Conquest ~ Indian Hill 3 ~ A Michael Talbot Adventure (15 page)

“Beth
,
come on
,” the boy said
, his voice cracking even worse this time.

Beth started to move
toward
Sammie
.
“Shoot him
!” she
shouted
. Not caring in the least that this would be killing in cold blood. “Shoot him!” Beth yelled as she got closer to the woods.

“I’ve never shot a
man
,”
c
ame the trepid response.

‘Oh God
,
why did he say that out loud
?
’ Beth moaned.

The tree next to Beth’s head exploded in a shower of bark and sap.
Sammie
’s rifle answered in return the noise was deafening, Beth
’s
heart
was
hammering as she dove into the woods. But there were no more shots, when the smoke cleared, the man was gone.

“Let’s go!”
t
he boy said
,
grabbing Beth’s arm as she was absently picking the tree bark from her hair. Beth couldn’t hear him but from his gestures
and
rapid mouth movement she could tell
that he wanted to go, and fast.

Being deaf is very tranquil
,
Beth noted.
A
s she was slowly extracted from her shock and good fortune, she
realized
her good luck could be very short lived if she didn’t get a move on. Beth’s equilibrium
was also
on the fritz
—
more than once she caught her shoulder on a tree. Slowly
,
but surely
,
she was able to run a little straighter and began to hear her own labored breathing.

“
H
ow much farther
?
” she said
a little too loudly.

“Beth
,
I’m right here
,
”
t
he boy answered.

“Sorry
,”
s
he answered sheepishly, again too loudly.

“Just come on and shut up!”
h
e hissed
.

Beth couldn’t be sure
,
but she would have sworn he was swearing at her.

When Beth thought she might be at the limit of her sprinting ability, the woods finally thinned out, and not
m
ore
than
thirty
yards ahead stood, the most beautiful sight she had seen in ages, a 1970s mint green Buick
Skylark
, battered and bruised as it was, it still represented everything she could hope for, escape from the mad man behind them and another step forward into the waiting arms of Mike. She would have wept if she had the breath.

Beth circled around t
o the passenger side and got in,
t
he boy’s door shut only a split second before hers.

Beth’s hearing had almost come back
in
full as the rear windshield shattered in. Glass fragments peppered everything.

“Fuck!” t
he boy yelled as he tried to put the car in gear.

The man was no more than
twenty
yards behin
d the car and closing fast.

“Hurry
!” she screamed
as she turned to look back at her pursuer. His face contorted in rage. “Fucking Hurry
!” she screamed
, she
could make out the whites of his eyes.

Sammie g
ot the car in gear and
gunned the 350
hp engine. Pebbles shot up from the rear of the car, assaulting the man, Beth noted with some satisfaction. His gun roared again as the front windshield exploded out. The car began to veer wildly to the left, Beth grabbed the wheel instinctively, narrowly missing a pine tree.

“
Sammie
? What are you doing?” Beth asked as she kept steering, the car picking up speed.

Sammie l
ooked over at her, his eyes glassy.

“
Y
ou’ve been shot!
Sammie
take your foot off the gas or we’re going to crash
.”
H
e couldn’t understand her or he was unable to comply, either way Beth knew they were in immediate danger. She didn’t have time to see where the man was but she figured they had put enough distance between them so she could
do
something. She pulled
Sammie
toward
her as hard as she could until she was sure his foot had left contact with the accelerator, and trying her best not to lean on his wound, she contorted
over
until she was able to put her foot on the brake.
Sammie
grunted as he smashed forward into the gear shift.

The man
,
noting his good fortune, was once again running full
speed
, to the now idle car.
Sammie
seemed to be made of stone as Beth grabbed him by his jacket and tried to force him over into the passenger seat. She had moved him halfway over into the bench seat, before she hazarded a look at her pursuer
.
S
he would never have enough time to get out and run around to the driver
’
s side. Apologizing as she went, Beth crawled over the now lifeless form of
Sammie
. Part of the steering wheel disintegrated as Beth slid into the driver
’
s seat, the shot had missed her by no more than
three
inches, and
he had done
that while he was at a full sprint. Beth jammed her foot on the accelerator, the car burped, lurched
,
and shot forward like a rocket. She didn’t hear another shot.

