It was the most mature thing
I’
d ever heard a seventeen-year-old say.
“
Now go! Gordon wants these guys almost as bad as he wants Avalon. This place is about to go all fire and brimstone if you know what
I’
m saying. In the meantime,
I’
m staying behind to signal them from the tower up there. For all our sakes, I hope we never see each other again
.
”
Before we could respond, he turned and darted back to the fortress. Standing there, watching his new Nike Pegasus shoes bounce up and down across the rope bridge, the realization that there was a warship on its way hit me.
“
Ther
e’
s no time, Kyle. We ca
n’
t wait for the parallel zip-lines. W
e’
ve gotta get the hell out of these trees now
!”
I said, almost a bit too loud.
Throwing caution to the wind is a liberating thing if yo
u’
ve been sneaking aroun
d…
especially when your life is literally on the line.
Chapter 26
Snapping onto the zip, I lifted my legs and took off down the narrow line. It would only be a minute or two before they realized where we were, and I hoped like hell
I’
d be across to the other side before they did. Manic screaming from across the bridge shattered the silence as one of the Stripes pointed toward me.
Once again, Lady Luck seemed to give me a giant Karate Kid style Flamingo Kick to the ball sack.
Tree limbs and branches exploded to my left as bullets passed through their frail bark. Looking back over my shoulder, I saw one of the Stripes had made it around the building and was shooting a rifle in my direction. All I saw was muzzle flash as I tried to curl up my body to make it as small as possible.
The weapon shook up and down with each shot. I was
n’
t close enough to see his face well, but in between each bullet, I could hear his screams of fury. W
e’
d invaded their lair, and they had no interest i
n“
talkin
g”
this out.
The Stripe was so singularly focused on leveling his sight on my moving body that he didn'
t
see Kyle coming up from beside him. With one fell swoop, Kyle knocked into him, sending him over the edge as a barrage of wooden splinters erupted from the railing. The Strip
e’
s scream went shrill just before he hit the ground.
Still alive, he tried to crawl away from the horde, but it was on him in a matter of seconds. All that waiting. Someone had finally slipped up. Dinner time.
Gordo
n’
s chopper came into hearing range just as I landed with my feet on the platform that Jarvis was standing on. Watching Kyle snap in behind us and lift his legs, I looked through the woods to see a few of the Stripes rushing down the ladder back to the trucks. Each of them cocked their heads and their guns, up to the sky in disbelief.
Something caught my attention from the top of the fortress, a slight movement that was out of place. I realized it was Aidan as he started to climb the ladder to the lookout tower. One foot after another, he was heading up, no doubt to try to signal his exact location to the chopper.
With the tree canopy beginning to tremble, the men at the bottom of the trees started to duck down, shifting their weapons up to where they thought the noise was coming from.
“
Over there
!”
I heard from the fortress. Two more of the Stripes had made it around the bend and were raising their guns toward Kyle.
I could
n’
t do anything about i
t…
he was a sliding duck, and they were about to pull the trigger. I screamed
,“
Come on
!”
in vain. Waving my arms, and nearly jumping up and down, I knew this was bad. The terrified look in Kyl
e’
s eyes told me he knew it too.
Suddenly, the sky erupted with bullet fire. I watched trees all around splintering, their branches falling to the ground. However, to my surprise Kyle remained unharmed. Looking past him, I watched as the two Stripes at the fort were literally blown to pieces by some sort of giant caliber gun. Dropping from the fort, body parts were strewn across the forest floor.
It was raining gore on the Zs heads, and they were eating it up.
The chopper was above us, decimating the fortress. The wall the Stripes were standing near had a hole blown through it, and I could hear the small arms fire from the rest of the Stripes, across the way, shooting up toward the chopper.
Kyle slammed into me just as I heard the large caliber weapon open up again. Pulling Kyle forward to help steady him, I looked over his shoulder to see the trees around where the other zip-line once stood being blown to pieces.
“
I think Gordo
n’
s men just saved your ass
,”
I said to Kyle as he, Jarvis, and I slid down the rope ladder.
“
Yeah, holy
shit
! If they only knew
,”
he replied as his feet hit the ground.
The Zs that once had surrounded this exit had been pulled away toward the fight. Darting to the parked vehicles, the three of us picked the largest, and tugged on the tarp covering its massive body. Revealing a black armor-covered truck with an orange stripe painted down the side, I quickly noticed that the glass windshield had been replaced by a series of metal bars.
Jarvis tossed the three sets of keys to me as he jumped into the back. Sliding into the drive
r’
s side door, I tried the first set. No fit. Throwing them out the window, I wiped the sweat from my brow and lifted the second set to the ignition.
Looking in the rear view mirror, I watched entire walls start to fall off of the fortress, landing on the ground, crushing a number of the Zs stumbling around below.
The key slid into the ignition. Lifting my elbow, I turned the key forward, bringing life roaring out of its metal parts. Letting out the deep breath, I realized I had
n’
t inhaled since trying to start the truck.
“
Hit it
!”
Kyle yelled out from the front passenger seat.
Shifting the truck into drive, I turned the wheel and slammed on the gas. Dirt and leaves shot up behind us as we tore off down a partially cleared path that the Stripes had created.
