“That’s what I’m afraid of, but I don’t see any other options. Shh, I see them coming.”
“Do you think John’s ready?”
“I’m not sure, but we’re running out of time. If we empty two clips at them, maybe it will slow them down enough so we can get back to the dunebuggy and do the jump.”
“That’s if John’s ready.”
“Exactly, if we go too soon, they will catch up before we make the jump.”
“So we wait?”
“As long as we can, if he isn’t ready we try to pull back and fight.”
“The jump is starting to look better and better, even at 20%.”
Joseph, Uday and the other terrorist slowly approached the area the computer showed the locator in, searching with their night scopes. Uday whispered to Joseph,
“I don’t see how they can be in that pile. It’s not big enough to hold a dune buggy.”
“Keep getting close and go slow. They have to be in there.”
Uday kept crawling closer to the pile of brush while Joseph and the other terrorist covered him. He finally slowly crawled into the brush and found the locator lying in the sand where Sarah threw it. He picked it up in disgust and walked back to where Joseph was crouching down. He threw in on the ground in front of him. Joseph recognized what he threw down and swore in Arabic.
“This changes nothing. We know they are in this brush area and we have three jeeps covering the escape. We each have a night scope. We just find them. If they try running the jeeps will get them. Let’s go. Stay 20 meters apart and keep track of each other with your night scopes.”
Cody watched Joseph, Uday and the other terrorist slowly approach the area where he and Sarah were hiding. He whispered to Sarah,
“We’re running out of time. Go to the top of that little rise on the trail back to the dune buggy. I’m going to empty a clip at the terrorists and run up the trail toward you. When they recover you need to start shooting at them to cover me as I run up the trail. Just don't shoot me. When I get to the top, you take off for the dune buggy. I’ll load another clip and hold them off as long as I can but it won’t be very long. With three of them, they will come at me from three sides. Help John get ready. I’ll be right behind you.”
Sarah quickly crawled up the trail as the terrorists got closer. When Cody saw she was ready, he put his AK-47 on three shot bursts and fired at the terrorists. When he emptied his clip he sprinted up the trail toward Sarah. As she watched the terrorists recover and raise their weapons she started shooting at them causing them to duck back down. Cody cleared the top and dove down in the sand beside her as she emptied her clip.
“Go, go!” he yelled at her as he inserted another clip and turned back toward the terrorists and started shooting. As Sarah sprinted down the trail toward the dune buggy she and Cody heard the three signal shots from John’s Glock. Cody hurriedly emptied the clip toward the terrorists and sprinted down the trail after Sarah.
Joseph waited for a minute after Cody fired at them for the second time. He motioned to his men and they slowly crawled up the slope to where Cody last fired. Joseph called Abdul on the radio.
“Leave the other jeeps in position. Bring my jeep in closer. If you hear the dunebuggy start up, chase it.”
Abdul started the jeep and drove it to the area Joseph was in a few minutes previously at the bottom of the rise. He turned off the engine and the terrorists heard the dunebuggy revving up. Joseph motioned to Abdul from the top of the slope and he started the jeep and tore up the hill toward the sound of the dunebuggy.
Cody got to the dunebuggy and dove in the back seat beside Sarah and quickly put a new clip in Sarah’s AK-47. John took off down the trail and quickly picked up speed. They looked back and spotted Abdul behind them in the jeep. Cody handed Sarah her AK-47 and frantically started putting a new clip in his. He yelled to Sarah over the wind and engine noise,
“Don’t worry about aiming. Just point at the jeep. You’ll never hit anything anyway. This is just for effect to gain us a minute.”
Sarah emptied her clip at the jeep Abdul was in causing him to slow down. Cody looked back and couldn't see the jeep. It worked. He’s falling back a little. “Sarah, stand up beside me on the seat and hold onto the bars. When we’re in the air, we have to shift body weight to keep the dune buggy level.”
“What exactly are we doing?”
“We don’t have enough time for me to explain and you really don’t want to know anyway. Just follow my lead.”
Sarah spotted the ravine ahead. “Are you guys nuts!” she screamed. “We’ll never make it! That’s a 75 foot jump!”
“Just ride it out. It’s going to be a hard landing.”
As the dune buggy left the ramp it flew into the air soaring more that a hundred feet over the rocky ground at the bottom of the ravine. As it crested high over the other side it started rolling to the left. Cody and Sarah threw all their weight against the right bar. It wasn’t enough but it helped. The dune buggy hit on the left front wheel and bounced to the right. The right front hit and dug into the sand, spinning the dune buggy to the left. John and Ellen were wearing their seat belts and stayed in as the buggy rolled twice. Cody and Sarah were thrown from the back, flew through the air and landed in the sand 40 feet in front of where the dune buggy finally stopped. The sand was soft enough to break most of their fall.
Abdul wasn’t so lucky. After he fell back when Sarah shot at him and tried to catch back up, he was only going about 55 miles per hour when he hit the ramp. He needed at least 65. Abdul's jeep slammed into the other side of the ravine about five feet below the lip. It burst into flames as it tumbled the rest of the 95 feet into the bottom of the ravine.
