Zane bit back a retort, knowing that Ty would react badly. He almost didn’t care. A good fight would help relieve some of the tension bottled up inside him. Inside both of them. But Zane also knew it would just make the situation worse, so he swallowed hard on the urge to argue.
Ty moved to sit down heavily next to Deuce and yanked the handheld radio from its cradle. Zane watched him silently as he started messing with the dials, and then he turned to submit himself to Deuce’s tender mercies. As he sat and allowed Deuce to doctor, poke, and prod at his broken nose, he could hear Ty calling out over the radio in a tight voice, repeating the same words and requests for help as he switched frequencies methodically. There was nothing but static in response each time, but he continued on doggedly, waiting a few seconds after each attempt before moving on.
It was soon obvious that the radio would be as helpful as their cell phones. One of the storms that had passed by must have really done a job on the local towers, just like the ranger had warned them. Zane’s eyes shifted across the camp to where Earl sat going through sacks of supplies, setting out some things, throwing others to the side. Earl stood with his hands on his hips as he surveyed his finds, then began to make his way over to them. He appeared to be favoring the arm on the side of his broken rib, but otherwise he looked okay.
Ty still sat with his head bowed, his eyes closed as he held his head in one hand and the radio in the other, calling out over the dead air for a response. “No joy with the radio?” Earl asked as he approached.
“No, sir,” Ty answered quietly. He turned a dial and tried yet again.
Earl nodded solemnly, as if that was what he’d expected. He placed a hand on Ty’s shoulder. “Best give it up then,” he said carefully.
Ty immediately shoved the radio back into its cradle and sat back in his chair, rubbing at his eyes with the heels of his hands.
“This is gonna hurt,” Deuce told Zane suddenly, and before Zane could fully drag his attention away from Ty, Deuce snapped his nose back into place with one quick motion of his hands and laid a small piece of first-aid tape across the bridge to hold it in place.
Zane inhaled through his mouth sharply and managed to keep his reaction to a twitch. After a still, silent moment, he released a long exhale as he blinked his eyes against the tears that streamed down his cheeks. He winced again as Deuce packed little fluffs of cotton up his nose.
“Damn,” he said faintly when Deuce was done.
“Sorry,” Deuce offered as he gave Zane’s shoulder a pat. “All better,” he added cheerfully. “Dad, your turn.”
“Hell no,” Earl replied without hesitation.
When the tears finally cleared from Zane’s eyes, he found himself meeting Ty’s as his partner watched him. It wasn’t uncomfortable this time, Earl and Deuce bickering in the background, and Zane thought maybe he saw the emotion Ty was hiding behind the anger. Ty looked as if he wanted to say something to Zane as he sat there, but he looked away with a sigh and cleared his throat instead.
“We should start thinking about how we plan to get them out of here,” he said loudly, talking over the other two.
Deuce looked over at him in surprise. “You don’t mean to take them with us, do you?”
“We don’t have a well to throw them down,” Zane threw out crossly, feeling like something with Ty had been interrupted, something he might not be able to see again.
“We could dig one,” Ty muttered as he flicked at the wire of the radio, his head still down and his knee bouncing rapidly.
“They need to go to law enforcement. They’re already murderers,” Zane said.
“You’re one to talk, hero!” Redjacket yelled out.
Ty stood suddenly, the action throwing the flimsy chair he’d been sitting in backward, and he turned toward the two men tied to the tree with the obvious intention of heading over there to break things. Earl grabbed him and wrapped him up in his arms before he could get too far from the table. He lifted Ty off the ground and turned, setting him back down on his feet hard and holding him there as Deuce lunged up and put himself between them and the two prisoners, just in case Ty got loose.
Zane didn’t move at first; instead, he stared across the clearing at Redjacket and then Earflaps, who had apparently chosen to exercise his right to remain silent. Once Earl had Ty still again, Zane pushed out of his chair and walked slowly over to the tree where the two men were bound.
“I wonder now about your chances,” Zane said conversationally as he knelt in front of them to speak to them. “You know that I won’t hesitate to shoot you. Now you’ve got the Marine ready to skin you. He was Recon, you know, discharged due to mental problems,” he told them in a conspiratorial whisper. Zane looked back over his shoulder at Ty, who was barely staying in the seat with Earl right over him. “The Doc would rather leave you than risk having you around. That only leaves one in your favor, and he’s not really a nice guy.”
“We’re four days’ hike from anywhere! You leave us here we’ll be dead in two!” Redjacket claimed in outrage.
“Gag them!” Earl called out. Zane had a better idea. He stalked over to the table Earl had stacked with supplies and grabbed a roll of duct tape, pulling off a good-size strip as he approached the tree. The two men struggled, trying to yank their heads away from Zane’s hands, but they had been tied much too tightly to do them any good.
“Believe me,” Zane muttered as he taped both their mouths shut, not merely using a single strip over their mouths, but rather wrapping the tape around and around their heads. “I could think of much more uncomfortable ways to shut you up.” He turned his back on them and walked back over to the others, where he tossed the roll of tape on the table next to the first aid kit. “So. We should start thinking about how we plan to get them out of here?” he said, falsely cheerful.
Deuce cleared his throat. “The ATVs are the only way,” he said after an uncomfortable minute. He didn’t seem to want to comment on Ty’s outburst or on Zane’s nonchalant reaction to it. “We just tie them down and drive them out of here.”
Ty sat with his eyes closed, Earl’s hand on his shoulder. Earl’s knuckles were turning white from the pressure he was exerting to keep Ty where he sat. Zane watched for a moment, partly moved because Ty’s violent reaction had been to defend him, partly surprised by the vehemence of it. “Ty,” Zane said, trying to get his partner’s attention focused on something besides breaking necks. “Ty, we need to know what you want to do. If that’s leaving them here or tossing them in the ravine, those can go into the vote.”