The League of Dark Men by John Creasey

Author:John Creasey [Creasey, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Agora Books

13

High Explosive

Until then, the only sound inside the jeep was the roar of the engine. The end of the bridge was ten feet away, and Tim had accelerated. He saw the blinding flash, but had no time to think about it or to wonder what it was. A vivid red and yellow, it was followed by a great roar and then a blast which swung the jeep round and sent it skidding into the shallow ramparts of the bridge. Mike lurched against Tim as they skidded round. The roar of the explosion still deafened them, they could see and hear nothing else.

Then Tim saw the edge of the bridge.

He tried to clutch the brakes; he could not reach them. Mike was sprawling over the front of the jeep. They crashed into the rampart, and their stomachs seemed to hit their throats.

The jeep overhung the broken rampart. Tim could see clearly enough now.

The racing, swirling waters below seemed to be leaping out to clutch at them. That was all he needed to see: just the water which looked like dark molten metal, flowing so swiftly; and he could feel the jeep swaying slightly downwards towards the water.

He heard voices.

He thought: They’re going to try to hold us.

Then, with a lurch, the jeep fell.

The fall was not far; one moment they had been hanging over the bridge, the next they were beneath the icy water, and the jeep was on top of them. Tim banged his head against the windscreen. For a dreadful moment he was afraid that he was going to lose consciousness.

The water closed over him. Biting cold, rushing like a torrent and dragging at him, it forced him against Mike and the far side of the jeep. He could not breathe, there was an awful pressure at his chest. He dared not struggle. He got a hand to the door of the jeep and tried to open it, but the pressure of the water against the door was too great.

He bobbed up, into the air!

The cold seemed to slash his face, but it was the air and he could open the door. He was still sitting in water; he would go under again any moment.

The door opened, and he eased himself out.

He did not know what happened to Mike, but kicked and struck out. He must have a chance. The water was running very fast, buffeting him right and left. Once it flung him upwards, next moment it sucked him down again. At the last moment he took in a great gulp of air; then the pressure at his chest was back again, like a great vice, crushing him, forcing him to let the breath out, and to draw in water.

He bobbed up again and felt something clutch at his shoulders. Thank God, thank God. He reached the surface, and the tugging grew stronger; he was being pulled against the current to the side of the river. Not until he reached it did he realise that Latimer and several men from the working party were pulling him.

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.