“Please, Luca, put it on.”
He obeyed, struggling to get the Velcro to shut over his wider chest and shoulders.
“Another one four o’clock,” Ty said.
“A third at our nine.” Eric jerked his head to his left.
“How did the military figure out where we were?” Had Nox been right about a magical satellite in the sky?
“Pretty sure those don’t belong to the military.”
The trucks positioned themselves at their back. Two on the right and left, a vehicle length in front of the one behind them.
“They’re gonna try to box us in,” James said.
“Not as long as we can outrun them.”
Two more lighter trucks appeared in the distance.
“Fuck.” Seung smacked a hand against the steering wheel. “Hang on.” She swerved, cutting across the path of one of the M-ATVs, leading them into a diagonal line.
The larger vehicles lacked the turn radius of the station wagon and fell behind, but the small trucks closed in fast.
“There’s too many of them.”
Bumps and ruts on the ground jerked the vehicle back and forth. Seung tightened her grip on the steering wheel.
The M-ATVs took formation behind them again. Seung watched the rearview for a moment.
A dip in the ground dropped the front end of the station wagon, shaking the entire vehicle until the side panels rattled.
“Just a little more, c’mon, c’mon.” Seung rocked in her seat.
The station wagon engine rose in pitch as the RPMs shot into the red. Vibrations ran through the frame hard enough to make Luca bite his tongue.
“Hang on.” Just as Seung turned, a stream of bullets chewed up the ground on the passenger side. “Get down, Luca.”
He curled on his side as much as the seatbelt allowed.
Seung yanked the wheel, and another burst threw up rocks pelting the driver’s side window.
“Fuck.” Seung smacked the steering wheel. “James, how much clearance between the middle and flanking vehicles?”
“Twenty feet? Maybe? Why—”
Seung hit the brake and cut to the left. The truck on the passenger side crossed the windshield. Luca instinctively covered his head. An engine roared and one of the smaller trucks passed on the driver's side, shearing off the side mirror. Momentum pressed Luca’s hip against the passenger door. He started to sit up.
“Head down! Head down!” Seung said.
The passenger and driver’s side windows exploded almost simultaneously. Blood splattered Luca’s arms and shoulders, and Seung yelled. Shadows fell over the car, then the bodies of the M-ATVs filled the windows. Metal scraped metal, and the body of the station wagon buckled as it ground to a halt. Seung slumped against the steering wheel.
Luca tried to move closer.
Seung put a hand on his shoulder. “No, stay. Please.”
The M-ATVs made some space and men pointing their rifles filled it.
“Drop your weapons.”