12 Minutes (#2 in Military series)

Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Putting his feelings on the back burner, Twitch focused on getting them out of here alive. They could talk, or not talk, about everything else later. As the low, stuttering rumble of the plane reached his ears he shuffled himself closer to the boulder so that he could peer around, his eyes wide as he searched the dark sky.

"This is it," Samantha shouted eagerly behind him.

"No, wait," Twitch held out his arm behind him, his palm facing the ground as he told her to wait. He still could not see the plane and if they went now there were still enough extremists pointing their weapons in their direction to hit them.

"But the plane is here!" Samantha shouted as the indiscernible sound of an aircraft grew louder. Twitch and Carlos could hear the panic in her voice, "They're not shooting now. If we don't go then we'll be stuck here-"

"Hey," Carlos reached out a hand and touched her shoulder as he saw her eyes grow wide, darting back and forth like a wild animal, "We'll be okay. We just need to wait until-"

"No," Samantha started to shake her head, fear of death gripping her entire body, she did not want to die in some godforsaken desert, "No, I can't."

"Yes, you can," Carlos tightened his grip on her shoulder, hoping to hold her down as he felt her fight or flight instinct kick in. And he was fairly certain he knew which one she would choose. "We'll get there, trust me. We just need to wait for the gunmen to be occupied with the plane rather than us, until then we stay put." Looking up at Twitch, Carlos arched an eyebrow to ask about the plane but Twitch gave a tiny shake of his head. He still couldn't see it.

Carlos's hand on her shoulder felt like a vice, pushing her into the ground, keeping her there when all she wanted to do was run to safety. She could see the larger cluster of boulders from where she was sat. It wouldn't take more than a few seconds to run between the two. They could make it. The likelihood of the gunmen shooting a moving target was far less than them hitting a still one, which is what they were now. They were sitting ducks, waiting here.

Samantha shuffled her feet underneath her as she mentally prepared herself and her muscles for the sudden sprint. Her fitness levels were good and she was small making her harder to hit. They wouldn't be expecting someone to suddenly run so by the time they realised what was happening it would already be too late, she would be behind the boulders and safe.
She looked at Carlos and Twitch as she thought about it. She knew they wouldn't like what she was planning but she wasn't asking them to come with her, and once she reached the other side she could provide cover for them. Yes, Sam concluded, this was better for all of them.

Looking up at the sky she could still hear the plane's engines and knew that it was close. She couldn't see its lights so she concluded that it had to be coming from the direction behind the boulder which meant she wouldn't be able to see it unless she stood up and peered over. Yes, that's it. The plane was there. This was their chance. Looking from his hand on her shoulder, knowing that he could hinder her progress, to Carlos's face she saw that he was staring at Twitch and it was more than waiting for a response. Carlos's eyes were filled with regret with how he responded earlier and before Samantha even had to ask Carlos slipped his hand from her shoulder and turned to her.

"I'm going to help Twitch," He said to her as he got to his feet, keeping his back low, and moved up behind Twitch.

Samantha knew that this would be her only chance and if she was going to do this then it would have to be now. Carlos and Twitch were distracted providing her with a small head start. Getting to feet slowly, her fingers still gripping her handgun, she kept herself as low as possible and walked up behind them as quietly as possible. As she got closer she could hear Twitch and Carlos speaking amongst themselves but she couldn't focus on what they were saying when she saw both of their attentions were not on her.