Instinct Unleashed Titan Chapter One #2
“Good. They’re coming in for another hit on the right side. Don’t try to aim for anything in particular. Just shoot and make them think twice about ramming us.”
Cold air blasted through the cabin as he rolled the window down.
An eerie calm settled over her. She took a deep breath. “Okay.”
“Now, Virginia!”
She sat up and started shooting blind out the open window. The blacked-out SUV looked like it was right on top of them.
GUNFIRE.TITAN TILTED his head, cocking an ear to listen. Yep, that was gunfire echoing through his woods. He stuck his snout in the air until he caught the scent of gunpowder and gasoline.
Damn. All he’d wanted was a week in his woods. No responsibilities. No spoiled heiress to keep happy while trying to keep her safe. No blow hard businessman who thought every security measure was wrong or unnecessary. Just the woods, his cabin, and sweet silence.
More gunshots. Someone just emptied a clip, and they were headed in his direction. He dropped to his belly. The last thing he needed was to catch a stray bullet.
A dark green truck roared past, its side dented and full of bullet holes. Their pursuer wasn’t far behind. A dark SUV, windows blacked out and license plate missing.
A few bullet holes decorated the side of the SUV. Someone in the truck was shooting back.
Curiosity got the better of him and he loped behind the speeding vehicles. His woods were dense and the vehicles were going toward an even thicker copse of pines. Neither of the large vehicles would make it through.
The SUV crashed first. The driver was clearly not familiar with snow-slicked mud.
The speeding vehicle slid sideways, tilted on its side, and ended up wedged between the trunks of two stout trees.
The windshield caved in; the roof pushed back.
A quick sniff told him everything he needed to know about the occupants.
Blood, piss, and shit. Whoever was in that car was dead.
He loped on.
The truck came to a slightly more controlled stop, but smoke rolled under the hood, and the right rear tire hissed.
The driver’s side door opened and a man half fell out, a hand pressed to his side. Blood leaked between his fingers and he uttered an impressive string of curse words.
Titan slowed and dropped onto his haunches to watch.
The man pulled a walkie-talkie from the truck and barked into it.
“David, this is Goliath. One pursuer down, but I’m compromised. Need you to retrieve the package.”
Static flared from the walkie.
Another string of cursing cut off when a small head popped into where the back window used to be.
“Mike? Oh my God, Mike, you’re hurt!”
The voice, even with a note of panic, rolled over him like a caress. What the hell?
“Get down, Virginia! Just because they crashed doesn’t mean they’re done shooting at us!”
The melodrama he’d stumbled into had just gotten very interesting.
VIRGINIA CRANED HER neck around and pushed down the hood of her coat. The SUV was stuck on its side, crammed between two trees. It looked like it had been crushed. She didn’t think anyone survived that.
She opened the door and eased herself out, staying low, just in case.
“Damn it, Virginia, get back in the truck!”
She steeled her nerves and glared at him. “You’ve been shot, Mike. If you bleed out you’re no help to me at all. And I need your help to get out of this godforsaken tundra and back to somewhere I’ll be able to feel my toes!”
His lips pursed into a tight line, but he stayed silent. She knew it meant his wound hurt more than he wanted to let on.
She pulled the back seat forward and grabbed the first aid kit. She was glad it was in the first place she looked. She didn’t relish moving around in the ankle-deep snow searching for it.
She set it down on the ground next to where Mike stood and yanked the zipper open. “Let me see.”
“Be quick about it. I don’t like being cold any more than you do.”
“You big baby. What would Cathy say?”
“She would say I need to retire.”
Virginia chuckled. She balled her hands into fists and willed them to quit shaking. “How are we on ammo? I’m out.”
Mike was big on tactics. If she could keep him talking, then maybe her nerves would settle.
“There’s a bag with extra magazines under the front passenger seat.”
“You should sit down.”
“Not a chance.” His eyes scanned the area. She sighed.
She wouldn’t win that argument. She had no idea how to treat a gunshot wound, but stopping the bleeding seemed like a good first step.
She grabbed a wad of sterile pads and ripped open the packaging.
Mike hissed when she rammed them against his side.
“Sorry.” She dug through the kit until she found an ace bandage.
It would have to do. Despite the SUV and its occupants being out of commission, they couldn’t stay here. They were sitting ducks.
“How many were there?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. I counted six, but Daniel dropped two, and I got one. I only saw two in the SUV.” He glanced down at her. “We should hurry.”
“I’m almost done.” She wrapped the bandage around his torso as tight as she could.
He grunted in satisfaction and grinned down at her. “Not bad.” He scanned the area and sighed. “Looks like we’ll be walking from here.”
“Do we have to?” she whined. “Can’t we just stay in the warm truck and wait for Daniel to rescue us?”
He waved the static-producing walkie in her direction. “I think we’re out of range and nowhere near the rendezvous point.”
She straightened her spine and vowed not to complain. Much. She wasn’t shot after all. “Fine. Lead on, Grizzly Adams.”
“You mean Bear Grylls.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Grizzly Adams was a mountain man who trained bears. Bear Grylls is a popular survivalist.”
“Whatever. They both sound like dudes who spend way too much time alone in the woods.”
He chuckled and led them away from the vehicles. She resisted the urge to sing “deeper into the scary woods” to the cadence of snow crunching under their feet.
Dusk turned to darkness and still they trudged on.
They must have been walking for a couple of hours.
All conversation had stopped when exhaustion set in.
Hours later, Virginia started to think laying down for a nap was a great idea.
She was about to tell Mike she needed a rest when the big man swayed to the left before overcorrecting and falling to the ground like a dead tree.