The fuel was on, the kill switch was off. He held the brake down and pressed the start button. Nothing.
“Damn you!”
Behind him, he heard the sound of galloping and looked over his shoulder to see horses heading his way. Militia. He tried again and the third time the ATV spluttered. “That’s it. That’s it. C’mon. Start, you muther…” Before he could get all the words out, it roared to life and he tore away, keeping his head low and praying as gunfire chewed up the road either side of him. He didn’t look back to see if it was the riders or snipers on roofs, he just kept going, his mind circling back to his mother, to Dan, to Paco.
Zeke was pacing, craning his neck as he came over a rise on the single dirt road. Asher and Dirk had made it back long before he did. He had been almost certain he wouldn’t make it out of town alive but his knowledge of the landscape, and some of the side streets and back alleys, had allowed him to disappear into the hills before they laid eyes on him again. The gate was opened and Colby blasted through up to the cabin. The ATV bounced over the uneven ground, jerking him around.
Alicia and Kane came out to meet him.
“You hurt?” she asked.
“No.”
She hugged him.
“Where is he?” Colby asked as soon as he shut off the engine.
“Inside.”
Colby heard Dylan yelling. “Just take it out,” he shouted.
“Oh, stop being a baby. It’s just a scratch,” Annalise said. Colby found them in the kitchen. Dylan was sitting beside the table, his one good arm resting on it while Annalise was working on the damaged shoulder.
“How is he?”
“Oh, his usual self.”
“Screw you, Annalise. It hurts.”
“Well it’s not going to be a joyride,” she said.
Dylan took a swig from a bottle of bourbon. “Just get the damn thing out.”
“I will if you stop wiggling.”
Zeke barreled into the house. “Colby. Hey. What do we do? Huh? What do we do?”
“We don’t do anything. I need some time to think.”
“Think? She’s down there. She doesn’t have time for us to think.”
“They won’t do anything right away,” he said, moving into the back room where they’d placed all the rifles and ammo, and then into a washroom where he filled one of the sinks with a jug of water.
“But Colby, we can’t just stay here.”
“I never said we would. Just back off. Give me some space.” He ran his hands into the water and splashed it over his face and head. He was sweating hard and needed to change his clothes. “Gary. Niles!” he bellowed. They hurried into the washroom.
“Did you get those claymores set up?”
“Yeah.”
He patted Niles on the shoulder as he walked out. He went to where all the rifles were and told Gary to make sure everyone had loaded weapons, then he wanted three of them to head down the single dirt trail and roll into place the abandoned vehicles that had once belonged to trimmers.
Each of them knew those woods like the back of their hand. They’d spent years playing there as kids, they knew the trees, landmarks, every inch of the undulating landscape. After previous attacks on their farm by the Stricklands, and others looking to steal crops, they had various booby traps that Alby had set up. There were dugouts into the ground covered by planks of wood, leaves, and dirt. They would utilize everything as there was no telling how many would show.
“Colby,” Zeke said. “We need to help her.”
“And we will.”
“Yeah? When? How?”
“When I…” His mind was doing backflips. It would have been easier to face off against the Stricklands than to go to war with the militia. There were at least fifty of them, armed, skilled men that were now gunning for all of them.
“You’re going to leave her, aren’t you? Because she was responsible for Skye’s death. I know it. You don’t even need to say it.”
He looked at his brother. Zeke brought a hand up to his face. “Dylan was right, we should have stayed with her.”
“If we had stayed we would have been dead. You know that. Mother knew that.”
“Then when are we going?”
“We aren’t. Not yet. Nina! Where’s Nina?” he asked, going to the doorway and looking out.
“She’s with Jessie.”
Colby made his way to the front of the house and stepped into the room to find her sitting beside his bed, holding his hand. His eyes were open now. “Jessie.”
“Hey brother,” he muttered, managing to summon enough energy to talk. He certainly was far from being able to get up, but he tried. Nina put a hand on his chest.
“No. You need to rest.”
“I need to get up and help.”
“She’s right. Um. I need a word with Nina.”
Jessie nodded, and he stepped out of the room and Nina followed. She closed the door behind her. “What is it?”
He hated to ask and there was no guarantee but it was worth a shot. “I need you to speak to your family. To Hank. Tell them that they have Paco, my mother, and even Dan.”
“They won’t listen.”
“Then make them.” He took a deep breath. “If we are to survive this, we will need more people. More allies. If he won’t listen, send him up here and I will speak with him.”
“But…”
“Just do it.”
Nina nodded, then poked her head back into the room. “I have to go.”
“No. Nina. Stay.”
“I’ll be back.” She went in and kissed him and then walked out, leaving Colby alone with Jessie.
“It’s time you and I talked,” he said.
He went inside and closed the door behind him.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The news of an execution was heard over the fallen soldier’s radio the next day in the middle of the afternoon. It was to occur that evening in Fort Humboldt State Park. No jury,
