Charlie fired a few shots before he was forced to duck back inside the building. He didn’t want to get pinned inside and be caught between the front and the back forces, which would be a death trap, so he kept up an aggressive assault on the guards on the backside of the building.

  But Charlie was outnumbered and outgunned. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t push past the enemy’s assault against him, and with the fight still raging at the front of the building, Charlie was pinned down.

  He only hoped to stay alive long enough for an opening. But he had always been good at surviving. He just needed his family to hold on a little longer.

  32

  As Weber watched Charlie kill, he had a greater insight into the man than he’d known before, which was troubling. Had he known Charlie was capable of this, he would have given it more thought before he betrayed his family during the EMP.

  But Weber had no room to judge. He was a killer, too. It was strange to think he shared something in common with Charlie Owens, especially something so dark. Perhaps he was more alike to Charlie than he realized, not that Charlie would be keen on the comparison.

  Weber believed Charlie’s motivations were more about his family and less about the desire for power, as Weber’s motivation had been. Weber had been cruel, and while Charlie killed, he did so quickly and took no joy in it. At least, that was what he thought.

  Weber lined up a shot and pulled the trigger from his sniping position in the woods when the men found Charlie behind the truck. He kept up the rapid firing, wanting to give as much time for Charlie to do what he needed to do to save Shelly.

  But the longer the fight progressed, the harder it was for Weber to keep up his assault. The guards were terrible shots, but they were slowly homing in on his position, and he caught two of them trying to sneak around on his left and right flanks to ambush him.

  Thankfully, Weber caught them early enough, and he could keep them back before they swamped him, but they continued to keep up the pursuit, distracting Weber from the primary mission of watching Charlie’s back.

  Despite the enemy’s casualties, they were still outnumbered and had superior hardware with their automatic weapons. But Weber knew if they worked smarter, they could beat them, which gave him an idea.

  Weber collected his gear, knowing he wouldn’t be able to stay in one place anymore. He needed to be mobile and draw as many fighters away from him as possible to give Charlie a chance. He readied himself and then quickly emerged from the woods.

  “Hey!” Weber shouted, shooting a few rounds to ensure they knew where he was. “Come and get me, motherfuckers!”

  The ruse worked, and Weber watched as the guards remaining at the front of the building moved toward his position in the woods. Weber continued to fire a few more shots, wanting to make a big show of it to ensure the others would follow him, and it worked. The enemy tracked him into the woods, and Weber prayed his gambit would pay off.

  Between the gunshots in the building, Charlie heard Weber scream from his position in the woods. He immediately perked up, worried that something had gone wrong, but when he heard what Weber was saying, he knew he was leading them away to buy him more time. And with no more guards at the front, he freed Charlie up to escape to find his wife.

  Charlie wasted no more time engaging with the guards in the back and seized on the opportunity Weber had presented him. When he exited the front of the building again, he found the path clear and headed for C-Money’s office; at least, that’s where he’d hoped he’d find him.

  When Charlie entered the room, he stopped in his tracks. He still had the gun up but didn’t dare pull the trigger, fearing what might happen to his wife.

  “I thought it might be you out there,” C-Money said.

  C-Money had Shelly propped up in front of him as a human shield. She was delirious and barely alive, but she was still somewhat conscious. C-Money had a gun to the back of her head.

  “Let her go,” Charlie said, tired and hoarse. He blinked a few times, his vision starting to blur. The last thing he wanted to do now was lose his balance, but the fight finally caught up with him, hitting him at the worst time imaginable.

  “Why would I do that?” C-Money asked. “The moment my men finish bringing down your little troop out there, I won’t have to do anything except kill you.”

  “You still need the vaccines,” Charlie said. “You want to live? You let her go.”

  Charlie didn’t even know if C-Money was sick, but considering how he was weighing his options, Charlie believed the leader had finally come down with the first few symptoms.

  “Give me the vaccine,” C-Money said.

