Free Until Time Stands Still by Lona Scott Page B

extraction point!” He grabbed her hand and weaved them through the trees at top speed. Another gunshot split the air and Mykel felt the heat of the round graze his arm. He flinched and sped up. They had to get out of range of the sniper as fast as they could.
     
                Isabelle pitched forward as he dragged her along with him, and tripped over an exposed root system. She fell hard, scraping her knees and twisting her ankle. Mykel scooped her up and ran. “Graham, cover my six!”
     
                “You got it!” He was right behind them.
     
                The three of them moved quickly down a slope, and into a small clearing. “Shit.” Graham said. “We got no cover!”
     
                “We gotta run for it.” Mykel said. “I don’t think we have time to set up any trip wires either.”
     
                “Nope.” Graham said, tracking the woods behind them, looking for any sign of the sniper. There was only the stillness. The first shot had scared all the birds into flight. All they could hear was a slight breeze playing through the trees. 
     
                “Can you walk?” He looked down at Isabelle, still in his arms.
     
                “My feet are all cut up.” She said. “And my ankle is twisted.”
     
                “Alright.” Mykel shifted her in his arms a bit. “Let’s move.”
     
                They dashed across the clearing, Graham bringing up the rear, and trying to block Mykel’s back from the line of fire of the sniper, wherever he was behind them. They barely made it to the opposite tree line when another shot rang out from a different direction. The bullet bit into Mykel’s thigh, and he pitched forward and fell to his knees, dropping Isabelle, who screamed and hit the ground with a thud. Graham turned in that direction and sprayed rounds into the tree line.
     
                “Run, Isabelle! Go!” Mykel shouted. “He’s trying to get to you. Run for your life and don’t stop. We will catch up.”
     
                “I can’t just leave you here.” She gasped, putting her hand over the wound in his thigh.
     
                He shoved her hand away. “GO!” He roared. “Go to the bridge of the river. We’ll meet you on the other side of it. Hide somewhere, and don’t come out until me or Graham comes for you.”
     
                “But what if you guys both die?”
     
                “This isn’t my first fire fight. I’ll live.” He said. “GO!” She turned and ran as fast as she could, limping a bit on her bad foot.
     
                “How you doing, pal?” Graham yelled, still shooting.
     
                “I need a pressure bandage.” He grunted. “Then I’ll be good to go.”
     
                “You sure?” Graham asked. He stopped shooting long enough to toss him a bandage and shove another magazine into his gun.
     
                “I’ll be fine!” The hit man wasn’t shooting back, luckily, but they were basically sitting ducks in the clearing with no cover. “We have to get out of this clearing. NOW!” Mykel grabbed his rifle and used it to help prop himself up on his feet. He put a little pressure on his leg. His leg buckled.
     
                “I’m gonna need your help.” He confessed, catching himself before he fell.
     
                “Let’s go.” Graham turned and slipped his arm around Mykel. Together they made their way further into the trees and down another slope. Mykel bit the inside of his cheek to keep from screaming with every step.
     
                “Come on buddy, we’re almost there.” Graham said. “We gotta go save your girl. Dude, I sure hope she’s worth all this.”
     
                “She is.” He said firmly. “She doesn’t know it yet, but I’m going to marry that