Page 71 of Survive the Night
Grabbing some crossbow bolts, Grace tucked them in her pocket and slung the bow onto her back. “Ready.” Her voice shook slightly, before she straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. “I’m feeling very Katniss right now.” Hugh gave her a tender smile and squeezed her arm.
As they made their way through the back room again, Otto’s unease grew. He glanced at Theo and Hugh. By the tense way they were walking and scanning the area, Otto could tell they were as on edge as he was. He pushed open the back door with relief. Although being inside the store was technically safer than being outside, it had felt small and crowded, with too many blind corners.
The wind was finally starting to subside, allowing the snow to fall straight down rather than driving sideways. The flakes lit up in the glow from the security light. Otto frowned as he looked across the illuminated, snow-covered lot and then back at the small sodium bulb above the back door.
The light stretched too far for that weak bulb. Turning, he backed away from the building until he could see the cloudy sky. Bright lights, small but quickly growing, pierced through the snow.
“’Copter incoming!” Otto barked, waving for the others to run away from the building and then falling in behind them. “Head for Mrs. Epple’s house!” Even when she went to Florida for the winter, the woman never locked her doors.
Jules glanced back, a confused look on her face, and then slowed so Theo and Viggy could take the lead. Jumping a decorative, two-foot-high border, they cut across the backyard of a cedar-sided ranch-style house. Theo opened the door and held it, but Jules gave him a shove into the house.
“Now is not the time to be chivalrous!” she said sharply, following him inside. “I don’t know where I’m going!”
The rest of them stampeded into Mrs. Epple’s house, running through her kitchen and antique-filled living room. Otto peered through the lacy curtains, searching for the helicopter. It wasn’t hard to find.
Not only were the lights blinding, but the sound of the engine and the rotors cutting through the air were thunderous, even here. Theo—who’d taken up position on the other side of the window, with Viggy bristling with excitement next to him—pointed outside. “Three at two o’clock.”
Across the room, Hugh called in a low voice, “I’ve got two on this side.”
“Four,” Grace corrected. “There are a couple more slinking along the back of the coffee shop.”
“Good catch, Gracie,” Hugh said.
Theo glanced at Otto. “Take out the helicopter, and Jules and I will deal with the rest.”
“Wait, what?” Jules asked from one window over. She was kneeling on a floral chaise, using the back as a gun rest as she aimed out the opened window. Theo slid their window open.
A shock of cold air hit Otto in the face. “Let’s do this.”
Lining up his sights, Otto aimed for the tail rotor of the helicopter. It was a small target, but the most vulnerable part of the aircraft. If he managed to hit it, he could bring the helicopter down unless the pilot was unbelievably skilled. Once he started shooting, though, he’d attract the attention of the people on the ground, so he’d have to be fast.
He squeezed the trigger, slow and easy, barely hearing the blast. The helicopter didn’t waver. Otto aimed again, focused on his task, and everything else faded into the background except for his target. The helicopter started turning to face them, the spotlights flickering in Otto’s peripheral vision. He was losing his chance. Forcing the adrenaline down, he aimed and then pulled the trigger again.
The tail rotor shattered. “Hit!” Theo called triumphantly.
“Focus on the bad guys, darlin’!” Jules yelled back, her voice higher than usual.
As the helicopter began to spin, Otto turned toward the mercenaries on the ground. The spotlights flashed and then went dark and then flashed again as the helicopter spun out of control, messing up Otto’s vision. He thought about taking out his flashlight, but that would just give the guys outside a lit-up target to aim at.
Blinking hard, he cleared his vision and focused on one of the figures in winter camouflage. He pulled the trigger, and the man went down. Otto couldn’t think about how he’d just shot someone, possibly even killed them. Right now, he needed to concentrate on getting everyone in that room out alive.
Jules yelped.
Theo’s head whipped around at the sound. “Jules! You hit?” He rushed over to her.
“Just a graze,” she replied, but she sounded breathless.
“Okay?” Otto asked.
“Yeah. It’s minor.” Despite that, Theo still sounded murderous.
Refocusing out the window, Otto took aim again, this time on a figure mostly hidden by the branches of a snow-covered pine tree. Otto fired, and the sniper dropped, just as the helicopter crashed into the roof of Grady’s store.
“Get down!” Theo warned, and Otto dropped to the floor and scooted away from the window, covering his head with his arms. The world exploded in a way that was becoming too familiar, the night lighting up right before the thunderous explosion. The glass blew out of the window, shards raining down on the hardwood floor.
Otto’s ears felt as if they’d been stuffed with cotton balls. Everything was muffled and slow-moving. Lifting his head, he checked out Theo, Jules, and Viggy. The three were huddled together, but all looked conscious and unharmed, so he turned toward Grace, Lexi, and Hugh. In the dim light, with his night vision destroyed by the blinding explosion, he couldn’t see if they were hurt.
“Okay?” he called. The word echoed in his head, but he wasn’t sure if it had come out loud enough, so he said it again.
