The Twelfth Insight - James Redfield [42]
Without warning, another gunshot echoed across the desert, throwing all of us into panic again. We were in the last of a group of small outcroppings before the terrain opened into a large, flat area of mostly desert. We huddled low in the rocks, facing a dilemma.
Behind us somewhere were the Apocalyptics, and ahead of us were two hundred yards of open ground before we reached a stand of junipers that would provide some cover. We could either run straight across or go to the right, where thicker pines and rocks offered more cover.
Wil was up ahead, crawling back to me.
“Are you holding your centeredness?” he asked.
I looked at him and shook my head. “Just barely.”
“Remember,” he said, “that what just occurred was a Breakthrough, a glimpse of a consciousness that we now know is possible. But we’ll have to work our way back to it.”
Just then, several more shots rang out, striking the rocks fifty feet away. The Apocalyptics didn’t know exactly where we were, but they were still behind us. Everyone was crawling over to Wil and me.
“They’re shooting from the ledge where we were,” Hira said, her voice shaking slightly now.
“What are we waiting for?” Rachel said. “We should just run straight across to the next hill.”
“Are you crazy?” Coleman said. He was looking up at the ledge. “I can see two or three of them. All with weapons. There’s more cover to the right. Use your logic.”
As he talked, an image of us running to the right crossed my mind, and then my level of energy seemed to crash even more. I looked at the route straight ahead and it seemed better for some reason. I was certain that going in that direction was the right option.
“What do you all think?” Wil asked.
“I think we should go forward,” I said.
“What?” Coleman said. “Not me. They’ll cut us down.”
Everyone looked at Rachel.
“I think forward,” she said.
Coleman shook his head, then took off to the right, running through the junipers and darting from one spot of cover to another. Seconds later, the rest of us began running straight across the open space, spreading out the best we could as we zigzagged.
Suddenly, a hail of bullets rang out in the direction of Coleman. Looking back, I could see that some of the Apocalyptics had taken a position on the hill directly above him and were pouring fire straight down in his direction. Everyone was slowing down, looking back in his direction.
“Go! Go!” Wil shouted, just as the gunmen on the cliff opened up on us. Bullets began to kick up soil to our left and work their way toward us. At that moment, I caught Wil’s eye, and for the first time ever saw a look of resignation on his face that we might not make it. And then I felt again that same feeling while falling as a youth, that everything would be okay.
Suddenly, we could hear the roar of a helicopter flying toward us. When it was almost directly overhead, it tilted in our direction, and I could see several men in the back compartment. One of them was Peterson. He recognized me and did a double take, just as several more shots cut up the ground closer to us. Realizing what was happening, Peterson began motioning to the pilot, and the helicopter sped ahead and buzzed the Apocalyptics on the overhang. The firing stopped.
“Let’s go!” Wil yelled, and we all ran until we came to the first red rocks of the next hill. Once there, we looked as the helicopter circled the extremists a few more times and then left.
“How did the chopper know we needed help?” Hira asked.
“They didn’t know,” I said. “They just happened to be flying by.”
She gave me a puzzled look.
“It was a Synchronicity,” I clarified. “We were protected.