The firefight was still raging to the right of the truck. In the distance, I watched the large caliber gun tear right through two of the Stripes who were trying to hide behind a tree. It split the tree in half, which fell as both men dropped to the ground. Still hovering above, the chopper was spinning around the fortress, the trees waving wildly all around us. Just enough of a distraction for us to speed off unnotice
d…
at least so we thought.
We could
n’
t hear the engine start over the sound of the chopper up above, but Kyle saw them peel out and cried
,“
The
y’
re in their truck
.
”
To my right, I saw the Stripes immediately. They were trying to head us off. Vindictive bastards seemed to be holding a grudge.
Dodging trees, pushing the truck to its limits, the very real sound of bullets clanging along the armored exterior of the vehicle kept my foot to the pedal. Kyle was going on about not having anything to fire back at them with while ducking down into his seat. I glanced into the rearview mirror only to see the Stripe
s’
vehicle steady out right behind us.
There only appeared to be two of them, the driver and another who was hanging out the passenger side with some sort semi-automatic rifle. Luckily, the chopper was
n’
t in pursuit, clearly staying back to destroy the Stripe
s’
fortress. They did
n’
t know we were there, and in the end, we had Aidan to thank for that.
“
Watch out
!”
Kyle yelled, wide-eyed, looking out the metal-gated windshield. There was a creature standing directly in our path. With no time to react, my only thought was to go faster. Hitting the gas, I watched as that same Z from the parking lot, the one with the backpack and clanging metal pots and pans, flipped up and over the hood.
In what seemed like slow motion, it practically disintegrated from the force. One of the pots clanged across the metal bars, that replaced the windshield, followed by a flood of black bile that poured into our faces. Losing control momentarily, I desperately pulled my sleeve up to wipe the gunk from my eyes just as the truck slammed through a rotten stump, sending splinters up all around us.
“
Take a right, John
!”
Jarvis pointed to what looked like a fork in the path
.“
Tha
t’
ll take us back to the peak
!
”
As I twisted the wheel, the rear of the truck slid sideways in the dirt before straightening out. Glancing back in my rearview mirror, I saw the truck behind us nearly tipping over as they tried to follow the tight turn. The Stripe hanging out the passenger side door flung around from the force like an old doll, before pulling himself back into the truck.
“
Up ahead
!”
Kyle said, pointing to the top of the hill.
“
W
e’
re not going to be able to drive up that, boys
,”
Jarvis added on.
He was right. The truck would
n’
t make it to the top. W
e’
d have to jump out and make a short climb, leaving us completely exposed.
“
The
y’
re not firing at us
,”
Kyle said, looking back at the Stripe
s’
truck
.“
Maybe the
y’
re out of ammo
.
”
Ducking down as quickly as h
e’
d said it, he neatly avoided another series of bullets as they rained across the armor siding.
“
Up there
!”
Jarvis pointed.
Looking up to the top of the peak, we could see the beautiful twirling blades from the chopper. We were close now, just one final test.
I slammed on the brakes, and the truck slid sideways to a stop at the base of the hill. All three of us were out and heading up before the thing came to a full stop. Over the roar of the engine behind us, I heard the rifle firing.
Dirt and small fragments of rock spit up all around as bullets tore into the hillside. Driving over the rough terrain kept the bastar
d’
s gun off target, but the second they stopped, I knew h
e’
d have nothing but a straight shot.
Digging my hammer into the ground, I pulled forward with sweat dripping from my face. Looking over my shoulder, I saw the truck slamming on its brakes. The edge of the hill was just yards away. The three of us pushed with everything we had left to get to the top. It would
n’
t be enough! They were stopped and getting out of the truck.
I could practically feel the sight from the gun leveling off on my back as I frantically climbed, trying to race to the chopper. It was only a matter of time.
Cha cha cha chang rang out from above us. Looking up, nearly breathless, I saw Mia perched like a goddess at the top of the hill. With the sun shining around her entire body, she glowed as her machine gun rocked up and down in what seemed like slow motion.
Not taking the time to look back, I kept moving.
Another burst of fire echoed through the hills. Bullet casings were raining from above, rolling down the hill all around us. Taking one step forward, my foot slid backwards across one of the casings, causing me to slide back a number of feet. In that moment, a bullet hit the stone just above my head. Crying out in pain, I felt a small fragment of rock slice open the flesh across my cheek.
“
Shit
!
”
I yelled as another barrage of gunfire rang out above. An inch higher and the stone would have taken out my eye.
“
Come on! Keep moving! Yo
u’
re not dying on this hill
!”
Mi
a’
s voice rang out before she pulled the trigger once more.
Gripping a root dangling over the edge, I pulled myself up and across the top, rolling sideways to escape the Stripe
s’
line of sight. I nearly somersaulted into Kyle and Jarvis, who were both on all fours panting like beaten dogs. We stayed crouched and started to slide backwards toward the chopper. Mia was still filling the air with lead as she stepped back, then turned to meet us, pulling on Kyl
e’
s arm to help lift him up.
The side door to the smaller green military chopper was open, allowing the four of us to dive in just as the pilot, who I did
n’
t recognize at first, yanked on the yoke. With my face hanging slightly over the edge, the wind erupted all around as I pulled the sliding door shut. A few bullets managed to slam into the bottom of the chopper, but we were out of reach in a matter of moments.
Looking out the window, I watched the destroyed airplane and our campfire shrink in size. That little spot had saved our asses. Maybe someone out there was making up for all the poor souls who died before we ever showed up.