“Jared and Melendez are starting to make a difference. If we can hold on here for another minute, I think we’ll have a shot at breaking through and mopping up this rabble,” said Rich.

“I’m more concerned with the hostile team dropped off by the helicopters,” said Marnie.

“If we break through to the center,” said Rich, “the hostile team will be forced to respond. We can run a counter-ambush.”

“We got pictures of the camp. Video evidence of a heavily armed force. The whole enchilada isn’t an option anymore,” she said. “We need to get out of here now.”

“We’ll still have to deal with the mercenary team,” said Rich. “If they figure out that we’ve slipped away, they’ll hunt us down with the helicopters. Our extremely overcrowded boat won’t last very long on the lake. And the Suburban will stick out like a sore thumb from the air on thermal imaging.”

“Maybe we just cross the lake and melt into the forest on the other side,” said Marnie.

“We’d just be delaying the inevitable,” said Rich. “Maybe we could evade the helicopters on foot. It all depends on the helicopters’ surveillance capability.”

“Marnie?” said Devin over the net. “Can you fly one of those helicopters?”

Holy shit. With everything going on, they had overlooked the obvious. She could fly them out of here.

“Yes. I can definitely fly one of those helicopters. No doubt about it.”

Rich cut into the conversation immediately.

“OVERWATCH, this is RIFFRAFF. Do we have a clear path to the helicopters?”

“This is OVERWATCH. The path is clear. The nearest hostiles are at the center of camp roughly five hundred feet away. If you head directly to the nearest helicopter, you’ll continue to open that distance. With the thick tree cover, you’ll get there fine. The mercenary team is set up about a hundred feet in front of the boats, close to a thousand yards away. Even if they hauled ass, they couldn’t beat you there. You’re about three hundred and fifty yards from the easternmost clearing. I’ll send you a waypoint. Designating the helicopter team RIFFRAFF ONE. Cover team is RIFFRAFF TWO.”

“Copy. No security on the helicopters?” asked Rich.

“No security. I’m seeing a single pilot in each cockpit, buckled up and waiting to take off. Could be someone hiding in back. The helicopters are shut down, so keep that in mind.”

“It’ll take about a minute to spool up the rotors,” said Marnie.

“That’ll be a long minute,” said Devin.