“I’m not lying. We’re all here.”
The man studied Brandon’s face, then turned and walked several feet away. “Krieger, report.” He paused. “Krieger, report.” Another pause. He shot a look at the two newly arrived men. “Go.”
They went back the way they’d come.
That’s when it hit Brandon.
Chloe.
Chloe and miller were ready and waiting when the two men returned. Instead of luring them into the woods with a sound, they used the dead soldier’s body, leaving his head sticking out from the tree line just far enough to be seen.
Like moths to a light, the two men rushed to their fallen comrade. Chloe and Miller were on them before they even knew what happened.
Four down.
“Williams?” Judson said.
No response.
“Williams, what the hell’s going on?”
Still nothing.
What the fuck?
He glanced at McGrath and Torres. Both men looked concerned.
“Let’s get everyone together,” he ordered.
But before any of them could take a step, a shot rang out. McGrath fell to the ground, and Torres stumbled a few feet before joining him. Several of the kids screamed.
Not one shot, Judson realized. Two. He slipped behind a tree just as another bullet hit its trunk.
“Everyone get down!” Brandon Ash said. “Lie on the ground!”
Judson searched around, desperate. The girl who’d had to go to the bathroom was two feet away. He grabbed her and pulled her to his chest.
“Leave me alone!” she screamed, and started to wail.
“Let her go!” Brandon yelled.
Judson ignored him as the girl struggled in his arms. “Stop it or I’ll break your arm.”
Though her whimpering didn’t stop, her thrashing ceased.
“Please,” Brandon said again. “Let her go. You…you can take me instead.”
Judson looked at the girl and then at Brandon. The boy was a lot bigger than she was, and would be much better as a shield.
“Fine. Get over here,” he said.
“Let her go first.”
“No way.”
The boy hesitated a moment, then crawled over. Judson grabbed his arm and dropped the girl.
“Go to Miss Collins,” Brandon told her.
The girl stood there like she didn’t want to leave.
“Go on,” Brandon said.
Tears streaming down her face, she nodded, and disappeared around the tree.
Judson yanked Brandon in front of him, and held him against his chest with his left arm.
“Come on out,” a female voice called. “We know you’re back there.”
Who the hell is that?
His gaze darted all over the place. There had to be an escape somewhere, a way out of this mess.
There were enough trees that if he ran straight back, maybe they wouldn’t be able to get a shot at him.
“You’re wasting time,” the woman said. “You’re not getting away, so come on out.”
Judson adjusted his hold on the boy, and whispered, “Follow my lead.” He took a step forward.
The roar of the gun wasn’t as surprising as the sensation of the bullet passing by only a few feet in front of him.
“I wouldn’t, if I were you,” a man said, his voice coming from the side.
Judson turned, putting Brandon between him and the shooter. The guy was about forty feet away, leaning out from behind a tree.
“Let the boy go,” the man said.
Judson placed the muzzle of his gun against Brandon’s head. “You let me out of here first, then he can go.”
“What’s going on?” the woman asked. She was closer now.
“He’s got Brandon,” the man replied. “Says if we let him get away, he’ll let Brandon go.”
Worried that she was going to sneak up behind him, Judson twisted around the tree, keeping Brandon in front of him. He was now out of sight of the man, but could see the woman. She was less than thirty feet away, her gun aimed at him. If she pulled the trigger, though, there was a very good chance she’d hit the kid first.
“Back off and let me go,” he said.
“Brandon!” the little girl yelled.
“Get them out of here,” the woman with the gun said to the one Brandon had called Miss Collins.
Fear in her eyes, Miss Collins began ushering the kids away.
“Put your gun down,” the woman said to Judson.
He pushed the barrel hard against Brandon’s ear. “You put yours down. Both you and your friend. When I’ve put enough room between us, I’ll let the kid go.”
“And why should I trust you?”
“Because you have no choice.”
She paused, looked toward where the other man had been standing, then back at Judson. “All right.” She started to lower her gun to the ground.
Boom!
Josie was sure she’d gone the wrong way.
When she found the house empty, she’d gone out the back, thinking it was the only direction everyone could have taken. She found trample marks on a bed of pine needles leading to the right, and assumed that was the way the others had gone. But since then, she had found no one.
She was about to turn back when she heard the gunshots. They were about a hundred yards ahead and to the left. She ran as fast as she could, then ducked into the cover of the woods at the first sign of movement. Peering around a tree, she saw Chloe, her gun raised in front of her. Scattered around her were several kids.
“Back off and let me go.”
Josie’s view of the speaker was blocked, but before she could even adjust her position, a little voice hollered, “Brandon!”
Brandon? Had he been hurt?
“Get them out of here,” Chloe said.
Josie moved to her left for a better view. She froze. One of the soldiers had an arm around Brandon and was holding a gun against her brother’s head.
“Put your gun down,” Chloe said.
“You put yours down,” he replied. “Both you and your friend. When I’ve put enough room between us, I’ll let the kid go.”
Josie didn’t believe that for a second. He was going to kill Brandon.
She lifted her newly acquired rifle to her shoulder, almost without thinking.
Breathe.
Hold.
Let a little out.
Squeeze.
Chloe whirled around as the crack of a rifle filled the air. She aimed her gun toward the source of the shot. When she didn’t see anything right away, she glanced back at Brandon and the soldier.
They were both lying on the ground.
No! She rushed over, heedless of the other shooter. As she dropped to her knees, she realized Brandon was trying to get out from under the man’s arm. She pulled the limb to the side and Brandon rolled free.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
“Yeah. Yeah, I think so,” he said.
The soldier was not, however. The shot had caught him squarely in the eye.
“Brandon?”
Chloe and Brandon turned. Josie stepped out between the trees, a rifle in her hand.
“Did…did you…was that…” Brandon said.
Josie dropped the gun as she ran to him. She wrapped her arms around him, and he wrapped his around hers.
“You’re okay,” she said. “You’re okay.”
“I’m okay. I’m fine.”
Chloe climbed to her feet and scanned the forest. Though all seven men from the Project Eden team were dead, she couldn’t help feeling like another would somehow show up any second.
Finally, she locked eyes with Miller and they both breathed a sigh of relief.
When the Ash kids finally broke their hug, Chloe narrowed her eyes and said to Josie, “Thought I told you to stay back by the truck.”