***
And with a yelp they launched her up and over, right into the waiting arms of Delta and her father.
“You next,” Connor ordered.
Charlie hesitated for a second, but the screeching of tires as the SUVs reached them spurred him into action. They had but moments before the men were on them. He bent low, cupping his hands in front of him as Charlie stepped back.
Connor’s growl as he single-handedly threw his team member over the fence was loud enough to echo through the dark.
There wasn’t nearly as much room, and his pants ripped slightly on the barbed wire, but Charlie made it.
“What about you?” Madison shouted as Charlie and Delta ushered her deeper into the train yard.
Beyond them, a throaty horn sounded in the deepening darkness of night. The sun had been down for some time now, and the shadows were growing thicker by the second. His watched beeped.
“Train’s leaving! Get them on it!” he yelled.
“Freeze!”
Connor looked over to see a man climbing out of one of the vehicles.
Not today, shithead, he thought.
Then, faster than any man could move, he launched himself at the hood of his SUV, landing on the roof and jumping. The roof crumpled behind him, but it had supported him for long enough. His legs sprang him up as glass exploded in the windows, the roof collapsing in on itself.
That was why he hadn’t had the others use that method. Only one of them could have. And besides, the landing was going to hurt.
Connor shouted in pain as he landed fully in the barbed wire, the razor-sharp metal slicing deep into his skin in more places than he cared to know. One piece whipped by his face as he tumbled over it, the ground rushing up to meet him.
“Fuck,” he cried out as one of his fingers snapped awkwardly on the landing.
Snap-hiss.
Connor rolled frantically at the sound, just as something dug into the dirt nearby him.
They were firing!
The noise grew louder as more of the men approached the fence, trying to hit him as he scrambled to his feet and began to dodge, using the shadows as best he could. The men behind him were human, so their reactions and eyesight would be reduced heavily, especially as he made his way between looming train cars.
“Ow!” he shouted as something tugged at his arm. Looking down, he saw the scrape mark where a dart must have grazed him. “Lucky bastard,” he said, looking back into the dark.
His blood turned to ice.
Illuminated by the headlights was a man several inches taller than the others. It wasn’t his height though. It was the calm demeanor with which he stood near the others, lowering his tranquilizer pistol, which he had only used one hand on. His body language was relaxed, and yet laser-focused at the same time. Connor saw the head tilt, and realized the man must have picked him up in the darkness.
The gun came up in a blur and Connor ducked around the railroad car just as something clinked against the metal at head height.
Not good, he said, cursing under his breath as he took off after the others. He could hear the train lurching into motion, the loud echoing of metal as one car after another was slowly drawn taut by the movement of the engine. He was running out of time.
Ahead, he saw the rest of his team. Delta and Madison’s father were leading the way. Charlie was lagging behind, pulling Madison after him.
“We need to go after him,” she was saying angrily.
Something about the way she spoke told Connor that she was mad at herself, not at Charlie.
“He’ll be fine,” Charlie said, pulling on her again. The space between the two pairs was increasing as they raced after the moving train.
“I’m coming! Go!’ Connor shouted, catching their attention. “Get moving,” he said angrily as he drew up alongside them, snatching Madison up bodily and tucking her under his arm as they went.
“You’re covered in blood!” she yelped. “Put me down!”
“Then run faster,” he growled, but did as she said. The trio were within two hundred yards of the train when he heard the noise.
“That sounds like—” Charlie started, but was cut off as lights bounced crazily behind them, the rays casting wild shadows all over the train yard.
“A truck,” Connor finished, looking behind them as a fourth vehicle appeared.
The pickup bounced and careened across the tracks, but despite the rough terrain it was gaining ground on them. Ahead of them the first pair was already on the train. Delta hustled the man inside.
“Get on!’ Connor shouted to Charlie, indicating he was going to have to assist Madison. They were starting to fall behind as the train picked up speed. They didn’t have long now before it would be going too fast for even a shifter to catch.
Charlie nodded his head and picked up the pace, leaping on to the back of the moving train.
“Sorry, but no choice this time,” Connor said, picking Madison up in his arms as he dashed forward, his shifter legs closing the ground on the rearmost railroad car. Unlike many trains it wasn’t another engine, but an enclosed cargo car.
“Charlie, catch her!” he shouted to the other man.
“What?” Madison shrieked in his arms.
“I’m going to throw you,” he grunted, churning his legs to get as close as possible to the train.
He bunched his arms, preparing to throw her.
Something flew out of the night, slapping him across the cheek.
Connor flexed his arms, launching Madison forward as he stumbled. She screamed and reached for Charlie’s outstretched arms.