Desperate Situations (29 page)

Still, Famine hovered.

Jake tossed the transmitter aside and grabbed Megan.
Screw normal procedure
. He was taking the chance of letting the enemy see him. As he reached the edge of the woods, the helicopter did a bob, then turned and headed away from the ridge top.

"No!" Jake yelled. He stopped at the edge of the wood
s, not quite clearing it. He put Megan down and grabbed the transmitter.

In that glance, he had seen that Cowboy was flying Famine. He tapped out the same message. "Come on Cowboy. Pick it up."

S-O-S G-H-O-S-T

S-O-S G-H-O-S-T

The helicopter disappeared from view and the whirling of the helicopter faded from hearing.

Jake sat down with a plop in the mud. He tried one more time.

S-O-S G-H-O-S-T

All of the fight went out of Jake. There was nothing left to do but put Megan out of her misery and high tail it out of here. He clenched his fists in anger.

With a broken heart, Jake bent over Megan again. This time he gripped her head and kissed her lips.

"I'm sorry, Chief."

He kissed her again and began tensing his muscles.

The whirling noise sounded again.

Jake’s eyes sprung upward.

Famine was back.

Jake shoved the transmitter into his pocket, picked her up and stepped out from the woods. He heard shouts behind him from the other side of the small valley, but his eyes were on Famine.

The helicopter hovered on the ridge top as though waiting for some sign.

Jake began running toward the chopper.

Famine lifted up briefly then swung down and swooped toward them as Jake cleared the trees.

Jake smiled his first genuine smile in a long time.

A bullet hit near him
, but he ignored it. He continued to run toward the quickly approaching chopper, his eyes taking in the fact that Cowboy was flying, alone.

Famine landed and Cowboy jumped out and opened the back door.

Jake could see him watching the fast approaching al Qaeda. Bullets hit around him and the chopper, but they were wild as the guys firing were running too.

Cowboy hopped back into the cockpit. The blades began to rotate faster, preparing for take off.

Jake expended one last burst of speed as he neared the aircraft. He reached it just as his energy ran out.

Literally tossing Megan inside, he jumped in and pounded on the wall separating him from the cockpit. He lay down next to Megan, breathing harder
than he had ever done. His breath came in gasps as he tried to suck air into his mouth. The helicopter went airborne, without a second to lose.

Several bullets hit the helicopter. One passed so close to Jake's head that he heard the whiz. He stayed on the floor of the Black Hawk.
Once the flight leveled out after erratic maneuvers to escape the bullets, he sat up and looked at Megan.

Somewhere in the running or jumping on
to the chopper, he had moved her leg. It was once again at an odd angle. He straightened it out then got her comfortable. He reached into the first aid kit and pulled out the emergency blanket. Not that it would do any good but it felt right. He could do no more for her, so he sat back, taking a deep breath of relief.

A blinking light caught his eye. He reached up with a groan and grabbed the handset. "Yeah?"

"Hey. Uh… How uh… Meg looks bad."

Jake nodded, even though Cowboy couldn't see him. "Yeah."

"You okay, Cupcake?"

"No. We need a hospital. Like yesterday."

"Yeah, I gathered that pardner. Hold on. I'm goin' as fast as I can," Cowboy said.

"Thanks," Jake said as he slumped back down.

"For?"

"The pick up."

"That's my job."

Jake grimaced. Megan's suspicions were still running around his mind. Half of him thought that Cowboy was the leak and the other half was pleading to him that he wasn't. Just his presence here spoke of the fact that he wasn't. But. "Flying alone?"

"Had to. You guys were written off the other day. I hope you can give me a good reference, 'cause I was already fired. I kinda stole Famine from White Pine," Cowboy said with a smile in his voice. "When Meg wakes up, I'll need her okey-dokey too."

Jake swung his eyes to her. Her color was tinged with gray. "If," he said, not keying the handset. Jake laid his head back and relaxed. Relief washed over him. His job was done. Now
, if they got to the hospital in time, Megan might live.

"Hey Cupcake. Cupcake? Ya'all still with me?"

"Yeah." Jake blew out his breath.

"What tree did you hit?"

"Huh?"

"Your face. Man, someone did a number on you. What the hell happened pardner?"

"al Qaeda happened."

"Shit."

"Yeah." Jake grimaced. He wanted so much to confront Cowboy, but he knew he had to wait until they reached the hospital for Megan. His anger was like a volcano, so near the surface just waiting for a chance to explode.

Jake laid his head back and closed his eyes. He started to relax
, which caused him to get drowsy; he felt the helicopter swivel to the side then float back the other way. Jake's eyes snapped open. He raised the hand set to his head. "What's up?"

There was no answer.

"Cowboy?"

"Minute." Came the answer. Then several muffled curse words. "We got a problem, Cupcake."

"Damn," Jake said keying the handset. "What?"

"Those al Qaeda boys shoot damn good."

"What?" Jake turned to look into the cockpit.

"One of them there bullets musta hit something vital. I'm getting' a rattle in the tail rotor. It's makin' the pedals spongy."

"And?" The aircraft slowed considerable and dropped lower to the ground. "Why are you slowing?"

"Can't push the steed."

Jake glanced at Megan. "Look Cowboy, you push this son of a bitch. Megan's dying. I don't care if you burn out the whole damn helicopter, just get us to the hospital."

"I'll try but
…"

"But what?"

"If I lose the tail rotor, well, there ain't gonna be help for Megan then, 'cause pardner no one cares 'bout us," Cowboy said even as he increased speed a bit.

Jake cursed loudly. "Do your best."

"That I am."

