Page 108 of Wild Escape

I had to admit, the blade had a hypnotic quality. I wondered how many lives it had taken.

The breeze blew through the high grass like whispers. With a little imagination, you could almost hear voices on the wind.

It was kind of spooky out here.

Muzzle flash lit up the night.

Bullets streaked across the meadow, snapping past my ears.

I pulled Daphne to the ground, and we scampered through the high grass for cover in the trees.

Dane and Brock must have followed us out here.

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Bark exploded as gunfire chewed up the trees.

We hunkered down behind the big mahogany. I told Daphne to stay down, make like a worm, and keep to the dirt.

I took a knee, shouldered an AR-15, and angled the barrel around the tree. I squeezed the trigger several times and sent a burst of molten copper across the meadow, aimed at the flicker of muzzle flash on the other side.

The sharp smell of gunpowder drifted through the air.

I took cover behind the tree trunk as more bullets snapped through the air, too close for comfort.

Jack sent another volley downrange.

"Moving," I shouted to him, then darted to the west.

The thugs were on the south side of the meadow and had come up from the beach.

They weren’t sitting still either. Another burst of fire came at me as I hustled through the trees.

I took cover again and returned fire.

They were trying to flank us.

I was trying to flank them.

I pulled a couple of smoke grenades from my tactical vest and tossed them to the west.

Pop.

Pop.

They hissed, billowing white smoke.

A thick fog filled the trees.

I took the opportunity to move farther west with the smoke as concealment.

I took cover behind another clump of trees, took aim, and waited for the scumbags to give away their positions with gunfire.

I didn't have to wait long.

Another flash lit up the night as Dane squeezed the trigger.

I returned fire.