CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

“You should’ve woken me,” Niki moaned as she opened her eyes to the first rays of sun and looked up at Deuce’s stern handsome face. “You needed sleep just as much as I did.”

“I didn’t have the heart. You looked at peace for the first time since this started and so beautiful.”

Niki was speechless. Though she remembered Deuce thinking she had cooties when he was ten, she couldn’t ever remember him calling her beautiful. She was so stunned she couldn’t think of what to say.

“Huh? So a compliment is all it takes to keep you quiet?”

“If you handed them out more often it wouldn’t be such a shock. So I guess I no longer have cooties?” She cuddled closer to him, fighting the urge to purr.

“Quiet. Listen.”

The tone of Deuce’s voice chased away the blissful feeling and any remnants of sleep. Niki sat upright, fully awake and alert as she stared at the sky. She strained to hear whatever had his attention. After several moments she made out the distinct whir of a helicopter’s blades. As she listened, the noise grew louder and nearer. The sound of a second helicopter emerged and then a third.

“This can’t be good,” she whispered.

“Let’s get off this ridge. If they fly over we’re dead.” Deuce lunged to his feet, pulling Niki with him.

Niki tried to keep pace with Deuce as she followed his long stride off the hill. Her cowboy boots offered no traction as she half slid and half ran down the steep slope, trying to keep a safe grip on her weapons. Heart pounding, she struggled to keep her balance and not be distracted by the sound of the rapidly approaching craft.

When they reached the bottom of the hill, it was clear everyone had heard the helicopters. Frank, Joe and Sarah stood at the edge of the clearing where their camp had been, hands clutching their weapons. The trio watched as the shapes came into focus, barely acknowledging the arrival of Deuce and Niki.

“What are they doing?” Sarah asked.

Before anyone could respond the answer became clear. The first helicopter buzzed low over the camp, nearly kissing the trees as it dipped. Something was dropped and then the craft quickly ascended.

“Run,” Deuce yelled.

The group scattered as an explosion shook the ground, sending Niki hurdling into Deuce’s back. He kept his balance, grabbed her hand and continued to run. His grip was so tight Niki was afraid he was crushing the bones in her fingers, but she took comfort in knowing he had no intention of letting her fall behind.

The helicopter made two more passes, dropping explosive devices each time. The noise was much worse than the loudest thunderstorm Niki could remember and the flash of light akin to severe lightening. The ground moved under her feet like earthquake tremors, but didn’t hamper her retreat.

With large guns mounted just inside the helicopter’s open cargo door, the soldiers strafed the clearing where their camp once stood and the hilltop they had been using as a lookout. The shots were continuous, but erratic, so did little damage except to instill fear as the group fled for the rocks.

Smoke swirled through the forest as the drier pines caught fire. The snapping sounds of trees being torn apart and crashing to the forest floor echoed between rounds of gunfire and explosions. The ground vibrated and debris rained down as they ran for their lives.

As the smoke began to clear two helicopters landed in the small clearing. Soldiers jumped out bearing automatic rifles, additional ammunition looped across their chests like brass pageant sashes. The exiting stream of soldiers seemed endless, but soon the last soldier jumped out and the craft lifted off. Once airborne the helicopters hovered nearby, preventing any attempt to escape.

Niki stumbled as she tried to run while watching over her shoulder, but Deuce’s grip steadied her and kept them moving.

“We have to get to Papa!”

Deuce slowed so Niki could run alongside and glanced over at her. “You know we don’t have time to move him.”

“Then we fight. If we die, we do so with the ones we love.” She released his hand and fled.

By the time Niki and Deuce reached the rock enclosure which had kept everyone safe the previous day, Frank, Joe and Sarah were already inside. Sarah had tucked the girls in the safest crevice of the rocks as possible and Bernie was as protected from stray bullets as feasible. They were too close to the hillside to be in much danger from the helicopters above, but with soldiers on the ground they knew it wouldn’t be long until they were discovered.

Without any discussion, they spread themselves out along the inside perimeter of the rock ring, locating openings to fire through. Niki’s eyes darted from each person and she wished Deuce was closer, but with the two of them possessing the only automatic rifles it made sense to be on the opposite sides of the enclosure.

Niki couldn’t see her grandfather or the girls. They were pressed to the back of the ring as close to the cliff face as possible and barricaded behind the few remaining supplies. Niki checked her weapons, counted her bullets and glanced over at Deuce. Their eyes met. She held his gaze for a moment, wishing she had told him she loved him when she had the chance last night. She hoped he knew, fearing she would never get the opportunity to say the words.

