Page 51 of Viral Justice

Scuffing noises in the dirt behind her and a breath of warm air fanning over the back of her neck told her she wasn’t alone. She turned just far enough to see two little boys, the oldest no more than six years old, hiding behind her watching the scene by the well with wide, frightened eyes.

Holy shit.She’d trained in every type of shooting condition but this one.

Could she kill a man with two little kids watching?

What was her escape plan?

Could she make it with two kids in tow?

Chapter Twelve

Movement in the streetbehind Ali had her tucking the rifle out of sight between her and the wall of the house. She kept her head down as four or five men walked swiftly toward the six surrounding the well.

The two little boys shuffled closer to her, shaking and breathing hard. She wanted to look at them, find out if it was shock freezing them in place or if one of them was hurt, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the action unfolding in front of her.

“Are you okay?” she asked them softly in Arabic.

They didn’t answer. Fear held all their attention. Fear and the murdered women on the ground next to the well.

The newcomers to the party halted about twenty feet away from the gunmen, yelling questions and demands to leave.

“What are you doing here?”

“Why did you kill these women?”

“You don’t belong here, go away.”

“There is already enough death here, take your guns and go.”

The leader of the gunmen shouted back, “We are looking for the Americans. The doctor. Give them to us and we’ll leave.”

“There are no Americans here. The French doctor is dead. She died last night. Killed by the same sickness that killed my son,” one man replied. “Can’t you see? This is a place of death now.”

“The Americans came a few hours ago,” the leader snarled. “We saw the helicopter. Where are they?”

“You are fools,” the same local man replied. “None of the helicopters stop here. No one has come here to help us. We’re all dying.”

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