Raymond, on the right flank, moved further right to the rock-strewn arroyo he and Sheila used to make their escape when they were held there before. He ran down the arroyo about fifty yards, then popped up in the darkness and ran toward the road. At the road, he was less than a hundred yards from the van and the men who were using it for cover, so he laid down in the shallow ditch and fired from that position.
The men on the road were caught in the crossfire between Sam and J.P. in the parking lot and Raymond on the far side of the road. Two of the men threw their weapons toward Raymond and rolled over face down with their hands behind their heads. That left four armed men scrambling for cover.
As those four men raced for the cover of darkness on the far side of the road, away from Sam and J.P., another deafening blast rose from the helicopter. Almost nothing was left of the chopper except the turbine shaft and a few small pieces. Raymond wondered what they could have been carrying on that bird to cause the second explosion. It definitely wasn’t a fuel explosion because most of the remaining flames from the original crash had blown out. It had to be high explosives of some type, most likely Comp. B or C-4.
He decided that the four men who ran off would continue to run northward back in the general direction of Dryden, back toward civilization and away from the fight. But he found out, as he moved toward the two men who were face down in the road, just how wrong he was.
Several shots rang out, one of them catching Raymond squarely in the chest. He collapsed in a heap, with no way for Sam and J.P. to get to him without getting shot themselves. In a rage because of the wounding of their friend, and with absolutely no conversation or consideration for their own safety, Sam and J.P. charged directly at the source of the gunfire, screaming, cursing and firing rounds as fast as their weapons would fire. One bullet creased Sam’s arm, but it didn’t stop him.
There always comes an instant in a firefight when sheer audacity can overcome monumental odds if one side is sufficiently surprised at the actions of the other. This was that time for J.P., Sam, and the wounded Raymond.
The four antagonists had no time at all to react. With Sam and J.P. more than fifty yards apart, the thugs couldn’t concentrate their fire at any one shooter. Pat’s team was moving so fast, with only their muzzle flashes to reveal their locations, that the confused enemy jumped up again and fled. The minute they stood up, they were clearly visible through the night vision goggles that Sam and J.P. wore. They dropped two of the crooks immediately. The other two dropped their weapons and sank to their knees with their hands in the air. That part of the battle was over.
Having nothing with them to tie the hands of the two survivors, J.P. and Sam made the crooks drag their dead comrades back to the road. They walked along behind carrying their weapons and the four rifles the baddies dropped.
Now they had to concentrate on securing the prisoners and getting medical help for Raymond and Pat. Pat’s thigh wound was serious but not immediately life-threatening. Raymond, on the other hand, could not last more than a few minutes without professional medical help, and his wound would certainly prove fatal without a hospital trauma center and a good surgeon―soon.