Read Online The Beginning of the End (Book 2): Toward the Brink II by Craig A. McDonough - Free Book Online

words.
    “Okay, Riley and I will take each side of the Humvee. Elliot, you rush in and open the back door. Count to five, Roger. If there’s no shooting or explosions, you check it out. Got it?” the Tall Man ordered.
    Once in position, Elliot opened the door of the Humvee, then ducked. Roger counted to five, and when no gunfire erupted, he came around to check. A girl about Cindy’s age lay on her side. Her hands and feet had been tied. The duct tape over her mouth had come loose. She screamed.
    “Relax, relax. We won’t hurt you.” Roger attempted to calm her, but she pulled farther away. Everyone wore camouflage, and they looked much the same as the group that had abducted her.
    “It’s okay, it’s okay … we took care of the people who did this.” Mulhaven spoke with a firm but reassuring voice. “Are you hurt at all, did they …?”
    A moment later she answered him. “I think I’m all right. They didn’t hurt me, not really. They picked me up off the street a few hours ago and just threw me in the back here.”
    “Untie her, Roger,” Mulhaven said. “You’ll be safe with us, miss…. We’ll look after you.”
    For the first time in days, she smiled. She saw the friendliness in Mulhaven’s eyes. If you couldn’t trust someone who looked like Morgan Freeman…
    “We got food, hot water, and beds to sleep on.” He offered a hand to help her out of the military vehicle. “My name’s Riley.”
    “Samantha C-Cole, most call me S-S-Sam,” she stuttered. She was still scared, but there was a warmth in the voice of Riley Mulhaven—a warmth to give her some hope. Mulhaven led her back to the motor home, where Margaret waited. She would see that Samantha was made comfortable with a hot coffee or a bowl of noodles.
    Elliot’s eyes were fixed on the Humvee—particularly the M249 mounted on top. He questioned whether they should take two of the Humvees.
    “I’d be against it, even if it has plenty of ammo.”
    “Why would you be against extra firepower, Chuck?”
    “Well, firepower doesn’t mean much, Elliot, as you have just witnessed.” The Tall Man pointed.
    When Elliot looked back along the drive of the trailer park, the reality of what had happened hit him like a punch to the gut. Their group of six had killed almost thirty men, and not one of them got off as much as a single shot. The look of the Tall Man and the calm voice suggested this wasn’t the first time he’d faced an enemy in greater numbers and dealt with them similarly.
    Was he really the Rock of Gibraltar, as Mulhaven suggested, or the ice man, Elliot wondered.
    “Well, maybe you’re right, but I was thinking of the extra firepower.”
    “I know, Elliot. It looks like it would fit our needs, but these military Humvees are heavier and slower, and we don’t need that. Ammunition will be impossible to come by. That includes all weapons, but especially military weapons.”
    “Yeah, I didn’t think of that,” Elliot acknowledged.
    “There’s bound to be more of these guys around, and no doubt some will be better trained. If they see us from a distance in a National Guard Humvee, they’ll assume we killed the occupants and took the vehicle. They’ll fire on us with rockets or armor-piercing weapons. I’d prefer to avoid that scenario if at all possible.” He gave Elliot a wink.
    “We still need to fuel up our Hummer and the van before we move, Chuck,” Allan was quick to remind him.
    “After all that gunfire, I’d rather get a move on. I don’t want to hang around any longer than we have to. If we’ve got enough gas for an hour of travel, let’s put some distance between us and this town.”
    “I agree,” Mulhaven said. “You wanna take the Hummer? I can if you want to take a break,” Mulhaven asked the Tall Man.
    “I’d like to get the hell outta here before I even think about a rest.”
    “Okay, you take the Hummer. I’ll take the van, and David, you take the motor home. When we get out on the open