“He has it in the air now. It can be there in ten minutes or less.”
“Less would be better,” Keira said. “We’re pulling over now and don’t have enough ammunition to hold off two truckloads of Onyx guards, with possibly more on the way.”
“Sending orders to Crusher as we speak,” Royce said. A moment later, he added, “Acknowledged. Drone is en route.”
“We set up for defense and pray Crusher comes through,” Rogue said.
Her heart hammering, Keira passed the message on to Jade. They were outnumbered with not nearly enough ammunition to last for long, but she refused to think this was the end of the road.
Chapter 13
As they neared the abandoned gas station, Jade drove over the curb and sparked the SUV with its nose, touching one of the concrete barriers that blocked the driveway into and out of the station.
Keira checked behind them as Rogue pulled in and swung their SUV around on the opposite end of the barrier, in effect circling the wagons. “Closing in fast,” she said, as she dropped down out of the SUV and pulled out her handgun.
Rogue tossed Jade’s handgun to her along with two magazines. “I’m going for my rifle,” he said and sprinted for the truck they’d parked at the rear of the old station.
Jade herded the girls out of the SUV and had them lie on the ground behind the concrete barriers. “Lily, you’re in charge. Keep them as low to the ground as possible.”
Lily nodded and lay down in the middle of the frightened girls, whispering that everything would be all right.
Keira prayed she was right as she took up a position beneath Jade’s SUV, where she could see the road and the HUMMVs racing toward them.
Jade slid under the SUV beside Keira and aimed for the oncoming vehicles.
“Don’t shoot until you’re sure you’ll make your target,” Keira said and glanced toward the building. Where was Rogue?
A shot rang out.
The lead vehicle swerved, the front tire shredded, and ran off the road, slamming into a telephone pole. Three of the four men inside jumped out and hit the dirt.
Keira shot a glance in the direction the sound had come from. It took her a moment to find the source.
Rogue lay in the prone position on the station’s flat roof, his sniper rifle set up on a tripod. Another shot rang out.
Keira turned in time to see the second HUMMV swerve and bump off the road, steam rising from the engine. As soon as it stopped, four men bailed out and dropped to the ground, aiming their rifles at the station.
The driver of the third vehicle accelerated, barreling toward the station.
Rogue fired, piercing the driver’s side windshield. The man must have been hunkered down. He didn’t slow until he was fifty yards from the concrete barriers. Then he spun the HUMMV sideways in the middle of the road and stopped.
The men inside jumped out the side, away from the station, and took up positions using the vehicle for cover.
The fourth Hummer drove in behind the third and performed the same stunt, all four men inside getting out, unscathed.
Fifteen bogeys. Sixteen, if Keira counted the driver who’d smashed into the telephone pole. The odds were not in their favor. She glanced at her watch. Four minutes. All they had to do was hold them off for four minutes until the drone arrived with enough firepower to eliminate the enemy entirely.
Two of the four men closest to the barriers opened fire, raining bullets on them while the other two men low-crawled across the ground, inching their way closer to Keira and Jade’s position.
“I’ll take the one on the left,” Keira whispered.
Jade aimed for the one on the right.
Before they could fire, Rogue picked off the one on the left and followed quickly with another shot, hitting the one on the right.
“There are a couple of guys from the crashed car making a wide circle,” Jade said. “I think they’re aiming to sneak up behind us.”
Keira lined up her sights on one of them. “Out of my range.”
