Shiva by Carolyn McCray Page B

provide cover fire until the last second. Then he was supposed to jump onto the roof of the SUV and be gone.
    Given the shouts and strange trumpeting from the jungle, that was not going to happen.
    Time to improvise.
    Without thermal imaging, Davidson just had go by his gut.
    And his gut told him to take to the trees.
    * * *
    “ I thought elephants were sprinters? ” Lopez demanded as the elephant lowered his head and butted the SUV.
    “ Watch out! ” Talli yelled, but it was too late. Lopez hit the gunman head - on. The wheels thumping over his body.
    Bullets pinged off the SUV as other gunmen burst from the jungle. But equally quickly , they threw themselves back into the bush as the elephant swung its huge tusks side to side, knocking one man off his feet and ten feet into the air.
    “ Hey, maybe there ’ s an upside to this! ” Lopez, ever the silver lining kind of guy , shouted.
    Then , of course , the elephant lowered its head again, but this time , instead of butting the SUV, aimed its tusks and shoved through the grating. And given the steam spraying, the bull elephant had also punctured their radiator.
    Lopez gunned it, hurling them down the slope, disengaging them from the tusks.
    The elephant shook its massive head , seeming rattled by the exchange. Good. Maybe he ’ d give n up.
    “ Stop! ” Talli screamed.
    “ Stop? ” Lopez retorted . “ But I ’ m — ”
    “ Stop! ” Brandt ordered , now seeing what Talli had. He could see clear sky past the trees. Unfortunately , that was a hundred - foot drop on the other side.
    Lopez slammed on the brakes. The SUV skid side to side, tires laying down rubber, trying to find traction on the slick jungle floor. Luck, if you could call it that, put a tree right in their path. Lopez turned into the trunk , slamming the SUV to a stop.
    Jarred by the impact and more than a little shaky from his near - daylong drugging, Brandt tried to pull it together. However , he doubted it even if he was at the top of his game he could come up a better plan as the elephant stood, ears out, flapping them in agitation. Tail swishing across its haunches. The bull seemed to be very aware he had them cornered.
    “ I ’ ll provide cover while you two jump out. ” There was no saving all of them. They had to split up to increase their odds that any of them would survive. “ Head in opposite directions and — ”
    “ No way, ” Lopez said as he whipped out his gun. “ I can — ”
    Then a shot rang out , accompanied by a high - pitch shriek. Far to the back of the herd , a baby elephant explored a long wound along its flank with its trunk. Another shot forced the baby to step away from its mother. The entire herd vocalized their distress.
    Davidson.
    Maybe they couldn ’ t hurt the bull elephant, but clearly the little one was not nearly as invulnerable to gunfire. For now , the sniper had only grazed the little guy. Brandt was loathe to do anything more, but that really was up to the elephants. Brandt was sorry for trespassing, but work was work.
    The bull searched the trees , finding Davidson perched in the basket made up of the canopy ’ s intertwining branches. Was the animal intelligent enough to know its choices? Could it see past its rage to the danger of its offspring?
    Apparently not , as it turned back toward the SUV, its enormous ribs heaving, drawing in breath for a final attack.
    “ Don ’ t worry, ” Lopez said. “ I am totally getting this on film. ”
    Brandt shoved the corporal toward his door. “ On my mark. ”
    Before he could give the order , several gunmen burst from the brush. In a panic a t the site of an entire herd of elephants, they sprayed the animals with bullets. Talli had been correct . T he gunfire barely scratched the adults. But now they had a new focus to vent their anger upon.
    The herd charged in unison, stampeding toward the gunmen. The bull took one last look at the SUV, then turned as quickly as a two - ton elephant could and