Inchworm (An Action Thriller Novella) by Alex Stiner

Author:Alex Stiner
Language: eng
Format: mobi, azw3, epub
Publisher: Alex Stiner
Published: 2014-10-06T23:00:00+00:00

3

Rick looked out the back window of the delivery truck, dressed in Tarik’s clothes and assault gear. Mostly a good fit, fairly clean, he thought. Thanks for not being a bleeder, my man. He looked at Tarik, whom he had left crumpled in the corner of the truck in soiled underwear. Deep purple and blue bruises were forming a splotchy collar around his neck.

His pistol went back into his waistband and he checked the AK-47, redolent of gun smoke. It had half a magazine left and two more were in the assault webbing’s loopholes. Two loopholes on the webbing were empty. 75 lives, he thought. Those missing rounds could be 75 bodies. Fuck me.

The back of the truck faced Esmet’s side to the south, and, on a normal sunny day, Rick should have had a clear view to the top a few hundred feet away. With all the low-hanging smoke, though, he could barely see 10 or 20 yards clearly. As the column of smoke shifted with the breeze, he was able to glimpse the clutch of hostages further up the bridge, only to lose sight a few seconds later.

Gunmen weren’t anywhere to be seen, though he had heard a lot of shooting on the north end a few minutes prior as Faisul, Red and the others tried to hold off the police.

If I go outside, though, he thought, who’s the bigger threat? There could be 30 guys out there, but the helicopters won’t be able to see through the smoke. I only need to make it 50 yards or so, get off the bridge and ditch the gear. A couple weeks detained, they check out my story, and I’m out. Or they torch the truck and I burn to death here. No-brainer.

Rick double-checked his helmet and bandanna, walked to the door and opened it. He looked out the front windshield toward Faisul’s end and saw faint muzzle flashes about 30 yards away through the smoky haze and police stalking past the barricade near the stairwell. After a minute of quiet, the flashes started again as Faisul nervously stumbled out of his car, firing on Azim’s orders. Rick watched two officers stumble and fall before the rest dropped Faisul in a torrent of close-range shots. The fickle winds shifted, and the whole area was obscured again.

Rick reached for the driver-side door with his left hand and stopped.

“Oh, shit,” he said before rolling down his shirtsleeves to cover his infidel tattoo. “Dumbass,” he muttered.

He paused at the door handle, closed his eyes for a second and breathed deeply. Then he turned the handle and stepped out onto the deck.

*

“Baby boy, we’re going to have to stop soon. Mommy’s getting really tired. Please stay asleep,” Vi told Oscar as she walked up the bridge away from Esmet. The adrenaline from the interaction with Esmet had worn off, and she was ready to collapse. Her back and thighs were on fire from carrying Oscar and the diaper bag in a crouching jog for 40 or 50 feet up the bridge.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.