Turncoat: Turncoat Trilogy Book 1

Chapter 24.1

The drive was long, apparently Nick had arranged for us to skip a stop along the way, preferring instead to go straight from the hotel to a private residence somewhere. We had to fill up for gas once at a run down fuel station, where I grabbed a few small things to eat and made sure I kept my jacket on. The station was so archaic it didn't have the state cameras all over the place, but I didn't want to risk anyone seeing the brand. We must have been driving for eighteen or nineteen hours when the car shut off. I lifted my head and leaned forward. "Um? Anyone?"

"That's weird," Vicki said. "We've got gas."

"Get out of the car," Nick said. "I don't like where we are sitting."

I looked outside only to notice we sat in the divot of two small hills covered in shrubbery. Strategic vantage points and a perfect place to launch an ambush.

I exited the car, looking around and up, searching for anything to point out ambush signs. Vicki and Nick were removing duffles from the back. Nick passed me a rifle and a pistol. I slung the rifle over my shoulder and clipped the pistol to my belt.

"Both are armed, use them if you have to," he said.

I nodded and took my duffle bags from him. We walked back the direction we came. Both Nick and Vicki held their rifles with anticipation, watching the tops of the hills as I watched the road ahead.

"We should get off the road," I said.

The both nodded their agreement and we entered the undergrowth. We moved silently, taking only the clearest routes and stepping on rock whenever we could. A snapping twig caused all three of us to stop in spot. Vicki motioned for me to go one way and Nick to go another. "Met up in Creston," she whispered.

I started the direction she told me and thought about it. Creston was a town twelve miles to our east. How was I supposed to get there without at least a map, yet alone any idea of where I was. A gout of gunfire interrupted my thoughts and I instantly dropped the duffles bringing my rifle up. I scanned the undergrowth around me, looking for any signs of anyone. I bit back my instinct to call out for Vicki or Nick.

I kicked my duffles underneath a patch of large nettles and started stalking low, keeping my rifle in hand. I felt a click underneath my heel and I looked down to see the exposed edge of a pressure plate underneath my boot.

I stopped and saw three people step out of the undergrowth, with their pistols raised and pointed at me. Behind me, an embankment led down to a small creek.

"Well, would you lookie at which one we got," one of them sneered. "The crippled traitor."

"It's almost too bad that mine will rip those bionics right off of you. You'll be unfixable even if you survive," another said.

I tensed my legs, preparing to jump backwards and down the embankment.

"Put the rifle down, girl," the third instructed. "It'll do you no good."

"This is a Numera Claymore isn't it?" I asked. Recognition flashed in their eyes and I knew I had my guess right. "Pressure sensitive trigger, once I get off there's a two second fuse delay. Blast radius of twelve feet, packed full of nasty shrapnel." I glanced back at the embankment, wondering how fast I could fall twelve feet. "You guys are too close already. The fire will hit your fronts, but the shrapnel, that will shred you. Take one more step and I waste all of us."

"You wouldn't do it," the first one said starting to step forward.

"Try me," I said. An empty threat, I couldn't have done it. I couldn't shift my weight around too much or it would go off.

I picked up my foot as if to step back and he stopped.

"You guys didn't think this through, did you?" I asked. "I'm stuck here until someone disarms the mine. Kill me, it goes off. Try to arrest me, it goes off. So, what are you going to do about it?"

The men looked at each other and then me. Little head motions were exchanged back and forth for a while, grimaces and finally one lowered his rifle. He took one step towards me and lunged.

I jumped away, hitting the slope and allowing myself to fall backwards. Sticks and thorns bit into my skin as I tumbled. The explosion ripped through the air, heat searing across my skin. It took everything I had to keep my hands up near my head as I fell. Water filled my world in an instant as I landed facedown in the creek. Mud filled my eyes, blinding me temporarily and I forced myself to lay still for a second.

My ears rang from the explosion. My entire body felt numb. I breathed out as hard as I could, trying not to inhale the water half in my mouth. Each breath sent a wave of pain through my chest. Definitely broke at least one rib. I pushed up out of the water, my hands sinking deep into the muck as I groped around for my rifle. My fingers curled around the grip and I pulled it out of the mud, lips curling into a snarl as I realized the barrel was caked.

I looked down at myself, seeing a jagged piece of metal sticking out of my side and another in my leg. Guess it could have been a lot worse all things considered. I drew my pistol, thankful to see it seemed to have mostly survived the tumble and started limping for cover.