The Rescue (3 page)

Immediately she heard an audible click and the passenger side door swung open.  Still holding Twig she started toward the door.  From inside she heard a female voice speak.

“Enter quickly and apply your seat belt” was the command from the female voice.

Wynd entered the passenger side door and climbed between the seats and belted Twig into the rear passenger seat.  She didn’t have to lock the doors because they automatically locked when she put on Twig’s seatbelt.  Twig had begun to sob.

“Shhh.  Shhh.  It’s okay.  We are going on a fun ride.  Please don’t cry Twig”, she said trying to console the little girl. 

She got back in the passenger seat and continued to pray for her young savior and Rom.  What was she going to do if they didn’t make it?  Tears began to well up in her eyes.  Where were they?

Chapter 7

After Marcus dropped to his knees and started forward, he turned to see the girl heading in the same direction he had approached the camp.  He had not noticed anything on the sensors of the MAV that would indicate the presence of any other unwanted prehistoric guests in this part of the city so he knew she would be relatively safe.  As he rounded the far side of the truck on his hands and knees, he stopped quickly and eased backwards.  One of the drunks had stirred, risen, and walked between the trucks over to the edge of the trees to relieve himself.  Marcus flattened out on the ground and waited patiently as he finished his business and turned to go back to the fire.  As Marcus passed the rear of the first truck, he stopped and peered into the darkness of the truck for a few seconds, then stumbled back to his resting place and dropped to the ground. 

Marcus waited patiently for another five minutes before he continued his trek to the first truck.  As he reached the rear of the vehicle, he moved from his hands and knees into a crouched position and slightly raised his head until he was able to see clearly into the back of the truck.  Sure enough, a young boy that was about twelve or thirteen was chained to the rear of the cab of the truck. From the looks of him, he was sleeping.  Marcus slowly eased himself into the back of the covered truck and slowly moved toward the young sleeping boy.  Careful not to make any noise, he made it to the boy without waking him.  With a quick movement, he pinned himself against the boy and clamped his hand over the boy’s mouth.

Marcus held him and whispered to him, “Don’t make any noise.  I’m getting you out of here.”

Rom nodded his head silently and Marcus took his hand off of Rom’s mouth and went to work on the chains.  It was taking way too long.  He needed to hurry.  Finally, breathing a sigh of relief, Marcus was able to pick the locks that held him.  Helping the boy to his feet, Marcus and Rom turned and stopped suddenly.  At the rear of the truck stood one of the captors grinning and holding a pistol pointed in their direction. 

“What have we here?  Seems the boy has picked up a companion.  Let me see your hands, friend,” he said laughingly with a sneer on his face. 

In a smooth, almost effortless fluid motion, Marcus drew his .44 and shot him between the eyes.  The man didn’t have time to react.  It happened almost in an instant.  Rom mouth dropped open in shock.  In the next instant Marcus grabbed the boy and shoved him toward the back of the truck and screamed for him to run.  They dropped to the ground from the rear of the truck, Marcus pointed the way, and they took off at a dead run.  For a bunch of drunks, the captors had extremely quick reflexes. 

The one Marcus shot must have not been the only one awake.  Marcus and Rom hadn’t gone over ten feet from the rear of the last truck when they could already hear the gunfire and could hear the bullets whizzing by their heads.  They crouched down further but continued running.  Marcus turned as he was running and began firing his big .44 in their general direction.  As he had noted before, he was beginning to regret that he hadn’t put on his police vest when he left but of course, now was not the time for regrets.  They had to get out of here. They finally made it to the edge of the hill, into the underbrush, and down the side of the hill.  More and more bullets were being fired.  Marcus could hear them striking the underbrush around them.  About half way down the hill, the shots stopped but he could hear the men crashing through the underbrush.  They were gaining on them. 

Marcus was fast but with the boy in tow, he was going at a significantly slower pace.  They finally made it to the bottom of the hill and cleared the guardrail.  Weaving in and out of the stalled traffic, they raced across the highway.  As they crossed the median of the highway, the gunfire started again.  The captors had cleared the underbrush and were firing now that they had a clear field of vision.  Marcus was careful to keep the boy ahead of him to try and protect him from the hail of bullets coming their way.  They cleared the highway, shot through the hole in the fence, and raced across the parking lot of the stadium.  One of the captors got hung up at the fence and that slowed them down somewhat. 

