The harsh rasp of the Gatling gun and the explosive crack of bullet impacts returned as Eddie reached the corner, rounds chewing into the wall behind him . . .
And into Chambi.
The young corporal was only one step away from safety when the stream of lead caught up with him. Half of his upper body literally exploded, showering the wall with blood and flesh. What was left of him tumbled on to the path behind Eddie. Horrifyingly, he was still alive.
Briefly.
The firing stopped again, the gunner trying to regain sight of his escaped prey.
Eddie shook off his shock. Chambi’s blood-splattered AKM was beside his corpse; he grabbed it and ran up the hill.
In the gunner’s cockpit, Krikorian kept the infrared sights fixed on the corner. A glowing splash of hot blood told him that he had hit one of the two running men . . . but the other had gone. He tipped his head to move the cross-hairs up the slope. A brief flash of body heat between two buildings, but it disappeared before he could lock on to it.
‘Lost him!’ Annoyed, he searched for other targets inside the cave.
A cluster of bright human shapes stood out.
Fear for her husband’s life had paralysed Nina as she and the others watched the Hind open fire – but the sight of the gunship’s cannon turning towards them snapped her back into motion with a surge of adrenalin. ‘Run!’
She and Mac went one way, the rest of the group the other - except Juanita, who started to follow the American and the Scot before Zender’s panicked shout of her name made her double back.
The hesitation cost the young woman her life. Tracer rounds seared over the city, catching Juanita as she tried to run. Her body was thrown back along the plaza, a bloodied rag doll.
The line of death pursued Nina and Mac—
‘Cease fire, cease fire!’ Stikes snarled into his headset. ‘I need Wilde and Jindal alive!’ The cannon’s roar stopped.
All of Pachac’s men had now gone into the tunnel. With the defenders dead they would be able to enter the cave with minimal resistance, but the bloodlust roused by the death of their comrades would almost certainly lead to their killing anyone they found. He had to take control of matters on the ground to prevent that from happening, but it would take him crucial minutes to rope down and catch up . . .
His gaze shifted back to the cave mouth. A moment’s thought, then: ‘Gurov! What’s this thing’s rotor diameter?’
Nina pressed against a building, out of the helicopter’s sights. Mac joined her a moment later. ‘Are you okay?’ he asked.
‘Yeah, but – oh God, Juanita . . .’ The Peruvian woman lay motionless.
‘At least it would have been quick,’ Mac said grimly. He saw the other expedition members reach cover on the other side of the plaza. ‘Everyone else is okay – but why did they stop firing?’
That was not a question high on Nina’s mind. ‘What about Eddie? Did he get away?’ She leaned round the corner – and saw men emerging from the shaft. ‘Shit! More of them!’
Eddie crouched behind one of the tombs, looking back. The Hind had stopped shooting and was now hanging almost hesitantly above the trees. There was nowhere to land – was Stikes about to rope down?
Shouts brought his attention to a more immediate threat. More attackers had entered the cavern, and this time there was nobody to stop them. He pulled himself on to the little tomb’s roof. From here, he could see the shaft. A man scrambled out of it, then another.
Activity, much closer. Two men were heading up into the ruins. One was armed with an AK-47 – the other a rocket launcher. The first man pointed at the plaza.
Eddie aimed his AKM, but before he could shoot the pair moved out of sight.
He knew what they were doing: finding a good firing position.
Keeping low, Kit returned to the plaza’s eastern end. The helicopter was still hovering outside, but its cannon was no longer pointed at him. He raised his head to look down at the city. The shaft was disgorging armed men like an anthill; two, three, four, and no way to know how many were already inside the cave.
‘Kit, get back here!’ Macy cried. He looked round. She was with Osterhagen and Zender behind a squat building, Olmedo and Cruzado peering from inside its doorway.