D. MacHale - SYLO

“Down!” I commanded.

Everyone dropped without question. I looked back to see that the two minutes were up. SYLO soldiers poured into the camp from three different trails. Unlike the guards back at the compound, these guys were dressed for battle, complete with deep red helmets and flak jackets. They also carried automatic rifles. This was a full-on combat unit. It struck me as overkill. The “rogues” were nothing more than a collection of pissed-off civilians. I’d bet most of them had never fired a gun at a target, let alone another human being.

The soldiers moved quickly and efficiently. They surrounded the people in the clearing, forming a circle around the perimeter of the camp. The frightened people huddled together, making sure to stay away from the pile of weapons so there would be no question that they had given up.

The last to arrive in the camp was Granger. He too was dressed for combat but didn’t carry a weapon or wear a helmet. He strode around the frightened prisoners, making a full circle to inspect them all. He stopped over the body of Mr. Sleeper and nudged it with his foot.

Tori dropped her head.

If she hadn’t known that her father was dead before, she knew it then.

“Is this Sleeper?” he asked anybody who would answer.

A few of the prisoners nodded or mumbled that it was indeed their leader. I thought back to when Granger interrogated me about our failed escape. He was asking questions about Mr. Sleeper and the boats and how it was planned. He knew Mr. Sleeper was involved with this group and wanted to know if I was too.

Granger put his hands on his hips and glared at the prisoners.

“Make no mistake,” he announced coldly. “This is far from over. Do not underestimate our resolve. We will fight. There will be no surrender. No compromise. No negotiation. You have chosen the wrong road and you will pay for it.”

Tori and I exchanged puzzled looks. Granger’s speech wasn’t making sense. It almost sounded as if he were the one on the defensive.

Granger continued, “I understand that not all of you are aggres-sors. Rest assured that we will separate the wheat from the chaff. Until then, you are all considered enemy combatants. You will be treated humanely, that I promise, though it is more than most of you deserve. Transport vehicles are waiting on the far end of the bridge that will take you to the SYLO compound. You will march in an orderly fashion, single file. Do not step out of line or you will be shot.”

Not exactly my idea of humane treatment.

“And may the Almighty have mercy on your wretched souls,” Granger added.

Granger waved his arm and the soldiers sprang into action, forcing the people to put their hands on their heads while funneling them into a line.

I wanted to keep going but I was afraid that any little movement might be spotted by a soldier. Precious time was ticking away. For all I knew there were SYLO soldiers swarming all over Chinicook and we had no chance of making it to the bay that held the speedboats. But until the camp was cleared, we had no choice but to wait it out.

The prisoners were marched out of the clearing and the dead were carried out.

Tori looked away when the soldiers lifted her father’s lifeless body. I reached out and squeezed her arm. She closed her eyes and let the silent tears fall.

Soon the camp was empty except for Granger and two soldiers. Granger scanned the space, looking beyond the camp and into the woods. I held my breath, for whatever good that might do.

“Where are those children?” Granger asked one of the soldiers. “Sleeper’s daughter and the Pierce kid?”

“We haven’t seen them since they crossed the bridge early this morning,” the soldier replied.

That confirmed it. We had been allowed to escape so they could follow us. We had led SYLO directly to the only people who had a chance of stopping them.

“They can’t get off the island, sir,” the soldier added. “The bridge is secure.”

Granger nodded, thinking.

Hearing those words gave me hope. They didn’t know about the speedboats that had been waiting to take Granger to the mainland. There was still a chance.

“Smoke ’em out,” Granger said. “Burn it down. All of it.”

No sooner did he give that command than he strode from the clearing and was passed by another soldier on his way in. This guy had a steel tank on his back and held a nozzle that was connected to the tank by a hose.

“Uh-oh,” I whispered. “Is that—”

With a loud woof , a jet of flame shot from the nozzle.

“Yup,” Kent answered.

The flamethrower sent out a monstrous line of fire that had to be at least ten feet long. The soldier strolled casually through the campground, sweeping the flame about, turning the place into an instant inferno.

“Move!” I commanded and jumped forward, hacking my way through the dense brush an instant before the soldier swept the flame in our direction and turned the dry scrub behind us into a wall of fire. There was no way to know how far we would have to fight through the tangle before breaking out into the open.

“Tucker?” Olivia called nervously. “It’s getting hot.”

I turned and was shocked to see the fire was spreading quickly.

“Keep moving,” I said.

“Pick up the pace, Rook,” Kent called. “Or we’ll roast in here.”

I tried to move faster but the tangle of growth was relentless. The very same thick foliage that was keeping us from being seen was also preventing a quick escape.

“How much further?” Tori asked.

“I don’t know,” was my honest answer. “But the longer it takes, the closer we’ll get to the bay.”

“Or burn trying,” Kent added.

There was nothing we could do but keep moving and hope we were faster than the fire. I felt the heat at my back, which made me fear we were losing the race. I realized that we were no longer running from Granger—we were escaping from the fire.

“We’ve gotta get outta here,” Tori warned.

I looked to either side but couldn’t tell which way was the most direct route to safety. Going north would take us to the bay, so I kept leading us in that direction. My hands were crisscrossed with bloody slashes from pushing aside the branches, and I got whacked in the face more times that I could count. I didn’t want to see how badly Olivia’s legs had been cut. But she didn’t complain. I guess having fire nipping at your heels makes a few cuts seem trivial.

Finally, with the flames growing so close that I feared my sweatshirt would combust, we reached the edge of the scrub. I held up my hand to stop the others but with the fire so close it was a waste of energy. Nobody stopped and we all quickly leaped out of the thicket and onto a stretch of sea grass.

“Damn,” was my first reaction.

There was still a stretch of at least a hundred yards between us and what looked to be the edge of a bluff that surrounded the bay.

“What do you think?” Kent asked.

“Don’t think,” Tori said. “Run.”

She took off at a dead sprint. I was right after her and the others followed. There was nothing strategic about it. We needed to get to the bay before the SYLO soldiers thought to look for us this far north. A second one way or the other could mean the difference between escape and death. I kept glancing back, fearing that I would see a helicopter headed our way or soldiers sprinting around the perimiter of what had become a monstrous fire. Chinicook Island would soon be nothing but a charred ember.

Kent picked up the pace and ran up alongside me.

“You sure we’re going the right way?” he asked, gulping air.

“We’ll know soon enough,” I replied.

We made it to the edge of the bluff, where we could look down on the crescent-shaped bay that was cut into the northernmost shore of Chinicook. It was a long way down to the water.