Page 79 of Survive the Night
“Go!” she shouted at Otto, trying to pull her hand free. “Don’t wait for me! Take Xena and go!”
He didn’t respond, just hung grimly on to her hand, hauling her after him. Instead of continuing toward the fence, though, he turned left. Sarah didn’t know why, but she hoped desperately that it was part of some genius plan that would save them. She glanced over her shoulder. The sleds were almost on top of them. A small part of her terror-filled mind wondered why they weren’t shooting anymore. The mercenaries must’ve had a great shot by now.
Otto abruptly stopped and turned, pushing Sarah behind him. He drew his gun, crouching down and aiming. Sarah reached in her pocket, pulling out her knife and opening it. This was it, she knew. Their last stand. She hoped that Aaron would call off his men and free the town once she and Otto were killed. At least then some good would come out of their deaths. Her free hand clenched in Otto’s coat again. She didn’t want to die, and she really, really didn’t want Otto to die.
Two of the snowmobiles circled around them, swinging to the left and right. She turned, keeping her back to Otto’s, so she could watch them. The engines were still too loud to hear anything, but she could see that all three—two men on one sled and a woman on the other—were laughing, mocking her and Otto’s desperate attempt to flee.
The sleds continued around, about to pass each other, when they both disappeared. There was a deafening crash, and Sarah realized that they’d fallen into one of Gordon’s booby traps. A mix of horror and sheer relief poured through her.
She turned just as Otto fired, the hot casing flying back and catching in her coat collar, burning her neck. She brushed it away, barely feeling the pain, as one of the other snowmobile riders slumped over.
The rider toppled into the snow, and the empty sled careened toward them. It was no longer accelerating, but the smooth runners slipped across the fresh snow with nothing to slow the snowmobile down. Sarah scrambled to get out of the path, but it was traveling too fast—it was going to hit them.
Otto gave her and Xena a hard shove, sending them rolling through the snow until they sank partway into a deep drift—seconds before the snowmobile flew by. It raced past, one runner just inches from her face.
Otto wasn’t so lucky. The corner clipped him, sending him spinning.
“Otto!” Sarah screamed as he toppled into the snow. She fought to regain her feet, feeling like she was swimming through the drift. The snow was dry and fine, refusing to let her go. Instead, it swallowed her hands as she tried to push to her feet. It felt like even the snow was on Aaron’s side.
Fear for Otto gave her strength, and she heaved her body forward, lurching out of the drift. Sobs caught in her throat as she fought her way through the snow toward Otto’s fallen body. When she finally reached him, he was lying facedown, snow drifting to cover the back of his head. She tried to roll him over, but just succeeded in making his huge form sink deeper, so she turned his head to the side, brushing away the flakes.
He blinked, looking dazed. Blood streamed from a jagged red gash along his hairline.
“Get up, get up, get up,” she chanted through chattering teeth, shoving the snow away from his face.
“What?” he mumbled, his eyes hazy and unfocused.
The roar of another engine closing in on her made Sarah look up. The last snowmobile stopped ten feet from them in a spray of snow. The driver grinned, and Sarah’s breath caught in terror—it was Logan. She’d thought that leaving Texas meant escaping him as well as Aaron, but she was beginning to think that she would never be free of either of them. They were determined to ruin her newfound happiness.
The man riding behind him stood on the seat, dragging her attention away from Logan’s mocking face. She jerked back as he raised his rifle.
Otto’s gun! she thought, frantically hunting around them for the pistol. She couldn’t find it, and she realized she’d dropped her knife at some point. She dug in Otto’s coat pocket, her hand closing around cold metal.
Thank God!
Pulling it out, her heart sank when she saw it was his multi-tool. There was probably a blade, but she didn’t have time to pull out all the implements to find it. She threw the tool at the two men on the snowmobile. It flew over their heads harmlessly, but they both ducked, giving Sarah an extra few seconds. She reached into Otto’s pocket again, and this time she pulled out a knife.
Logan laughed at her—cruel, sneering laughter. “Thought you got away, didn’t you? Poor little Alice.”
Opening the knife with trembling fingers, she plowed through the snow toward the two men.
Logan’s voice went from mocking to cold in an instant. “Enough of this. Kill her.”
The man standing behind Logan aimed his rifle. Her whole body shook, but she kept plowing forward. With each step, she sank in over her knees, but she continued her charge, bracing for the impact of a bullet ripping through her. At least it would give Otto a few more seconds to recover. If he survived, that was all that mattered.
There was a roar behind her, and the amusement disappeared from the men’s faces. Xena was a blur as she raced toward the mercenaries, and the one holding the rifle shifted his aim to the dog.
“No!” Sarah yelled. There was nothing she could do, no way to reach the gunman in time before he could squeeze the trigger. Gripping the blade of the knife, she cocked back and threw it as hard as she could. The knife flew through the air, end over end, and sank deep into the side of the gunman’s neck. He screamed, dropping the gun as his hands reached for the knife, scrabbling to pull out the blade. Blood poured from the wound, and Sarah couldn’t look away, not until the man toppled off the seat and fell into the snow, where he lay unmoving.
“You’re still dead, bitch,” Logan snarled, lunging for the fallen rifle. As he stood, swinging the barrel toward Sarah, Xena hit him square in the chest. With a shout, he fell onto his back in the snow. Xena stood on top of him, snarling in his face. His gaze locked with the dog’s as he slowly raised the rifle he still gripped in his right hand.
Sarah felt rage building in her chest, expanding until it was almost impossible to breathe. It was one thing for Logan to terrorize her, but she was not going to allow him to hurt Otto or Xena. With a wordless yell, she charged. Grabbing the rifle with both hands, she pushed it down, using her body weight to pin his arm—and the gun—to the snowy ground. Logan cursed, and Xena growled, snapping at his face with her teeth bared.
Lifting the gun, Sarah slammed it down again, over and over as Logan swore and screamed until his fingers finally loosened. She yanked the rifle out of his grip, slightly startled when it came free. Stumbling back a step, she quickly regained her balance and raised the butt of the rifle to her shoulder. She’d never held one before, and it felt strange in her grip, too long and bulky.
Logan gave her a grin that was mostly a snarl. “You going to shoot me, princess?” He spat out the last word. “You don’t have the balls.”
Her whole body trembled so severely that she knew he could see her shake, and she hated that he knew she was terrified. Her finger found the trigger guard and slipped inside.
