“You can’t go anywhere with this fucking pole on your back; that’s what you can’t do,” Alice replied, yanking harder. Quinn looked up, scanning the area for anyone, but it was only them and the men Alice had shot. As he watched, a bright ember floated away from the nearest fire and flew toward them. Instead of winking out, it glowed brighter and descended toward the base of the pyre.
“Shit. Alice, hurry,” he said leaning forward against the rope.
“I’m trying.”
The ember settled to the ground and out of sight.
He held his breath.
Nothing.
“Thank you,” Quinn said, all the strength going out of his body.
Fire leapt into the darkness, flowing like it was being poured into existence. It licked up through the dry tinder, tongues of flame rising higher and higher. The pressure on the ropes stopped. Quinn jerked his head to the side.
Alice was backing away, her rifle hanging from a sling around her shoulders. Her eyes were blank, hands up in a warding off gesture.
“What are you doing? Help me!”
She glanced up at him, but the glaze upon her eyes was a mile thick. She was gone.
“Alice, get the rope off me!”
The fire rose like a wave around him, the heat growing from warm to uncomfortable to searing in less than a heartbeat.
“ALICE!”
His scream was like a physical blow. She jerked and glanced around, the fire bringing her terrified features into sharp definition. Her jaw clenched, and she rushed forward, disappearing out of his line of sight. A blade of flame lanced up from his feet, and the rope across his chest began to burn. There was the immensity of the pain, a thousand needles piercing his skin, then the rope fell away and her hand was in his.
They ran to the side and leapt over the curtain of fire. Smoke threatened to choke him, but then the air was clear and clean and he sucked it in, tasting it, drinking it. Alice stood beside him, the brightness in her eyes receding again. Her hand twitched and spasmed.
“Where? Where do we go?” Quinn said, gripping her upper arm. She looked at him, and when the fogginess of her gaze didn’t clear, he slapped her hard across the face. “Where?”
“This way,” Alice said, her voice thick and groggy. She jogged forward as a gunshot cracked somewhere behind them, and Alice cried out, falling to her side in a heap.
“No,” Quinn said, dropping down beside her. Her right leg was tucked up close to her chest, and her hands were wrapped around her calf. Blood shone in the firelight. Another shot whistled past them, and Quinn yanked the AR-15 from around her shoulders, finding the outline of a man beyond the pyre.
Quinn emptied the magazine in his direction, and the man dove to the side, uttering a guttural cry as he landed. He didn’t get up.
“Come on; we gotta go,” Quinn said. He slung the rifle over his shoulder and then hauled her to her feet. She grasped his arm, and they ran across the grounds to where the fence stood.
There were two boards missing along the closest section, and they darted through the gap as more gunfire shattered the night. Rounds blasted through the boards to either side of them, splinters flying like shrapnel. Ahead, the shape of a vehicle gathered, and they raced toward it.
“Ty’s inside,” Alice said through a jaw locked by pain.
When they reached the car, he realized it wasn’t the Tahoe. It was built lower to the ground and had narrower windows. Along the side of the fence was a dirt path that ran down a steep hill in one direction and up a substantial grade in the other. Quinn found the rear door handle, intent on simply getting Alice inside, when a round hummed through the air beside him and punctured the SUV’s rear tire.
“Shit,” he said, turning and pulling the trigger, but the rifle was empty. Quinn yanked the rear driver’s side door open, and Ty leapt into his arms.
“Quinn?”
“Let’s go,” Quinn said, dragging them away from the vehicle as more shots lanced its side.
“The water, the food,” Alice breathed.