The block of men with guns came at them from east and west, converging on the four fleeing people. Yet Michelle’s keen hearing had given them a bit of a head start. Hopefully, it would be enough. Right now it looked too close to call.
Michelle pushed Sean ahead of her. “Take the next left down that path. It’ll take you to the truck. Get in, start it, and wait two minutes for me.”
“I’m not leaving you here to go against these guys alone, Michelle.”
“I’ve got the sniper rifle. Just be prepared to drive a lot faster out of here than you did getting here. Now go!”
“But—”
She gave him another hard shove. “Go!”
Sean sped down the path and turned left.
Michelle wheeled around, did a quick calculation of the terrain, and raced off to the right, taking up position behind a fallen tree. Using that as her cover and the trunk as the support for her weapon, she readied her rifle and set her crosshairs on the spot from where she believed they would be coming. She calmed her breathing, relaxed her muscles, and waited.
The first man veered into her line of fire and paid the price for that with a shot to the knee. He went down screaming and clutching at his ruptured joint.
Michelle immediately sprang up, ran to her right, and took up a new position at the confluence of two trees that were leaning against each other.
She readied her rifle and swung it across the terrain in front of her. They would be proceeding with caution now, she knew. She acquired the next target and fired before it could disappear on her.
The slug ripped into the man’s arm where he had left it exposed by a couple of inches. He dropped, gripping his limb, trying to stanch the blood flow.
Again Michelle moved as soon as she had fired. She was listening for the sound she needed to hear, so desperately wanted to hear. A few seconds later it came.
The sound of her Land Cruiser starting up.
That meant Sean at least had gotten to safety. Now she needed to get there, too. The next sound she heard was a bullet whistling past her head and blowing off a chunk of wood from the tree she was standing near. A piece of bark hit her in the head, and blood started flowing down her face. She staggered back, regrouped, took aim, and sprayed five shots across the field in front of her.
Another shot rang out and she watched in amazement as a man fell from a tree about fifty feet away from her. When he hit the ground his rifle flew from his hands, bounced along the dirt, and shattered against a tree.
She looked behind her from where the shot had come.
Sam Wingo was lowering his weapon. He locked gazes with her for a second.
She nodded in thanks and then Wingo was gone from her view. She had no idea where Tyler was. Maybe Wingo had gotten him to safety and then come back to help. Whatever the reason, Michelle was grateful.
Michelle wheeled around and sprinted flat-out toward the engine sounds of the Land Cruiser that she knew as well as she did her own name. When she broke into the clearing she saw a man lying facedown. For a moment she was paralyzed because she thought it was Sean. Then the Land Cruiser flew in reverse toward her and the passenger door was thrown open.
Sean yelled, “Get your butt in here!”
Michelle jumped in. Sean shifted to drive and mashed down the pedal. The truck flew forward, its back wheels slipping a bit in the dirt before gaining traction, and then they were racing down the road. When they hit asphalt again Sean looked at her and exclaimed, “You’re bleeding.”
“Thanks for noticing,” she replied. She reached down to the floorboard and picked out a tattered towel from the jungle of items and trash there. She rubbed the blood off.
“I doubt that’s clean,” he noted.
“I doubt I care,” she replied.
“Are you okay?”
She looked in the vanity mirror, moving her hair out of the way to reveal a cut along her scalp. “Just a shallow bleeder. Blowback from tree bark, not a bullet,” she added. She rummaged in the glove box, pulled out some antiseptic, sprayed it on the wound, and then covered it with a Band-Aid. She sat back against the seat and let out a long breath. “We just used up all of our nine lives back there.”
He nodded. “And lost Wingo and Tyler in the process. I hope to God they didn’t get killed or captured.” He suddenly slowed. “Do you think we should go back?”
“No. I think they got out okay.”
“How do you know?”