Dasyueshan Mountain Forest, Taiwan
A BLOODY GREAT tree trunk. Right in their path. Too big to drive over, too heavy to move. And too many trees to allow them to drive round it. Luke was thinking fast. Only two choices: go back up the hill, and risk driving right into their pursuers, or abandon the vehicle.
‘We should get out. Now!’ Jenny called from the back seat.
‘Agreed.’ Luke swivelled round. Bo stared back at him, a smug grin all over his face, his ridiculous white priest’s gown bulging at the midriff. Luke’s plan was unravelling fast and Bo knew it.
‘Quick! Quick!’ Bo mocked, head bobbing, eyebrows raised in a parody of fear. ‘They’ll be here any moment. Hurry, hurry, or they’ll catch you!’
‘Jen, we’ll leave him here. Hannah, let’s go!’ Grasping the Heckler & Koch, Luke pushed open the Merc’s door and leapt down, listening out for the sound of pursing vehicles. And there they were, up the hill they’d just come from, maybe two hundred metres away at most. Movement in the back of their 4x4. Bo was rocking from side to side, struggling to free his bound wrists. No longer afraid, he was starting to shout too.
‘Hannah – kill the engine and grab the keys from the ignition,’ Luke called. ‘Lock him inside – doors, windows, the lot – and chuck the keys into the forest. Might buy us a bit of time.’ He turned to Jenny, the blood-smeared hunting knife still in her hand. ‘Jen, we need to split up. You take Hannah, get past that log and get as far down the track as you can. I’ll catch you up.’
‘But what about—?’
Luke patted the machine-pistol. ‘I have this. Now, go! Run!’ He saw Hannah fling the Mercedes keys deep into the undergrowth, and Bo’s grimacing face peering out from the vehicle’s rear window, then she and Jenny took off.
Luke paused. Think, Carlton, think! Got to delay the pursuers. Buy the others time. Give them the best chance to get away. He hefted the weapon: three rounds fired already. That left twenty-seven in the magazine. He knew he was heavily outgunned, no question, but he’d make every damn bullet count.
Luke scrambled up the steep slope at the side of the track, grasping at roots, branches, hauling himself up until he was deep in the undergrowth. The growl of vehicles coming down the track now, drawing closer. Need to find a good firing position. A solid fallen tree trunk with a field of fire and an exit route. No time to be choosy. He squatted down behind the first he saw and hurriedly unfolded the stock of the MP7. Controlling his breathing, he steadied the weapon against the dank, moss-covered trunk and pulled it into his shoulder. Squinting through the optical sight, he aimed the red dot at the windscreen of the first vehicle that was now powering down the track. He squeezed the trigger. A sharp crack, minimal recoil and a grunt of satisfaction as he watched the jeep career off the trail and tumble over the side into the forest below. Twenty-six rounds left. Grabbing the weapon, he turned and charged through the undergrowth, branches whipping at him as he ran. Hurling himself down the slope, he rejoined the track a hundred metres or so further on. There, a large boulder, right beside the road: perfect cover. Ducking behind it, Luke took up a firing position, readying himself to take out the next vehicle. Nothing yet. For now, his plan seemed to be working.
‘Luke!’ He whirled round. It was Jenny, standing alone at the edge of the forest. No sign of Hannah or the hunting knife.
‘Are you OK? Where’s Hannah?’
‘She’s back there. Listen …’
He noticed a tremor in her voice. ‘What is it, Jen? We’ve got to keep moving.’ A glance back up the track, still nothing. But they’d be coming, and they’d be on foot as well, fanning out through the forest, intent on cutting them off.
‘It’s Hannah,’ Jenny continued. ‘She’s got the flash drive.’
‘Wait. What? That’s fucking fantastic!’ Luke felt like hugging her but Jenny wasn’t smiling.
‘There’s something else,’ she said grimly. ‘I think she’s broken her ankle. She’s in a lot of pain. She can’t move.’