by Kim McMahill
Niki held her breath, anxiously waiting to see what the men would do next. Would they leave or keep searching? She prayed they would go back or move off in a direction which would lead them far away, but Niki doubted the soldiers would be easily deterred after going to such great lengths. The men had to know their prey hid nearby—the camp was too fresh to indicate otherwise.
The invaders did neither. Three of the soldiers took up posts and the rest dropped their packs near the still warm fire and began to rifle through the belongings which had been left in place when the group had run out of time and space in the rock enclosure. Niki cringed as her duffle bag was thrown out of the tent and unzipped. Hoots and what she assumed were crude comments echoed as her underwear were flung from man to man like a hot potato. Another thumbed through a magazine then tossed it in the fire, reigniting the smoldering logs. A different soldier ducked out of the tent holding the small bottle of whisky her grandfather had stashed. He took a long drink and winced before passing it around to the others.
The group pawed through their belongings, stuffing some items in their pockets or packs. With each unwanted item found, they tossed it into the fire, fueling the flames to burn stronger and hotter. A feeling of despair seeped into Niki as she watched clothing, tack, a cot, packs and finally the tent go up in flames. Even if the soldiers retreated, they would have a difficult time surviving the increasingly colder nights with their supplies and shelter severely diminished, which was no doubt part of the soldiers’ plan.
A shiver ran through Niki as she envisioned their ultimate demise in the flames eating away at the last side of their shelter. How helpless her grandfather must be feeling, unable to move out of the way of danger, and how Sarah must fear for her daughters. Her thoughts then switched to Deuce and she wished he was closer. She hadn’t realized how much strength she drew from him until her grandfather had pointed it out. Now she yearned for the feel of his arms around her.
After dismantling the camp, the soldiers fanned out and searched the area. So far none had ventured in the direction of Bernie and the girls, but it was only a matter of time before one would stumble upon Deuce, Joe or Frank. Their plan was to stay hidden and hope the soldiers would move on. Everyone remained silent, but the soldiers didn’t look as if they were in any hurry to leave.
Niki’s eyes darted from opponent to opponent. Now that the men were spread out it was difficult to keep them all in view. They moved quietly and efficiently, missing nothing and doing little to disturb the silence Niki had found uncomfortable before their arrival, but now the lack of noise completely rattled her nerves and resolve.
A faint muffled cough drew the soldiers’ attention. Most continued their sweep, but two altered their course in the direction of the noise, and Joe. The men approached Joe’s hiding spot. Niki tried to picture where Frank and Deuce were positioned and knew she had the best chance to help, but held back, hoping for something, anything that would buy them time or postpone the inevitable. Once the first shot was fired, there would be no turning back.
Niki studied the two men, trying to determine which one was the most immediate threat. If she had to fire she would only be fast enough to take one shot before the other could react. She pointed her rifle towards the man closest to Joe’s hiding place. She aligned the cross hairs in her scope between the man’s shoulder blades and held steady, her eyes already aching from the strain of focusing on the soldiers below.
She took a deep breath and forced all thoughts other than the immediate threat out of her mind. Aim low, she told herself over and over. That’s got to be well over three hundred yards away...too far... I can’t do this, but I have to. I don’ want to lose Joe, not like this.
Niki struggled to keep from shaking as the closest man raised his automatic rifle and pointed the deadly weapon at the bushes and rocks concealing Joe. It was doubtful the man could see Joe through the thick natural camouflage, but it wouldn’t matter. He would strafe the area with gunfire until nothing could possibly be left alive. Niki closed her eyes tight and reopened them in an attempt to improve her strained vision. The scene hadn’t changed and she could wait no longer for a miracle.
Her finger tightened on the trigger. She dreaded being put in this position again, but it was Joe’s life or her conscience. Once the man began spraying the brush with bullets, it would be too late to save her old friend’s life. She had to fire first and draw the men’s attention away from Joe.
