Ancient Echoes

CHAPTER 62



THE SOUND OF GUNSHOTS woke everyone, shattering what little spirit and hope remained in the university group.

“Oh, God!” Rachel cried, and turned toward the sound. Without weapons, they couldn’t help Melisse.

“Move it!” Charlotte said. She slipped the backpack with the book over her shoulders. “Leave everything else. Now! Go!” She hoped Melisse could hold off the shooters long enough for her to get the students safely away.

Before long, Brandi gave out. She cried, and tried to keep moving, but her body simply didn't have the strength. Her legs buckled, her muscles quivered, and she gasped for breath.

Charlotte and Quade tried to help her, but Brandi was too tired and too heavy for them to handle. She slowed the group down, endangering everyone.

“She can’t go on,” Charlotte said. “I'll stay with her. They won't kill us.”

“No, please. I'll try,” Brandi wailed.

“It doesn't matter,” Lionel whimpered. “We're all lost.”

“It does matter!” Quade insisted. “Only Brandi stays. These men won't waste a bullet on her. Out here and alone, they'll consider her already dead. They'll continue past. If you stay, Charlotte, they’ll threaten and eventually kill her just to get you to cooperate with them. When Michael and the sheriff return, we’ll come back for Brandi.”

“You can't leave me,” Brandi shrieked. “I’m scared! You know what they did to Vince.”

“Then keep quiet so they won’t find you!”

They shoved a hysterical Brandi behind some bushes and covered her with brush, then hurried away. They lost so much time with her that they were forced to push on at a punishing pace.

Soon, Lionel felt the effects of the altitude, the cold, and the food and sleep deprivation. His fifty-one year old soft professor's body had been driven harder than he thought possible. Charlotte noticed he was near collapse.

She took Lionel's arm and let him lean on her as he limped along, slipping and sliding on the grade. He was too tired to speak or protest.

When a half hour passed with no more gunfire heard anywhere, Charlotte didn’t know what to think. If Melisse had stopped the mercs, why hadn’t she called out to the group? Or caught up to them?

Charlotte had a good idea of the answer.

But also, where were Jake and Michael? She hated to contemplate the possibilities, her fears too terrible to bear.

She knew better than to hope. Whenever she did, her life took a turn for the worse. She no sooner thought that, than Lionel stumbled and fell. She tried to hold him up, but he needed to sit.

“You and Rachel keep going,” Charlotte said to Quade. “Keep her safe.”

“If Brandi could stay alone, so can I,” Lionel gasped. “Leave me.”

“No, I won’t!” Charlotte said. “They’re getting us through attrition. No more!”

Quade nodded and led Rachel away.

Lionel bent forward, breathing hard, and tried to stop his light-headedness. Before long, they heard Rachel scream. Lionel straightened, his face white with fear.