Surviving by A. J. Newman Read Free Book Online Page B

“You had better not move again or I’ll put a big assed hole in you, you worthless piece of shit.”
                  Roger yelled back at him, “They had a plane stashed in a cove back there on the other lake. They should have already been here by now. We must get into the woods now!”
                  Gus took over the conversation and said, “Let’s get out of here.”
                  They quickly gathered their equipment and headed into the wood line. Gus had tied Roger’s hands behind his back and was pushing him ahead as they walked under the canopy of trees. John was in the lead and Steve was bringing up the rear. Steve told them to keep going and he would go back so he could listen to see if the plane was approaching yet. While Steve was gone, Scott took the Hawken and loaded it with a double load of powder and three small pebbles in a piece of cloth for a patch.
                  Scott said, “It won’t go far, but it will do up close.”
                  Steve had walked back towards the lake and was out of sight for a minute. He came back running wide open yelling for them to move out quickly. He told them he had seen a plane circling over the lake as if it were looking for them. They took off at a quick pace into the woods heading northeast towards higher ground. Steve was joking that the plane was probably coming to rescue them or was full of women.
                  John stopped and told them to go on about half mile then wait for him. He then told them that he would catch up after he found out who was in the plane.
                  John said, “I know there ain’t any women, but it would be a shame to starve in the woods hiding from our rescuers. If I don’t show up in one hour, just keep heading north for about a mile then head due east. This will take you away from the lake and I will know where to find you. We crossed a highway about 30-40 miles back and that is our best bet to find help. I’ll be up in an hour or so if everything goes well. If not, then good bye.”
                  Scott protested and tried to come along with him, but John told him to take care of the others and keep his head low. Gus tried to make John take the 9mm, but he refused and took the Hawken instead.
                  John told the team, “There are five of you and if those bastards catch up, y’all will need as much fire power as you can get. If they see me, I’ll take one shot and run like hell. Remember I still have my .380 and this hunting knife for close up fighting.”
                  John added, “This has already started out much more exciting than any of our other trips.”
                  He only got a couple of halfhearted laughs in reply.
     
     
    • • •
     
     
                  Manny and the four GAO thugs watched as the missile struck the floatplane. They saw the explosion blow off the pontoon and shred the bottom of the plane.
                  Smoke rolled from the right engine and Manny yelled, “The bitch is coming down.”
                  The others cheered. Then the plane rocked side to side and bucked like a horse as Roger poured the coal to her. The plane stabilized and started to gain altitude.
                  Manny told the others, “Karl won’t like it if those bastards get away, let’s get airborne.”
                  They piled into the plane and took off in hot pursuit.
                  The pilot, Red, was a sinister looking man who was 6’2’, bright red hair, very muscular and had scars all over his arms and a real ugly one on his face that went from his nose to his left ear. He had been with Manny for over 10 years. He seldom spoke, but was loyal to a fault and would die for Manny. He had been in the Russian Air Force before settling down in South America where he and Manny met and