Gaby!
Her name snapped him back to the present, and Josh nodded and walked around the dead man. There was no blood on the ground, so at least he didn’t get any on his shoes.
They moved steadily across the tall grass, back toward the ridgeline and the boat waiting on the beach. Josh caught sight of Maddie and Bobby, crouching across the field, waiting for them with weapons in their hands.
Josh glanced up briefly at the sun. Still high. Still plenty of time.
There was no one else around them, and they moved at an almost leisurely pace. They were halfway to Maddie and Bobby when Will and Blaine suddenly stopped and looked back at him. No, not at him, but past him. Josh turned around and looked back at the marina and saw the sunlight glinting off the hood of a huge, bright red truck barreling into the parking lot. There was a man standing in the back of the truck and there were two more inside, one driving, the other leaning forward, hands on the dashboard, like he was afraid he might go flying through the windshield.
The man in the back of the truck was peering through binoculars, holding them with one hand while clutching the side of the truck with the other to keep from falling off. The man must have spotted them because he lowered his binoculars and began banging on the roof of the truck and pointing right at them.
Oh, shit.
“Josh, go,” Will said behind him.
Josh turned and began running. He passed Will and Blaine, who were unslinging their rifles and moving into a crouching position. Josh kept going even as he heard the first sounds of gunfire from the marina and the ground exploded around him, chunks of dirt kicking into the air and what sounded like bees screaming past his head.
Don’t look back! Whatever you do, don’t look back!
Then he heard more gunfire, this time closer. Will and Blaine, returning fire. He didn’t know for sure. That would mean looking back as he ran. That would slow him down, and he didn’t want to be slowed down at the moment.
So he ran, clutching the box of canned fruit in his arms. It had really gotten much, much heavier since he had taken it from Will. The equally heavy Remington shotgun thumped freely against his back as he ran, and it hurt. He thought about swiveling the shotgun around, but that was impossible with the box in his arms.
Can’t drop the canned fruit. Gaby will love it. She loves this stuff.
He had to get back on the boat. He had to go back to the island. Back to Gaby. That was the most important thing.
Maddie and Bobby were in front of him, frantically waving him over, their faces twisted into that odd expression people have when they’re trying to hurry other people along. He wondered what they thought he was doing.
Gee, thanks for the advice, guys. I couldn’t have done it without you.
He almost cracked a smile until he felt a sudden stinging sensation in his left leg. He stopped running before he even knew what was happening, and the box of canned fruit went flying out of his hands and he was tumbling forward like an acrobat. He saw the ground coming up and quickly tucked in his shoulders, the way he remembered seeing action heroes do in movies.
The Remington smashed into his back as he landed on the ground and rolled over, tall grass slapping at his face and arms. He thought his spine might have snapped on impact, paralyzing him. But no, he was still in one piece. Mostly, anyway. He found that he could still roll over and sit up in the grass, even as dirt splashed into the air and he heard the sound of more screaming bees trying to sting him.
Get away, bees!
Someone screamed his name. “Josh!”
He wasn’t sure if it was Will or someone else. It sounded like it was coming from in front of him, and when Josh looked up he saw Maddie running back toward him, Bobby moving alongside her and firing into the distance with his rifle.
Maddie grabbed him and pulled him up with one jerk of her hands. She was deceptively strong for such a little thing. He looked down and saw that he was bleeding and there was a neat hole in the front leg of his cargo pants.
Oh, shit, I’ve been shot.
He was surprised it didn’t really hurt all that much. But maybe that was the adrenaline pumping through him. Maybe it would hurt later. Probably.
“Hold on to me!” Maddie shouted at him.
She didn’t have to shout. He was right next to her. Maybe she felt like she needed to shout because of all the gunfire around them. There was a lot of it, especially with Bobby standing right next to them firing one shot at a time. Josh wondered why he wasn’t firing the whole magazine. Wasn’t that what people did in action movies? Unleash the whole magazine on the enemy?
He heard another voice behind him. “How is he?”
“He’s shot in his left leg,” Maddie said.
“Go go go,” the voice said.
Josh felt another pair of hands grab him around the waist, and he was suddenly lifted up like he didn’t weigh anything and dragged forward. Bobby, moving on his right, holding him around the waist. They were running. Or a combination of walking and running, with Bobby holding him on one side and Maddie on the other. They were making pretty good time, the ridgeline coming up fast.
Finally, his curiosity got the better of him, and Josh risked a glance backward.
Will and Blaine were jogging casually after them, the big, heavy crate swinging dangerously back and forth between them. Well, Will looked casual. Blaine’s face was locked in a tight, pained grimace. Josh wondered if Blaine had gotten shot, too.
Back at the marina behind them, the red truck had driven into the grass until it couldn’t go any farther. The man in the back of the truck was firing at them with a rifle. A second truck had shown up and three men were climbing out of it. They were armed and were running, joining others already rushing through the tall grassy field.
Bullets zipped through the air and burrowed into the ground to their left and right, but Josh guessed they had a good 100 yards on their pursuers, and it was hard to hit a moving target from that distance. Or at least, that’s what he had heard.
Will and Blaine suddenly stopped and turned, then began firing back. One of the men chasing them stumbled on something and pitched forward into the grass and didn’t get back up.
The others kept coming.
I guess 100 yards isn’t that great of a distance to shoot someone after all.
Will and Blaine snatched up the crate once again and started running after them. Josh was certain the heavy crate was going to spill its contents all over the grass at any moment. Then what would they do? Pick them back up, probably.
Amazingly, it never happened, but Josh couldn’t help but hold his breath anyway every time the crate swung forward, then swung back, then forward again….
Then Will and Blaine were suddenly running next to them, and Josh didn’t know how they had caught up with Bobby and Maddie so effortlessly.
“Look on the bright side,” Will shouted at him, “now there’ll be a reason for Gaby to spend all that time in your room!”
Josh grinned back at him. He had a point there.
“Hold on!” Maddie shouted.
Josh looked forward just in time to see Bobby and Maddie, with him hoisted like a child between them, jumping down the ridge and landing on the wet ground below. Mud splashed, some spraying the boat. The crate full of silverware was already inside, in front of the steering wheel in the middle.
Josh heard heavy grunting and looked over to see Blaine landing beside him. The big man instantly turned around and grabbed his end of the crate — dangling dangerously off the ridge above them — just as Will hopped down after him. The crate came down with Will, slamming into the ground and sending thick patches of mud in every direction.