hard on his back. He lay there stunned for a moment and then picked himself up. None of the others moved a muscle to help him.
When Chuck was fully standing, he continued looking at the ground. Apparently he was a big mouth with nothing to back it up. Kai understood that the guy was scared, but that didn’t mean he had to like him.
With Mia still clinging to his back, Brad walked to within three inches of Chuck’s face and loomed over him. Brad had a good four inches and thirty pounds on him.
“Now, you’re going to keep your mouth shut, or we’re going to leave your sorry butt out here. Got it?”
Chuck didn’t look at him, but he didn’t say anything, either. He got it.
“Come on,” Kai said. “The farther we run, the sooner we’ll be on that Humvee.”
In a minute, the Humvee was less than a half mile from them. It closed in on them at a high speed that bordered on reckless. The mud was no match for its huge tires and ground clearance, so the driver took as straight a line toward them as the debris on the airfield would allow, instead of following what was left of the airstrip concrete. Splashes of water periodically shot into the air as it pounded through large pools.
“I know we’re in a hurry,” Teresa said, “but that guy better watch out—”
Before she could finish her sentence, the Humvee nosedived into another pool. This time a massive plume sprayed twenty feet high in front of the vehicle and it came to a dead stop, its front submerged in a rut three feet deep. The engine sputtered and quit.
They all skidded to a halt, their mouths agape at seeing their only way to safety literally dead in the water.
FIFTY-SIX
Kai sprinted to the Humvee. It was one of the models that look like an enormous pickup truck, with the back of the Humvee open to the air. The driver’s door swung open. An airman in a green uniform stumbled out and fell into the pool. He was the only one in the vehicle. He clambered out of the hole, his hand over his forehead. Brad and Kai got there first and let Mia lean on Lani.
“Are you all right?” Kai said.
“Yes, sir. Hit my head on the steering wheel. Guess I should have worn the seat belt. No air bag.”
He lifted his hand, and Kai could see a nasty gash above his right eyebrow. The blood flowed down into his eye.
“That’ll make a great scar,” Brad said.
Chuck and Stan came to stop behind them, followed by Tom, Denise, and Teresa.
“Let me look at that,” Teresa said, and put pressure on the wound.
“Are you the pilot?” Chuck asked. Why he thought the man would be the pilot, Kai had no idea.
“Loadmaster,” the crewman replied. “Airman Darrin Peabody. Sorry about crashing the truck.”
“How old are you?” Chuck asked. “Thirteen?”
“I’m twenty, sir.”
“Great! They sent a teenager to save us.”
“I said shut your mouth,” Brad said, and Chuck did. “It’s all right, Airman. Stan over there took a header a few minutes ago.”
“I’d love to introduce you to everyone,” Kai said, climbing into the Humvee’s driver’s seat, “but we need to get out of here right now.” Peabody was in no condition to drive.
“Oh, no!” Brad said. “Move over. You drive like an old lady.”
“What’s the best way to get this thing unstuck?” Kai asked Peabody.
“Jeez, I don’t know. I’ve only driven these things a couple of times, and that was just to get it on the plane. My job is to make sure it’s loaded right.”
“Never mind,” Brad said, putting it into gear and starting it up. “It’s like any other truck, just a lot bigger.”
The engine wasn’t entirely submerged, or they might really have been out of luck. The front of the Humvee rested against the edge of the hole, which looked like a less solid part of a taxiway that had been stripped away from the concrete where it met the runway. The back wheels were up on the remaining concrete, so the truck sat at a steep angle.
Everyone stepped back, and Brad threw it in reverse. The four-wheel drive bit at the pavement under the back wheels and the mud below the front. Water and mud sprayed high into the air in front of the vehicle. He put it in first, with the same sprinkler effect in the other direction. The Humvee rolled slightly back and forth but didn’t make any progress.
The radio in the Humvee crackled.
“Dare! Are you all right? Dare, what happened?”
“That’s our pilot, Captain Wainwright,” Peabody said.
“Dare! Airman Peabody! Come in!”
Brad grabbed the mouthpiece.
“Captain, Dare’s got a bump on his noggin, but he’ll be okay.”
“Who is this?”
“This is Brad. I’ll get back to you in a minute. We’re trying to get this SUV out of a hole.”
“What do you mean? What’s going on?” Captain Wainwright continued to call, but Brad was right. They didn’t have time to waste explaining the situation.
“This isn’t working,” Kai said to Brad. “Try turning the wheel to the left. The hole doesn’t look as steep on that side. If you can get the whole Humvee down in there, you might be able to climb out.”
“Are you crazy?” said Chuck. “He’ll stall out if he gets the whole thing down there.”
“Shut up!” Kai said. “Brad, what do you think?”
“It’s worth a try. My way still might work, but not in time.”
Brad cranked the wheel to the left and floored the gas. The Humvee rotated a little to the left and then stopped.
“It’s stuck on something. Everybody push on the back left of the truck. Even you, Chuckles. If I spin the wheels, the traction should be low enough on this mud to push it.”
“This is a waste of time,” Chuck said, although he lined up on the left rear fender with the rest of them except for Lani and Mia. “This thing must weigh a couple of tons.”
“Ready?” Brad said.
“Yes!” they all yelled, their feet planted as firmly as possible.
“Start pushing as soon as I gun it.”
Brad revved the engine and then dropped the clutch. The water didn’t spray right at them because he had the front wheels turned, but they were getting soaked anyway from the backsplash on the undercarriage. The back wheels started spinning, and that was their cue to push.
“Go!” Kai yelled. He pushed, using up whatever adrenaline he had left. This was their one chance out of there, and he wasn’t leaving anything in reserve.
At first, nothing seemed to happen. Kai was about to let up when he heard Brad yell.
“It’s working!”
That gave Kai an extra burst of energy, and finally he felt the back end give. The rotation of the Humvee accelerated, and the right rear wheel slipped off the concrete.
“Come on, baby!” Brad yelled.
Then the left rear reached the edge of the hole. They gave one last heave, and with a big splash the back end of the Humvee dropped into the hole.
Brad didn’t let up on the gas, and after an agonizing moment when it seemed like the Humvee would bog down, it sprang forward and launched itself out of the muck.
