Chapter 85: Arming the Desperate
The return journey through the coastal pine reserve tested the last fibers of physical endurance remaining in the eight men. The wind screamed down from the north at fifty knots, driving stinging pellets of ice into their foreheads and freezing the sweat that had soaked into their collars during the break in at the hunting lodge. Yet despite the crushing cold and the deep drifts that reached their hips, they did not stumble or weep as they had on the outward march.
The heavy weight of blued steel resting against their shoulders acted like a jolt of raw adrenaline directly into their blood.
Douglas walked behind Harlan, clutching two tactical shotguns across his chest while an olive metal ammunition can swung from his left hand, the heavy brass cartridges