They flew in silence for a few more minutes then the helicopter began to get unstable. Jake crawled over to Megan and strapped her in as best he could. He grabbed one of the helmets and pushed
it on her head to protect her. Then he crawled back to where he had been and buckled himself in. He grabbed another helmet and put it on.

Jake heard cursing from Cowboy as he plugged in the helmet. "Anything I can do?"

"Pray."

Jake looked out the open door to the area where they were quickly descending. He noticed several houses a short distance away. His face scrunched up in puzzlement. These looked familiar. "Cowboy, where are we?"

Cowboy didn't answer as he fought the helicopter for control.

Suddenly, Jake recognized the valley. This was near where they had stopped the kidnapping of that Warlord's son.
What was his name? The village owed White Pine. Megan had said that.
"Cowboy, can you control it enough to land without crashing?"

"That's what I'm fuckin' trying to do."

Jake smiled. "Land as near to the village as possible. It's near the valley where we stopped the kidnapping."

"Can't guarantee that
, but I'll give it…" Cowboy's voice drifted off as he again fought the almost spinning helicopter. "Just lost the tail rotor. Hold on. We goin' down."

The helicopter spun down.

Jake held on.

The ground rushed up at them, even as he heard Cowboy doing some creative swearing. The aircraft thudded into the wet field which used to contain poppies, then tilted to the side, blades digging into wet dirt, but it stopped moving.

Seconds seemed to stretch as Jake waited.

"Cupcake?"

"Still here. You okay?" he said, already unbuckling himself. He'd received a tremendous knock but the helmet had saved his head. Over all, he was unhurt by the crash.

"Yeah, sort of. Meg?"

Jake crawled over to her. He immediately felt for a pulse. "Still with us." He tore off her helmet and then his. As he slid out of the helicopter, he saw Cowboy trying to exit too. It looked like he was in pain as he shoved something into his pocket. He unbuckled Megan and hefted her once more in his sore, aching arms.

By the time Jake got completely out of the chopper, Cowboy was standing next to him. Cowboy had a stream of blood running down his head and he was holding his arm with his other one. He shook his head as he looked at Megan.

"Can you walk?" Jake asked even as he began moving toward the village.

"Yeah. I think." Cowboy pulled out a thermite grenade and after pulling the pin
, tossed it into the cockpit. He hurried up to be near Jake. After a minute, there was an explosion. Neither of them flinched.

"Good. Do you know the language?"

Cowboy shook his head. "Megan did. Not me."

"Shit," Jake said. His eyes moved ahead to see that there were several men running toward them, each had a rifle. "Let's hope they still like us."

Cowboy walked beside the ex-military man. Soon the Afghans were within shouting distance. Two raised their rifles and pointed at the Americans. They yelled. The two groups stopped only feet apart.

Jake shook his head. "We helped you. We're from White Pine, we need help." He glanced down at Megan then back up. "Cowboy, put your arms up in surrender."

"Can't."

"Why?"

"I re-injured my shoulder in the crash."

"Re-injured?" Jake asked still eyeing the rifles and the yelling men.

"Long story."

Jake turned his attention back to the natives. He tried a smile. "Help us. Please. Help."

One of the slower running men stopped next to the older man obviously in charge of this group. Jake looked him in the eyes. It was the guy they had saved from being kidnapped, Abdul Jameel Daud. His mind jumped back to the moment that he was staring into the injured man's eyes. He tried the words that Megan had told him to tell Daud in the helicopter. They came out wrong even to his ears.

Abdul squinted at Jake with a cocked head. He stepped forward
past the guns. "You. You help me."

Jake nodded. "Yes. We need help. Help us."

The Afghan turned and rattled off something to the other men. The rifles slowly lowered. Duad turned back to Jake. He held out his arms as though he didn't know what could be done.

"Do you have a car? To drive us back to Kabul."

"Kabul?" Abdul asked.

"Cowboy act as though you are driving." He adjusted Megan in his arms again, groaning softly in pain.

Cowboy complied with only one arm.

Abdul frowned and turned to the older gentlemen. They seemed to have similar facial features. Jake bet that they were father and son, or at least relatives. They argued for several minutes. Finally, the guy in charge said something to Jake.

Jake looked at the son for a translation.

The father nodded yes and motioned to one of the other guys who moved closer to Jake, suspiciously and slowly. He held out his arms for Megan.

Abdul pointed at Megan. "He help you. You hurt…" He motioned to his face. He then pointed at the guy, made a carrying motion and pointed back toward the village. Abdul made the sign for driving a car, then pointed at himself, then at the mountain separating them from the city.

Jake nodded in understanding and handed Megan to the other guy. They moved as quickly as possible to the village. One of the guys ran ahead and had a beat up truck waiting. Megan was laid in the back of the pickup. Jake crawled in next to her. A villager helped Cowboy in as Abdul and the one that carried Megan hopped in front.

The engine roared and they took off like a bee for the road. But it wasn't really a road. It was more like a wanna-be path, bumpy and full of ruts. Jake bounced next to Megan and closed his eyes.

"Cupcake…" Cowboy tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, Cupcake, can I do anything?"

Jake sat up and nodded. When Cowboy moved closer to hear over the wind, Jake clenched his fist and smashed it into his face.

"What the fuck?" Cowboy sat up. Now his nose was bleeding and he had a split lip.

"You're lucky I'm injured or you'd have a broken jaw. When I'm better, I might beat you to death. So when we get back to civilization, I suggest you run fast and hard. And keep running," Jake said. "I haven't decided yet if I'll pursue you. If Megan dies, you can count on it."

Cowboy stared, dumbstruck. His hand was touching his lip. "What the… Some way to thank me for saving your ass."