Target on the Mountain by Elizabeth Goddard (the chimp paradox .txt) 📕

her head. “I’m not leaving you behind. We’re in this together.”

His gaze clung to hers. So many unspoken feelings weighed on his mind. He had to protect her.

“Rachel, I...” He wasn’t sure what he wanted to tell her, only that he needed her to understand that he still cared about her.

She placed her finger over his lips. “No, you’re going to make it and I’m not leaving this area without you. We’re going to find Liam and this is all going to be a bad memory someday.”

He knew it would be pointless to argue. Time was precious. While the voices still sounded a little ways away, it wouldn’t take them long to reach the creek. Crossing the water by rope was going to be time-consuming.

She tucked her weapon behind her back. Alex gave her a boost up to the rope. Rachel put one hand in front of the other, slowly pulling her way across past the bank and over the raging water. The process was excruciatingly slow. The creek wouldn’t normally be as wide to cross, but with the additional water running, it had doubled in capacity.

Behind him, multiple voices grew nearer. Rachel was barely midway across the creek. He didn’t dare start across until she was safely on the opposite bank. With his weight, it could snap one of the tree branches and they’d both land in the freezing water.

Keeping a careful eye on Rachel’s progress, Alex glanced behind him. He could see several flashlight beams bouncing across the night sky.

Hurry, Rachel...

She was almost to the other bank. Like it or not, he had to start making his way across.

With his gloves on, Alex jumped as high as he could and managed to grasp the rope. Working as quickly as he could, he placed one hand in front of the other until he was over the water. He heard the tree make a cracking, groaning noise. Was it about to snap?

On the ground now, Rachel watched him make his way over the water. “Hurry, Alex. They’re coming down the ridge now.” She took out her Glock and fired on the advancing men while Alex did his best to double his speed. He was still a little ways from the bank when the men returned Rachel’s shots. He was caught in the cross fire. One stray bullet and he was dead.

With a couple of feet still left between him and the bank, Alex took out his knife. While balancing with one hand, he cut the rope behind him. Immediately, he plunged toward the creek. Alex jumped with all his strength toward the bank’s edge, barely hitting it. Then he tucked and rolled.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said the second he was on his feet again. Together they kept low to the ground as bullets continued to whiz past their heads.

“Get some rope,” one of the men behind them yelled. “If they can cross that way, we can, too.”

“We can’t let them get across,” Rachel said as she continued firing at the enemy.

With his thoughts struggling to find a solution, only one came to mind. He’d need to find a way to pull the tree over. He remembered there was a small ax among the camping supplies.

“This is the only tree for them to tie to on this side of the bank. If I can get it down, they won’t be able to cross.” Like it or not, it was their only chance to stay alive.

SIX

Rachel glanced back at the tree. “You’ll be exposed. They have nothing to lose. And I hate to point this out, but even with using the weapons we took from Peter and Michelle, we don’t have an unlimited amount of ammo.”

They had both brought extra clips of bullets and had the confiscated weapons, but if they had to continue to defend themselves like this, their supply wouldn’t hold out long.

His gaze held hers. “It’s our only choice. I’ll be okay.”

She slowly nodded. “Okay, I’ve got your back. Do what you have to do.”

Alex grabbed the small ax from the backpack and slowly edged his way over to the tree in question. He had barely left the area where they were hiding before the men spotted the movement and began firing right away.

From her vantage point, Rachel engaged the men. She glanced back over her shoulder. Alex had reached the tree and was on the backside, as out of sight as possible. Because the ax was so small, she knew it would take longer to bring the tree down.

As she continued to return fire, she saw the tree give way ever so slightly out of the corner of her eye.

While the men continued shooting, she felt the blowback from bullets close by. She couldn’t hold them off for long.

“Hurry, Alex.” Time was running out. She watched him gather his strength, and with one final swing of the ax, the tree came crashing down, barely missing him.

He hurried back to her. “That should buy us some time. We need to make it to those woods over there. Go ahead of me. I’ll cover you.”

She ducked low and ran for the woods while Alex continued to fire at the men. Once she’d reached the trees, he charged for the woods while Rachel covered him.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said. “I have no doubt that they’ll find another way across soon enough.”

They hurried into the wilderness. Rachel glanced back briefly. The men were slowly coming out of their hiding places. How long before they crossed the creek?

After they had covered more than a quarter of a mile through dense foliage, the woods begin to thin out slightly.

“We must be close to the camp. We need to search this area quickly. If Liam’s here, we won’t have long to find him and get out of here.”

Alex nodded. “Let’s just hope this is the right camp.”

Rachel stopped once they reached the edge. “What if he’s not here?”

“Then we keep looking. Let’s take a quick look around the place and