Chapter 12: Road chase

Indy watched the Ark be loaded onto the truck. He made a decision and looked over at Marion. If she could see what he was going to say before he said it, it would certainly save time.

'You know what I'm going to ask you to do?' he asked.

Marion nodded, looking worried. 'Meet you at Omar's. Get transport to England. Boat, plane, anything.'

'Took the words right out of my mouth,' Indy agreed. 'I'm going after that truck.'

'What are you going to do?' Sallah asked.

'Oh, I don't know,' he responded. 'I'm making this up as I go.'

He slid off the dirt pile and ran around. He'd seen some horses around here. They'd be perfect for going after that truck. He had absolutely no doubt that Marion would be watching his every move.

XXX

Marion climbed into the pick-up next to Sallah. They'd watched Indy ride off on that horse. It was so typical of him to do something reckless like that.

Sallah didn't say anything. He seemed to understand that she didn't want to talk. She turned her head away, pretending to look out the window as she sifted through the future, watching what Indy did a moment before he did it.

Sallah was an Arab. She didn't know how he'd respond to a woman with precognition and she wasn't game to find out, even if he was Indy's friend and sweet to her. She'd heard the stories of Arabian people being stoned to death just because they were a little bit different.

He rode the horse down the hill and came up alongside the truck that contained the Ark. With all the confidence and stupidity that it took, Indy jumped from the horse to the truck.

He climbed along the side of the truck until he got to the cabin. Then he yanked the door open and yanked one of the Germans out. Without giving the other one any time to figure out what was going on, he swung forward and punched him, grabbing the steering wheel.

Both of them tried to push each other out of the cabin. Indy only succeeded because they nearly ran the truck off the road. It would have killed them all. But it did create the perfect distraction so the Nazi dropped his guard and Indy was able to shove him out of the cabin.

XXX

Indy slammed the cabin door shut.

Now all he had to worry about were the Nazis in the back with the Ark, the Nazis behind him and Belloq and the head Nazis in front of him. Belloq was the first to notice. He turned around first, at least. If he could see his face, Indy would have shot him a big, smug grin. Unfortunately, they were too far away so Indy checked the rear-vision mirrors.

A motorbike and sidecar were trying to come up beside him but they had a slight problem. Indy yanked the wheel to the side, swerving the truck and knocking the motorbike into the pond, with its sidecar.

Then Indy had to deal with the next problem: the car coming up behind him from the other side. This time, when he knocked the vehicle off the road, it was on a cliff's edge. The car and all the Germans in it went flying to their deaths.

There were probably six Nazis in the truck he'd commandeered. He glanced in both rear-vision mirrors. Yup. They were climbing along either side of the truck.

Indy swerved first to the left and then to the right. It was strange how whenever he did this, the road always seemed convenient for him. Thick bushes lined the road and that was all it took to wipe them off the truck. It seemed like now all he had to do was run the head car off the road.

XXX

Belloq watched as Jones flew out the front windscreen. He managed to hang onto the hood but if he was crushed between the two remaining vehicles, he would die. They gestured for the driver to come forward. The driver quickly obeyed but Jones saw what they were doing. Belloq began to fear as he went under the truck.

It was too much to hope that Jones would die down there. His lucky streak was far too good for that particular alternative. Sure enough, a few minutes later he was back up and climbing up along the side of the truck. Belloq and Dietrich gestured frantically, trying to tell the driver where Jones was. When he finally looked, Jones swung down and kicked him in the face. Then Jones shoved him out of the way, grabbed the steering wheel, rammed his head into the driving console a few times before throwing him out of the truck.

The driver tried to grab onto the hood but he lost his grip and Jones ran him over. The damn American then drove faster. Gobler tried to get in their car his way to stop him but Jones just ran them off the road. They went right into a ditch and Jones drove away, far enough from them to just be a blip when Belloq stood up to look.

That damn American!

XXX

Indy glanced back and he spotted Belloq whacking one of the Nazis over the head. It was done now. He could get back to Marion. Indy winced and grabbed his arm as his wound stung. Marion would know all about this. She would have seen it happen. He wasn't going to worm his way out of this one.

As he pulled into Omar's, his tracks were covered up. He just about fell out of the truck and Marion was immediately at his side. Indy slid an arm around her shoulders.

'One day, Jones,' Marion remarked, 'you are going to make me a nervous wreak.'

'Nah,' he breathed. 'You wouldn't let me.'