The wait was short. By the time Niki tore her gaze from Deuce, had propped her 30-06 up against a rock and positioned the automatic weapon’s barrel in the opening, chaos erupted. The enormity of the onslaught rendered Niki momentarily immobile. Despite the hopelessness of the situation they all had no doubt that the outcome would be the same whether they surrendered or were defeated. At least if they fought the end would be quicker and probably less painful than if they were taken hostage.

A barrage of gunfire pelted the rocks of their shelter. The noise was deafening and despite the size and strength of the boulders their enclosure seemed to be coming down all around them in a shower of stone fragments. Large chunks were blown away as the assault continued, barely disrupted by their return fire.

The soldiers made very little attempt to stay behind cover. The large group of well-armed men stood shoulder-to-shoulder, cutting off any escape route, and strafed the rock ring, whittling down the sanctuary one rock chip at a time. The soldier’s stance made it clear they had little fear of the gunfire from the civilians inside the enclosure being able to reach them.

A trickle of blood ran down Niki’s forehead, no doubt from the rock chips exploding off the boulders and shooting through the air like tiny daggers. She wiped at her face with her shirt sleeve to prevent the blood from getting into her eyes and obstructing her aim. She didn’t even register the pain of the hit which caused the wound, nor the other fragments pelting her as she concentrated on making every shot count.

The bombardment was so steady that each attempt to aim and return fire was a risky venture, but they didn’t have the luxury to waste ammunition on random shots like the soldiers. Niki tried to aim with the automatic weapon, but wasn’t familiar enough with it to do much damage. One soldier fell to the ground, but it was impossible to determine from which gun the hit had come from, not that it really mattered, nor did the elimination of one soldier seem to help the situation.

From the corner of Niki’s field of vision, she spied Joe falling backward, landing hard on the ground in front of where the girls huddled. There was blood soaking through his jeans, but not an obscene amount. She prayed Joe wasn’t dead or badly injured, but she was unable to leave her post to check as she continued to fire.

Too quickly, the automatic rifle was empty. Niki tossed the useless weapon down and picked up her 03-06, quickly removing the scope since she wouldn’t have time to sight in with it anyway. What’s the use? She took aim and fired. She pulled the lever back, expelling the used casing and jacked in another round. She aimed, fired and another soldier dropped, yet the attack coming at them didn’t seem to diminish and large gaps were starting to open up in their sanctuary.

Everyone except Joe was still standing and firing, so the only option was to keep shooting until they ran out of ammunition—they had no other choice. Niki noticed the mound of empty shotgun shell casings piling up between Sarah and where Joe had been standing and knew they wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer.

“I’m out of ammo,” Frank shouted.

Deuce tossed him Niki’s Lady Smith and Wesson, which had been tucked into the back of his belt. She had to suppress the urge to break out into hysterical laughter. They were goners. How long could they hold off two helicopters full of highly-trained soldiers with what Deuce always referred to as her “girl gun?”

“I’m out too,” Sarah shouted above the roar of gunfire and constant hum of the hovering helicopters. She dropped her shotgun and snatched Joe’s from the ground, fumbling through his pocket for the last handful of shells.

Niki’s heart sank as she saw Deuce set his confiscated automatic rifle down and pull out her grandfather’s twenty-two pistol. She doubted the gun could even reach the soldiers with any degree of accuracy, but the noise would hopefully delay the soldiers’ decision to try and breach their shelter. The sound of their defense was diminishing by the second as was the strength of their enclosure. It was only a matter of minutes before the soldiers realized the group huddled behind the rocks was all but helpless and would rush their barricade.

Sarah reloaded and fired, but Niki knew the handful of shells she had dug out of Joe’s pocket meant only about six more shots and Sarah would be out of the game. She doubted Frank and Deuce had much left either.

Niki jacked her last round into the chamber and froze. A giant fireball erupted in the sky and the sound of the explosion sent all the soldiers racing back to the clearing. She stared at the flaming wreckage in awe, too stunned to move or speak, too beaten down to hope.

The momentary cease-fire felt surreal. Despite the noise of the explosion and the glow in the sky, time seemed frozen within the battered circle of stone. No one moved or dared to believe help had come. They just stood and stared at the scene unfolding before them.