The Serpent and the Crow

Book 4: Chapter Twenty-One

Wade followed the blood trail. He assumed one of them got hit in the onslaught Doug unleashed.

Douglas hobbled farther behind, but Wade could not stop his pursuit. Wade turned a corner and vaulted back to cover. Automatic fire showered the corner with bullets. Douglas turned up behind him, exhausted. It appeared they were done and running on fumes.

"Fuck," Doug said, "will you slow down a bit."

"You got to do more cardio, Grandpa."

"I left my Fitbit at home, maybe next time."

Douglas seemed faint, and Wade propped him up.

"You ok to carry on, Chief?"

"I regret not taking that cocaine I found in one of Bolivar's pouches."

Bullets whizzed by and Wade heard splashes.

"If I realized what kind of mess we'd be in, I would've bought my stash."

Wade peeked around the corner and looked at Braithwaite jump from a ledge. Followed by a splash. One of the other guards must have already jumped before Braithwaite. The remaining two were providing cover fire.

"Are you ready to give these fuckers a howdy-doody?"

Douglas nodded. He chambered a round in his AR-15. The detectives launched around the corner. They blasted one man, the other fell into the water.

Douglas and Wade hugged the walls as they creeped forward while blasting the man to shreds. The guard's body belly-flopped into a stream of water down below. Wade watched the pool of water and thought that it must lead to the river outside. It was a steep drop from the ledge. But it would not deter Wade.

"We gotta jump, you good?"

"Wait..."

Wade leapt and dove headfirst into the water. He did not come back up.

"Fuck," Douglas said.

The body of the man they killed floating on the surface. Douglas' heart pounded. Nez was unsure if it was nerves or blood loss. He recognized he had to finish it for the kids that these fuckers had killed. He took a deep breath and plunged.

Douglas sensed himself being sucked down. His head and body hit the cavernous walls while he it pulled him underwater. He submerged. He caught his breath but ducked back down to avoid the jiggered ceiling. Keeping his breath as long as he could.

He lost the AR-15 rifle. It felt like it snagged on something. It did not matter, if there was not a break in the next few meters, then Doug would be another floating dead body. He swam as hard as he could with the injuries he had sustained.

Doug plunged and surfaced out into the light. Dawn had come. Nez burst out of the flowing river and caught a fallen ponderosa. He spluttered as he sucked in air. Gunfire. Shots resounded through the woods.

The enemy fire pinned Wade down,. He ran out of ammo with that magazine work around Wade found.

Douglas still had the 1200 rounds of ammo in the pouches of his vest. He dragged himself ashore and crawled underneath a log and along the rocky boulders. The pain from his torture moments ago could still be felt. He made it to Wade.

"I said wait, Goddamn it. I can't swim."

"You should've said something," Wade shouted.

The ponderosa he used for cover was being splintered and chipped away by automatic fire. The shooting stopped. Reloading. Douglas pulled out the SAW ammo and gave it to Wade.