Free Fulcrum: V Plague Book 12 by Dirk Patton Page B

was a hard bump as one of the two following
vehicles came to a stop with its front bumper crashed against us. 
    “What the hell?”  Rachel shouted.
    “Big canyon.  Damn near drove off a cliff!”
    I shoved my door open and jumped out.  My hands
automatically brought the rifle up into low ready as I moved through the dust
cloud to the other two vehicles.  There wasn’t any breeze and the damn
stuff was taking its own sweet time before clearing.
    “What the fuck, sir?”
    Long and Igor loomed suddenly in the blinding dust. 
Sam ran up from the side.
    “Big ass canyon,” I said, hooking a thumb over my
shoulder.  “We’re cut off.”
    I led the way a few yards to where the dust was thinner and
looked to the east.  Half a dozen sets of headlights were approaching,
bouncing up and down as the vehicles navigated the rough terrain.  Sam ran
to the edge of the canyon, and after a few moments of looking around returned
to where we were standing.  Rachel and Dog had joined us.
    “Not going that way,” Sam said.  “It’s running for as
far as I can see in each direction.”
    “There a way down?”  I asked, eyes glued to the
approaching headlights.
    “Not in a vehicle.  Slope’s damn near vertical.”
    “That’s why they’re not in any hurry,” Long said. 
“Must know it’s here.”
    I nodded, then turned and looked at the three Hummers. 
    “Long and Igor,” I said.  “Get these parked in a
wedge.  Igor, up on the roof with the sniper rifle.  Sam, flank
right, I’ll take left.  On my order, we take these fuckers out.”
    Everyone nodded, Long and Igor dashing to the closest
vehicles and starting their engines.  Sam ran off into the desert, and I
turned and led Rachel and Dog to the left.  I was counting on these guys
not having gotten their hands on any night vision.  Hopefully, since they
were driving with their lights on, they hadn’t.  Otherwise, they’d see Sam
and me heading out to set up flanking fire.
    One hundred yards to the left, I stopped behind a small
outcropping of boulders.  They stuck up from the sand like some giant had
been playing marbles and just left them there.  Dog hesitated, looking at
the base of the rocks and growling.  A second later, I heard the warning
sound of a rattlesnake.  Rachel let out a gasp of fright and jumped back.
    It took me a moment to spot the little bastard.  He was
curled up beneath a small growth of sagebrush, only a few inches of his tail
out in the open.  Scooping up a fist-sized rock, I tossed it into the
bush, then followed it with another.  I was reaching for a third when the
snake slithered into view, turned away from us and quickly retreated into the
desert.
    Hurrying forward, I knelt behind the rocks, Dog joining
me.  I looked around in surprise when Rachel didn’t kneel down on the
other side of me.
    “Get over here!”  I hissed.
    “There might be another,” she said, fear in her voice.
    “Probably not, since Dog is OK,” I said in exasperation,
looking back at the headlights.  They were getting close.  “Now get
down before they see you.”
    A few seconds later, Rachel moved so that she was crouched down
behind Dog.  Several sarcastic comments came to mind, but I kept my mouth
shut and focused on our pursuers.
    “I’m in position,” I said over the radio.
    Sam confirmed he was ready, then Long answered for both he
and Igor. 
    “I count eight vehicles,” I said.  “Don’t have eyes on
occupants.”
    Sam and Long confirmed they didn't see anything different.
    I watched for another few seconds.  The sound of the
engines was loud in the still desert air, dust swirling in the wake of the
trucks and Jeeps.  They slowed when they were close enough to pick out the
stopped Hummers in their headlights.  Soon, they were only moving at an
idle, spreading out in a line to make use of all of their lights.  I
waited until they were abreast of my hiding place.
    “Igor, take out the drivers,” I said, pulling my