They were five meters from the safety of the jungle wall when a lone guerrilla stepped out of the trees smack in front of them, looking to see where his teammates had gone. He’d been the lone survivor of the first group to enter the clearing and must not have heard all the uproar back and forth across the clearing.
Jesse’s rifle was over his shoulder so that he could hang onto Hannah’s arm with one hand and grab his hat with the other. Being emptyhanded at this moment was a bad mistake.
The NERC didn’t hesitate.
The round slammed into Jesse’s shoulder—the hard impact enough to slam him to the ground.
His grip on Hannah’s arm pulled her down on top of him.
In his NVGs, he could see the heat trail of the second shot that passed through where her head had been moments before.
Thankfully
