Catalyst (Breakthrough Book 3)(127)

“Hurry!” Corso barked.

Juan ran harder, but in the darkness, he caught his foot on something hard and tumbled. He scrambled to his feet only to be met by bright lights shining up the slope. One of the lights found both him and Corso, followed by more yelling. Then gunfire.





Tiewater lifted his head in the Humvee just enough to see outside. At the top of the small hill, the driver and several other soldiers looked in the direction of the gunfire and ran toward it.

Tiewater placed one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the key.

“Can you make it?”

“I don’t know.” From his position, Corso rose up and shot into the lights, dropping two of the men. But there were too many. Bullets passed overhead and he threw Juan down before firing another burst.

Back in the truck, Tiewater suddenly noticed movement in the side mirror of the Humvee. Several men were running up the line of vehicles, toward the front. He continued watching as one of them stopped and climbed into a large truck, two vehicles back. The rest of the men continued running and passed the front vehicle before turning back around.

Behind him, Tiewater heard the larger truck roar to life and saw its bright headlights shining out over the dirt road, illuminating the soldiers now waiting for it. It backed up and began edging its way out of line.

“Okay, we may have a problem.”

From further down the mountain, Caesare’s voice broke in. “What is it?”

“They’re moving their trucks. We might be about to get blocked in.”

Caesare stopped running and listened. “Corso, how close are you?”

Corso fired off several more rounds and pushed Juan forward, ahead of him. “Not very.”

Caesare shook his head in the darkness. “Tiewater, we need those wheels. Get out of there while you still can!”

Tiewater paused. “Corso?”

“Go!” growled Corso. “We’ll get there on foot.”

Tiewater shook his head. Their situation was deteriorating quickly. He sat straight up in the car and twisted the key hard in the ignition. The soldiers, still standing several yards in front of him, were startled to see the Humvee’s lights come on. They stepped forward, trying to peer through the front windshield.

In one motion, Tiewater dropped it into gear and mashed the accelerator down.





86





Caesare finally stopped and scanned the area around him. A large hill climbed to the right and he caught a glimpse of movement just before he saw the muzzle flashes. Bullets ripped past him and he dove to the ground, rolling behind a group of small trees. He came to a stop on both elbows and fired back between the narrow trunks.

Two more rounds tore into the tree just above his head, after more muzzle flashes. He fired back, estimating where the outline of the shooter would be, and everything fell silent.





DeeAnn stopped when she heard the shots behind her. After it went quiet, she turned and called forward again. “Dulce!” She stumbled forward in the darkness, listening for the gorilla to answer again.

Here. Come.

There was a slight echo, and DeeAnn looked down to realize that she was standing on a pile of rocks. She leaned forward, placing a hand on the slope in front of her. Under the moonlight she could see a dark opening in the wall, eerily resembling a gaping mouth. “Dulce, are you in there?”

Yes. Come.

She stumbled forward to the entrance and found the first several feet into the cave illuminated by the moonlight overhead. She shook her head and mumbled under her breath. “This feels like a really bad idea.”

She stepped slowly into the darkness, trying to keep her balance over the uneven ground. Unable to see beyond the glow of her vest, she stopped again and stared forward, letting her eyes adjust.

“Dulce?”

The small gorilla emerged from the darkness in front of her. Me here.

She took DeeAnn’s hand and pulled her deeper inside. Together, they walked forward, the vest’s blue glow giving her an eerie feeling.

“Did you find Dexter?”

Yes. Me find friend.

DeeAnn squinted, still trying to see, as Dulce pulled her deeper into the cave. After perhaps fifty more feet, she stopped when something emerged out of the blackness. She gasped.

Standing in front of them was the small capuchin, covered with bright gray fur. He remained still, watching them in the damp coolness of the cave.

But it was another image that most surprised DeeAnn. Another monkey standing behind Dexter. She stepped forward to get a better look with the tiny vest light, and her eyes suddenly widened. There wasn’t just one monkey behind Dexter, there were several. Dozens. All standing together.

Ever so slowly, DeeAnn turned, shining her light in different directions to find more, all sitting calmly along the walls of the cave. All with gray hair and even a few with white.