Chapter 105
WITH A LURCH that threw the major against the back of the turret, Perry buried the accelerator. The armored car hurtled at the burning barrier.
“Brace for impact!” his driver shouted.
Sauvage leaned into the crash as the Sherpa’s massive steel bumper blew through the two cars, sending them spinning out of the way.
Perry screeched the armored vehicle to a halt thirty yards from the mob, which had begun to break up and scatter. But ten or more men stood their ground, screaming at Sauvage. They hurled stones and then a Molotov cocktail that burst into flames in front of the Sherpa.
Provocation if there ever was, the major thought. He flipped the safety lever on the machine gun and almost pulled the trigger. But he held his fire and said, “Straight ahead, Perry. Get them running.”
Perry steered around the fire and accelerated toward the lingering rioters, who turned and fled into the housing project.
“Follow them,” Sauvage said.
His eyes went everywhere, from the youth in the headlights to the dimly lit grounds and the glowing windows of the nearest high-rise, where residents were looking out fearfully.
C’mon, the major thought. Let’s do this.
But they passed the first building without incident.
“Left,” Sauvage commanded.
The Sherpa rolled into a bare dirt common area between the first and second apartment towers.
C’mon, the major thought. I’m giving it to you on a plate. Do it or I’m going to lose my faith in-
The shot came from six or seven stories up in the second tower, and smacked off the hood of the Sherpa.
Defective bullets in lots slated for disposal have a way of not shooting where you aim them, the major thought in amusement. Especially when they’re shot from guns with faulty sights.
The 7.5mm cartridges in La Nana, on the other hand, were top grade, and its sights sharply calibrated. He aimed the muzzle of the maid where he thought the shot had come from and mashed the trigger.
The machine gun rattled and shook, spitting death at the upper floors of the second building. Spent casings flipped all around Sauvage as the bullets gouged the walls and shattered windows in the general area where he thought the sniper had his perch. In Sauvage’s mind, casualties were irrelevant.
There was a deep silence after the six-second machine gun burst, and then from both buildings he heard screams and wails of fear, grief, and agony that all melded into one quivering howl about the injustice of combat.
Well, thought Sauvage, don’t harbor fucking Islamic terrorists and this kind of shit won’t happen.
“Drive on, Corporal.”
“Major? Are you-”
“Take an S pattern through the remaining buildings, Perry!” he roared. “We have to know which ones need to be swept floor to floor.”
“Yes, sir!” Perry cried, and drove on.
Gunfire sounded in the distance. Sauvage’s radio headset crackled.
“We’re getting fire from the north,” Captain Mfune said.
“Engage,” the major said, hearing more shots within seconds.
As they rolled on, Sauvage watched the upper floors of the building he’d just shot at, and saw no one at any window, shattered or whole. That worked in his favor. No witnesses meant that his version of events would be the one accepted.
They rounded the far end of the second building and passed between it and the third, with no shots fired and no one watching out the windows. Even without cell phones, word of his coming had spread. Bullets had a way of transcending all forms of communication.
All remained quiet as the Sherpa drove slowly between the third and fourth buildings and then along the fourth apartment tower’s far side, which bordered a swampy area.
But when the Sherpa crossed the lane that divided the housing project in two, there was a burst of gunfire from the second building on Sauvage’s right. He saw the muzzle flash clearly as the defective bullets, shot from beyond the Sterling’s optimum distance, skipped harmlessly off the pavement.
“Hard right, then left, Corporal,” Sauvage said, already locking on the crosshairs of La Nana’s sights.
Perry complied without comment. The Sherpa tacked twice toward the second sniper, who was on the sixth floor, four windows in.
The major was about to shoot when he noticed a woman in a robe and head scarf standing at the window of an apartment on the third floor. She was holding up a cell phone as if photographing or videoing his actions.
Sauvage took careful aim and shot her first.
Chapter 106
FOR EIGHT FULL seconds, until the ammunition was spent, Sauvage raked machine gun fire above, below, and on either side of that sixth floor window where the sniper had been.
“Move, Perry! Evasive,” the major barked. “I’m reloading.”
The Sherpa picked up speed. It wove back and forth while Sauvage fed a new chain of ammunition into La Nana.
Raindrops hit the machine gun’s superheated barrel and hissed as Perry took a right around the near high-rise. The major was already locked and loaded when the corporal took another right that put them in a long U-shaped space, with buildings to either side and a third at the far end.
Many of the rioters had regrouped in the common area. As Perry closed the gap between them, Molotov cocktails flew through the air and exploded. Then one of the rioters fired an AK-47 that damn near killed Sauvage. He heard the sound barrier break when the bullet blew past his ear.
The mob turned and fled as one.
“Full pursuit, Corporal!” the major ordered.
Perry sped after the rioters. Sauvage triggered his microphone and said, “Captain Mfune, I have armed AB-16 sympathizers heading your way.”
He heard nothing in return, but his focus was on that gang of thirty or forty rioters running in the Sherpa’s headlights toward the apartment building that formed the bottom of the U. They did what he thought they’d do: split into two groups. The majority went left, back toward the entrance. But about twelve of them broke to the right, including the one carrying the AK-47.
“Cut the small group off!” the major shouted.
Perry swung the Sherpa hard right, accelerated, and got out in front of the escaping rioters before skidding to a stop in the narrow gap between the buildings. Two of the rioters turned on a dime and took off the other way.
Seeing Sauvage training La Nana on them, the ten others, including the rifleman, dropped their weapons and threw up their hands.
The major noted the fear and loathing in their faces, and then pulled the trigger, mowing them all down in a single three-second burst.
“Major Sauvage!” Perry screamed. “Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ!”
Sauvage ignored him, wriggling out of the turret and jumping off the roof. With his back to the corporal, the major walked ten steps toward the bodies.
“Jesus, Major,” Perry choked out the open window. “They gave up.”
Crouching, Sauvage picked up the AK-47 amid the twitching corpses, pivoted, and aimed at his young driver.
“Sorry it had to be you, Perry,” he said. “But this story needs a saint.”
Terror registered on the young corporal’s face before Sauvage put two rounds through the driver’s forehead and six more around him through the open window.
The major reached into his pocket to tug out a handkerchief to wipe the Sterling down. He caught motion back at the open end of the common area.
He looked closer and saw Jack Morgan running back toward the entrance to the project, his arm in a sling. Even at this distance, the major could tell from his body language that Morgan had seen him turn the gun on his own man and maybe more.
Sauvage threw the Sterling to his shoulder, found Morgan in his sights, and fired just before he made the corner.