The sound of her rifle firing sent the soldiers scrambling for cover as her target dropped to the ground in a lifeless heap. She pulled back and pressed herself flat to the ground as a barrage of automatic gunfire sent rock fragments showering around her. She closed her eyes and prayed until the assault ceased. After several seconds of silence she stole a glimpse over her perch and was sent back to the ground under more rounds of gunfire, but not before she was able to verify all of the soldiers had taken cover¾none remained in front of the charred remains of the tent or sought to locate Joe.
Niki rolled over, flat on her back, staring up at the cloudless sky, reminding herself to breathe. She gently pulled the bolt back, expelling the used shell casing, and jacked another round into the chamber. Clutching her rifle to her chest, she closed her eyes and listened.
Over the erratic beating of her heart, she could hear footsteps and rocks tumbling down the hill—someone was climbing. She rolled over to her belly and stole a glance down the hill. Bullets again rained around her, forcing her back, but not until she spotted six of the eight remaining men fanned out along the base of the hill and starting the ascent toward her hiding place.
A shot threw debris around one soldier, but missed its target. Niki knew the shooter had to be Frank, since no one else had a weapon with enough distance to be of any help to her. Despite the caliber, she knew it would be pure luck if Frank actually hit his target from his current location, but his shot landed close enough to provide a good distraction if nothing else. The soldiers strafed the trees in Frank’s direction, but she knew they had missed when another shot rang out, clipping one of the soldiers in the leg.
The man fell to the ground, grasping his leg in pain, and cursing in a language she didn’t understand. One soldier helped him to his feet and half dragged, half carried the injured man to cover at the bottom of the hill leaving four soldiers intent on reaching Niki’s perch. They continued to fire in Frank’s direction while efficiently navigating the slope.
The professional soldiers moved quickly up the slope in Niki’s direction. If she stayed put they would reach her in minutes—it was no longer a secret where she hid. If she tried to shoot she would expose herself to their bullets again and would only remove, at a maximum, one more soldier from the group of four.
Panic welled inside her and cold seeped into her body as she continued to lie on the hard ground. She squeezed her eyes shut tight and tried to picture where each soldier was the last time she glanced over the rock outcrop. They had to be getting close. She had no other option but to retreat.
Niki shimmied backwards until she was far enough from the ledge to crouch down and run. She headed in the opposite direction off the hill as they usually took, since the usual route would lead the soldiers in the vicinity of her grandfather, Sarah and the girls. Just as she reached a sparse stand of trees the four soldiers crested the hill. The trees were fairly small, regrowth from a fire only ten years ago, providing little cover for an unnoticed retreat.
Bark from the skinny trees flew around her as she dodged in and out of the thin stand of pine, searching for someplace with enough cover to protect her from the bullets. Suddenly the shots ceased, but voices neared. The men were gaining and they no longer seemed content to kill her quickly. The vibrations from the footfalls of four men closing in on her felt like tremors underfoot. They were yelling at her, but she ignored their calls, refusing to be distracted from her footwork.
Niki fought the urge to look over her shoulder. The men were too close to risk a glimpse, so she kept running i
n a zig-zag pattern to discourage an easy shot. The sound of boots hitting the ground told her that only seconds of freedom remained unless a miracle occurred.
She ducked under a branch and veered to the right. A hand brushed the back of her shoulder, but the loose fabric of her jacket slipped through his fingers. She screamed and dove forward, falling hard on her chest, knocking the wind out of her lungs, and losing her grip on her rifle.
Two quick shots rang out, forcing her pursuers to stop and focus on the direction of the new threat. The man who had nearly grabbed her fell forward, landing on her legs, pinning her to the ground. Niki wiggled forward, struggling violently to get out from underneath the considerable weight holding her to the ground.
As the three other men returned fire, taking their focus off of Niki, she managed to free herself. Her first instinct upon standing was to not look down at the dead body and just run. No, it was an opportunity to even the playing field just a bit and help whoever had come to her rescue. Her miracle had to be Deuce or Frank and she couldn’t leave either behind while so severely out-numbered and out-gunned.
