Parchman, стр. 37
‘You don’t see that every day,’ Xander said out loud. ‘Right, car lot,’ hesaid and rushed towards where Mendez had kept his cars.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Above both armies Hod’s biplane circled again and headed back downtowards the CommanderGeneral’s soldiers menacingly.
Logan punched the air with elation.‘Drop back,’ he shouted.
Whilst the Commander General’s mercenaries scattered, Logan and hiscrew started to retreat and let Hod do his job and shoot down the terrifiedarmy. They were left hiding behind whatever cover they could find.
The fighter plane rained down bullets which, if they didn’t hit their targets,tore through the ground throwing up dust and making it impossible for thesoldiers to see. Flames were clearly visible from the ground as they cameoff the airplane guns. ‘Throw the grenades down there,’ said Hod to thewoman, Emma, in the seat behind him.
Grenades started to explode beneath them and in front of Logan who wasjoined by Tallulah. ‘Can you believe it?’ she said. ‘They are runningaway.’
And she was right. The soldiers who had now evacuated the open space infront of the prison had now sought solace in the nearby buildings beyondwhere Hod could see them. The Commander General’s main Lieutenantwas still alive but sporting a severely deep cut across his cheek, whichTallulah had given him on the battlefield. He was still seething.
Giving up and running was not in his nature and still loyal to theCommander General he had no thoughts of surrender just yet. Hescreamed at the men around him.
‘I’m not hanging around here,’ shouted one of the soldiers to the Lieutenant.
The Lieutenant pulled his revolver from its holster and shot the man in thehead. ‘Anyone else want to run away like a coward?’ he said with hisrevolver still drawn and looking at the rest of the men in theroom. ‘Nowget up to the highest point in the buildingand get snipers on that plane.’
The rest of the men looked at each other. ‘Now,’ he yelled, and they startedup the steps of the building.
The Lieutenant stepped up to the window of the room they had occupied.Bullets hit the frame of the opening and shattered the glass to the floor infront of him. Hedidn’t flinch. Even from this distance he could still seeTallulah stood with Logan and the rest of the enemy. If he was going todie then she was going to die with him.
He turned and walked up the stairs following the other soldiers. Enteringa room near the top of the apartment building he nodded to a soldier by thedoor. ‘Do you have a clean shot?’ he said to another by the window.
‘Sir, no sir,’ replied the man.
‘Move,’ said the Lieutenant, pushing the man aside and kneeling beforethe sniper’s rifle and placing his eye to the sight.
He adjusted the rifle and followed Hod’s plane as it circled down on thefew stragglers below who were looking for somewhere to hide. His fingercaressed the trigger whilst his supporting hand stayed rigid on the bottomof the rifle.
The gun juddered slightly as the Lieutenant took his shot. He didn’t takehis eye away from the sight of the rifle but the men around him took a stepcloser to see if he had hit his target. The airplane circled again looking asif the Lieutenant’s first attempt had missed.
The Lieutenant aimed again, and the gun moved slightly on the windowsillemitting a whistling noise as the bullet left the gun. The men around himlooked for some sign that their new leader had put some points back onthe board for them. They were disparaged that the unexpected return ofHod had put their backs against the wall and this small win might givethem breathing space to realign and attempt a final push to overcome theprison.
But the airplane continued to circle around again with it guns still firingonto their men below.
The Lieutenant stood up to his men’s surprise. Whilst on the surface hismen had seen no evidence that either shot had made contact with the planethe Lieutenant knew otherwise.
Up in the cockpit Hod looked out to side of the airplane where the firstbullet had struck the gas tank and fuel was spewing out and into the air ata significant rate down the side of the plane. If that wasn’t bad enough thesecond shot had struck through the cockpit and hit Hod in the leg.
His passengers, all of whomhadn’t been in an airplane before, were nowin sheer panic that crashing was an imminent and the only outcome.
‘Never fear,’ said Hod, maintaining confidence under pressure, whilst hisleg was losing blood as fast as the airplane lost fuel. ‘Crash landings arewhat I do best,’ he chuckled nervously. He swung the airplane around onelast time and unleashed a last flurry of bullets down on the hapless soldiersbefore heading back towards the makeshift landing strip behind the prison.
Meanwhile, down on the ground Jackal and McGregor held up their handsin frustration. ‘Where’s he going?’ they both said at the same time.
‘He’s taken a hit,’ said Chuck, pointing to the side of the airplane where itbecame apparent that fuel was escaping into the air above them.
‘Bloody Hell,’ said Jackal as he watched soldiers in the distance start toappear from the doorways of the surrounding buildings, behind trees andwhatever cover they could find following the aerial onslaught from Hod.‘I guess we go again?’ he said.
‘Better odds this time my friend,’ said McGregor, and he was right. The side were far more even than when the battle had started, and the guardiansof the prison were still brimming with confidence having already survivedthe Commander Generals assault of the Savages and then their infantryoffensive.
In fact the depleted army looked anything but ready to take on