Chapter 15
“Yep,” I said as I turned and sprinted toward my escape hatch.
But Hopper Junior and Trahan had heard Hopper Senior’s yells, and they blocked the gate with their bodies even as they raised their guns. They began to fire off shots, but only one managed to clip my arm. They quickly realized that shooting at me, as well as their fellow neo-Nazis who were in hot pursuit, probably wasn’t a good idea, especially when one cried out as a stray bullet hit him in the foot.
I raised my gun and shot both of them with the stun mode, and they went down a moment later. I hurdled over the two passed-out guards, smashed through the gate, and ran full tilt into the cover of the forest.
The suit gave me the extra strength I needed as I propelled myself up the slope and over the ridgeline. I was practically flying across the forest floor, and I knew that the neo-Nazis were falling further behind.
But then the shots started.
I heard a whizzing sound zing right past my head, and then an ash tree next to me exploded in a cloud of splinters. The bullet had narrowly missed my ear, and I turned back quickly to see who was shooting.
The neo-Nazis had begun to pour out of the gate like rabid dogs out of their cages, and they spread out into the undergrowth like ants escaping a waterlogged nest. Some of them paused to shoot at me, while others focused on trying to catch up. Another shot went off, and the ground next to my feet erupted into a cloud of dust, mud, and twigs.
I quickly pressed my hand onto my neck, and the section of the suit that covered my head oozed into place. Then, I took off again through the trees. I dodged and weaved through them so that I wasn’t such an easy target, and I was acutely aware of the torrential downpour of bullets that was blemishing the carefully preserved forest around me. Various tree trunks suffered the brunt of the attack, but I managed to avoid getting hit as I tore through the undergrowth.
I needed to get out of their firing range. I couldn’t have bullets hitting the case of plutonium in my rucksack, nor was my carbon fiber Corvette likely to survive such an assault. But where could I go?
“Left here,” Francine said after about five minutes of running.
I turned in the direction that the AI said and pressed on through the closely packed trees. Thanks to the nanobots and the aid from the suit, I had the advantage when it came to speed and agility, but some of the younger, fitter members weren’t too far behind me, so I couldn’t afford to slow down. A couple of the older guys had already dropped out of the chase, but there were still too many on my heels. Every so often, I turned and fired my gun at the people behind me, and sometimes, someone would even go down. But it was the trees that sadly took most of my shots.
“Here!” someone off to my right shouted.
I whipped my head to look toward the voice and saw three of the neo-Nazis coming at me. They’d somehow taken a shortcut and had appeared just up ahead of me to the right. All three carried MP5 carbines, and that meant they could spray enough bullets in my direction that they’d probably hit something vital. Of course, I had the suit on to protect me from any fatal wounds, but getting hit by a shit-ton of bullets would definitely make me hit the ground, and I couldn’t afford to stop for anything or the thugs behind me would close the distance.
One of them reached the trail I was on, paused, and fired. Gunshots rang out across the woods, and birds erupted out of the trees to get away from the danger. I dove away to the left to try and avoid the blasts, but one of the bullets managed to clip me on the ribs on the way down.
“Shit,” I grunted as I landed on the ground and put my hand to my side.
“Will, set the gun to Electro-Launch,” Francine said.
Another wave of bullets flew in my direction, and I only just managed to hide behind a thick tree trunk before I got hit again.
The wood took a beating from the bullets, and splinters exploded all around me. On the plus side, the way the men were shooting so sporadically meant that the other members of the cell would stay back so that they didn’t get hit with a stray bullet. On the other hand, these guys aimed to kill.
I looked down at the gun and realized Francine was right. I could stun these guys, and they’d be out for a couple of hours at most, but then they would be back on their feet and ready to come after me. They had gone to the trouble of smuggling in the plutonium all the way from Estonia, so I couldn’t imagine that they would just accept defeat after a lone guy stole it from them. They wouldn’t stop coming after me unless I did something to stop them permanently. So, I turned the dial to ‘E’ for the Electro-Launch, and then I waited for the bullets to stop for a moment.
The rattle of the guns died away, and I could hear the men shuffle a few steps closer. They’d probably seen me take a bullet, but they weren’t sure yet if I was really down.
“I hit him,” someone called out. “I’m sure of it.”
“Dude must be wearing armor,” another one responded. “But even armor’s got chinks. We must have hit him.”
The steps started to draw closer, and I did a silent countdown from five. When I hit zero, I sprang up and started to run. I turned sideways for a moment to fire off a few shots, and I saw several men duck for cover. I was sure I’d hit one, but I didn’t have time to double-check.
“How the fuck is he still standing?” I heard one of the men behind me shout.
