“These SUVs should be faster than the Hummers. We should stay ahead.”
“How much gas do we have?” she asked.
Rogue glanced at the gauge. “Half a tank.”
Keira bit her lower lip. “I wonder how much Jade has?”
After only fifteen miles, Jade’s voice sounded in Keira’s ear. “Fuck. One of my tires is losing air pressure. Fast.”
Keira’s gut clenched. “We have a problem,” she said to Rogue. “One of Jade’s tires is losing pressure.” She glanced over her shoulder. Though they’d put more distance between them and the HUMMVs behind them, she could still see them in the distance.
“Have them pull over and transfer everyone into this vehicle,” Rogue said.
“Our tail will catch up to us in that short amount of time.” She stared at the road ahead. “We should be getting close to where we ditched my truck. If we try to make the transfer there and can’t do it in time, we can brace for defense.”
Rogue nodded.
Already, Jade’s SUV was slowing.
“Jade, pull into the station where we left my truck,” Keira said. “If we have time, we’ll transfer everyone into this vehicle.”
“There’s not enough room,” Jade said.
Keira’s jaw tightened. “We’ll make them fit.”
“How far back is our tail?”
“Maybe a mile.”
“That’s not enough time.”
“If we think it’s too close, we can hunker down and set up for defense.”
“You know how much ammunition we have,” Jade said.
Keira could imagine she didn’t want to alarm the girls by letting them know they didn’t have enough firepower to last for long. “We’ll do the best we can.”
Rogue unclipped the satellite phone from his vest.
“Calling Royce?” Keira asked.
He nodded, placed the call and hit the speaker button.
“Rogue,” Royce’s phone sounded. “Sitrep.”
“We’re out of the compound, have Jade’s sister and five other girls. Four vehicles are on our tail, and one of ours is compromised. Will establish a defensive position, but we don’t have enough ammo to sustain for long, nor do we want to risk any of the girls being hit.”
“I have SOS operative Crusher on standby in the town where you commandeered the supply truck. He arrived shortly after you left and found the driver in the barn. He tased him, cut the zip ties and left him to find his way back to town. Crusher’s set up in a communications van, and he’s manning a next-generation drone, equipped with a 10,000-round minigun.”
“The ones still in prototype?”
“That’s right.”
“Should I ask how he got hold of it?”
“No,” Royce said. “But be prepared for shock and awe.”
“How soon can he get it to our location?” Keira asked.
