Page 33 of Thin Ice

The jets roared past them.

“Can we fly on one engine?” Abby asked.

“Yes, but they’ll keep coming after us. We’ve got to land. I’m searching for a place now.” The chopper hovered several hundred feet off the ground. “We’re coming up on a mountain range now. If we can get as close as possible, the jets won’t be able to reach us.”

Abby gripped the seat tight as the chopper banked hard and careened toward the mountain now in front of them. Once they got close, Zeke slowly brought the chopper down to the ground. Before they reached the surface, the fighter jet fired one last time. The tail end of the chopper took the weight of the damage. The aircraft spun in a three-hundred-and-sixty degree turn and slammed against the ground hard. Metal crunched. Silence followed.

“Is anyone hurt?” Abby hurried to the back of the chopper where Brookes was. “Are you okay?” She knelt beside him and reached for his hand. The pain on his face spoke of how difficult the landing had been.

He managed a nod.

“What do we do now?” He slurred.

“I don’t know, but I’ll call James.” She took out her phone. The no-service signal was the last thing they needed right now. “There’s no service. I’ll get out and see if I can reach him higher up.” Abby started away, but Brookes grabbed her hand. She turned to him and ran her hand against his face.

“Be careful. Those jets could still be around. Or others.”

“I’ll keep a lookout.” She stepped to the back of the chopper and went outside. Zeke and the medics went with her.

“They’ll have men here before long. We need immediate help. I know someone,” Zeke told her.

She stopped trying to reach James and turned to him. “What do you have in mind?”

“When I told you there were many men and women in the military who believe in our president, I wasn’t exaggerating. There are thousands, if not more.”

“I’m listening.”

“There’s an Air Force base near here. My friends can be here soon. I have a sat phone I can use to call them.”

“Do it. Tell them to hurry, Zeke. We don’t have a lot of time.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Zeke smiled, took out his sat phone, and made the call.

Abby glanced around and shivered. The night was close to freezing and her thin jacket provided little defense against the bitter cold. As far as she could tell, they appeared to be surrounded by woods.

Zeke ended the call. “They’re on their way. My advice is we keep moving until my friends get close. Those fighters will have radioed our position. They’ll have troops on the ground soon enough.”

The thought of Brookes having to walk in his condition was unthinkable. “We have wounded people onboard. I’m not sure they’ll be able to make the hike.”

“We may not have a choice,” Zeke told her. “It’ll be over an hour before our extraction team arrives, and the SUV was damaged in the landing.”

Abby scanned the wooded area. “How about we find a place to take cover away from the chopper. We’ll get everyone out in case they come for it.”

“As I recall, there are a few rental cabins around the area,” Nick told them. “I’ve been here before on vacation as a kid. At this time of the year, they’re likely to be vacant.”

Abby peered over his shoulder and sighed.

“There’s one about a quarter of a mile from here.” Nick looked at her. “Let’s hope no one’s home.”

“I’m going to keep trying James. If something happens, I want to have a backup plan.”

They started back to the chopper when her phone picked up enough service to place a call.

James answered on the first ring. “What’s going on?”

“We have a problem.” She told him about being shot down. “Zeke has men coming from the Minot Air Force Base whom he trusts. We’re getting everyone out of the chopper and hopefully we’ll move to a vacant cabin.”

“Do you trust this guy?”

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