“Tommy!” somebody yelled. “You did it!” One of them stepped away from the others and advanced on the Bronco. He carried what looked like a short-barreled shotgun. “Good God, Tommy, we heard all that shootin’ and we didn’t know what the hell was goin’ on.”

The others ahead were blocking the road. It wasn’t an aggressive move. More of an informal party taking shape. Adam counted five of them.

“They didn’t want to give up easy, huh?”

“Be ready for anything,” Adam said. He moved his rifle so the muzzle rested on the door frame, on top of the open window.

The guy with the shotgun approached easily, clearly not expecting trouble. His hand was nowhere near the trigger of his shotgun. “You didn’t have to hurt them too bad, did you? How many was there, anyway? Sounded like a war up—”

The man arrived at the window and understood.

“Two of us,” Adam said. “Tommy threatened to rape my girlfriend. He was going to kill me.”

In the glow of the man’s lantern, Adam saw his features harden.

“What happened to Tommy?”

“Shh,” Adam said. “I’m not looking for trouble. Just let us drive through. I promise we won’t—”

The man in the window shifted his posture. Adam saw that he was bringing his shotgun to bear so he shot him in the eye at point-blank range. His stomach knotted as the man’s brain spray spattered his face and he stomped on the gas. The Bronco lurched forward as the other five jumped to action. They were still fifty feet away and the Bronco had all the acceleration of an overweight turtle. As the vehicle sped toward the assembled locals, they prepared to fire.

Adam shifted his rifle to aim through the windshield and started pumping rounds through the glass. Aim wasn’t important. He just wanted to make them jump. The glass spiderwebbed and his victims jumped out of the way. As the Bronco passed, the wheel passed over something big, bouncing Adam and Emma out of their seats.

He was able to maintain control, though.

“Was that what I think it was?” Emma asked, whirling in her seat to take a look out the back window.

“I’m telling myself it was a rock,” Adam said.

“But what if—”

“It was a rock, Emma.”

“Those were people, Adam.”