Free Gravity Check by Alex Van Tol Page B

eight.
    I have two hours to get everyone out of here before this Deuce guy shows up and picks everybody off.
    â€œI’m gonna go find out from one of these kids how many others are still out there,” says Warren. “Because I get the feeling we’re not done yet. And we’d damn well better figure it out before Deuce gets here.” He turns and goes back inside, slamming the cabin door behind him.

chapter sixteen
    Damian yawns again and then comes down the stairs off the porch. He strolls over to a tree and unzips his pants. This is my chance, I realize. I’ve got to put him out of commission so that I’ve only got Warren left to deal with.
    Adrenaline surges through my body. I look wildly around. There’s nothing under the stairs I can use as a weapon. No stick. No large rocks. Nothing on the ground beside me either. I start to panic, but then I think of James Bond. The fuzz in my brain clears. I realize the perfect weapon is right in front of my eyes.
    Without a second’s hesitation, I grab the seat of Nolan’s bike. My other hand works furiously to unscrew the saddle from the seat post. Lucky for Damian, Nolan’s got a skinny ass, so he’s got a padded seat. Still heavy, though, even with all that gel inside.
    I slide the seat out of the post just as Damian gives himself a shake. As he’s zipping up, I slip up behind him. My foot hits a twig and snaps it. Suddenly alert, he turns, reaching around his back for something.
    His gun.
    Soundlessly, before he can get his hand into his belt, I bring the seat down, smashing it across the side of his head.
    He goes down like a moose that’s been shot. I blink, amazed I did that so easily. A trickle of spit eases out of Damian’s mouth. I wonder if I killed him. I hope not. I only wanted to knock him out. I’m not that experienced with hammering people upside the head with bike seats, so there’s a possibility that I might have gone overboard.
    I need something to tie him up with. I turn and run back to my pack. I rip open the top. My hands close around the coil of rope. I grab the roll of duct tape too. Moving quickly, I return to where Damian is now moaning faintly. Good. I didn’t kill him.
    I pray that the door to the cabin doesn’t open.
    I take both of Damian’s hands. He’s heavy for a skinny guy. I drag him over to his own dark pee spot, leaning him against the tree trunk. Suddenly I remember his gun. I pull up the back of his shirt and feel gingerly around. Don’t want to shoot off a finger. There it is, tucked into his belt. I shiver to think how close I came to getting shot.
    I yank the gun out of his belt and put it on the ground. I stare at it. That’s the first time I’ve ever touched a gun. It’s fully weird, but I can’t stop to think about it right now.
    I pull Damian’s hands around the back of the tree and wrap them tightly with the rope. I tie a firm knot and tuck the loose ends where his fingers can’t reach them. As I work, I glance back at the cabin. If Warren comes out, I want to see him.
    When Damian is tied, I grab the duct tape and tear off a strip. The noise is loud in the quiet morning air, and it shocks me. I freeze and stare at the cabin door. Another bolt of adrenaline enters my system, and my heart starts to skip all over the place. The door doesn’t open.
    Keep your cool, Jamie.
    I stick the duct tape over Warren’s mouth, pressing down hard. He moans, but he’s still out. His head lolls to the side. I can see a nasty bump rising where I hit him. He’ll have a bad headache later. Even worse once Deuce is through with him.
    Thinking about Deuce makes me move faster. I check Damian’s body to see whether he has any other weapons on him. I don’t find any, but I do find the keys to the ATV . I put them in my pocket.
    I take the gun and leave him there, tied to the tree in the early August sunshine. I don’t know