Survival Reflex
GREEN HELLA desperate call for help on behalf of an old friend put Mack Bolan in an awkward position. Dr. Nathan Weiss is plying his life-saving skills among the Brazilian tribes embroiled in civil war in the heart of the blood-drenched Amazon. Bolan is not sure Weiss wants help, yet the Executioner's combat senses tell him Weiss is part of something bigger. And finds it on a collision course with government death squads holding hands with CIA black ops who view Weiss as a liability to the U.S.The odds against the mission's success greatly increase and Bolan becomes a moving target when he's temporarily blinded in a firefight. But the Stony warrior goes into every battle knowing trouble– even death–will eventually find him. He's prepared for both.
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âHell on Earth and Eden, all rolled into one.â
So far, it wasnât Mack Bolanâs notion of a holiday.
It felt like coming home.
Bolan had grown up in a jungle, spilled blood there and earned the nickname that would follow him through his life, even beyond his early grave. That jungle was located on the far side of the world, but all of them were more or less the same. The predators and prey varied by continent, but it was still survival of the fittest in a world where no quarter was asked or granted.
The one rule carved in stone was kill or be killed. The Executioner knew that rule by heart. Forest primeval. He knew that it would eat him alive, given half a chance.
And somewhere in the midst of it was Nathan Weiss.
Other titles available in this series:
Hellground
Inferno
Ambush
Blood Strike
Killpoint
Vendetta
Stalk Line
Omega Game
Shock Tactic
Showdown
Precision Kill
Jungle Law
Dead Center
Tooth and Claw
Thermal Strike
Day of the Vulture
Flames of Wrath
High Aggression
Code of Bushido
Terror Spin
Judgment in Stone
Rage for Justice
Rebels and Hostiles
Ultimate Game
Blood Feud
Renegade Force
Retribution
Initiation
Cloud of Death
Termination Point
Hellfire Strike
Code of Conflict
Vengeance
Executive Action
Killsport
Conflagration
Storm Front
War Season
Evil Alliance
Scorched Earth
Deception
Destinyâs Hour
Power of the Lance
A Dying Evil
Deep Treachery
War Load
Sworn Enemies
Dark Truth
Breakaway
Blood and Sand
Caged
Sleepers
Strike and Retrieve
Age of War
Line of Control
Breached
Retaliation
Pressure Point
Silent Running
Stolen Arrows
Zero Option
Predator Paradise
Circle of Deception
Devilâs Bargain
False Front
Lethal Tribute
Season of Slaughter
Point of Betrayal
Ballistic Force
Renegade
Survival Reflex
Mack Bolan®
Don Pendleton
That man travels the longest journey who undertakes it in search of a sincere friend.
âAli ibn-abi-Talib
(Seventh century)
Between friends there is no need for justice
âAristotle
We all need justice sometimes, and the best test of friendship is a trial by fire.
âMack Bolan
To all suffering victims in Iraq
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
Mato Grosso State, Brazil
The battle never really ends. Itâs true that guns stop firing, smoke clears from the field and politicians mutter through negotiations in the name of statesmanshipâbut what about those who fight and bleed?
Who tends the ragged wounds and clips the severed arteries? Who stitches or removes the ravaged organs? Who sets shattered bones and searches for new skin to cover burns?
I do, the surgeon answered silently. For all the good it does.
One truth Nathan Weiss had learned in years of military practice dogged his thoughts through every waking hour and in nightmares: no wound ever truly healed.
Bones mended. Torn flesh produced scar tissue. Spilled blood could be replaced. Some organs were expendable.
But what about the soul?
How did a man really recover after heâd been shot, stabbed, tortured, set on fire or blasted with explosives? Even if he learned to walk again without a cane or limp, if he could show a more or less unblemished visage to the world, what was going on inside?
What did he wish, hope, dream, regret?
How did he claim the life he had before?
Weiss couldnât answer that one, and heâd long since given up on trying. Elbow-deep in blood again, he concentrated on the open body that demanded his attention at the moment. It was male, peppered with shrapnel wounds that seemed almost innocuous from the outside, but which wreaked havoc with the vital parts inside.
âDo something, please,â he said, âabout these goddamned flies.â
His two assistants blinked at each other, each raising a bloody hand to point accusingly. They didnât speak, but the expressive eyes above their surgical masks said everything the surgeon needed to hear.
âIâm sorry, never mind,â he told them. âPlease, just keep them from the wounds.â
Heads bobbed in unison. They could do that, at least.
Flies were a part of working in the field, along with ants and roaches, the occasional pit viper, leaky tents and wheezing generators that could fail at any time and plunge the operating tent into lethal darkness with the job unfinished.
Just another day at the office.
The young man before him had suffered wounds to both kidneys, but one of them could probably be saved. The spleen was gone, which meant that the young manâassuming he survived the nightâwould have some difficulty fighting off infections in the years to come. His perforated stomach had been sutured and its spillage cleared away. Two feet of shredded small intestine had been excised, the remainder spliced. A deep wound to the prostate might or might not leave him impotent.
But none of that would kill the young man.
In the operationâs second bloody hour now, Weiss had moved on to things that took a bit more time. Two surgeons mightâve finished up the job by now, but he was on his own, as usual. There were no shortcuts, no Get Out of the OR Free cards in this life-or-death game.
