She seethed. Not everything appeared clearly, even with night vision goggles, especially if the opossum was coming from the rear. Not only was her ankle hurt, she was blinded, too, as Morales’ light trained on her.
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“You good, Poe?” Morales asked, giving her a hug and halfway lifting her off the ground. The concern in his voice was genuine. Poe was truly touched, but not to the point that she’d let him drag her around.
“No, I’m not! It’s my frikkin’ ankle,” she fumed, tearing up. “Hell of a time to fuck up.”
“I can carry you.”
“No need for that,” Poe said, chuckling a little.
Then she winced at the pain. “I’ll be well enough if you’d just point your light somewhere other than my face.”
Instead of moving the light, Morales squatted down. He took out two red bandanas from one of the many pockets of his fishing jacket and bandaged Poe’s right ankle tightly. The man was a better doctor than a killer.
“Of all the days for this to happen,” Poe complained.
She appeared oddly ethereal, like a human fly with her enormous night goggles and hacked hair of different lengths. He gave her boot a light tap then stood up. Without asking, he took a small flashlight hanging from her pack to sweep the platform for possible obstacles. Finding no slippery mounds of rat droppings, he put his hand under Poe’s armpit and helped her walk, keeping the flashlight pointed in front of them.
“I can walk, Morales,” Poe hissed. She could feel the twisted ankle expanding. “Get your hand–”
“Forget it,” he said firmly, holding her more tightly. “We need to catch up to the rest, entiendes?”
Poe counted to three in Japanese: ichi, ni, san. “Fine!”
she relented.
Poe hopped on one foot, testing the rocky tracks.
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“Don’t even think about molesting me in any way,” Poe said as a bitter afterthought.
“FYI, this Petri dish of a tunnel has shrunk my manhood to dandruff size. Relax,” snarled Morales.
They walked in silence, inching together ever so closely as they progressed deeper in the heart of the dank tunnel. Morales’ robust Christian Dior perfume plagued Poe’s nostrils. Strong artificial scents did not agree with her.
Morales’ cologne intermingling with little creature crud and piss-ammonia kindled an awfully bad premonition. Christian-fucking-Dior and my swollen ankle make me want to shoot someone. She had to stop for she was hyperventilating.
“What’s wrong, Poe?” Morales asked out of concern. “Is the ankle bothering you?”
She shook, sweating cold water. “Nothing. Yes, sumfin.” She inhaled deeply, but away from Morales.
“Get away from me.”
“What?” Morales mouthed, completely taken aback.
“I mean your cologne is making me sick!” Poe reached for a glove from her pack and slipped it on her right hand. “Never mind. I’ll lean on the wall.”
Unhooking one of the two bottles of garlic water from her Mexican belt, Poe sprayed Morales in the face until he yelled an expletive. “Don’t be mad. I’m allergic,” she said when Morales remained silent. Poe hung the bottle on one of the hooks of his fishing jacket.
“This kind of perfume I approve of. I’m sure you’ll need it today,” Poe added. “And if I were you, I’d squirt myself with holy water as much as possible to drown out that problem.”
“You know, if I didn’t respect you so much, I’d strangle you right now.”
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“Just you try,” she said, grinning. To assuage his ego, she mentioned how fit he was.
“You should see me without a shirt.”
All talk skidded to a halt as terrifying screams and gunfire erupted farther up the tunnel. The mutual look of stark horror they gave each other in the dark was enough. Poe took off the sodden glove and threw it on the ground, hobbling faster. Morales handled one of his Magnums and half-supported Poe with his free hand.
Between the two of them, they hustled a consistent pace toward where the pealing screams originated. Each step and bang of gunfire made their pulses beat even more wildly. Finally Morales ordered Poe to get on his back.
“No way!” said Poe.
“People are dying, Poe. You’ve got no choice on this.”
She hopped on his back and wrapped her legs around his waist. As a precaution, Poe stuffed his ears with tissue in case she had to shoot from above.
“Just make sure I can still hear, okay?”
“Yeah.”
The man practically ran in the dark. Poe’s extra weight didn’t seem to hinder him. His lung capacity was impressive. Poe, clinging to his neck and head, was truly grateful that he