“Yeah. Why?”
“Are you sure it was an accident?”
“What do you mean?” Luke sounded confused.
“Did it look like an accident?”
“I’m not sure…”
“How many cars did you say there were?”
“I’m looking at one of those big rigs and maybe two dozen more cars. Why?”
“And they’re covering both sides of the highway? All four lanes?” Will asked, joining back in. He knew exactly where Danny was going.
“Yeah,” Luke said, though he sounded unsure now. “Why? What’s going on?”
Will exchanged a brief look with Danny, riding nearby.
Luke said, “I can try going around it…”
“No,” Will said quickly. “I want you to head back to us.”
“Go back? Why?”
“I want you to start back toward us, Luke. Now.”
Will slowed down and stopped, Danny doing the same next to him. Ted, coming up behind them, did likewise.
“What’s happening?” Kate asked, alarmed.
“There’s an overturned semi up ahead,” Will said. “We’re too close now, I don’t want to take any chances.”
“What about Luke?”
“He’s coming back.”
“I’ve told that kid over and over not to get too far ahead of us,” Ted grunted.
“He’s a teenager,” Danny said. “It’s his job to not listen. It’s written in the DNA.”
They could see Luke coming back in the distance, his red ATV a sudden flash of color in a stretch of very gray road and brown, sunburned grass.
“What’s the plan?” Danny asked.
“Let’s see what we’re dealing with first,” Will said.
“How far to the facility?” Carly asked.
“At this speed, two more hours, give or take,” Will said. “We have plenty of daylight left, there’s no need to hurry.”
He glanced down at his watch: 9:11 a.m.
Plenty of time.
A loud, cracking noise punctured the quiet.
He knew instantly what it was and so did Danny, and before the others could react, the two of them had climbed off their ATVs and were unslinging their M4A1s.
“Gunshot!” Will shouted. “Get behind cover now!”
The others hurried down and scrambled for cover. Will, crouched next to his vehicle, looked up the road and saw Luke’s bright red ATV slowly rolling toward them. It was drifting and the seat was empty. There were no signs of Luke.
“Oh, God, Luke…” Kate whispered next to him, her voice breathless.
Will lifted his binoculars and looked down the road. The bright fire-red ATV had gone nose-first into a ditch nearby, one of its back wheels still spinning in the air, its sputtering engine still turning. He looked past the vehicle and saw a figure lying facedown on the asphalt road about 190 meters from their position.
Luke.
The kid’s arm was moving noticeably.
“He’s alive,” Will said.
He could feel Kate next to him, her entire body a box of boiling energy.
“We’ll get to him, Kate,” Will said. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
She didn’t answer. He wasn’t sure she’d even heard him.
“Kate,” he said, more forcefully this time.
She looked at him, indecision, shock, and fear on her face. He had seen that same look in dozens of faces in Afghanistan. War always looked different in person, where it was usually twenty-three hours of boredom followed by one hour of sheer terror.
“He’s alive,” Will said, “and he’s going to stay that way. But I need you to stay here.”
Her eyes widened. “No, don’t make me!”
“Someone has to cover us.”
She started to argue, but then stopped and nodded, her face still pained. “Go. Hurry.”
He looked over and met Danny’s eyes. He was crouched behind his ATV with Vera clutching at his waist, her face buried in his back. “How we doing this?” Danny asked.
“We go out and get him. Kate and Ted cover us.” Will looked at Ted and focused on the big man’s eyes until he was sure Ted was really listening. “Shoot anything that moves. With the exception of us.”
“I second that last part,” Danny said.
Ted nodded. He clutched and unclutched his.308 Winchester. The bolt-action rifle had a big $2,000 scope on top, and Ted had proven surprisingly efficient with it.
“Ted,” Will said, “watch the trees to our right. That’s where the first shot came from. They’ll most likely still be in there. You see a muzzle flash, you shoot back at it and you keep shooting until that muzzle appears somewhere else. Then you follow it and you shoot at that. Understand?”
Ted nodded again. He looked calm, even in control. Will didn’t entirely believe it, but he had no choice.
Will said to Danny, “Let’s go.”
Carly ran over and pried Vera from Danny. He smiled and kissed the girl on the forehead. “I’ll be back, Vera the Explorer. Don’t go joyriding on my ATV, you got it?”
Vera gave him a thumbs-up as she was whisked back behind one of the trailers by Carly, who fixed Danny with a serious look. “I’ll kick your ass if you get shot.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Danny and Will quickly unhooked the trailers from their ATVs and climbed back on.
Will gave Ted and Kate one last nod. “Unless they start moving up the road, you should be fine at this distance. But just in case, use the trailers as a shield. I’m counting on you guys to cover us.”
Ted said, “You got it.”
Kate’s eyes were locked on him. “Please,” she said, almost pleading, “bring him back.”
“I will,” Will said.
He gunned the ATV and took off down the road. Danny quickly caught up to him. They cranked up the throttle, chewing the distance between them and Luke in seconds.
He hadn’t been able to pinpoint the exact location of the shot, but he knew it came from the woods to their right. Probably camouflaged. They were dealing with people who had been here for a while, who had probably done this before. That meant they were prepared, well-armed, and there was likely more than one. The odds weren’t very good, especially just riding down the road in the open. He felt like an idiot, but there was no other way to save Luke.
He saw the kid moving up the road through his binoculars. Barely moving, but moving, that was the important part. Hurt bad, probably in shock, trying to understand what was happening to him. But alive.
The gunshot was from a hunting rifle. Probably a Winchester, similar to the one Ted was carrying. That wasn’t good. Ted’s rifle was loaded with.308s. Will had seen the kind of damage.308s could do to a human body. Depending on where Luke was shot, he was either going to die as soon as they reached him, or later tonight. Either way, he was going to be in immense pain for a while. The smart thing would be to leave him.
Of course, he wasn’t doing that.
You’re an idiot.
They were forty-five meters from Luke now, and he started to feel good about their chances. Maybe the people who had shot Luke had fled. That was a possibility. Maybe the shooters had expected only one person, but when they saw not just two more, but six more, they panicked and decided to fight another day.
He was still considering that very optimistic possibility when the air cracked with gunfire and he heard the incredibly loud buzzing of a bullet zipping by the back of his right ear.
Captain Optimism. Fuck you.
CHAPTER 21
KATE
Kate thought she had gotten used to the sound of gunfire after all the training sessions, shooting at targets, and nighttime hunting with Will, but she was wrong. She peered through her rifle’s sight and watched Will and Danny on their ATVs, riding low, pushing forward to reach Luke despite the bullets flying around them. It was insane. Illogical and insane.