Chapter 19 #2
She and Girard kept going through the trees until they reached the edge of the forest outside the gates.
The ATV was still there, to Hallie’s surprise.
It had been moved a little - turned around and pushed a little further away from the gates, so it was helpfully facing in the direction they wanted to go.
Narrowing her eyes at it, she thought she could see the keys still in the ignition.
Less welcome was the sight of four armed men standing watch at the gates. Gunners, Hallie thought, based on where they were standing. In the dark she couldn’t be certain, but it looked like one of them was the burly man they’d encountered earlier.
She and Girard lowered to the ground under the trees, shoulder to shoulder, both of them looking out at the scene in front of them.
Hallie was confident, even though she was tired, that she could make it to the ATV before the gunners could.
If the keys were still in the ignition, she should also be able to get a head start on any pursuit.
The guns were the problem. Even an ATV couldn’t outrun a bullet.
But it was dark, and if she huddled down she might avoid serious injury.
Aware that there were a lot of ways that could go wrong, Hallie took a look around the area for anything else that might help, or other dangers, and found more armed men.
Outside the settlement this time, farther out from the abandoned ATV.
A trio of men off the side of the road, out of earshot of the settlement and possibly out of gun shot range as well.
There was another ATV next to them. In the poor light, Hallie couldn’t be sure but she thought she recognised Jonah and Vinny and Vinny’s possible brother.
“Jonah’s here, too,” she murmured to Girard, and pointed.
“I see him.”
“I think we can get to the ATV outside the gates before the gunners, but we’re going to get shot at,” Hallie said.
“The other option is to walk,” Girard said, and she could hear the resistance in his voice. “But there was at least one spare gun in the ATV. So we’d get some defence, at least.”
“Huh. That’s helpful. So, get the ATV, get out of here. Get the packs. Call for help. Then scout Jonah’s base? Or just huddle and wait for back-up?” Hallie asked, partly thinking aloud. She could see why Girard liked the technique. It was helpful.
“Aim for the packs, yes. Even if we can’t get a signal, we’ll have more resources. And if we can get to Reunion, Rhodda can fix the radio.”
“True,” Hallie agreed. “Although I still want to see Jonah’s base. There’s something else going on there and it’s bothering me.”
Girard made a non-committal sound. Not convinced. Hallie could understand. The thought of sneaking closer to Jonah and his base of operations made her stomach pitch uneasily. At the same time, she had too many gaps in her knowledge just now.
“I’d like to have more information to give Peredur and the tactical team so they’re not completely blind,” Hallie added. “Right now, they have no idea what’s going on here.”
“I know,” Girard said, sounding reluctant. He glanced across at her. Hallie turned her head and met his eyes, seeing the determination in his face. “We’re just going to look, right? No sneaking inside.”
“Saints, no,” Hallie said. “But I’m guessing even a rough layout is going to help.
That man needs to be stopped.” She realised that she was assuming that Peredur Roth would agree with her strongly enough to send the Conclave Investigators’ armed tactical unit to deal with Jonah and his men.
She pressed her lips together before she could add that Nicholas needed dealt with, too.
She’d seen enough of the investigators and hochlen more generally to think that even Peredur Roth might believe Nicholas Rigg was more of a local issue for the islanders themselves to deal with.
But there was that air of ruthlessness around Jonah that set him apart from Nicholas, and the governor had also mentioned connections to the wider world.
Determination took hold. The man most definitely needed to be stopped.
She would just have to convince the director one way or another, and then see what she might be able to do to help the islanders deal with Nicholas.
“Alright. Yes,” Girard agreed, breaking through her mental scheming.
“First off, we need that transport,” Hallie said, doing her best to make a visual assessment of the distance to the ATV and the distance between the ATV and the gunners.
Definitely doable. “I drive and you shoot?” Hallie suggested.
It was practical. She was much better at driving than shooting any kind of weapon.
“Sounds like a plan,” Girard agreed. “We go on three?”
“On three,” Hallie agreed.
Girard counted down, and the two of them exploded out of the undergrowth on three, running as fast as they could manage, heading for the ATV.
Hallie didn’t think she’d ever run as hard in her life before.
Her leg muscles screamed at her, threatening to cramp, and she mentally screamed back, telling them to keep working.
Her lungs were burning with a lack of air, whole body weighted with fatigue.
It didn’t help that Girard easily outpaced her, reaching the ATV long before she did, and almost before the gunners had realised anything was happening.
He launched himself into the back of the vehicle, rising with a snub-nosed shotgun in his hands, taking aim at the gunners as they shouted in alarm and raised their own weapons.
Then Hallie didn’t have time or energy or attention to notice anything else as she’d reached the ATV.
She flung herself into the driver’s seat and found that the gunners had, indeed, left the key in the ignition.
She turned the key, the engine shockingly loud in the night, even with the shouts of the gunners and the flat crack of weapons fire.
She ducked down behind the wheel, put her foot on the accelerator, and drove off, trusting Girard to stay in place as she wheeled the vehicle back up onto the road, as the fastest means of travel, and headed away from New Hope.
A bullet whipped past her, too close for comfort, and shattered the windscreen, the safety glass cracking into a crazed spider’s web that blinded her to anything in front of the ATV.
She leant forward, punching out the broken glass, the speed of travel sending cold air biting into her face, drawing tears to her eyes.
There were people approaching from the side. Vinny and Jonah and at least two more. Jonah must have brought more men with him. She made an inarticulate sound of alarm, and pressed the accelerator again.
Girard somehow heard and understood her as the boom of a shotgun sounded just behind her ear, the round striking one of the approaching men in the chest. Hallie heard Girard reload the weapon and fire again.
This time he wasn’t aiming at the people but at their ATV.
A direct hit. The other ATV burst into flames and Hallie wanted to cheer.
“Go after them. On foot if you have to, you idiots. And shoot them if you can’t catch them.” That was Jonah, fury almost rippling through the air.
Hallie risked a quick glance over her shoulder and saw four men scrambling up the bank of the ditch and into the road, silhouetted by the night sky as they set off at a run after the ATV.
Hallie laughed. She couldn’t help it. The vehicle wasn’t anywhere near as fast as anything she’d driven before, but it was more than fast enough to outpace humans, and she had at least a half tank of fuel. No one was going to catch her now.