“Ready to navigate?” he asked after they climbed into the truck.
Road Number 1 was a flat highway that connected small cities throughout the country’s sparsely populated northern region. Hawk expressed his displeasure at Somalian infrastructure in no uncertain terms upon studying the road map Alex pulled up on her computer.
“Who doesn’t build a road along the coast? This makes no sense,” he said.
“I doubt people around here are interested in making scenic drives through coastal towns.”
“You have a point, though it’d be nice to slice six hours off this trip by going more direct.”
“This bad boy does have four-wheel drive and tires built for desert terrain.”
Hawk shook his head. “Dying of thirst in the desert is a personal nightmare of mine. I’ll pass.”
“Getting shot in the head is mine.”
Hawk huffed a laugh through his nose. “Looks like we both got into the wrong business.”
Hawk studied the map once more before hitting the road. Road Number 1 went west out of Berbera and continued for a long stretch until it headed north. It eventually turned back east and wound up at the border of Djibouti.
***
THE FIRST NINE HOURS of their ten-hour trip to the border was rather uneventful until they approached Saylac, a coastal border town located about sixty kilometers south of Djibouti. Suspicious if the detour was real, Hawk complied with the uniformed man directing him to take a dirt road due west.
After two minutes of driving down a winding road, Hawk noticed there wasn’t anyone else around. They zipped through a neighborhood, but it appeared abandoned.
“I don’t like this at all,” Hawk said. “I’m turning around.”
Hawk hit the brakes and backed up into an alleyway. But he didn’t get very far when Alex screamed.
“Hawk! Look out!”
A black SUV rolled up behind them, and two men brandishing rifles were in the process of shimmying out the backseat windows, presumably to begin firing. Hawk shoved the gear back into drive and hit the gas. The kicked up dust gave Hawk a momentary advantage, creating a smokescreen to disappear into. But it also created an inescapable trail.
Bullets riddled the back of their vehicle as gunfire erupted.
“Think you can find me a way out of this mess?” Hawk asked.
Alex typed away on her computer. “It’s so much easier to help you when I’m not being shot at.”
“Just find me a damn road—no, forget it. I’ve got an idea.”
Hawk swung the car around, spinning one hundred eighty degrees, which caught his assailants off guard. He remembered seeing a large dirt mound about two hundred meters before the SUV roared up behind them. His plan was simple: use the dusty trail to his advantage.
Hawk roared back down the road toward the mound.
“You might want to put that thing away and hold on,” Hawk said to Alex.
She shoved the computer back into her bag and tucked it beneath her feet.
Then Hawk slowed down.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Saving our lives.”
The SUV was right behind them now and firing more bullets. The back windshield finally shattered, and several bullets whizzed toward the front seat and hit the windshield.
“I’d like to know some specifics please,” Alex said as she stared at the mound in front of them. “This doesn’t seem to be—”
Hawk jerked the wheel, flinging an unprepared Alex to the left. He’d maneuvered the SUV out of the way just in time to see the SUV behind them go careening up the mound and over. The assailants’ vehicle landed hard on its side. Hawk then slowed down and took aim for the roof.
“You’re going to get us killed,” Alex said.
“If we don’t kill them first, they’re definitely going to kill us.”
Hawk jammed his foot on the gas and barreled straight for the vehicle. The aftermath was a mangled pile of metal wrapped around the front of their truck.
Wasting no time, Hawk jumped out and crept toward the other side of the SUV. He climbed on top and shot each one of the men in the head, except the driver, who was trying to say something.
“What was that?” Hawk asked.
The driver’s face was a bloodied mess.
“Others will come for you,” the man said. “We know what you did in Berbera.”
“Maybe they’ll stop after they see what I did to you,” Hawk said before shooting the man twice in the head and once in the chest.
Hawk rushed back toward his vehicle when he noticed Alex standing on the other side, her bag slung over her shoulder.
“Good going, Hawk. Our ride is about to go up in flames,” she said pointing to the smoke pouring out the rear of the vehicle.
She took off running in an effort to escape the imminent explosion. Hawk was right behind her.
“Maybe next time you can think of a plan that’s not so destructive. Getting the job done at all costs isn’t always the smartest move.”
“Are you worried about how we’re going to get to the border?”
“Alive and in one piece? Yeah—I am.”
“Well, don’t worry. You still got that five grand?”
“Thinking about getting a taxi?”
Hawk shook his head. “It’d be too easy for some other Al-Shabaab thugs to find us before we get there. We need to travel a little more discreetly.”
***
AN HOUR LATER, Hawk and Alex were saddled on a pair of camels that set them back three-thousand dollars. It was more than market price, but Hawk didn’t have time to bicker over the price. Alex managed to talk the man into throwing in some traditional attire for her and Hawk to wear. Two hours later, they were approaching the Djibouti border.
“This ought to be interesting,” Alex said. “I want to hear how you’re going to explain that we arrived in the country via plane but now we’re exiting on camels.”
Hawk grinned. “I’m going to let you explain that one. You’re the one who speaks French, not me. Besides, I bet they’ll let us do anything we want once we gift them these camels.”
“Untraceable bribes are the best kind,” Alex said.
“Not