In labored breathing, Marcus spoke as they raced off the hill from the stadium, “Jocelyn.”

“Yes, Marcus,” came the reply into his earpiece. 

“Are the two girls in the MAV?”

“Yes, Marcus, they are in and safe.”

“Good. Jocelyn, activate defense protocol.  We are coming in hot.  It will be me and a young boy.  Are you picking us up on the sensors?”

“Yes Marcus.  Based on your current rate of travel, you should be here in approximately 7.3 minutes.”

“Activate the Korak,” Marcus said still breathing hard.

Marcus began thinking that he must really be out of shape because he was beginning to struggle with the all-out run.  Still keeping the boy in front of him, they finally passed the last building and could see the MAV sitting about 200 yards across the way.

“Jocelyn, something is wrong.”

“Yes, Marcus.  My sensors indicate that you have sustained an injury.”

“Jocelyn” …

Chapter 8

“Jocelyn”… was the only thing that Wynd heard. She was sitting in the front passenger seat of the MAV listening to the conversation from the young man who she knew now as Marcus and apparently the computer controlling the MAV.  As soon as he spoke, he tripped and went down.  Rom was still running ahead for all he was worth.  Marcus was slow to get up and finally started lumbering toward the MAV again.  About that time Wynd saw the first of her captors, which was the large leader of the group, round the corner of the building and began firing at Marcus again.  He turned slightly and began returning fire again as he struggled to reach the MAV.

Frustrated, Wynd screamed, “Can’t you help him?”

Almost on cue, the MAV lurched forward and slammed her backwards into the seat.

“Marcus, offensive measures engaged,” Jocelyn stated.

Immediately in an extremely labored voice, Marcus shouted, “Do not fire until they are all in range.  Repeat. Do not fire until they are all in range.”

Wynd saw Marcus take another shot to his upper left shoulder and almost fall down again but he kept going. The MAV was almost on him when he stumbled and fell again.  The MAV had stopped by now and the driver’s side door swung open.  Rom shot into the driver’s seat and then over into the back seat.  Painstakingly slow, Marcus made it back to his feet and stumbled the last few feet to the MAV.  He fell into the front seat and the door slammed shut.  Wynd could see that the last of the captors except for one were now in sight firing at the MAV.  The outside must be shielded somehow because the bullets were bouncing off and it seemed that they weren’t making contact with the big SUV. 

Weakly, Marcus gave the command, “All targets, Code Red: Fire.”

Instantly, the windshield of the MAV changed and a heads up display popped up.  Nine red circles appeared and locked on the advancing captors.  At the same time, Wynd could hear the servos working as the big gun swung around and began firing.  It was lightning fast.  One short burst of gunfire and it was over.  Nine bodies lay strewn across the parking lot.  Blood and body parts were everywhere.  She recognized Torque laying the closest to the MAV.  He was the leader of the group.  The Korak had completely cut him in half.  Wynd was in total shock.  The “Korak as Marcus called it was definitely a killing machine. 

Wynd turned to look at Marcus.  He tilted his seat down and lay back.  She moved over to him and began to try and help with his wounds.  She could see the one in his lower leg and the one in his left shoulder but not the other.  It must be in his back somewhere.  She tried to help him turn over.

“Wait,” he said.

“We have got to stop the bleeding.  Let me help you.”

“Just a second… Jocelyn; Haven; Secondary route; Blackout. Evasive procedures”

Immediately the windows of the SUV went into night vision mode again and the MAV started forward slowly.  Wynd had no idea where it was going but it was driving itself. 

Chapter 9

She noticed that Marcus had become silent and she turned to look at him again. She reached over and touched him and he didn’t respond.  It was very dark in the MAV now and she needed to be able to see. 

On a chance, she said, “Jocelyn, can I have some interior lights please”

Immediately the interior lights turned on.  Wynd looked at Marcus and could see his shallow breathing.  He was alive but he had passed out. 

“Rom, help me with him please.”

