Will to Survive Read Online Free Page B

exposed as we took off—and then they’d be firing.
    The wheels touched down and we bounced back up in the air wildly—I hadn’t been focusing as much as I’d thought. I pushed the stick forward and worked the flaps to get us back down and create enough drag to keep us on the ground. We rolled along the pavement, and I applied the brakes and eased off the throttle on the whirring blades. I needed to slow us down and I also needed to travel enough of the runway so that we would have room to take off once I spun us around. It wasn’t like I was going to get a second pass if I ran out of pavement.
    We started to bounce. Off to the right were buildings: warehouses that could be holding vehicles, stocks, supplies, and certainly some guards. I wondered if they also held more prisoners, more slaves, as we’d found the first time we’d attacked their stronghold. I forced that thought out of my mind.
    â€œWe don’t need to get much closer. Spin us around and get ready for takeoff!” Herb yelled.
    I applied the brakes and we decelerated sharply. Herb worked to push open the door, fighting the wind from the prop. He nudged the bomb toward the door until it was hanging out, getting ready to drop. We slowed down to almost a stop as the barracks loomed in front of us. I saw two men holding weapons, moving toward us. I hit the right rudder and left brake to start our turn back up the runway, spinning us around in a tight circle so that the barracks disappeared and the open expanse of the runway came into view. At that instant, as we were barely moving forward, out of the corner of my eye I saw the bomb drop to the pavement. I braced for an explosion as Herb slammed the door shut.
    â€œGo, go, go!” he screamed.
    I goosed the gas and the engine roared. At first I drifted off the right edge of the runway and had to correct to bring us back in line, picking up speed.
    â€œThirty seconds!” Herb called out.
    â€œI’m going as fast as I can!”
    Over to the right, I could make out more guards lining the fence. I assumed they all were armed, but so far nobody had fired at us. I opened the throttle up full—faster and faster we raced along the runway until the wheels started to lift off. The end of the runway and the guards on the fence were still far away as I pulled back on the stick, trying to get as much elevation as possible as quickly as possible.
    â€œFifteen seconds!” Herb said.
    The plane lifted up into the air, the ground disappearing from my view as I continued to pull back hard, gaining height and distance. Still nobody had shot at us, or at least hadn’t come close enough for me to even know we were being fired at. Would I even hear gunfire over the roar of the engine? The motor screamed out in protest against what I was asking it to do. I banked hard to the left and, looking down, could see that the compound was behind us. We had gotten free.
    â€œWhy didn’t they fire?” I screamed.
    â€œProbably too confused. There was no time for anybody to give an order to open fire. We have to just be grateful.”
    â€œBut the bomb … it hasn’t gone off?”
    â€œNot yet … seven … six … five…”
    His count was slightly off. Suddenly a massive ball of flames shot up into the air to my left and behind the plane. A plume of smoke followed, and then a shock wave hit the plane and we were bucked to the side. It felt like we had been pushed by a gigantic invisible hand, causing us to slide across the sky rather than flying across it. I struggled, banking into the direction of the slide, going with the force, and the plane came back under my control.
    â€œWhat does it look like back there?” I yelled.
    â€œI can’t see much through the smoke, but it looks like it had the desired effect. There’s going to be a crater in the runway big enough to drop a transport truck into,” Herb answered.