Dawn Patrol

64

Chess with guns in the night and fog.

Cool game in theory, scarier than shit in practice.

Adrenaline-pumping, ass-clenching, heart-racing scary. A paintball freak's wet dream, but these bullets aren't loaded with paint; they're lead. And if you fuck up, you're not going to get splattered; you're going to get splattered.

Boone tries to move himself and the two women through the muted fireworks display without getting shot. Which isn't easy because the beach is narrow at high tide, and Dan and his two boys keep closing off the space. Boone can't make a break toward the bluffs because they have that covered, and he can't get them up or down the beach because they have that sealed off.

Dan shoots and makes his target move, shoots and makes them move again-and each time they move, he directs his guys and closes off the space. Just like in the ring, he's patiently walking them down, working them into the corner for the kill.

Boone hears sirens in the distance. Cops are coming, but are they going to come in time? In the dark and fog, the shooters will take more chances than they otherwise would, knowing they can probably get away in the mist and confusion.

So the question, he thinks as he pushes Petra and Tammy to the sand and lies on top of them, is whether or not he has time to wait for the cavalry to ride in. A spray of bullets zipping just over his head makes up his mind. The police are going to get there in time to find their bodies. So they have to make a move.

There's only one place left to go.