Page 41 of The Outsider
My pulse was a low thud in my ears. He gave me no time to reply, taking me by the hand and leading me back toward the gate. I couldn’t help but notice that the eyes of the entire village were on us as we went—not just the Guardians. It felt like they were waiting for us to make some fatal mistake.
As we approached the gate, the guard watched us with interest. When we passed by, he opened his mouth as if to speak, and I took that as my cue: I bolted.
Kimmy stood dutifully with the bikes at the fork in the road. At my flight, however, her expression changed from watchful to alarmed,and she sprang into action. There were shouts behind me, and it took everything I had to not look back.
I reached my bike and sped away, my thighs burning as I pumped the pedals, riding as though the mouth of hell itself had opened behind me.
Chapter 12
John
As I predicted, they followed.
My guess was that robbing us on the road after we’d left—lulling us into a false sense of security—was their new plan. As soon as they’d asked me about buying Claire, though, I knew we had minutes to get the hell out. Human traffickers didn’t let their prey go without a fight.I should know.
When Claire started running, they knew the jig was up. Chaos broke out. The guard at the gate grabbed for her, but I stabbed him in the throat. Blood spattered onto my jacket, and he fell, clutching his neck. Claire and Asha were riding ahead, while Kimmy waited for me as I sprinted to her. I jumped on my bike and we took off down the old road.
There were shouts behind us, and I chanced a look over my shoulder. They chased us after us, even though they had no hope of catching up. I frowned. Something’s wrong, my gut screamed at me.
I pumped hard on the pedals and pulled ahead of the others. Claire shot me a questioning look, but I didn’t slow down. Was there asecond ambush ahead? A trap of some kind? Whatever it was, I wasn’t about to let Claire ride right into it.
I rounded a bend in the road at a stupid speed. There was a bridge ahead, over a big, roaring river. The middle had collapsed. I couldn’t stop in time.
In a split-second decision, I ditched the bike and skidded across the crumbling pavement. Pain shot up my left side. The bike flew out from under me and went over the edge.
“Fuck, no,” I gasped, not because of the bike, but I’d thrown my pack over the handlebars. All my gear, including the ammunition we’d just traded for, was in that bag. Our tent was in it. Without it, all I had was my knife, pistol, rifle, and the clothes on my back.
I stood with effort, wincing at the sting of road rash down my left flank. I looked over the edge of the bridge and my heart skipped a beat. The front wheel of the bike had caught on a sharp piece of rebar, a few feet down. My bag dangled from the handlebars.Shit.
“Kim! Stop!” I shouted as she came whipping around the bend. “Bridge is out!”
She hit the brake, calling a warning back to the other two. She rode up beside me and dropped her bike.
“Are you hurt?” she asked, looking me up and down.
I didn’t answer because Claire and Asha pulled up, and I knew we only had a minute or two before the gang showed up to claim their prize.
“Kim, we’re the distraction,” I said. “Claire, try and pull the bike back up over the edge. We can’t lose my bag.”
Claire’s eyes widened, but she nodded and ran over to the edge.
“Only a couple of them will have guns,” Asha said in a rush. “They’re grunts, not mercs.”
Kimmy nodded, eyebrows raised, and Asha followed Claire onto the broken bridge.
I raised my rifle and waited behind a tree. A minute later, five guys rounded the corner: three in front, two bringing up the rear. All carried crude-looking clubs. No guns. Kimmy and I shot at the same time, taking out two in the front line, and I got in a second shot before a bullet whizzed past my ear.
On instinct, I hit the ground, right as more shots rang out. They came from somewhere in the brush—a couple of snipers. The guys on the road were a distraction from the real threat.
Kimmy, also on her knees, grabbed my arm and yanked me toward the treeline for cover. We had to move, but…
“Claire!” I called, desperate, as I whipped around to look back at the bridge.
She was on her belly at the edge, Asha at her side. They were exposed…but so were we.
Kimmy and I crawled into the cover of the brush, staying low.
“You take one, I’ll take the other,” she said. “I think there’s one on each side of the road.”