Rom moved forward and with his help Wynd was able to remove his shirt.  The wound in his shoulder went all the way through.  He was losing a lot of blood. 

“Jocelyn is there a first aid kit of any kind in here?” Wynd asked.

“In the rear, behind the back seat is an EMT first responder kit Marcus acquired from an abandoned ambulance.”

Rom quickly climbed over the back seat and brought back a good size bag with all types of various medical supplies.  Wynd wasn’t sure what exactly to do so she took another chance and asked the computer’s AI if it had any medical knowledge. 

“I have extensive knowledge and access to all medical databases.”

Following Jocelyn’s instructions, Wynd and Rom bandaged Marcus’ shoulder and leg using items from the responder kit.  While they were doing this, the MAV continued travelling at about ten to 15 miles per hour toward the bend in the river.  After they finished the bandaging of the first two wounds, they were able to lay the seat back completely and turn him over and see the other wound.  There was a bullet hole on the right side of his back about three inches below his shoulder blade.  There was no exit wound. 

“Jocelyn, what do we do about the bullet in this wound?” Wynd asked nervously.

“The bullet will have to be extracted.  Based on the entry wound and trajectory of the bullet, it’s possible that the bullet has punctured his lung.  Marcus has plenty of medical supplies at the compound where I’m located.  My analysis would be to bandage the wound and upon arrival at the compound, extract the bullet.”

Hopeful, Wynd asked, “… and then he will be okay?”

“Statistically, with his wounds and subsequent blood loss, chances of survival are approximately 25%” Jocelyn said.

“Twenty-five percent!” Wynd let out in a desperate cry. “Isn’t there anything else that we can do to increase his chances?”

“Based on my calculations and the available factors, Marcus’ optimum chance of survival is to make it to the compound.”

Already crying, Wynd mumbled, “Tell me how to bandage this and let’s hurry, please.”

With Jocelyn instructing her, Wynd made quick work of the bandage.  After she finished, she sat back in the seat peered out into the darkness.  Since leaving Chattanooga, clouds had begun to move in and the sky darkened so the night vision was coming more into play.  Wynd could tell that they were travelling a road back that was different from the route the big trucks had taken.  This way seemed a lot rougher and the MAV had to adjust its course because of obstacles in the road and other problems.  They eventually started up the side of a mountain.  Wynd was looking at the computer screen in the front dash and she could tell that they were heading up one mountain and would be travelling several miles and then descending back into the valley and back up another mountain to a spot pinpointed on the digital map as ‘Haven’.  It looked like it was going to be a long trip. 

Several times during the trip up the first mountain Jocelyn had to recalculate and plot a course to circumvent some obstacle that was blocking their way.  The road had completely given way in one area on the side of the mountain and they had to backtrack for three miles.  Wynd looked worriedly over at Marcus. She could see the labored rise and fall of his chest.  Hopefully there was someone at their destination that could help, that is, if he survived.  He had lost a lot of blood.  Finally, they were able to reach the top of the mountain and the travelling was starting to get easier.  Twig was still in her seatbelt but was laying crossways across her seat.  She was sound asleep.  She looked across to the other seat at Rom.  He was peering out into the darkness taking in everything.  Wynd could tell that he was very shaken by what had happened. 

Still looking at him, she said, “Are you okay, Rom?”

“I could lie and say that I was but not really,” he said quietly.

“What’s wrong?” Wynd asked.

“He’s going to die, ain’t he?” he said with a sniffle. 

“I really don’t know. He’s lost a lot of blood.  Hopefully when we get there, someone will be there to help him” she guessed.

He turned to her with tear filled eyes and said, “Why did he do it?  Why would he do it? I don’t understand.  Why would a complete stranger risk his life for us? Do you know him?”

Chapter 10

Rom definitely was a thinker.  Wynd had known him for about six months before they were captured. They were living in a small high school near the Mississippi River.  Using the solar generator of the school, they had set up a nice little protected compound of their own.  They had close to 20 people living there.  They used the school’s green house to grow their food and Rom, who was a child prodigy with computers, had been able to set up a tech center to gather information for them.  The arrangement had been going beautifully until the Jackals showed up.