To Steal a March (Surviving the Fall 11)

“To prevent anyone here with knowledge on how to stop it from getting out.” Oles let out a whistle, an impressive feat given that he was wearing a mask.

“Yes, well. We’re here now.” Ostap turned and clapped his hands together. “And we’re going to stop it. Oles, Jacob. I want you two to start checking through each room. Look for any notes or paperwork that might describe what we need. If you find a system that you want to check, carry it up to the car and run a diagnostic.” The two technicians nodded and turned to start work on their task.

“I’ll go with them,” Dr. Evans turned and headed after Jacob and Oles, “I know more about what they’re looking for than they do.”

“Excellent.” Ostap’s eyes crinkled under the weight of his overexaggerated smile. With Dr. Evans and the technicians gone, the only people left standing in the hall were Rick, Jane, Ostap and Carl. The two Russians stood next to each other, staring in silence at Rick and Jane until Jane cleared her throat.

“We should help search as well, shouldn’t we? Lots of rooms here to go through.”

“Of course.” Ostap smiled again. “Carl and I will start looking for another stairwell down, in case there are more floors to search, while you two help on this floor. Sound good?”

Rick was glad for the mask and that it hid the twitch at the corner of his mouth. Ostap’s voice was too cheery and he was smiling far too much. The Russian was planning something, but he didn’t know what.

“Of course.” Jane smiled back, perfectly mimicking Ostap’s previous statement. “Come on, Rick. Let’s get to work.”

Chapter 7

Outside Ellisville, VA

“Shut up!”

Dianne arched her back, moving in front of her daughter. A man with a large beard, wielding one of the shotguns they had stolen from inside the house, stood at the back of the truck bed. His face was coated with dirt and grime, and his teeth looked like they hadn’t been brushed in years. Spittle flew from his mouth as he shouted at Josie, who simply started to cry even louder.

“Josie, come on now.” Dianne wrapped her bound hands around her daughter and pulled her in close, muffling her cries. The motion seemed to pacify the man, who turned and stalked away to help his comrades continue to ransack the house. Jacob and Sarah sat close to each other just behind Dianne, with Sarah’s arms around Jacob, as they tried not to watch what was going on.

It didn’t take long for the ransacking to conclude, at which point the men who had been standing around the three vehicles were joined by those in the house, including the leader who Dianne still referred to as the man in the red shirt.

“Load up!” He leered at Dianne as he walked by, rapping his gloved hand against the back of the truck and grinning wider as Josie and Jacob both shook with fear at the sound. “We’re heading out to put these four to work!”

Dianne’s leg ached as she shifted to block Josie’s view of the man, the arrow still lodged deep and causing her tremendous pain. “Screw you.” She spat at the man and he laughed, then moved up to jump in the back of the next vehicle up.

“Move out!” He gave the order and the vehicles started up and began heading down the driveway. Behind, at the house, the beginnings of a fire were visible on the front porch, and Dianne felt her heart leap into her throat.

“They’re going to burn down the house.” She spoke softly, wishing she could do something. Both women’s ankles and wrists were bound, but their arms were in front and not behind, so they each clung to one of the children as the truck bounced, the driver going too fast for the poor condition of the driveway. The flames and the house itself both vanished behind the trees as the truck continued forward, and she tried to push the thought from her mind.

“Dianne, what do we do?” Sarah looked over the edge of the truck as though she was contemplating jumping out, but a rap on the window from inside the cab drew her attention. The window slid open and a pistol emerged, pointed at her face.

“You sit your ass down and shut up. Got it?” The voice was rough like gravel and Sarah immediately abandoned the idea, turning around and hugging Jacob even tighter.

“I don’t know, Sarah.” Dianne whispered, hoping that she wouldn’t be heard over the sound of the engines.

There were cardboard boxes at the back of the truck filled with food and water that the men had taken from the house, and through the open window of the back of the cab she could hear the driver and two passengers laughing and joking about how they were finally going to get a break thanks to the “new workers” they picked up.

“You think Jason and Mark and Tina survived? That they made it to… you know.” Sarah scooted closer to Dianne, lowering her voice even more.

“They must have. There were no gunshots when they were trashing the house. I think they must have gotten down there and gone out.”

“They’ll come after us, you know.”

“I… I don’t know.” Dianne struggled with the desire to have the trio try and mount a rescue. Weighing the life of her eldest son against her two younger children and mixing in three loyal friends was an impossible calculation. It was also a calculation that was entirely out of her hands, a fact that she was reminded of when the truck pulled sharply to the right, throwing them together on the left side.

All four grunted as Sarah and Jacob slid up against Dianne and Josie, and the sound of metal rattling against metal came like a torrent of water rushing over a riverbed. Dianne glanced down and saw a small mountain of discarded brass sliding and tumbling across the width of the truck bed. She leaned forward and plucked one of the discarded 5.56 shells from the floor of the truck, then glanced over at Sarah with a questioning look.

Sarah nodded at her and Dianne stared at the casing, trying to decide what to do when her daughter whimpered and spoke quietly. “Mom? Where are we going?”

Dianne’s decision was made before the question was answered. With a flick of her bound wrists she flipped the casing over the side of the truck, keeping her movement at a minimum to avoid drawing the attention of the vehicle driving behind them. She leaned forward and grabbed another casing while Sarah did the same, then they took turns flipping the casings off opposite sides, hoping that they weren’t being ground into the dirt and gravel by the tires of the truck.

Mark, Tina and Jason wouldn’t rest before attempting a rescue. A trail of breadcrumbs would mean putting her son in danger, but Jacob, Josie and Sarah needed help as well, and Tina’s tenacity and Jason’s all-around skills meant there was a fighting chance they could pull off a rescue. And, if not… she pushed the thought from her mind. There was no sense in worrying about it when nothing could be done.