“
Sammie
,
hold on!”
S
he reached over to check for any signs of
life. His chest was rising, but it was labored. He’d never make it an hour to Worcester, but where else was there? Beth shot out of the woods and onto the Mass Pike with a thump. She didn’t know what kind of speed the car could handle, but she was determined to find out.

CHAPTER TWENTY
-
Mike Journal Entry 6

The ride on the zodiac, considering what was going on
around
us
, for the most part
,
was uneventful. The night was moonless and should have been dark enough fo
r the covert mission for which we
were involved, except for the fact
that
the French landscape was blazing like a bonfire gone completely out of control.
Drababan and I
sat in the middle of the small boat as it zoomed
toward
the re
n
dezvous point. Drababan slipped in and out of consciousness, the paramedic wasn’t sure if he had helped or made matters worse
by extracting
the bullets from
D
rababan. But Drababan was still alive and so the proof was in the pudding
,
so to speak. The
M
arines stayed professional throughout the ride but
I
could tell they felt the trade off for their comrades was seemingly not worth the payout.
I
had to agree. Twenty Marines
h
ad died, France and most likely the world were ablaze and
I
could
n’t help but feel responsible.

“
Fuck
,
I just wanted to see Widespread Panic
,”
I
muttered.

“Did you say something?” The female sergeant said. The blaze of the fires
made
her eyes even more electrifying.

“Uh, no. Just ahhh…” I stuttered.

“Yeah,
right
,” she said
as she turned back around to keep her vigil.

“D
ee
, you still with us?” I asked Drababan, since it didn’t seem like anybody else wanted to talk to me.

“Hu-man, leave me be.
I must rest
,” Drababan answered
.

That got the
M
arines
’
attention as they all turned to see their ‘guest’ was indeed still alive. Everyone a
ss
essing the threat Drababan might yet still impose on them or their fellow Marine. 

I knew what was coming
,
but it still surprised the hell out of me
.
T
he black gleaming hull rose
huge
out of the ocean not ten yards from
our location. The bow broke through the churning ocean water. Moments later
,
a small detachment of sailors appeared on the hull, looking nervous. They did not appear to like being so exposed, they worked quickly
,
throwing rope ladders over the side.

“Drababan
,” I said
as I nudged him in the side. He looked up at me and then to the submarine and then his eyes gazed on the rope ladder. “Will you be able
…
”

“I am not quite dead yet
,
Talbot
,” he answered.
“
I should be able to muster enough strength to scale that contraption
.

Five of the Marines boarded quickly, sensing the danger being in the open
hazarded
. I climbed up next as the Marines set up a perimeter on the
sub to
guard against
any imminent danger
.
The sailors glanced around nervously as Drababan
grunted through
his slow ascent,
making
them even more nervous. He was imposing even if he was half dead.

“I didn’t think he’d be so big
,”
o
ne of the sailors stammered.

“Holy shit
,”
a
nother said
,
startled as Drababan’s hand and then face broke over the top.

I stooped to grab an arm and help him over, it was tough to tell but he seemed to appreciate the gesture, whether or not I really helped pull his
five hundred
pound frame up was still in doubt. He shuffled to the side while the rest of our rescue team made
its
way on board.

Sergeant
Yarborough was t
he last and began to issue orders. “Hennessey, Brooks, get our ‘guests’ down below and secured.”

“Ay
-
ay
,
Sergeant
,”
c
ame the replies.

Secured?
I thought
,
wondering if we would be
held in the brig. My question was soon answered as we were ushered below
. No,
sooner had we made contact with floor when the sub made preparations for a dive. D
rababan
and the rest of us headed towards
the sick bay
.

“I want you two to stand guard on him
,”
Sergeant
Yarborough ordered Hennessey and Brooks. “I will send replacements as soon as everything is settled and then I want you down in the debriefing room at 2200. Is that understood?” She didn’t wait for their reply. “I don’t want him so much
as
fluffing
his pillow without one of you covering him.” And then she turned to me. “Let
’
s go.”
She looked wear
y, bone weary, sort of the way
I felt.
Drababan didn’t look like he was going to be any trouble, the bed creaked and groaned as he plopped his frame down into it, even though his legs were hanging over
by
two
feet, he appeared to be sleeping before his head hit the unfluffed pillow.