I ran in a zigzag pattern to make myself a more difficult target to hit, and maybe buy myself enough space that I could escape in the Vette unscathed. I could still hear footsteps thundering behind me, though, and when I looked back, I saw that more members had joined in the chase. No doubt that was why the neo-Nazis had stopped shooting, and I had to admit, I was impressed with their determination. Even more surprising was that Hopper Senior was near the front of the pack, and Trahan was right beside him.
A shot went off, and I ducked instinctually just as splinters flew from a tree beside me.
“Don’t shoot until you have a clear target!” Hopper shouted. “You might damage the plutonium.”
“Finally one of them worked that out,” I said.
I veered around a couple of boulders, sprinted across a grassy field, and nearly tumbled down another hill. I was leading them on a wild goose chase now, and when I looked back, I saw that their numbers had dwindled. There were maybe fifteen people that I could see, though none were all that close. Most were younger, but even they were starting to pant pretty hard. It was time to get back to the car, before the neo-Nazis could find reinforcements.
“The main trail is just over this next hill,” Francine said.
“Thank God,” I replied. “At least I’m making this run alright.”
“Three more minutes,” Francine said. “You are almost there, Will.”
“Good,” I said. “Because these guys are pretty damn determined.”
A minute later, I could see the road through a gap in the trees up ahead. I turned back again and fired a few shots to ward the neo-Nazis off and to slow them down, and I saw Hopper dive out of the line of fire. Then, I set my eyes on the road and used every last ounce of my strength to reach sunlit tarmac.
A last spray of bullets flew past me, and they felt dangerously close to the side of my head. I gritted my teeth and started to sprint in a straight line for the road.
I spilled onto the road just a couple of feet away from my car. I nearly dropped the keys as I pulled them from my pocket, but thankfully all I needed to do was press the button on the fob, and the car sprang to life. I fell into the driver’s seat and stomped on the gas while I was still closing the door. The backpack was still hanging off my shoulder, and I didn’t have my seat belt on, but it didn’t matter as long as I was out of their firing range.
When I checked the rear-view mirror, I saw the neo-Nazis, led by Hopper and Trahan, as they emerged from the treeline. They squinted in the bright light and watched in despair as I sped off down the road. A couple of them fired shots, but the Vette was already out of range. I could see Hopper’s anger even from this distance, and I had no doubt his troops would suffer a severe tongue-lashing before the night was through, and possibly something worse. Hopper struck me as the kind of boss who wasn’t afraid to punch or kick his subordinates, and sure enough, I saw him slam one guy to the road before they were completely out of sight. At least all I’d have to deal with was a couple of bruised ribs.
I pressed my hand to my neck, and the head section of the suit retracted. I blinked some sweat out of my eyes and ran a hand through my damp hair as I tried to process how lucky I had just gotten.
“Holy shit,” I sighed as I sped down the road.
“That was intense,” Francine said.
“You’re tellin’ me,” I replied. “Francine?”
“Yes, Will?” it replied.
“I need you to notify the FBI or whoever needs to know about the cell that they have here,” I said. “Give the exact location and tell them what they’ll find when they get there. If we don’t do something, they’ll just get more plutonium and try to build another bomb.”
“I will notify the authorities immediately,” Francine said.
“Thanks--” I replied, but before I could say any more, I saw two Jeeps pull out onto the road behind me. “It’s not over yet.”
“Take the next right,” Francine said. “Your vehicle is faster, but theirs will be better on a dirt road or a low-grade road.”
I looked to the right and saw that I was already nearly on top of the road, so I slammed on the brakes and wrenched the steering wheel. The tires squealed as the Corvette swung around, but the nimble car managed to stay on the road.
“Bit of warning next time, please,” I said as I straightened the nose.
“Sorry,” Francine replied.
I looked in the rear-view mirror and saw the two Jeeps make the turn as well, although they didn’t recover from the maneuver as quickly as my car did. I was now heading up a hill with a rock wall on one side and a steep drop down the other side. The road curved around rock outcroppings and stands of trees, and I had to slow down to avoid crashing into a chunk of granite or some poor pine. But that deceleration gave the Jeeps a chance to catch up to the Vette.
“Not sure this was the best plan,” I said.
“You can still use the road to your advantage,” Francine replied. “Your vehicle is still more maneuverable.”
“Right,” I muttered as shots rang out.
No bullets hit the car as far as I could tell, but a quick glance in the rear-view mirror revealed a woman hanging out of the side of one of the Jeeps. She was lining up another shot, but the road swerved just then. I heard the gun fire just as I rounded the sharp curve, and I saw something spark off the guardrail behind me.
“Shit,” I said as I struggled to keep the car from careening over the edge.
Brakes screeched behind me, but both Jeeps managed to hang on as well. They were driving side by side now, so there was no direction to go but straight forward.
