The pistol wavered, dipping and bobbing as the driver struggled to hold it steady. His other hand was formed into a claw, clutching the center of his chest. His face twisted in agony. He squeezed the trigger. The shot whanged off the door trim a foot from my head.
I dropped flat, under his line of fire. If I crawled away from the truck, he might be able to get an angle on me. The blood-soaked face of the dead guard was inches from mine, contorted by a zombie grin. I had to move. I wormed around the guard’s corpse and under the truck. Its front wheels had been lifted partly onto the snow berm by the crash, so I could rise to a high crawl, although my pack bumped against the undercarriage.
Now what? If the driver got out and poked his gun under the truck, I’d be as easy to kill as a pig in a slaughterhouse chute. I scuttled to the far side of the truck under the driver’s door. I glanced around—the driver’s legs weren’t visible. Either he was still in the cab, or he was standing beside the tires.
I took a deep breath, trying to still my shaking arms. My hands were icy despite my gloves, either from the chill of the frozen road or fear—maybe both. I eased my head out from under the truck, hoping the last thing I saw wouldn’t be the barrel of the pistol.
No flash or sudden retort of gunfire met me. Everything was silent, in limbo. I rolled out from under the truck and crouched to look into the cab. The driver was facing away from me—he had scooted across the bench seat to the passenger’s side.
I turned and ran toward the back of the truck, avoiding the snow berm at the front. As I sprinted past the tailgate, I looked for Darla. I figured she’d be out by now, but the back flap of the truck was still tied shut. I couldn’t see or hear her.
I skidded to a stop at the corner of the truck and peeked around. The driver’s hand and gun protruded from the open passenger door, wavering above the guard’s corpse. I broke into a flat-out sprint toward the door.
The driver was slowly emerging from the passenger door. He got his entire right arm and head out of the door. He looked over his shoulder, saw me, and started to bring his pistol around to shoot me. I jumped, launching myself in a flying front kick when I was still two steps away. My kick connected with his forearm, slamming it against the open passenger door with a sickening crunch. The pistol dropped from his suddenly limp hand. I fell, landing splayed across the corpse.
When I looked up, the driver was clutching his right arm. Either he’d magically grown a bonus elbow, or I’d broken his forearm.
I grabbed his pistol and stood. The driver had a hunting knife in a sheath on his belt. He didn’t react when I took it from him—his breath rasped in his chest, and he was too busy hunching over in extreme pain. I glanced into the cab of the truck—a shotgun lay on the floorboards, so I picked up that, too.
“Darla!” I yelled. “I could use some help out here!”
“What’s going on out there?” Her voice was faint, muffled by the canvas.
What did she think was going on? “Nothing much. I crashed the truck, subdued the guards, and got their weapons.”
“Is it safe?”
That seemed like an even stranger question for her to ask. When had it ever been safe? Not since we had met. Not since the volcano had erupted. What was going on with her? “Yeah . . .” I said anyway.
“Coming.”
I kept my gaze fixed on the driver. I needn’t have bothered. His eyes were closed, and he rocked slightly back and forth, totally absorbed in his agony.
“What the hell is going on out here?”
I looked to my left at the girl who had just stepped out from behind the truck.
She wasn’t Darla.