“Hey…hey, stop. You’re only going to hurt yourself,” he told the stranger, who kept jerking at the restraints as he came out of the effects of the tranquilizer. Trying to pull on his leg was a bad idea. Kent had splinted the leg as well as he could after setting the broken bone.
Lightly slapping the guy on the side of the face made him open his eyes. And as patients typically did, he fluttered his eyelids several times until he was able to keep them open. It was a battle he’d seen many times over. Kent let him go through the motions while he spoke encouraging words to him.
“You’re safe. Try not to move. Don’t pull on your leg.”
Finally, the guy was able to draw his eyesight around the room, his body and then finally Kent became the target of his inquiry.
“Why? Why’d you stop me?”
“There’s…there’s another way. That’s not the right option.”
“You don’t get to tell me what my options are.”
“Um…I think I do. You’re tied to a bed with a broken leg in enemy territory. I think I get to tell you your options.”
“So I’m a prisoner then?”
“At the moment, you’re an injured enemy combatant. I think prisoner would be a step up from that.”
“Nice. You’re the dickhead. I remember your voice now.”
“And you’re my patient. It’s always a good idea not to insult your cook or your doctor. One can spit in your food, the other can take you out.”
The guy nodded then. He even seemed somewhat amused after taking in and letting out a deep breath.
“You seem to be fixing me up at the moment. That’s counterintuitive. Why is that?”
“It could go the other way just as easily. Give me a reason.”
“Look…I can’t help you guys. I have nothing to offer you. They’re coming. They’ll kill me right along with you. I have no value now. You’ve got to understand the only way out of this is to run, hide, vanish yourselves, now.”
Kent sat back in the chair by his patient’s side. He seemed sincere. Part of him quaked with fear. The other part knew they’d never run. They were done running.
“Hey, there’s more than one way out of a quagmire. Tell me your name. What’s your expertise for them? What harm is there in that? We’re gonna die anyway, right?”
The man shook his head from side to side. In a monotone voice he said, “I’m Marvin. I’m a civil engineer. That information is not going to help either of us.”
“It tells me you’re useful. You have skills.”
“A lot of good that did me and my family. They’re either dead or will be soon.”
“Why do you say that? Is your leader as heartless as that?”
He laughed then but the movement cost him. “Man, that hurts.”
“Yeah, I bet it does. You’re not going far anytime soon.”
“The leader of Astoria…his name is Tale. Heartless doesn’t begin to describe him. It’s a rule. No unsponsored families. My wife…my kids…they’re as good as dead.”
The man set his lips in a thin line to keep in the emotions. Tears formed at the corners of his eyes. When he could talk, he said, “I’ve seen it happen too many times.”
“Marvin, you don’t look like someone who’s intimidated easily. There’s got to be a way to deal with this guy. You may know things you don’t realize you know. We need you to cooperate with us. Can you do that? Because it sounds like, if there’s a shred of hope…this is it.”
The man’s eyes were glossy, but Kent could tell his gears were spinning inside his head. He took a deep breath in and let it out quickly.
“There’s one way…but you have to hit him hard and fast.”