  “Until you let her go, you’re not getting a goddamned thing,” Charlie said.

  The sound of boots appeared behind Charlie and C-Money, and Charlie was surrounded.

  C-Money smiled. “Looks like you don’t have any bargaining chips left. Put down the gun.”

  Charlie had at least five guns aimed at him in front and behind. He was a good shot, but he couldn’t take them all down, and he knew Shelly would be dead before he pulled the trigger a second time. He looked at his wife, barely hanging on to her life, and couldn’t believe it had come to this.

  After so much fighting to stay alive, they would be snuffed out quickly and unceremoniously. But Charlie didn’t have any more tricks up his sleeve. Or so he thought.

  The gunshot surprised everyone in the room, and when Charlie realized he was still breathing, he lunged forward to chase C-Money, who dragged Shelly with him out the back, but C-Money’s henchmen stopped him.

  The close quarters allowed Charlie to engage the two fighters in hand-to-hand combat and quickly disarmed them. But the pair of men weren’t as fatigued as Charlie had been, and even without their guns, they were still dangerous.

  A few quick blows to his body, and Charlie doubled over, allowing the men to tag team him, with one putting him in a choke hold and the other reaching for his gun to end him. But Charlie bit into the man’s arm, forcing him to release him, and then shoved his hand up and underneath the combatant’s nose, killing him instantly.

  Charlie then charged the man with the gun, who fired one shot into the wall before Charlie tackled him. He pinned the man down and used the rifle to choke him out, pressing it down against his throat. Charlie applied as much pressure as he could until he felt the crunch of the windpipe, and the man suffocated.

  Charlie rolled off the dead man and struggled to get to his feet. When he stood upright again, he realized that the men behind him hadn’t tried to kill him, and when he turned around, he saw Tanner leaning against the doorway, gun in hand.

  “Sounded like you needed help,” Tanner said.

  Charlie was thankful to see his old friend, but C-Money still had his wife, and Tanner didn’t wait for him to say anything. Instead, he nodded and then told him to go.

  “Thank you,” Charlie said.

  “Thank me when we’re out of this mess,” Tanner said.

  Charlie picked up his weapon and hurried to run after C-Money and save his wife.

  33

  Weber had lost track of how far he’d gone. But he didn’t stop. The longer these goons were engaged with him, the more time it would give Charlie to save his wife. But Weber also knew he couldn’t run like this forever. But he hadn’t found a good position to make his final stand.

  The brush and nature grabbed his legs and arms, fighting him the entire way, but he never gave up hope; he never stopped searching for a way to fight back. That was the same voice in his head he’d always heard, refusing to quit. It was what made him such an influential gang leader during his tenure.

  Eventually, Weber’s patience and persistence paid off, and he was able to find some cover that would make it easier for him to finish these pests off for good.

  Weber found a satellite area for the logging mill with plenty of places to hide and ambush people. The only thing that mattered now was ensuring his pursuers didn’t use the area to their advantage.

  Weber posted up behind a massive, felled log left behind. He planted himself into a firing position and lined up his first shot. He brought the first target into his crosshairs and squeezed the trigger.

  It was a mess, but the big brute continued his path forward, and while it was brave of him to continue, it gave Weber another chance. And this time, he didn’t miss.

  The bullet hit the man’s chest dead center, dropping him to the ground where he lay motionless.

  The dead man’s colleague was a bit more subtle and strategic when fighting back, but since he was the only one left, Weber had to be patient to wait for his shot.

  Weber steadied himself, fighting the urge to try to make a move and expose himself. All the patience finally paid off, and Weber put the man in his sights, then he pulled the trigger, bringing him down.

  The forest fell silent after that gunshot, and with it, so did the adrenaline Weber had been using since they’d left for their mission earlier that morning. But the fight wasn’t over. He needed to get back to Charlie and the others so they could return to the island together in one piece.

  Charlie tracked C-Money quickly since he was still carrying Shelly, and the evil man had to stop and rest behind some rocks eventually, but there was a clear path for Charlie to get to him without taking a bullet to the head.

