Free Apocalypse Crucible by Mel Odom Page B

to argue more, but she gave up the fight and cried like a child. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
    MPs had caught Tori with drug paraphernalia before. Megan knew from counseling sessions that the girl occasionally experimented with drugs.
    “Was Leslie smoking, too?” Megan asked.
    Tori cried and buried her face in her hands. She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out.
    “Tori, you’ve got to talk with me. I need to know what you and Leslie were doing.”
    “I don’t want to be in trouble,” Tori cried hoarsely.
    Megan cupped the girl’s face in her hand. “And I don’t want Leslie to hurt herself. Do you?”
    Pain racked Tori’s face.
    “Tori, help me! Leslie’s in that house with her father’s pistol. She’s threatened to shoot herself.”
    “I know.” Tori took in a deep, shuddering breath. “I know. She told me she was going to shoot herself. She said she was going to shoot me, too. That’s when the MP came in and got me.”
    Megan bridled the fear that thrummed inside her. Leslie Hollister was borderline depressive. She had great parents, but her problem was chemical, not environmental. Using drugs—something that Leslie had never done before, to Megan’s knowledge—could only complicate the existing problems.
    “I can smell pot in your hair,” Megan said
    Tori shook her head. “I don’t want to be in trouble, Mrs. Gander. I swear I don’t want to be in trouble. I wasn’t going to do it, wasn’t going to smoke anymore, but things have been so screwed up I just couldn’t keep calm. I’ve been going to pieces on the inside. When I saw that Leslie was spazzing about everything, I thought maybe it would calm us down.”
    “Is pot all you were doing?”
    Tori didn’t answer.
    Megan kept her voice gentle. “I have to know, Tori. If something goes wrong here tonight, the hospital is going to have to know. If Leslie’s had something besides weed, I need to know so I can tell them.”
    Tears fell from the girl’s eyes. She shook and quivered. “My dad is going to kill me. He is so going to kill me.”
    “Your dad isn’t going to kill you,” Megan said. “That’s just fear talking.” She knew Tori didn’t believe her at the moment, but the girl had been through similar situations with her parents in the past. “You’re out of there. You’re safe.” Megan paused. “But Leslie isn’t. Help me get her out of that house and somewhere that I can take care of her.”
    Tori glanced at the house with teary eyes and real fear.
    Megan tenderly brushed the girl’s hair from her face. God, they’re all so young. How can You expect any of them to be ready to go through this? “Tori.”
    Dazed, the girl looked at her.
    “Help me,” Megan repeated.
    “We smoked some pot,” Tori reluctantly admitted. “I brought some whiskey. And there was other stuff.”
    “What stuff?”
    “Downers mostly. I thought they would mellow her out. Help her get a grip.”
    Except when you’re a naturally depressive person, Megan thought, they send you right through the floor. She kept her eyes on Tori, stroking the girl’s hair. “How bad is it? I have to know before I go in there.”
    “I thought she was going to do it, Mrs. Gander,” Tori choked out. “I thought I was dead. I’ve never seen her like that.”
    “Why does she want to shoot herself?” Megan asked. “She thinks she’s dreaming.” Tori’s voice came out hushed and dead. “She thinks her dad’s at war and her mom has disappeared because she’s trapped in a nightmare. She thinks if she kills herself in the dream, she’ll wake up and everything will be all right.”
    A gunshot blasted through the night.
    Turning her head, instinctively tracking the sound, Megan knew the report had come from within the Hollister home.

5

    United States 75th Army Rangers Temporary Post
Sanliurfa, Turkey
Local Time 0432 Hours

    A gust of hot, acrid wind hammered Goose as the satchel charge exploded on the enemy tank behind him. Flames jetted