She gave a nod and took off for the next set of trees. Everything still looked good. Completely clear. Which didn’t mean it was. There was every chance Rick had parked the snowmobile somewhere and set up a sniper’s nest, waiting for them to appear. Calculating the distance, she estimated about thirty feet of open space. Not far, yet too far.
“I’ll cover you,” Jack said. He had the rifle up, and his eyes were on the timber beyond the ditch.
She looked at him. His jaw was set, and his hands remained steady on the rifle despite the damage to his wrists. His white base layer was stained with blood at the cuffs. Whatever his stocking feet told him about the frozen ground beneath him, none of it showed on his face.
Something moved through her. A familiar flutter in her stomach that threatened her heart. She pushed it back down.
“We need to be fast,” she said.
“Get inside the culvert. Don’t stop until you’re at least ten feet in. I’ll be right behind you.”
She gave a nod and silently added,“I hope you fit.”
Thirty feet felt considerably longer than thirty feet. Her legs drove her forward, and she kept her eyes fixed on theculvert entrance, the dark mouth of it in the embankment ahead.
Her breathing was controlled, and her focus was narrow. She covered the ground and dropped into a crouch at the entrance and kept moving. It was wider than it looked from a distance. Wide enough she believed Jack might be able to fit without too much issue.
At the ten-foot mark, she stopped and turned around.C’mon, Jack. Come on.
Steph couldn’t see Jack, only bits of the gravel runoff ditch until darkness claimed it.
Somewhere deeper in the timber, the engine still droned, its sound floating thin and distant through the cold air.
She crept forward a few feet to try and catch a glimpse of Jack.
A gunshot sounded, followed by a second and then a third.
“Jack!” she called.
She couldn’t see him, but she heard the sounds of heavy breathing and gravel scattering.
Steph scrambled backward as he dove inside, another shot ringing out as he continued headfirst into the culvert. He landed with anoomphand a slight roll onto his back. Before Steph could blink, he was sitting upright, rifle aimed out of the culvert.
“Move. Get to the other end.”
Steph crawled on her hands and knees, moving as fast as she could. A layer of ice coated the bottom of the metal culvert, making the motion more difficult. Another shot sounded, causing her to flinch.
“Are you okay?” Her words came out in a breathless stream.
“He missed hitting me.”
As she approached the far end of the culvert, she considered her next move. Popping out into the open without scanning the area seemed reckless. But staying inside wasn’t an option either. It wouldn’t take much for the shooter to get to the end of the culvert and shoot at them. Fish in a barrel again, not for the first time since they started running for their lives.
“What do I do?” she asked.
“Get out and get to cover as fast as you can.”
Steph stayed just outside the culvert, scanning the area as she pressed against the hillside. The darkness was absolute and made seeing anything a challenge. A shape began to form to her right, possibly a clump of brush about fifteen feet from the culvert’s opening. She made a beeline for it.
Jack emerged a moment later, still in a crouch. He moved immediately from the culvert and pressed himself flat against the embankment, out of the sightline from the road above but still near the opening.
“What are you doing?” Steph hissed. “Get over here.”
He hesitated as he looked from Steph to the culvert opening. He gave a nod and rushed toward her. She shifted to make space. He slid in beside her, rifle up, covering the opening.
They were both breathing hard. She let herself have ten seconds of it and then pulled out the beacon. No new messages. Steph shook her head as she typed.
Where are you? We are being shot at. Again. We need help now.
