Precipice: V Plague Book 9 by Dirk Patton

the Red Army.
    “Chair,” was
all he said as he began reading the biography.

13
     
    After
thinking about the situation for a few minutes I decided we weren’t going to
move again until after dark.  Making room in the barn, I pulled the Jeep
inside to hide it from any eyes that might fly over.  Rachel and Dog
settled at the base of one of the trees, Katie and I at another as I kept an
eye to the west.
    It wasn’t
long before I saw the first transport aircraft descend for landing, shortly
followed by several more.
    “Russian?” 
Katie asked, having seen them when I pointed them out to her.
    “Yep. 
Can’t remember the designation, but those aren’t C-130s.”  I said,
checking the phone’s signal again.
    “You think
they’re jamming?”  She asked, noticing me look at the handset for about
the hundredth time.
    “That’s what
I would do if I had the resources available.  They’ve probably got their
version of an AWACS orbiting at 30,000 feet, controlling the airlift and
coordinating an aerial search.”
    I turned my
head slightly when I heard the faint sound of jet engines.  Listening for
a moment I looked at the northern horizon.  I could just make out a tiny,
black speck transiting from east to west.  Almost assuredly a Russian
aircraft looking for me.
    “Your
boyfriend surely fucked things up,” I mumbled.
    Katie didn’t
say anything and after a few moments I glanced at her and from the expression
on her face I knew I’d hit a nerve.
    “Sorry,” I
said, reaching over and taking her hand.  “I didn’t mean that the way it
came out.”
    She squeezed
my hand in hers but didn’t look at me or say anything.  Shit, John. 
Sometimes you can really be an insensitive ass.
    “So we’re
just going to sit here until it gets dark?”  Katie asked several minutes
later.
    “Unless
you’ve got a better idea.  It’s wide open east of here and we’re going to
stick out like a sore thumb if we start moving.”
    “You think
it will be better at night?  Their night vision is as good as ours and
odds are they’ll be watching with thermal, too.”
    “You’re
probably right,” I said.  “But even with night vision and thermal, if
they’re not looking directly at us they aren’t very likely to notice us. 
At least not as likely as if we’re moving in broad daylight.”
    She nodded
but kept whatever else she was thinking to herself.  We both looked to our
left at Rachel when she tossed a handful of pebbles at us.  Dog was
sitting up, ears at full mast, looking north into a field.  I didn’t see
anything, but wasn’t about to ignore him.
    Standing slowly,
I scanned with my eyes, spotting five figures moving through the rows of green produce
about two hundred yards away.  Raising my rifle, I checked through the
scope and confirmed they were infected.  Three males and two
females.  They didn’t seem to have spotted us as they were moving due
east, heading for all the noise that the Russians were making in town.
    Slowly
scanning behind them to the west I saw several more groups.  They were all
out in the field, far enough away to bypass us, but I had a bad feeling and
turned to check behind us.  Over a hundred infected were spread across the
horizon, on course to pass directly through the area where we were sitting. 
It was an even mix of males and females and it was just dumb luck that the
females hadn’t spotted us yet.
    “In the
barn,” I hissed, keeping my rifle up and aimed at the approaching danger.
    Katie and
Rachel scrambled to their feet and dashed inside the big building, Dog breaking
into a limping trot to keep up with them.  I turned a quick circle,
scanning with the rifle, then followed them and pulled the large door closed
behind me.  There was a simple block of wood nailed to the frame that
could be rotated to prevent the door from opening and I slapped it into place.
    “How
many?”  Rachel asked breathlessly.
    “Too many,”
I said quietly.  “No noise.