Chapter 28 - Cold Water, Hot Lead
"Get to the boat at the end of the slip!" Claire yelled over the deafening chatter of gunfire. She leaned out from behind the fuel tank, firing controlled double-taps into the approaching zodiacs. One of the gunners took a bullet to the chest and tumbled backward into the freezing gray water, his weapon sinking instantly.
I grabbed Emily, holding her tight against my chest, and sprinted down the slippery wooden dock toward the aluminum skiff. Bullets stitched a line across the planks right behind my heels, sending jagged shards of wood flying into my legs.
"Daddy!" Emily wailed in terror.
"Keep your eyes closed, Emily! Don't look!" I screamed.
We reached the boat. I practically threw Emily down into the small, reinforced forward cabin, slamming the heavy marine hatch shut. "Stay down and lock it from the inside!"
I turned back to help Claire. She was pinned down thirty yards back, taking heavy fire from the second zodiac and a sniper positioned on the roof of the cannery building behind the docks. Her magazine clicked empty.
Without thinking, I grabbed a heavy iron mooring wrench from a dock box and hurled it with all my might into the glass windshield of the cannery sniper’s perch. It didn't hit him, but the sudden smash of glass broke his concentration, causing his next shot to fly wide, striking the pier at Claire’s feet instead of her torso.
Claire used that split-second distraction. She drew her sidearm, spun, and fired three rounds upward through the broken window. The sniper collapsed, his rifle sliding down the corrugated metal roof and splashing into the sea.
"Run, Claire!" I roared, throwing the thick mooring lines off the boat's cleats.
Claire broke into a dead sprint down the pier. The second zodiac swung toward the dock, its mounted machine gun chewing through the wood right behind her heels. With one final, desperate leap, Claire threw herself through the air as the dock behind her disintegrated under a barrage of lead.
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She landed heavily on the aluminum deck of the skiff, coughing blood.
I slammed the starter switches for the twin outboards. The massive engines roared to life, churning the black sea water into white foam. I threw the throttles wide open. The skiff surged forward like a missile, launching over the wake of the incoming zodiac just as a volley of automatic fire peppered our stern.