  “You wanted a trade,” C-Money said, winded from dragging Shelly through the woods. “I’ll take you up on that now.”

  “You show me my wife first and give her to me,” Charlie said. “Then I give you the vaccine.”

  “I don’t think you understand your predicament,” C-Money said. “You have far more to lose than I do. You don’t think I’m prepared to die?”

  “Considering you’re bargaining for the vaccine, I would say you’re not as ready as you think,” Charlie answered.

  C-Money was quiet momentarily, but his response sent chills down Charlie’s spine. “Maybe. But if I die, I’m taking your wife with me.”

  Charlie glanced back to the building where Tanner was still most likely resting, and with Weber God knows where, Charlie was on his own. He had to trust that everyone was going to do their job.

  “You have a knife?” Charlie asked.

  “What?” C-Money asked.

  “You have a knife,” Charlie repeated.

  “Yes,” C-Money said.

  “All right,” Charlie said. “You toss out your gun, use the blade as leverage for Shelly, and then I’ll give you the vaccine. You still have your hostage and a weapon, but it’ll be harder for you to kill her and me simultaneously.”

  C-Money was quiet as he considered this, but he remained skeptical. “How do I know you won’t shoot me?”

  “Same reason I know you won’t slit my wife’s throat after you have the vaccine,” Charlie said. “We both lose our leverage.”

  Charlie wasn’t sure if C-Money would agree to the deal, but it was the best solution that Charlie could come up with on such short notice. There wasn’t anything else that was going to take this long without having to go through all of this in the same instance.

  Without another word, C-Money tossed the gun out from behind the cover, and it landed on the ground. Charlie tensed, realizing now that he was about to enter the highest stakes of his life.

  Eventually, C-Money emerged from cover, still holding Shelly, and he now had a knife to her throat. He kept his distance and did an excellent job of making himself a small target behind Shelly.

  “Vaccine,” C-Money said. “Now.”

  Charlie nodded and then reached for the vial and the syringe. He sucked the vaccine out of the needle and tossed it to C-Money’s feet. He struggled to bend down and pick it up while still keeping hold of Shelly, but he had it.

  “What do I do?” C-Money asked.

  “You just stick it into your arm, but make sure you roll up your sleeve,” Charlie answered. “Don’t penetrate the cloth because that might break the needle.”

  C-Money stared at the vial and then looked at Charlie suspiciously. “How do I know this isn’t poison?”

  Charlie tossed the bottle that he used to fill the syringe. “Read the label. That’s the company and the name of the vaccine on it. I’m not a biologist, but if it were poison, it would have some warning, right?”

  C-Money considered this but finally returned to cover to administer the vaccine himself. Charlie waited with bated breath, unsure if this was going to work or not. Eventually, C-Money reappeared, still using Shelly as a cover.

  “How do I know if it’s working?” he asked.

  “You’ll still be alive,” Charlie said.

  “How long will that take?” he asked.

  Charlie was beginning to grow frustrated. “I don’t have that kind of time. I need to give my wife the vaccine, too. She’s much sicker than you, and I don’t know how long she will last. So lay her down, get going, and then we can separate.”

  “Put your gun in the middle with my gun,” he said.

  “No,” Charlie replied. “That wasn’t part of the deal.”

  “Deal changed,” he said. “I don’t want you shooting me in the back of the head when I turn to run.”

  “Then you’ll hold all the cards,” Charlie said. “I don’t like those odds at all.”

  “It’s the only deal you’re going to get,” he replied.

  Charlie heard the faintest rustle of the brush to his right. It was so subtle that it didn’t sound anything like the wind. But he had a trained ear that he had used on hundreds of missions, and he’d recognize the sound of footfalls anywhere.

  “All right,” Charlie said, and he removed his gun and tossed it between them, as C-Money had done. “Now, let her go.”

