Cross Country (Alex Cross 14)

Then Emmanuel screamed, dropped, and began twisting in pain on the ground.

And the rest of the Janjaweed were on us.

Chapter 86

DUST WAS KICKED up everywhere. That was probably a good thing. They had to fire blindly—but so did I. The gunfire from all the rifles was deafening at this range.

One of the riders tore through the dust cloud and swept right past me. On instinct, I grabbed at his leg and held on. The momentum took me off my feet. I got dragged along for a second or two, and then the rider spun off his horse and crashed heavily to the ground.

I grabbed his rifle and kept it at my feet. I fired and wounded another of the riders. And then another, in the stomach. They had been cocky—because the wood gatherers usually couldn’t fight back—but they weren’t well trained, and not many men can fire accurately from horseback, despite what Emmanuel had said.

I saw three of the riders break ranks and retreat. It gave me some hope—not a lot, but some.

I rushed to the fallen rider I’d pulled from his horse. I pushed his head down into the ground, then got off a hard punch that struck the hollow of his throat.

“Don’t move!” I yelled. He didn’t need English to know what I was saying. He stayed very still where he was.

“Alex!”

A voice came from behind me.

It was Adanne.

She and another woman stood swinging pieces of firewood at the last rider’s horse to keep him away. Several of the women were on the ground, hands over their heads. I’m sure they still thought they were going to die.

Adanne swung again, and the horse reared up onto its hind legs. The rider lost his grip and fell.

“Alex, go!”

I looked and saw Emmanuel had propped himself up. He was covering the Janjaweed from his place on the ground.

I took off at a sprint.

The downed rider near the women was just getting up again. I yanked my rifle around as I came up on him. He looked at me in time to take the stock in the face. His nose exploded.

“Adanne, take his gun. Are you all right?” I asked her.

“I will be.”

Emmanuel was calling to me, screaming. “Let them go, Alex! Let them go!”

I didn’t hold back. “What are you talking about? We have to bring them in.”

Even as I spoke, the truth of the situation settled over me. Same game, different rules.

“No use arresting the Janjaweed,” Adanne said. “They know the government. The government knows the

m. It only brings more trouble to the camps. The UN can’t help. No one can.”

I kept the Janjaweed’s rifle, but motioned for him to get on his horse.

And then the strangest thing happened. He laughed at me. He rode away laughing.

Chapter 87

THE UN CAN’T help. No one can. This was what the refugees in the camp at Kalma believed, what they knew to be true, and now I knew it too.

But the survivors at the camp also knew how to be thankful for small favors and good intentions.