Escape from Nicaragua

by Stephen Mertz

  But they couldn't sit and wait for the Sandinistas to come and gather them in. They had to try!

  Stone rose, about to order them to make for the chopper—when the building blew up.

  It was a tremendous, ear-splitting blast that knocked Stone on his ass and mauled their eardrums. Debris was flung a mile into the sky, raining down like a huge Fourth of July firecracker. Dazedly they slapped at the burning bits. The pyre must be visible for forty miles! It seemed the entire world had turned to fire! The heat of it seared their faces.

  Stone scrambled to his feet. "Get up! Shake your asses!" He began to run for the chopper.

  Lanky Harris reached it first. He grabbed the door open and piled in. Hog pushed Loughlin, and Stone was yanked in as the engine began to cough and stutter. The rotor blades began slowly to move.

  They could see no one moving in the compound. Harris and Loughlin lay flat, AKs out in front of them as they scanned the area.

  Hog swore steadily, clicking switches. "Come on, baby—come on—"

  The blades swung faster.

  Where the building had been, only the flames hissed and leapt. There was a vast, blackened mess, smoking like a vision of Hell. Anyone who had been close was either dead or stunned. The second building was burning fiercely, helped by burning brands from the explosion. No one would save it. One of the trucks was also burning, and Stone could see, far across the compound, a group of men were hosing down a small building. No one was paying them any attention.

  The blades were whirling and the craft hummed and shuddered. Then it lifted off.

  Hog yelled in glee, "I think we done it!"

  "By George," Loughlin said grandly, "yes, I think we fucking done it."

  Harris piloted the craft away from the compound, barely clearing the bamboo wall, then lifting.

  Stone gazed back and his grip relaxed on the automatic rifle.

  Right—they had done it.

  Lerida would never be the same. The Sandinistas would never put any gold stars next to their names. Hog grinned like a crazy man.

  "We head for Honduras, right?"

  "Wouldn't have it any other way," Stone said.