it was like sheet lightning and the beach blasted into light; then the blaze was gone and they were back in moonlit darkness.
The sound was deafening, and Ethan looked up to see the bodies of their attackers falling through the air. He knew they were dead before they hit the ground. They hadn’t even had a chance to scream.
They pushed on. The path was only metres away now. Then came more shooting, this time from the right, and Ethan could see another two men charging towards them, yelling, firing.
He looked at Johnny, who reached into his pack and pulled out two grey canisters. He gave one to Ethan. ‘Pull the pin and throw it towards them!’ he shouted.
Ethan did exactly as he was told, and they both lobbed the canisters over.
There were two explosions, and the two men disappeared in a cloud of thick white smoke.
‘Move it!’ yelled Johnny, and Ethan chased after him as he heard more firing from behind.
They reached the bottom of the path and just kept on running. Somehow Ethan’s legs kept pumping hard – he didn’t know where the energy was coming from.
The cliff exploded around them as bullets ricocheted above their heads, sending out sharp splinters of rock. But Ethan didn’t feel a thing – he was focused on getting to the top of the path. He’d never run so fast in his life.
As they emerged at the clifftop, another explosion sounded from behind them on the beach. Ethan guessed what it was. ‘Another Claymore?’
Johnny nodded. ‘Horribly effective, I’m afraid.’ Then he squeezed the communicator round his neck. ‘Guys! Can you hear me?’
Ethan heard the voices of Luke, Kat and Natalya reply with a simple ‘Yes’.
‘Beach is shagged,’ said Johnny. ‘Meet at the watchtower in five.’
Ethan looked at him. ‘We’re BASE jumping?’
Johnny grinned. ‘Fun, this, isn’t it?’
31
Ethan wasn’t given a chance to argue: Johnny simply sprinted off, and he had to try and keep up.
They followed a wide arc around the ruins to the watchtower behind. Another explosion tore the air, and the light from it brought the castle into sharp focus. Ethan could see that the diversion was having the desired effect. Whoever had stolen the disk was now convinced they were under attack. Ethan could see that the way the explosions had been laid gave the impression that someone was firing explosive rounds at the ruins from the other side of the island – and getting progressively closer as they homed in on their target. X-rays were milling about, firing wildly in the direction they believed the explosions were coming from. They had no idea that they were just charges going off at set intervals.
The air was filled with the smell of burning and cordite and the sound of weapons’ fire and shouting. Ethan hoped the diversion had given Sam enough time to do what he had to do.
Then, as the flat ground disappeared and the ruins loomed up on their left, a man wearing an expensive leather jacket and carrying a weapon ran out through a gap in the walls and barged straight into Johnny. They both went down.
Ethan watched them tumble to the ground, rolling away from the ruins and towards the bushes that led to the cliffs. He heard the man’s gun clatter on some rocks and hoped that he’d dropped it, but then saw that he’d managed to keep hold of it despite the fall. The man scrambled to his feet, raised the weapon and took aim at Johnny.
Instinct kicked in and Ethan launched himself, feet first, at the man’s hand. Whether it was the sensible thing to do or not, he didn’t care; if he didn’t do something, he knew Johnny would be dead.
He heard bones smash as his foot connected with the man’s hand and sent the gun spinning off into the dark. There was a shrill scream. Ethan’s unexpected attack had given Johnny enough time to get to his feet and launch an attack of his own. But the man was quick, dodging to the right and catching Johnny, throwing him over and onto his back. Johnny cried out, briefly winded, and Ethan went in again with his other boot, this time to the man’s stomach. The guy doubled over and retched – just as something smacked into the side of his head with a dull thud. He fell backwards and hit the ground.
Ethan stared down at him, ready for another attack, but he wasn’t moving; blood was pooling beneath his head, leaking into the