Free The Ashes of Pompeii (Purge of Babylon, Book 5) by Sam Sisavath Page B

off!” Danny shouted back.
    They heard laughter, then, “I guess that’s a yes.”
    “What do you want?” Danny shouted.
    “You know what we want!”
    “World peace?”
    More laughter, though this time it sounded slightly forced. The man clearly wanted them to think he was enjoying this, that he had no worries whatsoever.
    Yeah, right.
    “That too,” the man said. “But what I’d really like is for you to throw out your guns so we can have a talk.”
    “Oh, is that all you want?” Danny said. “Just to talk?”
    “Exactly!”
    “I’m gonna have to politely decline and ask you to kiss my ass instead.”
    “Har har,” the man said. “You’re a funny guy.”
    “You think?”
    “Absolutely. That’s why I’m going to shoot you in the face, funny guy.”
    “Well that’s ironic, because that’s what I did to your mom last night,” Danny shouted back.
    The man went quiet.
    Danny looked back at Gaby and grinned. “Too much?”
    “Come on, leave the moms out of this,” Gaby smiled back.
    “Yeah, that was definitely uncalled for.” Danny glanced at his watch, then back down the highway again to make sure it was still empty. “Can’t stay here forever, kid. If their reinforcements aren’t already on the way, it won’t be long now.”
    She craned her head a bit and listened, expecting to hear car engines approaching at any second, but the drip-drip-drip of the gas on the other side of the Nissan overwhelmed everything. The smell was also getting stronger, which meant the entire tank was going to be empty, or close enough, soon.
    “Danny,” she said, “what are we going to do?”
    He looked at the girls. At Claire, crouched with the large shotgun, which appeared somehow even larger in her small hands. At Annie and Milly, the two of them with their arms around each other. If they were even aware of what was happening, Gaby couldn’t tell.
    His eyes finally settled on hers. “You and me, kid.”
    “Yeah…”
    “And me,” Claire said, looking at Gaby, then Danny. “I know how to use this,” she said, clutching and unclutching the shotgun. “I saved Will’s life last night.”
    “Yeah, you did,” Danny nodded. “But that’s a close-quarters weapon. Those boys are at least half a football field away—”
    Crack!
    All three of them ducked on instinct, but instead of hearing the familiar ping! of a bullet hitting the other side of the Nissan, there was instead just the echo of the gunshot.
    “What the hell?” Danny said. “What were they shooting at?”
    Before she could answer, there was a second crack! , followed by the pop-pop-pop of a magazine being unleashed on something. Or someone.
    A moment later, there was just the silence again.
    Danny and Gaby exchanged another look.
    Even Claire, between them, looked confused.
    “You take that side, I’ll take this one,” Danny said.
    Gaby nodded and looked at Claire. “Stay here.”
    “But—” the girl protested.
    “No,” Gaby said, cutting her off. “One day I’ll teach you how to use this,” she said, showing her the M4. “For now, all that shotgun’s good for is close range. You understand?”
    Claire nodded grudgingly. “You’ll teach me one day.”
    “Promise.”
    Gaby nodded at Danny, then turned around and moved toward the back bumper. She leaned out and looked up the highway. The white Ford was where she last saw it, about fifty yards up the road. The red Chevy was still parked across from it, but there were no signs of the men she had seen earlier.
    “Anything?” she said, looking back at Danny.
    He was leaning out too, when he pulled back and shook his head. “Squadoosh.”
    “The guy behind the divider?”
    “No signs of him.”
    “What’s going on, Danny?”
    “Hell if I know.” Then he sighed. “Stay here.”
    “No,” she said, and lunged out from behind the bumper and into the open before he could protest.
    Maybe it was a little bit courage, a little bit stupidity, or just a lot of adrenaline. Either