Niki pried the automatic weapon from the dead man’s fingers. She silently backed up, putting distance between her and the other three soldiers until she was able to locate a reasonably thick tree. It wasn’t enough cover, but it was something. She remained quiet for several moments until she was able to pinpoint where Deuce or Frank hid. She crept from tree to tree, taking advantage of the distraction, until she stood at an angle where it would be nearly impossible to accidentally shoot whoever had come to her rescue.
She studied the weapon for a second, unfamiliar with its use, intimidated by its appearance. Not knowing what else to do, Niki pointed the gun at the closest soldier and pulled the trigger. The repercussion sent her flying backward, landing on her rear, but not before the spray of bullets took one more man down.
The sound of automatic weapon fire sent the remaining two soldiers running for cover. Niki remained seated, staring after the men, trying to catch her breath, amazed at the power of the weapon.
“I’m coming out,” shouted Deuce’s familiar voice.
When she saw him emerge, Niki set the automatic weapon on the ground, fearing its hair-trigger. The sight of Deuce stole what little remained of her strength. She wanted to stand and run to him, but her rear felt heavier than a bucket of rocks and her legs seemed made of gelatin, so she stayed put.
Niki watched Deuce check the two downed soldiers for signs of life. He then gathered the weapons she hadn’t already garnered, extra ammunition and her dropped 30-06. Once satisfied the soldiers were no longer a threat, he approached and knelt down in front of her.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded. “Where did you come from? I felt a hand brush my shoulder. Another second would have been too late.”
“When they started up the hill after you, Frank kept them occupied as much as he could while I circled around. I’m sure glad you chose this direction to run, but I was fairly certain you would, knowing how you feel about leading trouble away from those whom you want to protect.”
Niki forced a weak smile to her lips, held out her hand and allowed Deuce to pull her to her feet.
“Two are injured, but I spotted them propped up against trees with weapons covering the clearing in front of the tent. Three soldiers are dead, but that still leaves five more, who will be even more pissed off and cautious from here on out.” Deuce took out a handkerchief and wiped the fresh blood off the back of Niki’s jacket.
Niki didn’t ask what he was doing. She knew, but didn’t want to think about someone’s blood on her body. Too much had been shed and she knew that it was far from over. When Deuce finished she turned to face him. She looked into his eyes, a determined tilt to her chin.
“I’m sure they will be, but it’s a fairer fight now,” she replied as she slung the leather strap attached to her rifle over her shoulder and picked up the automatic weapon which had knocked her to the ground. “I had no chance to defend the ridge trying to match a single shot at a time against their automatic weapon fire. This thing startled me, but it won’t knock me down next time.”
Niki followed Deuce back to the look-out she had abandoned. As they neared the rocks on the edge, they crouched down to keep out of sight of those below and crept silently to the rim. Before they peered over, they lay on their bellies and shimmied the last few feet needed in order the see the activity below without giving anyone a target.
Feeling Deuce’s familiar body alongside hers made Niki less terrified than she had been since spotting the first soldier cresting the hill. She had been alone on the ridge, well above the rest and had felt vulnerable and hopelessly inadequate. They now had equal weapons and the odds were substantially improved.
“What do you see?” she asked.
“One guy’s on a two-way radio. Another one is holding something, I think a GPS unit, and calling out to the guy on the radio. They’ve gathered up their packs and the weapons from the first guy you shot while protecting Joe and it looks as if they’re preparing to move out. They’ve put splints on the wounded and two are helping them walk. The other guy is covering the retreat. I hope everyone stays put. I can’t imagine the soldiers are giving up this easily against a small group of civilians, though they have no way of knowing how many of us are hiding in the trees. They must be up to something, probably calling for reinforcements now that they have GPS coordinates of our location, and we have a couple of their automatic rifles.”
“I suppose there’s plenty more within quick reach by helicopter to replace those we’ve shot today. It all seems so hopeless. Every time we survive a tight situation, something else gets thrown at us.”
