Sherrie ‘Sharp-Shooter’'s Arc

Chapter 5 of 13

Shield didn't ask for anything else. He pulled a chair from the corner of the vault and sat beside the patient's bed, checking the IV drip with the same careful attention he'd shown every day for three weeks. Sherrie watched him work and understood what wasn't being said. She needed the patient alive long enough to talk, and Shield was the only one who could make that happen. But she also needed Echo Warehouse defended, and the guards stationed there were the only thing keeping the Ravens from walking in and finishing what they'd started. Shield had forced her into a choice: keep the patient protected or keep him breathing. She couldn't have both. "I'll move them to your hospital," Sherrie said. Shield's hands paused on the patient's wrist. "All of them. They'll post outside where the rusted sign hangs, wear the masks, carry rifles. The Ravens will see it and know you're under my protection now." Shield lowered the patient's arm carefully and looked at her. "And Echo Warehouse?" he asked. She didn't answer right away. Without the guards, the warehouse would be open. Anyone watching would see the change, see the empty posts where her people used to stand. The Ravens would notice. So would anyone else paying attention to what she protected and where she was weak. "I'll handle it," Sherrie said. She turned and walked toward the vault entrance, already planning how to move the storage boxes from Echo before anyone realized the building was unguarded. Shield called after her. "I'll need them there by morning if you want me to keep working." She didn't look back. The deal was made. She'd bought the patient's life by exposing the warehouse, and now she had to decide what that cost her.