Expendables- Devil's Ax

Chapter 4

Walking through the desert was hard enough with the heat, but having to watch out for the enemy made things harder. Barney lead the way, as Chirstmas, Tool, and Caesar followed not too far behind. The team traveled north to the city in which the prison was located in.

"The prison should be just up ahead." Barney said to the side. Moving his right hand up and drawing a circle in the air with his finger, the team began to spread out. Carrying their weapons, loaded and cocked, the team made their way around the small buildings looking back and forth. But as they walked, there seemed to be no one in the town. "Keep moving." Barney said when he noticed everyone had seemed to stop. They would find Gunnar no matter what.

"Where to?" Gunnar yelled over at Rose as gunman fired round after round at the two of them. They crouched behind two stone buildings, finally outside of the prison.

"We need to head south!" She shouted back, firing a few more bullets out, hitting three men. "Further south there's a military station!" She yelled over at him.

"The hard part's getting there!" Gunnar yelled back. "How the hell we gonna make past these guys?!" He was never one for making plans on the spur of the moment. He needed time to think.

He watched Rose side down the wall, holding her stomach, the old wound that she had was reopening. Blood dripped from her hand as she looked around the corner.

"That!" She yelled pointing with her gun. She pointed to a black SUV. Firing away at the men once more, Rose and Gunnar made their way closer to the vehicle. Ducking behind whatever cover they could find, the two slowly made their way along. "Cover me!" She yelled.Making a dash for the SUV, she opened the door and crawled inside as shots rang out and bullets dented the door. Removing the panel under the dash, Rose began to hotwire the cat.

"Come on." She said. "Come on!" As she placed the wires together, the car started up. Sitting in the seat, she threw the car into reverse and drove back to where Gunnar was waiting. He climbed into the car and slammed the door shut.

"Took you long enough." He said with a smirk.

"Don't even go there." She said with glare. "Put the seat down." Gunnar put the back of the seat down and laid back, while Rose did the same. Leaning back in the chair she put the car in drive and took a deep breath. Pushing the pedal to the floor, the car jerked forward and dirt flew up into the air behind them as they whizzed past the gunman.

Gunnar put a hand on the door and one on the armrest to keep himself from being flung all over the car. The car jerked back and forth as it raced over the hard desert ground. Gunfire rang out from behind, and bullets hit the back windshield. Raising the seat back up, Rose veered the car to the side and continued to drive. Looking behind her seat she noticed a few machine guns sliding across the floor.

"Here! You drive!" She yelled, letting go of the wheel. Gunnar sat up really fast and grabbed the wheel to keep the car from losing control. Rose crawled over top of him as he made his way into the driver's seat. For a split moment, Rose straddled him, and he could feel her heart beat racing. She crawled into the back of the SUV and grabbed a gun. Gunnar kept his eyes on the path he was driving but couldn't help to look behind him to see Rose as she climbed over the very back seat with a gun in hand. She fired at the back window, breaking the glass.

"Keep driving!" She yelled as she fired a few rounds out the back of the SUV at the cars following them. Gunnar grinned and turned back to the front. Through the roaring of the engine, gunfire rang out. Rose fired at the wheels of the first car, shredding the rubber, and sending the car off course. Ducking down as a round of fire from the pursuing car, Rose reloaded her gun and took in a few deeps before firing yet another round. Aiming for the driver of the cars, Rose took each of them out one by one. The cars swerved off to the path and rolled over.

"How's it going back there?" Gunnar yelled behind him. Looking in the rear mirror, he saw Roes leaning against the door to the trunk. She held up a thumb and gave a small grin.

"Keep heading South!" She said to him. "There's a military base in that direction!"

"You got it kid!" Gunnar looked back at the path. Seeing a main road, he pulled onto it and continued to head south.

Rose set the gun down on the floor and held her stomach. The stab wound had reopened completely. She could feel herself getting light headed.

No. She thought. I'm so close. Turning her head to the side, she watched as the sun began to set.

"We should stay here for the night." Lee said. "There's no telling what could be out there." He watched the sky line from the window of a small church.

"He's right." Barney said. Even though he wanted to go after Gunnar, they couldn't risk it at night. Caesar set his over sized gun down on the floor and slid down the wall.

"We rest for the night. Then head out as soon as possible." Barney sat down on a bench. The small abandoned town that they were travelling through seemed to be the best spot to stay. Though anyone could appear at any moment. "Keep your guard up. I'll take first watch." Christmas said walking out of the church and sitting down on the steps.

"Gunnar you son of bitch." He said quietly. "Make back so I can beat the shit of you."

"Hey kid." Gunnar said looking behind him at Rose. She looked up from where she sat in the trunk of the SUV. "We're almost out of gas." He said.

"Shit." Rose said under her breath. The wound on her stomach was still bleeding and stung. It was hard for her to keep a clear mind after what had happened. Her head bobbed up and down with exhaustion and fatigue as they continued to move through the desert.

"We might make it another mile. If' we're lucky." Gunnar said looking at her through the rear mirror. Her face was pale and her eyelids hung low. "You alright?" He asked.

"The cut on my stomach." She said a little out of breath. "It opened back up." She leaned forward and took her shirt off. The tightly wrapped cloth around her chest kept her somewhat concealed. Ripping her shirt into three strips and a wadded up the rest into a ball. Tightly tying the cloth to her stomach she stood up in the back of the SUV and made her back to the front. Climbing into the passenger seat, she looked through the glovebox of the car. Finding a map she opened it up and looked at the faded print. Looking out of the window to survey the area, Rose watched the sun for a minute before looking back down at the map.

"There should be a small town not too far from here. We can get as close as possible, then walk the rest of the way." She looked up and pointed out the front window. "That way. About two and half miles."

"You'll be able to make it?" He asked looking over at her, his eye catching the blood that seeped through her shirt.

"Don't worry about me." She said a low tone leaning her head against the window to her right. "I can make it. If I try hard enough." She gave a wicked smile and chuckled a little.

"What?" Gunnar grinned. He watched the strange way her lips twisted in a smile.

"I've never made it this far. Thank you." She said looking over at him.

"For?"

"Helping. I don't think I would have been able to do it without you." Her voice was quiet and seemed weak. "I hope I can make it up to you someday."

Gunnar chuckled a little more and kept going. Rose leaned forward and opened the glove box once more. Gunnar watched her and noticed a tattoo on her lower back. The black ink was in the shape of an Irish Knot.

"Your tattoo." He said looking back at the road. "What does it mean?"

"Everyone on my team had some kind of irish blood." Leaning back in her chair after finding nothing useful, she looked over at him. "What about your's?"

"Mine?" Gunnar smirked. "The skull on my right arms is just a tattoo I liked. the one on my left arm stands for a team that I'm in."

Rose looked back out the window. "I see."

Suddenly, the car began to jerk to a stop. "Looks like we walk from here." Gunnar said looking at her. Rose sighed and opened the door.

"There's guns and ammunition in the back, grab what you can carry then we head for the town. We should make it there by morning." Rose said getting out.

"Yes ma'm." Gunnar raised his eyebrows, as he got out of the SUV.