Deuce reached over and gently brushed the escaped strands of Niki’s hair away from her cheek, tucking it behind her ear.
“One crisis at a time, sweetheart¾that’s all we can do. So far it’s been enough.”
Niki nodded and then turned her head so her cheek was nestled in Deuce’s palm. She hated to break the connection, but they weren’t out of danger yet and probably not for long. She set her confiscated military weapon down, slid up closer to the ledge and watched the soldiers’ retreat. With the scope from her rifle she followed the six men until they were out of sight.
CHAPTER THIRTY
“Stay here and keep watch. Use the turkey call if you need to warn us of anything. I’ll go check and make sure everyone’s all right and hopefully we still have horses. I’ll send Frank and Joe to you, so don’t shoot them.”
Normally Niki would have said something sarcastic back to Deuce, insulted by his comment, but at the moment it was a good reminder and she could tell by the tone of his voice he hadn’t meant to offend her. Niki’s nerves were raw and her reflexes unforgiving. It would take very little to make her pull the trigger.
She continued to watch every approach, but saw no sign of the soldiers. As the sun dipped below the trees a new fear entered her mind. They had lost so many supplies she wondered how they could withstand the cold night without a fire or shelter. The cot used by April and Lacy had been burned along with the tent, leaving only a circle of rocks to protect the children and her grandfather from the elements. Most of the other items destroyed by the soldiers had been nonessential, but the loss still made Niki feel as if their chances of survival had been drastically diminished.
As panic set in, Frank, Joe and Deuce returned with supplies, forcing her thoughts away from the depths of despair. The men still looked strong and the sight of them helped to fight back her dismal attitude. They had all survived the day, maybe they could survive another, until help arrived. She had no doubt Bob and Cal were doing everything in their power to rally forces.
“Your grandfather, the girls and Sarah are fine, and miraculously the horses didn’t try to break away despite all the noise. I had expected at least Storm to have escaped and to have hightailed it clear back to the ranch by now.” Deuce sat on the ground next to Niki.
She le
t out a sigh of relief. Their situation had deteriorated substantially throughout the day, but at least everyone was still alive, they had some supplies and they still had transportation. Niki had also feared that if Storm had been spotted, he might have been shot. If any of the day’s soldiers were tower guards, they had already tried to kill Storm once and they still might be mad about being outmaneuvered by a small woman on a fearless horse.
“It’s going to be a rough night though. We’ve lost nearly everything, including some very lovely pink lace panties, and building a fire probably isn’t a good idea. As far as we know those soldiers are just out of sight over the hill, probably enjoying some mutton, so anything that gives our position away is out.”
Deuce said it so smoothly that Niki hoped and prayed Frank and Joe hadn’t caught the reference to her undergarments which had been strewn about earlier in the day, but all hope was lost when Joe’s cough turned into a roar of laughter. Frank gave up fighting to hold back and laughed until he was bent over holding his side. Niki debated whether to punch Deuce or pretend she didn’t understand what was going on. Since forming a fist and shoving it into his granite abs sounded like too much work, she ignored the men and honed in on her biggest worry of the moment.
“Is Papa still too weak to sit on his own?”
Deuce cleared his throat and nodded. When he finally looked up she could see the humor was gone and worry and sympathy was etched on his beaten and bruised face. She wanted to reach out and touch him, run her fingers over his rough beard and try to ease the tension in his expression, but she forced herself to stay focused.
“So leaving under the cover of darkness is out?”
“I doubt he can survive another move and he definitely can’t ride, besides we don’t know if the soldiers are coming back or if they’ve left for good, so no sense taking the chance. And, how far could we really get anyway dragging a travois? The terrain this high up is too rough. If they’ve come this far, they probably plan to regroup and come at us again. A big group like ours can’t outrun those men for long even on horseback. I’ve thought about splitting into smaller groups, but I doubt if anyone here would be agreeable.”