Chapter 25 - The Ford Explorer Dash
The dry gravel crunched softly under the boots of the second operative as he walked past the rusted manure spreader, his heavy tactical vest creaking with every step. He was less than three arms' lengths away from Lena's hiding spot, his attention focused entirely on the glowing green reticle of his helmet comms unit.
Lena didn't hesitate. As he cleared her position, she exploded from the shadows like a coiled spring, driving the heel of her boot directly into the back of his knee joint.
The operative buckled with a sharp grunt, his leg collapsing beneath him as his knee shattered backward. Before he could hit the ground or raise his carbine, Lena drove her elbow downward into the base of his ceramic helmet plate, sending a concussive shock wave through his skull that knocked him out instantly before he even hit the dirt.
The first operative, twenty yards ahead near the SUV, spun around at the sound of the muffled thud. "Hey! Miller? You good?"
He raised his carbine, the infrared laser sight painting a bright red dot across the side of the manure spreader.
Lena grabbed the unconscious operative's heavy tactical vest by the shoulder straps, heaving his dead weight upright to use as a makeshift ballistic shield just as the first suppressed round punched through the side of the rusted metal frame with a loud *ping*.
"Miller, answer me!" the operative shouted, dropping to one knee and sweeping his barrel toward the manure spreader.
Instead of answering, Lena shoved the heavy, unconscious body forward into the open space between the machinery and the SUV, drawing a frantic second shot that buried itself in the dirt. While the guard was distracted re-zeroing his aim, Lena vaulted over the side of the manure spreader and sprinted the remaining ten yards toward the idling Ford Explorer.
She wrenched the driver's side door open, vaulted into the leather seat, and slammed the door shut just as a heavy fist hammered against the side window, cracking the laminated glass into a web of white fractures.
"Get out of the vehicle!" the operative roared, leveling his carbine barrel directly at the driver's side window.
Lena slammed her boot down hard on the accelerator. The heavy SUV's supercharged V8 engine roared to life with a deafening, mechanical snarl, the rear tires spinning furiously against the loose gravel before biting into the dirt and shooting backward out of the shed.
The vehicle fishtailed wildly, its rear bumper clipping the wooden doorframe of the tractor shed with a loud splintering crunch that sent old roof shingles raining down into the mud. The operative dove out of the way just in time, rolling down the grassy embankment as the Ford Explorer straightened out and rocketed down the winding dirt farm lane toward the creek bridge.
Through the rearview mirror, Lena watched the dark figure of the guard rise to his feet, shouting frantically into his radio as red emergency flare lights began blinking furiously in the distance across the north pasture.
May you like
She hit the high beams, flooding the dark country road with a blinding wall of white light, and turned the steering wheel hard toward the county highway. They were out of the house, but they were far from safe.
***
