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Tina’s action rendered Dianne’s indecision moot and Dianne sighted in on the man, firing off a pair of shots that both just barely missed him. The slight whizz of the passing projectiles and the soggy thunk as they embedded in the wood of the barn behind him sent him into a panic, and he turned tail and ran for the woods. A third shot from Dianne’s rifle hit home, though, striking him in the center of his back and barely missing his spine.
The man screamed in pain and dropped his pistol, nearly collapsing to the ground in the process. He willed himself to keep moving though, the image of his dead companion still fresh in his mind. Dianne and Tina both ran around to the back porch and looked at each other. “Stay here,” Dianne said, “and keep watch with Mark. I’m going to go take care of him.”
“Make it snappy before he gets away.” Tina’s expression was grim as she looked through her scope at the body of the first man.
Dianne nodded and ran down the hill toward the barns, slowing down once she reached the buildings so that she could check alongside them for enemies before continuing forward. She didn’t bother to look at the corpse lying on the ground, knowing that Tina and Mark were watching her from afar and would have alerted her if the man was somehow still alive. Her eyes were wide as she searched around the buildings and edge of the woods at the back side of the property, looking for any sign of the man in the blue jacket.
After several minutes of searching, the only signs she found of the second man were several drops of bright red blood scattered across a pile of leaves behind the farthest barn at the edge of the woods. The dry underbrush out into the woods appeared as though someone had crashed through it, but although Dianne stood still for a few minutes watching and listening, she located no trace of the man in the blue jacket. She was debating heading off into the woods to try and find the man when she heard a quiet voice over her radio.
“Dianne? I’m coming up behind you.” The crunch of leaves came a few seconds later as Dianne slowly walked behind the barn, her head on a swivel as she kept a close eye on her surroundings. “There you are. What are you doing back here?”
Dianne, still crouched near the drops of blood, pointed to them. “He’s hurt something fierce but he still managed to get away.”
“Think we should go after him?”
Dianne shook her head slowly. “As much as I want to… no. He could have gone anywhere. Besides, if there were two of them with weapons, I’m sure there are more, and they’re going to be pissed that we just killed one of their friends.” Dianne glanced up at Tina. “Any reason why you opened fire without talking to me first?”
Tina s
norted, “Didn’t realize I needed your permission, but if you really want to know, come back over here.” She led Dianne back to the man with the black jacket and rolled the body over. “Kind of hard to see now with his face having a new hole in it and everything, but I recognized him from the gas station. He was one of the ones working there; one of the gang.”
Dianne’s prior indecision, some of which had lingered even after she and Tina had shot the men, completely evaporated. A chill ran down her back and she squared her shoulders as she stood up and looked at the barn. “Good riddance to him, then. Let’s get a couple of shovels and get the body underground before rigor sets in.”
“What about the other one?” Tina replied. “If he lives, he’s going to tell the others about us.”
“Yes,” Dianne nodded, “he will. And we’ll be ready for them.”
Chapter 4
Washington, D.C.
“Rick?” Jane crouched next to Rick at the edge of the building nearest the entrance to the compound. “Where did the rest of that group go?”
“No clue. They were walking this way, then they split up and went in all different directions.”
“What I want to know,” Dr. Evans said, standing behind Jane and Rick, “is why the ones across the street are just milling around. Do you think they spotted us?”
“Anything’s possible,” Rick replied. “The real question, though, is what we should do. We’re stuck here until they decide to move on.”
“If they move on.” Dr. Evans took half a step out from behind the building, trying to get a better eye on the people across the street, when the snap of shattering brick near his head was immediately followed by the crack of a rifle firing from very, very close range.
Shards of brick from the wall of the building exploded outward and showered the trio, and they all dropped low to the ground and pulled back behind the building. As they moved, though, several more shots rang out, and they heard the nearby shouts and jeers of a group of gang members that had snuck around the compound and were just outside the nearby wall. Those on the ground nearby had no angle to shoot the trio, but as Rick took a quick peek back out across the street, he saw that the ones who had been merely standing around were crouched behind cover, their rifles aimed in the direction of the compound.
“Dammit!” Rick cursed under his breath and pulled back behind the building. “They must have seen us when they pulled up. The few across the street are trying to keep us pinned down, and I bet they’re just trying to buy time for the ones close by to get inside.”
“How many of them are close by?” Jane started to move to peek out as well, but a cluster of bullets hitting the edge of the wall drove her back.
“I only saw a few of them across the street. I think the bulk of them are right on top of us.”
“Should we get inside?” Dr. Evans nervously adjusted his grip on one of the rifles the police had given to them.
“Might not be a bad idea,” Rick nodded. “Try to get somewhere defensible and hope they give up and leave. We need to get all the equipment from the car in, though. If they take our supplies or ammo, we’re screwed.”
“How long do we—” Jane started to ask. The clatter of the metal front gate echoed up the drive, though, answering her question before she could finish it. Rick took a deep breath and peeked out at the entrance again, seeing that three men were struggling to climb over the tall gate and enter the compound. Two of them bore long pipes and the third had a rifle slung over his back, though none of them were athletic enough to actually make it over the gate with any ease or grace. The scene would have been humorous had the men’s faces not clearly been covered with the desire to do grievous harm to Rick, Jane and Dr. Evans.
“Let’s go.” Rick pushed Jane and Dr. Evans toward the car and they quickly loaded up with all of their bags of supplies, ammunition and spare weapons. Looking around the compound, Rick tried to decide which building to enter, but the shouts of joy from the men near the gate told him that they had run out of time and would have to settle for whatever was closest. “This way!” Rick ran for the entrance to the nearest building and, finding it unlocked, stepped inside and used his foot to keep the door open while Jane and Dr. Evans followed behind him. Dr. Evans was running full-tilt while Jane was limping heavily, still struggling with her leg injury but fighting through the pain.
The building looked like a plain—if somewhat dated—government building with faux tile floors, barren walls and rows of doors that led to a variety of rooms. Most of the doors were closed, though a few had clearly been left open during the evacuation that sent both government and civilian workers out of the city. Why the building hadn’t been locked was a mystery to Rick, considering how most of the open rooms contained expensive-looking equipment and supplies, but it wasn’t a mystery he had time to dwell on. The first of the gang members had finally made it over the gate and would likely be opening it for the rest of their comrades, and Rick knew that his group had only minutes at best to find an elevated, defensible position.