And then a minivan appeared in the other lane, and I saw the look of shock and surprise on the driver’s face when the woman spotted the Jeep in her lane. She leaned on her horn, but I saw the moment when shock gave way to real fear, both on the driver’s face and the passenger’s face.
I was forced to slow, and it gave the Jeep in the left lane a chance to pull up next to me, and I slowed down even more so there was room for the Jeep to slide over. The last thing I wanted on my conscience was the deaths of the people in the minivan, and the minivan driver flashed me a look of relief as I sped by her.
“We can’t keep this up,” I said. “Someone’s going to get killed.”
“There’s a place just ahead for trucks,” Francine replied. “It’s a special lane for trucks that have lost control of their brakes.”
“I know what you mean,” I said. “I can use that.”
The runaway truck ramp came into view a moment later. The driver in the lead Jeep jerked to the side like he thought I might head up the ramp, but I didn’t need the full length. So as soon as the Jeep jerked back into the main road, I slammed on the brakes and pulled the Vette into a tight turn using the start of the ramp. The second Jeep shot past me before the driver had a chance to react, and my car was already pointed back the way we’d come from before I heard tires screeching behind me.
“Well done,” Francine exclaimed.
I checked the rear-view mirror and saw that one of the Jeeps had misjudged the U-turn. It swung too wide, and for a few seconds, one of the back tires hung precariously over the edge. The woman who’d fired at me leaned out of the Jeep and then quickly retreated back inside. The wheels spun as the driver tried to get the Jeep back on the road, but gravity was against him. The second back tire went over the edge, and then the rest of the Jeep followed.
“Yes!” I cheered. “One down, one left to go.”
The second Jeep was still behind me, though, and apparently, they weren’t going to stop to check on their fellow neo-Nazis. The race was back on, but at least I was heading back toward a relatively flat and straight road where the Corvette would have a distinct advantage.
I could swear the tires were smoking as I yanked the wheel at the intersection and swerved back onto the main road to the park. Certainly, there was plenty of dust, but the sports car held on, and soon, I was barreling back to the hotel.
There was enough space between us that I figured the Jeep was probably following my dust trail more than anything, so as soon as I saw the sign for the motel, I decided it was time to pull another old movie trick. I sped into the parking lot and pulled around to the back. The Corvette would be out of sight, but I could still watch the road.
It was nearly two minutes before the Jeep sped by, and I gave it another minute just to be sure they weren’t about to double back. When I was certain I’d shaken them for the moment, I turned off the ignition, darted back to my room, and gathered my things.
I dumped everything into my bag, checked the parking lot and road for any signs of the Jeep, and then ran to the check-in desk. The same woman was on duty, and she still didn’t look up even when I stood panting just inside the door for a moment.
“Checking out,” I panted as I put the key down on her desk.
“That was a short stay,” she said as she glanced at the key.
“Here,” I said as I tossed enough bills on the desk to more than cover the cost of the room.
“Thanks,” she replied as she finally looked up. “Oh… wow.”
“What?” I asked.
“What are you wearing?” she asked.
“Oh, uh, I was hunting,” I said as I realized I still had Peck’s ridiculous uniform on. “Got an emergency call from work, though, so I’ve gotta get back.”
“Oh, sure,” she said as she glanced down my chest again. “Are you going to come back? You should.”
“I’ll think about it!” I yelled over my shoulder as I ran out the door.
I made it back to the Corvette without seeing any signs of the Jeep or any other neo-Nazis, so I tossed my bag in, chucked Peck’s helmet toward a line of garbage cans, and shoved my trusty cap back onto my head.
“I need to avoid the main road,” I said as I fired up the car. “There’s probably less chance of running into the Jeep or any other neo-Nazi vehicles if I take a different route home.”
“There is a left turn two-tenths of a mile ahead,” Francine replied. “It is a less direct route, but there is little chance that the members of the group will be able to catch up to us even if they do think to check the road.”
“Sounds perfect,” I said.
The turnoff was for an old state highway that had seen better days. It clearly hadn’t been repaved in some time, and there was almost no one else on the road. Grass was starting to inch across the asphalt, and along one two-mile stretch, the road was nothing but red clay. But it was a peaceful drive, and I felt the adrenaline high start to fade as fields and towns rolled by.
By the time I reached Kansas, I was feeling pretty damn good about my mission. I had acquired the plutonium for the spaceship, I’d stopped a terrorist cell from setting off a nuclear bomb, and with any luck, the FBI would be able to arrest everyone.
I should have known better than to start celebrating before I was actually home again. I’d barely crossed the border when I spotted another car pulled over to the side of the road. I was ready to zoom by, but then I saw a man in an FBI jacket step from the car and wave for me to pull over.
“For Christ’s sake,” I growled. “Don’t waste time pulling me over. Go and get the Goddamn terrorists down the road.”
