PRIMAL Inception Read Free Page A

didn’t dare look back.
    Twenty yards. He heard it charging through the long grass. It was on his heels.
    Ten yards. Sledge almost didn’t see the fence at the edge of the clearing. He fell over it, tearing his flight suit on the top strand of barbed wire. A shrub broke his fall and he rolled onto his back.
    The dog yelped in surprise as it broke through the grass and hit the fence. Its head slipped through the wires but its legs and body did not. The fence stretched forward. The dog’s teeth snapped inches from his face. Then it recoiled and the canine was catapulted away. It yelped as it collapsed in the grass.
    Sledge crawled to the tree line and staggered to his feet. The soldiers were halfway across the clearing. He knew that escape was almost futile; he was injured, tired and running out of options. But then, as he considered waiting for the Serbs to find him, he heard a car approach.
    He limped toward the sound. Pushing through branches he caught a glimpse of the vehicle. He stumbled out onto a gravel road and threw his arms in the air. “American, help me!”
    The battered Lada four-wheel drive screeched to a halt and Sledge found himself face to face with two old men. Sledge pointed to the flag on his ripped and muddied flight suit. “Help me.”
    The driver gestured with his hand as the passenger reached back and opened one of the rear doors. Sledge dove in, pulled the door shut and lay across the back seat. He mumbled a quick prayer of thanks as the driver gunned the engine and the little car took off like a startled rabbit.
     
    ***
     
    The sun had almost set by the time the KLA convoy arrived at the farm. Vance jumped out and joined Zahir and Kreshnik who were talking to an Albanian family. “Have they seen the pilot?”
    Zahir shook his head. “No, but there was a Serb patrol here earlier. They were asking questions about us.”
    He nodded at the elderly woman who had been speaking to Zahir. Tears streamed down her face. Her husband had his arm wrapped around her shoulders. “What did she say?”
    “The Serbs took her daughter, and they chased someone into the forest.” He pointed at the pine-tree covered hills behind the farm. “One of the children said they saw a man running in that direction.” He held up a small radio. “They found this.”
    Vance inspected it. It was caked with mud but appeared functional. “Do they know if he was caught?”
    Zahir shook his head. “There was shooting. They don’t know anything else.”
    “Thanks.” He returned to the four-wheel drive where Ice stood scanning the hills with a night vision monocular .
    Ice lowered the device. “Any sign of our man?”
    Vance handed over the radio.
    “So he was here.”
    “Yep, local boy saw him being chased into the woods by a Serb patrol.”
    Ice stared at the radio. “There’s a good chance he’s either dead or captured.”
    “We don’t know that.”
    Barishna limped over and interrupted in his whiney voice, “I have some local sources. If he’s around here they’ll know where he’s hiding.”
    Kreshnik followed him, cradling his new sniper rifle. “OK, we came and looked. Now we go.”
    “Hang on a sec, buddy. We’re not done yet,” said Vance.
    “Zahir has given the order. We return to base.” Kreshnik glared at Barishna.
    “And Vance just said we’re not done,” growled Ice. “Unless you want to fight this little war without our help, you’ll tell Zahir we need a few minutes.”
    Kreshnik’s lip curled. “We don’t need your help.”
    He feigned surprise. “Really? You don’t need more weapons?”
    Kreshnik’s cold eyes lingered on Ice’s then he turned and stormed back to his boss.
    “He really doesn’t like you,” said Vance.
    Ice shrugged. “Barishna, how about you get onto those contacts.”
     

CHAPTER 3
     
    The compact Lada four-wheel drive bounced along a rutted track, its headlights illuminating the trees on both sides. Sledge had given up trying to talk with the men who had