Deadly Strain (Biological Response Team) Read Free Page B

and gear. “Come on, no one is going to bother her now. Marshall needs her. Get your shit together.”
    Cutter had one thing right. He needed to keep his focus on the mission. Sharp followed the other man, but there wasn’t much for any of them to do, since they were always ready to move out on a moment’s notice. Every man on the team had developed the habit during training and had only refined it since. One of their instructors used to say that an unprepared soldier was a dead soldier.
    Sharp joined the rest of his team, double-checked his weapons, pulled on his battered gear and bio-suit and got out of the way.
Focus.
    Cutter was talking with Bart, one of their communications guys, when Colonel Marshall walked in a few minutes later with another half-dozen soldiers behind him and headed straight for the Special Forces group.
    “Cutter, storm coming at twelve o’clock,” Sharp informed him quietly.
    By the time Marshall came to a stop, the entire A-Team was standing at attention.
    “Sir,” Cutter said with a salute. “The go-team is ready, sir.”
    “Where’s that damn doctor?”
    “She’ll be here in six minutes, sir.”
    Marshall grunted. “You’re taking these men with you on this mission. Two additional medics, Yanik and Anderson, and four of my infantry for security. Your mission objective is to assist Major Samuels.”
    For the first time since their arrival two weeks ago, Marshall was actually helping a situation rather than shitting all over it.
    “And make sure that bitch doesn’t screw up,” Marshall added. “I want the men on that patrol back in one piece. Understand?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    The team saluted and Marshall stalked off like he was Patton or something.
    “So much for that guy not being a tremendous bag of dicks,” the team’s second in command, John Leonard, said in an undertone.

Chapter Two
    Grace entered her quarters at a run, slamming the door against the wall.
    Down
,
girl.
    She came to a stop, closed her eyes and breathed in and out slowly three times. Having an aneurism now would not be good, but her racing pulse didn’t seem to be listening.
    Too damn bad. Time to work.
    Grace pulled on her bio-suit and her equipment packs.
    Altogether, she carried fifty pounds of additional equipment.
    She wasn’t going to whine. Sharp and the rest of his team each carried at least one hundred pounds of weapons, ammunition and survival gear.
    Grace headed toward the area of the base where air support landed and found Sharp coming toward her.
    He looked her over, taking in her holstered sidearm, pack and bio-suit. He appeared to take note of everything in once glance, his nod satisfied as he turned to walk with her to the base’s landing pad.
    Really? He was checking her gear like she didn’t know what to bring? The time was coming when she was going to have to knock some sense into big ol’ papa bear Sharp.
    Commander Cutter was helping to load the helicopter and giving last-minute orders to the other team members accompanying them.
    When she approached the bird, he pulled her aside and yelled in her ear, “When it comes to the source of what killed those villagers, you’re in charge. If the situation changes and it becomes necessary to bug out of there, you do whatever Sharp and Leonard tell you. Got that?” Cutter pulled back to look her straight in the eyes. “Sharp’s got one job on this mission and that’s to keep you alive so you can figure out this shit. Don’t make it difficult for him.”
    “Sharp is teaching me to play chess,” she told Cutter. “I can’t let anyone kill him until
after
I’ve beaten him at least once.”
    Cutter looked at her like she’d lost her mind, shook his head and pointed at the helicopter.
    She took it as an order to get on board.
    The bird was cramped with gear and men, but Sharp had a jump seat for her smack-dab in the middle of the aircraft. She stowed her backpack under her feet and buckled up. Leonard flashed a hand signal to the