  C-Money didn’t move. He was considering how far he was willing to take this. “Give me your pack.”

  “This has the vaccines in it,” Charlie said. “I’m not giving it to you.”

  “How much is your wife’s life worth to you?” C-Money asked. “Are you willing to kill everyone in your camp to save her? Because from the look in your eye, I’m betting you are.”

  Charlie tensed.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” C-Money said. “So, why don’t you be a good boy and give me those vaccines, and then I give you my wife.”

  “We meet in the middle,” Charlie said. “Away from the guns, for the exchange hand to hand.”

  C-Money stiffened. “You’ll kill me.”

  “You’re the one with the knife,” Charlie said. “I’m unarmed.”

  But of course, what Charlie kept to himself was the fact that he could easily take out C-Money if he were close enough. The only uncertainty would have his wife nearby during the altercation. He did not doubt that C-Money would use her to keep him from doing everything he could to keep himself alive.

  “Fine,” C-Money said. “But if you make any move against me, I will gut your wife like a pig. Do you understand?”

  Charlie nodded, taking a small step forward, and C-Money did the same. They stayed at the same slow, steady pace, inching closer and closer to one another. Charlie didn’t dare take his eyes off C-Money, remaining focused on the moment. The last thing he wanted was to give C-Money any reason to hurt Shelly.

  When they were only a few paces away, they stopped, staring each other down. It would be a difficult transition, but Charlie knew he would need to be the one to start it from the beginning.

  “I’ll hand the bag over with my left hand and use my right to reach for my wife,” Charlie said.

  C-Money was frightened beyond belief now. He was trembling; no doubt his animal instincts for survival were starting to kick in, but Charlie remained calm, doing everything within his power not to spook him.

  “On the count of three, okay?” Charlie asked. “One, two…” Charlie slowly extended his arm with the bag. C-Money’s grip on Shelly loosened as he started to push her forward. Still, the snap of a twig on the right broke C-Money’s concentration, and he pulled Shelly back, putting the blade back to her throat.

  “Who’s there!” C-Money shouted.

  But with C-Money focused solely on the noise in the brush, it presented Charlie with an opening he wasn’t about to waste. With C-Money distracted, Charlie lunged forward, reaching for the knife to ensure it couldn’t be used to slice his wife’s throat.

  When C-Money realized what Charlie was doing, it was too late for him to stop him. But that didn’t mean he gave up the fight.

  Focused solely on Charlie now, C-Money released Shelly, and she collapsed to the ground while Charlie and C-Money grappled for the knife. If not for Charlie’s already weakened state, he would have easily been able to take C-Money down. But the combination of the illness and the previous day’s fight gave C-Money more of a fighting chance than he would have had otherwise.

  The pair exchanged blows, Charlie taking a couple of heavy hits to the stomach before countering with a punch to C-Money’s left ribcage that caused him to double over in pain. From there, Charlie kneed C-Money in the face, knocking the man up and backward.

  Charlie pressed the attack even further, choking C-Money with his bare hands. The man squirmed for dear life beneath Charlie’s grip, kicking and smacking, but slowly the strength fell from his limbs, and the kicking subsided, and then C-Money lay utterly still.

  Charlie’s entire body was stiff and on fire, and when he finally released his hands from C-Money’s neck, the joints ached. He quickly got up from C-Money and turned to look at his motionless wife.

  “Charlie!” Weber burst from the woods, rushing to Charlie, who struggled to stand.

  “The bag,” Charlie said, struggling for breath, unsure why he was so winded. “The vaccine. She needs it.”

  Weber immediately moved toward the bag and opened the side of it. He managed to find the vaccine vials and then draw them into a syringe. Charlie could do little but look onward to Weber as he plunged the needle into Shelly’s arm.

  “Good,” Charlie said, and then he sat down.

  Weber checked Shelly’s pulse and ensured she was still breathing, then sighed with relief. But when he looked over at Charlie, his concern returned. “Jesus.”

 

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