exalibar lifted a trembling, bloodied hand and placed it on Theo's shoulder, "Then call Jack," he breathed, and then let his arm go limp, his body slumping back to the cold floor, albeit fully concious.
Theo stared for a second, his mind frozen, before the obvious solution finally broke through the haze of his own shock and residual pain. "Oh. Yeah. Right."
His fingers fumbled with the comms unit on his wrist. "Jack! Jack, come in! We're in the residential wing, east side. Exalibar's down. We need an extract, now!"
The response was immediate, Jack's voice shot through the speaker. "On my way."
It took less than thirty seconds. There was no subtlety this time. With a deafening roar of shattering concrete and twisting rebar, a section of the wall opposite them exploded inward. Jack stood silhouetted in the new opening, his tactical suit scuffed and smeared with soot, his knuckles raw. His dark eyes scanned the room in a single, sweeping, professional assessment—the destroyed generator, the three unconscious children, the mutilated corpse of Kaelen with his arm lying several feet away. His gaze finally landed on Theo, who was kneeling beside Exalibar's motionless form.
The unspoken question hung in the dust-filled air
Theo met his look and gave a slight, terrified shake of his head, gesturing weakly at Exalibar. Him. Not me.
Jack's jaw tightened. "And the kids?"
"They're safe," Theo managed to say, his voice thin. "Unconscious, but safe."
Jack strode over, his heavy boots crunching on debris. He looked down at Exalibar's broken body. "Okay. So why am I here, everything is already taken care of?"
A weak, bloody smirk touched Exalibar's lips, his eyes fluttering open. "To carry me," he rasped. "Like I carried this mission."
Jack rolled his eyes, but the relief in his stance was palpable. "You look like you need a medic, not a porter."
"What I need," Exalibar coughed, "is your girlfriend."
Jack's hands clenched into fists, his expression instantly darkening. "Really? Now?"
"Yes," Exalibar insisted, his voice gaining a sliver of strength from sheer stubbornness. "She has that healing juice... the green stuff. It's better than a hospital. Quieter, too."
The anger drained from Jack's face, replaced by understanding. "Ohhhhhhh." He nodded grimly. A public hospital would mean questions, reports, and an official record of injuries that would be very hard to explain. He bent down, and with a grunt of effort, he hauled Exalibar's limp form over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. "Theo, grab the kids. Let's move before they change their minds."