Chapter 5
Alex
This was utterly batshit crazy. Alex continued with a tight grip on the steering wheel. He could see the rocky path ahead of them, ending toward the decent. The Jeep had better be up to what he was asking, or they were all in for an uncomfortable trip. The General was getting his debt paid in spades with this chase through the dangerous desert. The Jeep continued to pull against him, trying to keep them on a different path. As he fought the wheel, he made out the edge of the drop point.
Hitting the gas, he felt the front tires greet air. The back tires followed suit before the rough landing forced them to hold on to the Jeep. They were still moving, meaning he hadn’t destroyed the bottom. Continuing at speed, he followed the minor directions Layla had given him. The dials spun, trying to figure out what was and wasn't working on the vehicle. He heard the crunch behind them as the truck followed, not knowing the edge gave out, and the headlights stopped following. He pushed the Jeep against the desert, giving Layla time to find where they were again to point them in a direction away from the truck. The other vehicle made some terrible noises as it was being forced to shift and attempt to pursue them. She screamed the instructions over the sounds their cars made. Turning, he could see the edges of headlights disappear. Once their hunter got out, he could follow their tracks, but he was not going to be moving as quickly as them. Alex had to make time to separate them and find somewhere to hide Layla before tracking down Clark.
The Jeep hit the sand, forcing him to slow its speed, allowing Layla to turn on the light to give directions through the basin back onto a hiking trail. It would be another half-hour before they hit a paved road, but they were currently not being trailed. The Jeep continued to whine through the trails. Once onto the path, he could see he had been losing fluids. The Jeep was not going to last much longer.
“Layla, we need a place to hide.”
“The Jeep sounds like it's dying,” she noted, scanning through her maps. “There are mining shafts close by that have been closed off for years. Not the safest place, but it's shelter.”
He stopped the Jeep. It wheezed out terrible crunching noises before he pulled out the satellite phone to call in. They had to go on foot, off the grid while Clark was close enough to get to them. Layla started packing supplies into her bags and preparing to start hiking into the night. He grabbed supplies as the line connected.
“McNamara.” The line breezed open between Alex and the base, nearly too far away to be of use.
“It’s me,” Alex spoke, pulling out the flashlight to attach it to the top of his pistol. “We have run into a situation.”
“Explain.” Alex gave the short of what had happened and what they were doing. The General didn’t reply while Alex finished packing supplies to leave the Jeep. Alex knew he needed to destroy anything left so Clark couldn’t use what remained. The Jeep was totaled and now wouldn’t be useful to anyone. “Carry on. We will have a group come to retrieve you two.”
“At this time, Clark is aware she is not alone and will be on guard,” Alex explained.
“That does not change the order. Deal with him. Now he knows where the bait is.” Alex paused, then cut the last of the line on the bottom of the Jeep. The idea of civilian bait made him uneasy, one of the many reasons he had gotten out of this profession.
“Understood,” Alex said before disconnecting. There was no real need for politeness, given the situation. He finished searching the Jeep, making sure it would not run anytime soon, before they began to hike away. Layla started to use the landscape to their advantage, using the rocks and hard places to leave no tracks as they began to make their way closer to a new section of mountains.