by Sam Sisavath
An empty and flat field waited in front of them, just barely visible against the thick mist that seemed to cover everything. There was a wall of trees on the other side, some two hundred meters away, but there was no chance she could see any of it this morning.
Fortunately they didn’t have to wait very long.
It started slow and soft before gradually gaining speed and intensity: The whup-whup-whup of an incoming chopper.
Gaby glanced at Peters, kneeling next to her. He might have smiled behind the rag that covered his mouth, but of course she couldn’t be sure. She was certain of the nod he gave her, though, and she returned it.
About five seconds later, a Warthog flashed by overhead, slicing through the wide swath of fog like a hot knife through butter, scattering a huge portion of the gathered clouds in its path. Gaby glimpsed the clown’s face on the front of the cockpit just in time.
Mayfield.
The A-10 buzzed the town of Axton behind them before starting to bank.
A few seconds later, a second Thunderbolt appeared, this one with a wide-open shark’s mouth staring down at her, the plane’s rotary cannon in the center of a ring of ferocious white fangs.
“Damn, I’m glad to see those guys,” Peters said next to her.
Gaby smiled and thought, Yeah, me too.
The whup-whup-whup grew closer and louder just before bursting through the mists, rotor blades shredding the fog and slowly, slowly revealing portions of the wall of trees across the huge acres of wet grass.
“That’s our cue,” Peters said as the Sikorsky MH-60T Jayhawk touched down in the wide-open field fifty meters from their position.
As the chopper settled on its landing struts, one of the Warthogs reappeared above them. She had lost sight of the second A-10 but could hear it moving around somewhere up there, and that was more than enough.
Gaby got up first and jogged toward the waiting helicopter, while Peters and his team followed closely behind. She swung her rifle left and right, grateful for the chopper’s spinning rotor blades as it continued to thin out even more of the fog.
They loaded Carter into the Jayhawk first, with Bart and Donald climbing in after him. Peters and Jolly stood watch with Gaby before Peters patted her on the shoulder.
When she glanced back, Peters shouted over the roar of the rotor blades above them, “Time to go!”
She nodded and watched Peters climb onboard the chopper after Jolly.
Gaby turned back toward Axton, its buildings slowly revealing themselves underneath the bright morning sun. But it wasn’t really the town she was looking at—it was what was on the other side, because that was the direction Keo had gone last night as he took the blue-eyed ghoul with him.
“I think it was hunting me,” Keo had said, “for what happened that day. I think it’s hunting all of us now…”
A hand on her shoulder, drawing her back to the muddy field. “Gaby! Time to go!”
She climbed into the helicopter, settling into a seat next to Peters. As she buckled up, one of the Warthogs buzzed nearby, but there was too much sunlight for her to make out who it was.
They lifted off. Slowly at first, then gaining speed as they ascended.
Gaby looked past the blanket of white clouds that hovered over Axton and could just barely make out the state highway in the distance, much of it still shrouded by heavy fog.
He was out there, somewhere.
Alone.
Well, not really alone.
“He made it!” Peters shouted next to her.
She looked over at him.
“Keo!” Peters said. “He made it! I’m sure of it! Have faith!”
She smiled back at him, hoping it was at least semi-convincing, before looking back out the open hatch as the chopper banked and began moving away.
Axton slowly faded into the background as the fog swallowed it back up.
And somewhere out there was Fenton.
Gaby opened her pack and took out the portable two-way. She looked out at the wet and muggy Texas countryside flashing by below them before pressing the radio’s transmit lever.
“Keo, come in. If you can hear me, if you’re out there, come in. I say again: Keo, if you’re out there, if you can hear me, please respond. I say again: Please respond…”
A Word From the Author
Keo is on the run. Gaby’s been rescued. And Black Tide has realized Fenton is becoming a problem. What happens next? Find out soon!
Until then, please help spread the word by leaving a review for Bombtrack at a retailer of your choice. Even a short review would be most appreciated.
Meanwhile, Keo puts his skills and luck to the test in…
Rooster
Book 3 in The Road to Babylon Series