Beneath the Fire (A Guardians Novella) by Victoria Paige Page A

broke off from the pack and sped up beside Lucy. It was Scar. He grinned at her before shooting past them and then passed each car of the convoy, clearly assessing their group’s distribution. Scar slowed down and fell back to rejoin his pack.
    Maia crackled over the radio. “Be on alert.”
    “Copy that,” Nathan said. “Eva, can you hand me that black duffle on the floor beside you?”
    “Damn, what’s in this thing?” Eva muttered as she lifted the heavy bag and handed it to him.
    Nathan unzipped the bag and took out an automatic assault rifle and two handguns. He loaded the magazines and unlocked each safety.
    “Nathan—”
    “Eyes on the road, babe,” Nathan said in a steady voice. “Do you know how to handle a car tire blowout?”
    “Yes,” Lucy said, her voice breaking and unsure.
    “Good. Keep your eyes on the vehicles in front of you. Be prepared to avoid them in case they lose control. Buckle up, Eva.”
    “Oh my god. Oh my god.” Eva chanted over and over as she fastened her seat belt.  

    The convoy picked up speed, hoping to distance themselves from the gang of bikers. One biker accelerated and caught up with the first van. Without any further warning, he drew out a gun and shot out the back tire. The van that Mikey was driving swerved and skidded, stopping diagonally across the shoulder. The second van avoided the disabled vehicle and shot past it but stopped 100 feet away. The SUV that Maia was driving braked, then backed up.
    Lucy shot past the first van and stopped behind the second van.
    “Stay here!” Nathan ordered as he got out of the vehicle. Keeping to the shadows, Nathan approached the disabled vehicle with quick cautious strides, assault rifle at the ready. The women had spilled out from the side of the van and were running toward him. Meanwhile, Mikey got out from the passenger side, gun drawn.  
    The biker that had attacked them started chasing the girls and shot at the ground in front of them to keep them from running further. As the girls screamed not knowing where to go, Nathan took aim and shot the biker, knocking the guy off his motorcycle which grated against the ground when it lost its rider.
    By this time, Mikey was exchanging fire with the rest of the biker gang who had slowed down behind the disabled van after seeing their comrade hit the asphalt.
    Everything descended into chaos in a matter of seconds.
    Maia, Anton and Freddy ran forward and formed a defensive line 50 feet in front of the Dodge Charger, protecting the remaining convoy.
    “Get over here!” Nathan shouted at the girls while running past them all the while gesturing for them to go to Leo who was wildly signaling for the girls to hasten to him.
    Nathan finally made it to Mikey who was crouched behind one of the tires of the van. The vehicle was just being pelted mercilessly with a hail of gunfire.
    “Come on, this thing is going to blow!” Nathan shouted and yanked the other man up as they tore back to the rest of their group.
    They were a couple of steps from their friends when the van exploded, the blast knocking Mikey and himself off their feet.
    Shaking off the fog in his brain, Nathan forced himself up and dragged Mikey along with him. The sounds of motorcycles roared behind them. Nathan looked toward their remaining convoy and saw Lucy helping Leo bundle the girls into Maia’s SUV.  
    “Lucy, get back in the fucking car!” Nathan yelled furiously. He muttered a thankful curse when his girl dashed back to the Dodge Charger.
    “Brace!” Maia warned, she got down on one knee, braced the butt of the assault rifle on her shoulder, and started shooting at the surging gang of bikers. The bikers fired back, bullets raking the asphalt and kicking debris up along their path. In a blink of an eye, Freddy took a bullet to the shoulder and hit the ground. Anton tried to pull him up and jerked as he too got hit.
    “Fuck!” Nathan shouted. The bikes were almost upon them. Nathan crouched on one knee