CHAPTER 217
Tongues of fire licked at Gary's arms as he drug Daniel's unconscious body across the rover. The inside of the vehicle was growing hotter and smokier by the second. Gary gasped for air the moment his head was out. He tumbled onto his butt as he heaved Daniel from the burning car and swatted kindling flames from both their clothes. When Gary jumped to his feet he saw that the truck they had crashed into was more of a danger than he'd originally supposed. They had not spilled a mere thirty or fifty gallons of gas from a fuel tank on the side of a cab. They had ruptured an entire tanker of jet fuel.
"Oh Christ." Gary snatched Daniel's arms and started pulling him as fast as he could from the growing blaze.
The fire was lashing out of the car door. The inside of the rover had become an inferno. Gary tripped and fell. He stood up and grabbed for Daniel's arms again, only this time Daniel pulled his arms away and sprang to a sitting position.
"What the hell happened?"
Gary grabbed for him again. "Come on! We've gotta go!"
Daniel slipped from his grip and patted himself down in a panic. "Gary, where are the god damned samples?"
"The what?"
"The blood samples!"
Gary looked at the burning rover and Daniel knew they had been left behind.
"God damn it!" Daniel lunged to his feet.
"Wait! Are you insane? They're burned to hell!"
Daniel thrust an elbow at Gary to push him away, and he turned to run for the blaze. He did not get more than a few feet before the tanker erupted into a cloud of rolling fire that expanded skyward with the mass of a cumulonimbus.
The shockwave hit Daniel and Gary like a brick wall moving at a thousand miles per hour. They flew through the air like they'd been shot from a cannon.
Gary wasn't entirely sure if he'd remained conscious during the explosion, but the next thing he could clearly make out was the column of black and orange smoke rumbling upward. He was on his back and looking at the sky. There was a moment of time where he couldn't hear or feel anything. It was almost like he was inside a silent film. Slowly the sounds crept back, and he started feeling sensations throughout his body.
Over the fizzling and crackling of the fire Gary heard someone chuckling. He turned his head to the left and saw Daniel laying on his back, much like he was, and laughing like he'd just been told a hilarious joke. Daniel continued to laugh. He rolled his head from side to side and pointed up at the rising smoke. It continued on until he clapped his hands and jumped to his feet. Gary was quite surprised that he was able to get up so quickly.
"What the hell is so funny?" Gary stumbled as he managed to get up. He felt unsteady and wobbled on his legs.
Daniel grabbed him by the shoulders. "Nothing, Gary. Absolutely nothing."
Gary looked around at the surrounding foliage. "We should go before Tomahawk comes back to finish what she started."
"That bitch made it out?" Daniel drew his pistols and waved them at the trees. "Bring it on, you big ass turkey!"
Gary saw stirring amongst the trees. Shadows were moving about, and then the raptors emerged.
"Well, it looks like you got your god damned wish, Daniel."