That was the last Ronan heard as a missile from one of the attacking trucks flew past them. It exploded just behind them. Ronan ducked down but kept firing. When one of the attacking vehicles blew up, Wraith drove them through the fireball. Ronan swiveled and fired. A hot sting slapped against his arm. He ground his teeth and kept firing. Explosions popped behind and ahead of them. Wraith was driving like a madman while keeping them from being in the sight of the vehicles that had been attacking. Theboom,boom,boomof the fifty cal was a steady beat to the explosions and the higher-pitched staccato bursts from the sixties on the Jeeps. Thethwapsof bullets hitting the Jeep spun Ronan, and he opened fire on a truck that was attempting to ram them.
“Floor it!” Ronan yelled and fired at the driver. He watched as the man’s head exploded, and the truck jerked to the right, clipping the rear of their Jeep.
Wraith fought the Jeep for control as Ronan continued firing the M-240. The damn thing went up on two wheels and then slammed down on all four. Ronan’s ribs crashed against the fucking machine gun. “Go around to your left!” Ronan swiveled again. Wraith drove alongside Wolf. Ronanand Bandit peppered the ass of the remaining three vehicles, chasing them straight toward the fifty and the missiles.
“Peel off on three!” Deacon shouted. “One, two, three!”
Wraith swung radically to the left and Wolf to the right, pinning the accelerator to the floor. The telltale booming of the fifty started, and then the missile trails from the convoy to the vehicles. Ronan spun, keeping the trucks in his sights, and watched them explode in fiery balls of metal and fuel.
Wraith slowed the vehicle as Ronan swiveled, keeping his eyes open for any source of attack. “They were funded.” Deacon’s voice came over the comms. “New vehicles.”
“Trained, too,” Ronan said while scanning the debris for anything that could be a threat. “Status?” He glanced down at Wraith. “Wraith is hit.” There was a bloody rip on his arm.
“Scratch. You’re hit, too.”
Ronan frowned and glanced down at his arm. He moved it and then lifted it. “Just a graze.” It would need stitches, but it was minor. “I’ll live.”
“Bandit,” Deacon ordered his man to attend to the wounds with a single word.
“On it,” the man said.
“Wolf?” Ronan asked his man’s status.
“Think I’m okay, Skipper. Racked my head against the M-240’s mount when we almost flipped. Vision is a bit fucked.”
“Get him back to the convoy.” Ronan was immediately concerned. Anytime one of his men mentioned they might be okay, instead of shaking it off, they were hurt. Wraith started the Jeep in that direction.
Ronan dismounted the Jeep and winced. It wasn’t the arm because, although that ached like a bitch, too, his ribs reminded him that the metal support for the machine gun was a fuckton harder than his ribs.
Bandit had Wolf sitting on the passenger seat and was testing his eyes. “He has a concussion and needs to be examined for a possible skull fracture.”
“Let’s get him to the camp. They have a doctor. Dude, get us an air evac.”
“On it, Skipper.” Dude’s reply was immediate.
“Skipper, you don’t need to do that,” Wolf said and then promptly swayed and puked on Bandit’s boots.
Bandit looked at him. “Yes, you do.”
“Let’s get Wolf settled and these vehicles moving,” Deacon said. Ronan couldn’t agree more. Miller and Mathias were going to pay a hefty price for fucking with them.
CHAPTER 23
Fleur moved through the camp while keeping her eyes on Miller. She stepped into the admin tent and visited with Rana as they removed the intake sheets from the active books and placed them into the transferred notebooks. The feeling of happiness that usually came with a convoy was mired in fear for Ronan, his brother, and their men.
A commotion at the militia camp drew her and Rana out of the tent. All but three vehicles pulled out of the camp and headed in the same direction the convoy had taken.
Rana wrapped her arms around herself. “That can’t be good.”
Fleur’s gut dropped as she glanced at her watch. “They should be at the camp already, shouldn’t they?”
Rana nodded. “It could be nothing.”
“Yeah.” She wished she could make herself believe it. Catching Miller leaving the dining tent, she stayed outside and waited until he returned to his tent.
Rana tapped her arm to get her attention. “If you don’t need me, I’ll go help with the sick-call line.”
“Of course, sure. I’m heading back to do some work on tomorrow’s convoy. We’ll tell the people who are going this afternoon.”