Cody got up, brushed the sand out of his eyes and saw Sarah lying face down. He limped over as she rolled over to look up at him. “You and your brother were insane to try that.”
“Yeah, but the alternative wasn’t that good either. At least we’re alive. How are you?”
“Aside from every part of my body hurting and a bloody nose, I feel just great. What about you? You’re limping.”
“I hurt my ankle when I landed. I don’t think it’s broken, but it really hurts. It looks like the dune buggy is on its side. We need to check on John and Ellen.”
“John, is Ellen all right? She looks dazed.”
Sarah grabbed Ellen's shoulder and shook her.
“Ellen, it’s Sarah. Are you OK?”
“She’s not responding. She just looks out in space. Get her out of her seatbelt. It probably doesn’t help that she’s hanging from her seat.”
“Lie her down over there. At least she’s breathing. I wonder if she’s in shock.”
“Guys, I think she is just overwhelmed. The most excitement she ever gets is going outside when it’s raining. We better see if the dune buggy is workable. We can’t stay here.”
John looked back at the jump. “I’m going to crawl back past those bushes and see what happened. At least they didn’t land on us. I don’t think they made the jump. Cody, you and Sarah stay here with Ellen. It doesn’t look like you could walk very far anyway.”
John crawled back through the bushes and peered at the ravine. He saw smoke coming over the lip. He then spotted the other two jeeps still on the other side. He slowly backed up and went back to the others.
“It looks like there is a jeep in the ravine, the other two were able to stop in time. They are on the other bank.”
Sarah looked at John. “Are they coming?”
“No. The ravine is too steep to climb back out without equipment. The jeep either crashed into our side of the bank at high speed or fell into the ravine. It’s about 100 feet deep. We don’t have to worry about it anymore, just the other jeeps. But they have to go clear around the ravine. It’s about ten miles either way until they can cross. We have a little time. We need to see if the dune buggy w
ill still run. It hit pretty hard and it’s lying on its side.”
John looked over the dune buggy. “I think it will run, but we have to flip it back on its wheels. It’s going to take all of us.”
Sarah looked over at Ellen. “I don’t think Barbie is going to be much good, and Cody has a bad ankle.”
Cody struggled up. “I can help push. I have one good ankle. Just help me over there.”
John, Sarah and Cody backed up to the dune buggy, grabbed the rails and lifted with their legs, but couldn’t get it to roll back.
John looked at the dune buggy lying on its side. “We have to do this. Those jeeps will be back and they will be in a really bad mood. Let’s try working together and rocking it.”
The three dug in, started rocking the dune buggy and lifted with all they had. It finally flipped over onto its wheels. John jumped in and got it started.
“OK, we’re good. Let’s load up Barbie and get out of here.”
Sarah asked, “Any idea where we’re going?”
John looked out in the distance. “Any place but here. Those terrorists know where we are if we stay here. I want to head east and get as far from here as possible.”
Joseph sat in a jeep on the other side peering furiously down at his burning jeep with Abdul still strapped inside. He opened his laptop that Abdul tossed to him as he roared past and studied the surrounding terrain. The other terrorists gathered around afraid to talk. Joseph pointed to the two ways around the ravine and said to Uday,
“You go this way and I’ll go this way and we’ll meet up on the other side so we can track them. If you get there first, don’t kill the kids. Just hold them.”
“You don’t want me to kill them?” asked Uday surprised.
“No. Save them for me. They are going to die a very slow death.”
Chapter 52
“Deputy Director, we have some information from our Arabic translators that have been listening to the video.”
“Put them on speaker. Gather everyone around. We need to know what’s going on. What about the NSS?”
“They’re on that monitor so they can hear and see what we are doing and communicate with us. They are also tied into all of our feeds.”
“I see. Put on the translators.”
Victor turned on the speaker phone.
“This is Deputy Director Collins. Who am I speaking with?”
“This is Rollin, head of Arabic translations. Where do you want to start?”
“Give us everything you have learned so far.”
“Don’t forget none of this is verified. It is what they said talking to each other on the video. We went over what we heard with the experts in Bio-weapons so we could know for sure what we have. The nerve gas is actually a liquid that can be sprayed with a crop dusting plane. It is fairly sticky and immediately starts evaporating, putting nerve gas into the air. It appears that if exposed to the air, it will evaporate within 24 hours. The gas will be effective for about 12 hours after it evaporates. However if the liquid is not allowed to evaporate, it will stay potent for a long time after it is made. So an area that is sprayed should be safe after about two days.”
“How potent is it for the two days?”
There was no response from Rollin.
“Rollin, are you still there?” asked the Deputy Director.
“That’s the problem. It is about the same as VX gas, the most potent agent we have ever seen. If they spray high and the liquid drifts and floats around and there is a light wind, it could go a long way and kill everything in its path. And then for the next 12 hours the gas will do the same.”
There was stunned silence at Homeland Security. Finally Victor spoke.
“Will this gas seep into buildings or can we keep them closed up for two days and be safe?”
