فصل دهم

Chapter 10: Out of the Frying Pan

The mood in back of the van changed from relief to terror.

“What do we do?” Abigail asked.

“Try the back door,” Jack said.

“There’s no handle,” Taylor said. “You can only open the door from the outside.” “Can you shock them?” Ostin asked Zeus.

“Not through that plastic screen.” “What if I melted through it first?” McKenna said.

“If you shock them, they’ll crash,” Taylor said.

“I’d rather take my chance with a car crash than with Hatch,” Zeus said. “At least with the crash I’ve got a chance of surviving.” Taylor looked back at the men, then knocked on the plastic behind the first man. “Where are you really taking us?” “I told you. Somewhere safe.”

“Where is safe?”

“You know all you need to know,” he replied.

“Who are you really?” Ostin asked again.

At first neither of them answered. Then the driver laughed. “Soldiers of fortune.” “No,” said the other. “Underpaid soldiers.” “Not anymore,” the driver said. “Soon we will be sunning on the beaches in Argentina.” “You’re Elgen scum!” Jack shouted.

“No.” The man in the passenger seat turned back. “We are not with the Elgen company. But they pay better than the Peruvian army.” “You know they’ll kill us,” Taylor said.

“What they do is not our concern,” the driver said. “And the Peruvian government will execute you anyway. Your chances are better with the Elgen company.” “You’ve never met Hatch,” Zeus said.

“Met what?” the man replied.

“Manuel,” the driver said, his voice suddenly pitched. “Mire!” In the middle of the road ahead of them was an army tank. Its cannon was pointed directly at them.

“That’s not good,” Ostin said.

“Who is that?” Taylor asked.

“Looks like the Peruvian army isn’t as dumb as those two think they are.” “Que hago?” the driver asked.

“No sé! Vire!”

“Pueden reducirnos a cenizas!” “No van a matar los chicos.”

“What are they saying?” Taylor asked.

“They’re trying to figure out what to do about the tank,” Ostin said.

Suddenly machine-gun fire exploded around them, blowing out the van’s tires.

“Everyone down!” Taylor shouted.

The teens fell to the floor. There was a loud screech as the tires shredded off and the truck’s metal rims hit the payment.

“Mi Madre de Dios!” shouted the driver.

“Firme!”

The transport veered off the road and everyone bounced around in the back. Bullets tore through the front and side windows of the cab, ripping apart the front of the van. A stray bullet hit Jack in the arm. “Ah!” “They got Jack!” Wade shouted. “They got Jack!” “Calm down!” Jack shouted. “It’s just a flesh wound!” The van tipped up on two wheels, then slid down a small dirt slope where it crashed into a grove of small trees, tumbling everyone in back. When the motion stopped, everyone was quiet.

“Everyone okay?” Jack asked.

“I’m okay,” Abigail said.

“Me too,” McKenna said. “I just hit my head.” “I’m okay too,” Taylor said. She had a small gash on her forehead and blood was running down the side of her face.

“You’re bleeding,” Ostin said.

“I noticed,” she said, wiping the blood from around her eye.

Ostin moved closer to her. “It doesn’t look too deep.” Zeus said to Jack, “You okay, buddy?” “Yeah. Stings a little.”

“I can help,” Abigail said. She took Jack’s arm and the pain went away.

“Thanks,” Jack said.

“Anytime,” she replied.

As they lay there, dozens of Peruvian soldiers surrounded the vehicle. Soldiers pulled open the front door of the van, then dragged the bodies of the traitorous soldiers out of the cab.

“Están muertos.”

A soldier looked into the window at the youth, then stepped back. “Everyone come out of the truck,” a voice said.

“We’re locked in!” Ostin shouted. “We can’t get out.” “Apúrense!” a voice shouted. “Scales antes que reventa el combi!” The soldiers swarmed the back of the van. “We will open the door,” one shouted. “If you run, we shoot.” “Should I blast them?” Zeus asked.

“No. There’s too many of them,” Taylor said.

“And they’ve got us outgunned,” Ostin added.

“Maybe they’re going to shoot us for trying to escape,” Wade said.

“They have a tank,” Ostin said. “If they wanted us dead, they would have just blown us up. Besides, they probably just think we were kidnapped by those dudes.” The back doors of the van swung open, revealing dozens of guns pointing at them, including two mounted machine guns and a flamethrower.

“Can you say overkill?” Ostin said sardonically.

“Come out,” one of them shouted in English. “One at a time.” Ostin breathed out slowly. “Failed again,” he said.

“Michael,” Taylor said, holding her head. “Where are you?”