141
The retreat is only a short reprieve in the concerted clan attack. Almost immediately, several more trucks packed with Detroit Lions and supported by groups of Chargers come pouring through the gap in the barricade and deploy themselves on the freeway.
Cutter appears on the slopes below. He is waving and calling for you to pull back along the freeway before it is too late. Opposite, your fellow defenders are taking the brunt of the attack, and you know that it will not be too long before some of that clan attention is transferred to your side of the freeway.
‘We’re outta here!’ you cry, and lead your tiny group down the slope towards a gully where Cutter is waiting. Without looking back, you run with the others until you reach a ranger’s lodge, partially hidden by pines, less than a mile from the freeway. There you stop to catch your breath and, as you look around at the faces of your companions—Rickenbacker, Cutter, Kate, and Langdon—you wonder if this is all that now remains of the convoy’s rearguard.
Cutter looks at his wristwatch and says: ‘It’s 11:05. The convoy should have made it by now. I’m gonna try to contact them by radio.’
