Free Pushing Up Daisies by Melanie Thompson Page B

pistol.
    â€œGive me my weapons. I’ll fight.”
    Abdullah checked with the men. They nodded and one of them from the rear of the tent tossed House his gear. He shrugged on his plates and checked the magazine of his rifle. He held a finger to his lips and eased to the opening in the tent. Using the barrel of his rifle, he pushed the flap open. A group of men dressed in the black robes of al Qaida were rushing the tent.
    House dropped to one knee and opened up, taking out three surprised gunmen. Two shots hit him in the plates. He grunted, sprayed half the attackers with bullets, dropped to the ground and started rolling. The men behind him followed him out of the tent shooting as they emerged. They were armed with older model rifles, but two carried AK-47s. Thank God for the Russians.
    When he rolled behind another tent, he started running, crouched low, his weapon in front of him. He found the kitchen tent, opened the flap with the barrel of his rifle and looked inside. Daisy and Sarah saw him, leaped to their feet and ran to him. He stopped Daisy and handed her his pistol. “Looks like al Qaida or al Shebab found us. Sarah go hide with the women. Tell them to lay low and protect the kids.”
    Daisy followed him out of the tent. She still had her vest, so she had some protection. He gave her his pistol. They skirted the kitchen tent and came up behind the attackers. Looked like ten of them. House had already killed three and the Rizeigat had taken out three more but at least ten remained.
    Daisy opened up on them from behind. She was deadly accurate at this distance and hit two. House dropped to one knee and fired off three quick shots. The attackers had two groups after them now, the Bedouins and him and Daisy. They fired off some wild shots, but decided to run. House handed his weapon to Daisy. “I’m going after them.”
    She nodded and he ran back into the kitchen tent. Seconds later, he shot around the side of the tent as a wolf. Daisy stood up intending to look for Sarah and the women. Two of the Bedouin men stared at her and then dropped their gaze. They made no move to recapture her or disarm her. Apparently, House and her fighting to protect them had won them over. She heard screams coming from far away and glanced at the men. They heard nothing. House would make sure none of the attackers ever made it home again.
    The men were for the most part unhurt. She noticed two injured but their injuries looked minor. She went looking for Sarah and found her and the women huddled over a large group of children. The kids were all ages. She smiled at Sarah who stood up. “Are they gone?”
    â€œYeah, and we didn’t lose anyone. One of the men has a nick in his arm and another fell over something and sprained his knee, but the rest are perfect. These guys okay?”
    Sarah grabbed her arm. “These people are hungry. We have to help them.”
    â€œI imagine House will handle that,” Daisy said. Her arm tingled where Sarah touched it. She’d been so worried about her. She holstered House’s pistol in her belt, grabbed Sarah in a big hug, lifted her chin and kissed her gently. “I was worried about you.”
    â€œDon’t,” Sarah said. “I don’t want you thinking about me when you’re fighting. You could get hurt.”
    â€œIt’ll be hard,” Daisy said.
    House returned, shifted and dressed secretly. When he came out of the kitchen tent, he looked satisfied. Daisy envied him. She wanted to run, too. “Did you get them all?”
    He nodded and shot her a wolfish grin.
    â€œHow did he get them all?” Sarah asked puzzled.
    â€œHe went after them. Didn’t you see him run by?” Daisy asked.
    â€œNo, I guess I was too worried about the kids.”
    House grabbed Daisy’s elbow. “We need to talk.”
    Sarah followed. “What? About me? Can I come?”
    House allowed her to catch up. “You can listen