A team was only as strong as the weakest link, and Mary wasn’t looking very strong. If Kalen’s life came down to Mary’s ability to keep her alive, it wasn’t going to end well. But it was a fate she’d come to terms with.
It was an odd feeling though, thinking about death with such indifference. Kalen never considered it before. It seemed so far away, like a dream you couldn’t remember.
The days of boys, parties, and going to college just weren’t a part of her reality anymore. The only thing that felt real was the rifle in her hands and the extra magazines loaded in her bag, smacking against her back as she pressed forward.
The motel sign was just ahead. Kalen recognized it from Mary’s description. When she saw the group of a dozen bikers starting their bikes, she whipped around to grab Mary’s attention.
“They’re leaving!”
But Mary’s eyes were focused on something in the courtyard of the motel. Kalen followed her line of sight to the pile of black and brown figures stacked around a pole. There was something tied to the pole, but she couldn’t tell what it was.
Mary stood up, oblivious of being seen. Kalen yanked her back down.
“What are you doing?” Kalen asked.
“That’s… a person… on the pole.”
Kalen peered through the scope on her rifle. When the object on the pole came into view, her stomach turned.
It wasn’t a person anymore. It was a charred piece of meat slumped over a pile of another dozen burnt bodies.
“Jesus,” Kalen said.
She wanted to look for a building with a second-story window to give them the advantage of higher ground, but she wasn’t sure if they’d have time now.
A few bikers had already started to weave through the parking lot and onto the street. When three of the bikers disappeared heading toward the west side of town, Kalen checked to see if the others would be joining them, but no one else showed.
“Must be a scout party,” Kalen said.
“Who were those people? What did they do to them?” Mary asked.
“Mary, listen to me. I’m going to the other side of the motel. I’ll fire a few shots in the air to draw them out. When they do, you open fire, understand? If it gets bad, head back for the tall grass.”
“It was a woman tied up there. Who is she?”
“Once you open fire, I’ll start taking them out on my side. We’ll bottleneck them. They’ll think there are more than two of us in the beginning, but that’ll only last for a little while.”
“There’s a reason she’s up there. Why is she up there?”
“Mary!”
Kalen shook Mary’s shoulders, trying to bring her back to the moment.
“You want to help that woman on the pole? The one they burned? The one they hurt? Shoot them, and don’t let up. Here,” Kalen said, giving her two of the loaded magazines. “If you need to reload you shove the magazine in like this, and rack the chamber. You’ll only need to do it once.”
Mary nodded.
“Remember, bring the rifle to your eyes, squeeze the trigger, don’t pull it, and be prepared for some recoil. It’ll hurt the first couple times,” Kalen said.
Kalen took off, leaving Mary behind one of the cars. She kept low, sprinting toward the other side. Once she was clear and caught her breath, she closed her eyes.
Focus. This is why you’re here. You can do this. You can do this. Just do it.
She aimed her pistol in the air, poised to fire the opening shots that would draw the bikers out, but just before she squeezed the trigger she stopped herself. She peeked back around the corner of the building she was hiding behind and saw row of motorcycles that were still parked in the lot. She smiled.
“Might as well make an entrance.”
She brought the Harleys into her cross hairs and squeezed the trigger. The bullets blasted through two of the bikes closest to her, knocking them over.
The shouts from inside the rooms immediately followed. The bikers had their guns drawn, rushing outside. When Kalen heard the shots from Mary’s rifle, she ran for a parked car that had a better vantage point in front of the motel.
One of the bikers must have seen her because as soon as she ducked behind the car’s engine, she could hear the thud of bullets hitting the metal.
Be patient. Wait for your shot. Draw them out.
There was a break in the firing. Kalen jumped up from her cover. There were five of them she could see. The closest was out in the open, exposed. He tried to make a run for it, but Kalen had a bead on him.
Squeeze it.
The sound of the bullet leaving the barrel and the spray of blood from the biker’s chest was simultaneous. When he hit the ground she moved on to the next.
One of the bikers ducked behind the fountain in the courtyard. He was crouched low, but the top of his head was still exposed. She squeezed the trigger and a spray of bullets peppered the concrete fountain. She missed.
Kalen ducked behind the car again. Another round of bullets volleyed back at her. She could hear the shots coming from her right where Mary was firing from.
Kalen jumped back up on the hood, hoping the biker behind the fountain would give her a better shot.
“Gotcha.”
The bullet sliced the biker’s head in two. Kalen swung the rifle up to the second floor where some of the bikers were coming out of their rooms. She flicked the lever from single shot to spray.
Bullets ricocheted off the iron posts from the guardrail on the second floor. She hit one of the bikers in the leg, and he crumpled to the ground. Kalen sent another spray of bullets into him to finish the job.
More bikers were filling the courtyard now, each of them with pistols, rifles, and shotguns. The cars Kalen and Mary were hiding behind were starting to look like Swiss cheese. The time frame between the bikers reloading was getting smaller.
The side mirror exploded over Mary, sending a rain of glass on top of her. She ducked lower, shielding herself from the endless firing of gunshots.
“Mary! Head to the other side of the street! I’ll cover you!” Kalen said.
Mary nodded. Kalen inched toward the trunk of the car, keeping herself low so the bikers couldn’t see her. When she made it to the rear of the car, the tires exploded, dropping the car lower.
Kalen ducked with it, keeping her head down as more bullets rained down on her. She jumped up and gave Mary the cover fire she needed to sprint across the street.
A few of the bikers had grown bold and left themselves exposed. Kalen killed three more before they could find cover.
As Kalen dropped back behind the car, she could hear the shouts of one of the bikers.
“Send some around back. We’ll cut them off.”
“Jake wants them alive!”
Kalen sprinted back toward the corner of the building where she was earlier. Her feet smacked against the pavement as she fired a few more shots into the biker’s direction, then heard the click of the firing pen.
Empty.
Once she made it to the building’s corner, clear from the exposed road, the empty magazine hit the sidewalk. She loaded a new magazine in and racked the chamber.
She wanted to cut the bikers off before they made it to the other side of town. If the bikers sandwiched them in one of the buildings, they’d be goners.
Kalen ran past the storefronts toward the west side of town, trying to beat the bikers there. She skidded to a stop just before the buildings ended.
Four of the bikers pursued her. They inched their way toward her, moving from car to car up the side of the street and using some of the doors to the shops for cover.
“Shit,” Kalen said.
She looked around, trying to think of a way out. When the bikers came around from the back, she’d be cornered.
It was a good thirty yards from her location to safety on the other side of the street, thirty yards without any cover. She could make a run for it, but it would expose her.