“With human nature the way it is, there is no way you could keep the buildings closed up enough. Everyone will want to run in the streets and flee. Even if you did leave a building closed, it is unlikely the gas wouldn’t creep in enough. Buildings aren’t that tight.”
“Just how lethal is this gas?”
“If the gas touches your skin, it will be absorbed. Once enough is absorbed, you will have several minutes to live. If you breathe the gas, one breath could kill you depending on the concentration.”
There was more silence until Harris asked,
“How much skin has to be exposed to get a lethal dose?
“A few square inches, remember I said this was comparable to VX gas.”
“Do we have any estimate on potential casualties?”
“Impossible to predict, but easily in the millions.”
Everyone was too stunned to reply for several minutes.
“Thank you, Rollins. Is there anything else you can add?”
“Yes. The terrorists have an antidote. They believe they are immune. They plan on escaping this. We need that antidote.”
“Was there any information about the antidote on the tape you saw?”
“Only how good it is. Not how it works or what it is.”
“And all the antidote that the kids stole was on the helicopter that was shot down and burned?”
“Except for the antidote the kids took.”
“Thank you again, Rollins.”
Deputy Director Collins said,
“We have to get that flash drive and we have to stop those planes before they spray.”
They heard a voice from the overhead speakers.
“This is General Alsop from the Joint Chiefs. You have full authority to shoot down those planes. They cannot spray LA. If you have to shoot them down over a populated area, then do it. We have to minimize casualties.”
“There is one more thing,” Deputy Director Collins said to the staff. “This is unusual, but it applies especially to the staff in Los Angeles that are listening in. I am letting all of you call home. I have decided to issue an emergency alert for everyone to stay indoors. Try to keep your families in their houses. We don't know where the planes are planning to spray so there is no way to evacuate or flee. The less you worry about them, the better job you will do for me. The best way you can help them at this point is tell them to seal the house and for you to help us get these planes down before they spray.”
John stopped the dune buggy for a minute to talk.
“What do you guys think? We can go for miles out here, but we don’t know where we’re going. I haven’t been this far before.”
Cody chimed in, “But they’re still back there. Didn’t you say they still have at least one jeep?”
“I saw two jeeps on the other bank.”
Sarah jumped in, “I think we have to assume they’re still chasing us. If they were mad before, losing a jeep isn’t going to help. I say we keep going and get as much distance from here as we can?”
“They all looked over at Ellen.
“She looks shell shocked,” said John “I hope she’s alright. She just sits there staring in space.”
“Let’s get out of here,” said Cody. “If they catch up, being shell shocked will be the least of her worries.”
John sped off heading East.
The staff had been watching the radar returns as the two F-15’s tried to balance running their afterburners enough to get to the crop dusters before they get to the populated areas and not run out of fuel and crash.
“Homeland Security, this is flight leader Iceman. I have SWA flight 34 and the crop duster he is following on my radar. He is pulling up. Do I have clearance to fire?”
“You have permission to fire, Iceman. Take out that plane.”
Director Collins said,
“It looks like the other F-15 will get to the plane JetBlue 523 is following in time also. What about the plane that racing plane and SWA 65 are following. They have more missiles. Don’t they?”
“They have more missiles, but they are too far away. He will be over Azusa before the
missile could get to him.”
“Air traffic, this is 527. He’s getting close to the LA area. How close are the fighters?”
“Still a couple minutes before missile range. Stay with him. We have your transponder so we know where you are.”
“A couple minutes! He’s going to spray Azusa before the missiles get him.”
“We know, we’re doing all we can.”
Marge leaned over the seat and stared rummaging through her bag. “Leroy, get up beside him when the canyon opens up. He’s heading for Azusa where my grandkids are. No one messes with my grandkids.”
Leroy looked over and saw Marge holding her Glock and checking the magazine.
“Do you think you can shoot down a crop duster with that Glock?”
“No, but I can shoot the bastard that’s flying it. Do you think that aluminum door will stop a 9 millimeter? Just get up close to him and he’s going down.”
“OK Marge, the canyon’s opening up. I can get up beside him on his left. Are you ready?”
“I was born ready. Just get me close.”
“Just don’t shoot my wing.”
“Just fly the plane, Grandpa. Leave the shooting to me.”
Leroy edged up his plane beside the crop duster as Marge opened her window. Ali looked over and was shocked to see a small plane on his left. He was more shocked to see a pistol pointed out the window. His eyes opened wide as Marge rapidly pulled the trigger five times. Three of her shots hit AIi, the last one through his neck. As Ali slumped over, his body pushed down the controls forcing the plane into a dive. Leroy and Marge watched the crop duster nose over and fly straight into the ground.
“I’d better call air traffic control,” said Leroy.
“Air traffic control, the crop duster we were following has crashed.”
“What! Are you sure? What happened?”
“The terrorist seemed to have trouble flying the plane after Marge shot him.”
“She shot him?”
“Grandma doesn’t like it when people mess with her grandkids. They live in Azusa where the plane was headed. That plane is now a smoking hole in the ground.”