“You are good at this,” Francine said. “Just charm him as you have everyone else, and then we’ll be back on track.”
“You’re right,” I sighed as I pulled over right in front of his car.
“Can I get that in writing?” Francine quipped.
“Very funny,” I said as the car came to a halt.
I got out of my car, took a deep breath, and then watched as two FBI agents approached my car. The first left his car door open, and I saw that a second agent had climbed from the car, so now both men were walking toward me. Both of them took off the sunglasses they had been wearing as they got closer, and I recognized their faces.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I sighed as I recognized both men.
“Nice to see you again, Will,” Agent Miranda said, and Agent Sweeney smirked at me from behind his boss, too.
“Where’s the third stooge?” I asked.
“Good one,” Miranda said sarcastically.
“I see you’ve got a different getup today,” I said as I eyed their FBI uniforms. “I thought you said you worked for NASA.”
“Part-time,” Miranda said, which was an outright lie.
“What brings you to Nebraska?” Sweeney asked me.
“I could ask you two the same thing,” I said. “Are you following me? I mean, it can’t be a coincidence that you’re here right when I am, can it?”
“Look, Will, we know better than anyone how all the excitement you’ve recently had can get to a person,” Miranda said in his typically patronizing tone.
“Your capacity for empathy astounds me,” I said.
“And we like to keep tabs on the people who are impacted by our line of work,” Miranda continued. “More for their safety than anything else.”
“Of course,” I said.
“We know it can be a strange time for the people impacted by unusual occurrences,” he said. “Clearly, it’s had an effect on you.”
“Has it now?” I chuckled.
“And, well, we couldn’t help but notice some weird movements from you since our last visit,” he said.
“Weird?” I asked. “What do you define as weird?”
“Well, for starters, you’re in Nebraska for no apparent reason in a Corvette that you just bought with money you won on a one-day trip to Las Vegas,” he said as he eyed my gorgeous car.
“I’m retired,” I said. “I can do what I want.”
“Sure you can,” he replied. “But I don’t see why you’d visit the middle of nowhere in Nebraska, or why you’d suddenly decide to buy a ride like this one when you live in the middle of a mud field… no offense.”
“Midlife crisis,” I said with a shrug.
“Right,” Miranda said. “And going to Vegas was part of this ‘crisis’, was it?”
“You’ve really been keeping a close eye on me, haven’t you?” I asked.
“Well, when a person of interest spontaneously runs off to Vegas, it’s kind of our job to know about it,” Sweeney said.
“A person of interest?” I pressed. “Do you think I’ve committed a crime or something?”
“We hear you won quite a bit of money there,” Miranda said as he shot a glare at his partner. “You’re quite the topic of conversation from what we’ve heard.”
“Yeah,” I replied. “I got lucky.”
“A three million dollar payout is lucky?” he scoffed.
“Alright, I’ll rephrase,” I said. “It’s very lucky. Also, it was a bit under three million.”
Miranda clamped his mouth closed and let out a frustrated sigh. His fists closed and opened, but eventually he managed to calm himself down again.
“Well, if you were just waiting here for me so we could catch up, then I think we’re done,” I said as I turned to get back into my car. “It sounds like you already know all the big news in my life. But hey, it was great seeing you.”
“Stay right where you are,” Miranda said.
“Why?” I asked. “Neither of you can give me a valid reason for why you’re here waiting for me, and quite frankly, I don’t see any reason to answer any more of your questions.”
“What were you doing in Nebraska?” Miranda asked.
“Hunting,” I replied. “What else do people do in Nebraska?”
“Explains the outfit,” Miranda sneered. “But not the car. Were you hunting groundhogs or something?”
“There are places that dress the meat and ship it for you,” I sighed. “But no, I didn’t have any luck.”
“So you have a Nebraska hunting license,” Miranda stated.
I scowled at him and tapped my finger impatiently on the car door.
“Mind if we search your car?” Sweeney asked as he tried to duck his head through my open window.
And find the stolen plutonium in the back seat? Yes, I minded.
“On what grounds?” I protested.
“Curiosity,” Miranda said with an evil smirk.
“No,” I said. “You can’t.”
“Now, you listen here, you schmuck,” Miranda growled as he pulled my car door open. “You do realize you have no say in any of this, right?”
“You do realize what you’re doing is illegal, right?” I countered and then stepped out of the car.
“Let a judge sort out the law,” he replied. “Follow us. Now.”
“Hold on,” I said and started formulating a plan for how I would be able to get out of this situation.
“I said follow us!” Miranda shouted as he grabbed my vest and tried to pull me out of my car, but I knocked his arm away from me.
“Let’s talk this over,” I began as I walked with Miranda toward their car.
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, and a moment later, the rear window of their car shattered.