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onto the bike and cranked it.  Jimmy climbed on the back and wrapped one of his arms around her waist while he gripped the hanbo with his other.  The engine throbbed and Vanessa gunned it once before letting the brakes go.
    They shot out of the shed.  The shock almost knocked Jimmy off the bike but he held on tight to Vanessa as she caromed over the lawn toward the dirt road that led into the property.
    “We made it!” Jimmy shouted.
    Vanessa shook her head.  “Look.”
    Ahead of them, near the forest, Jimmy saw the vehicles the men had come in.  Two huge sport utility vehicles blocked their way, doors open.
    “We’ll never make it!”
    Vanessa gunned the bike.  “We’ll make it.”
    They shot toward the vehicles.  Jimmy could see the men aiming their weapons.  There’d be no way they could miss when they got closer.
    He closed his eyes.  At least the last twenty-four hours of his life had been exciting.
    Vanessa shouted at him.  “When I say now, hang on as tight as you can, okay?”
    “Okay!”
    The motorcycle’s wheels tore through the grass and dirt, spraying it everywhere in their wake.  The flew at the forest now.  It felt like they were going a hundred miles an hour, even though Jimmy knew they were probably going much slower.
    As they got closer, Jimmy risked opening his eyes and could just barely make out a small hill that looked more like a speed bump about twenty feet in front of the vehicles.  A thought formed in his mind.  
    Nah, Vanessa would never-
    “Hang on!”
    Jimmy clamped down as Vanessa hit the hill, leaned back and lifted the motorcycle off the ground.  
    They went airborne.
    Jimmy shut his eyes again.
    He could hear the shouts below them as the men scrambled to get into their trucks.  Gunfire erupted but the bullets hit on the tree branches above them.  
    He could tell they were coming down.
    They slammed into the ground.
    The bike buckled and then bounced back on its shocks.  Jimmy blew out a breath.  “Oof!”
    Vanessa steered the bike onto the main dirt road.
    Jimmy glanced behind them.  He could see the trucks starting up.  “They’re going to follow us.”
    Vanessa shook her head.  “I don’t think so.”
    But Jimmy could see both trucks now single-file racing through the woods after them.  The bounced and bucked over the shallow depressions in the dirt road.
    “They’re coming!”
    Vanessa glanced back over her shoulder.  Jimmy thought he saw her smile under her helmet.  “That was a mistake.”
    “What?”
    Vanessa pointed at the handlebars of the motorcycle.  Jimmy saw her press a small red button on it and behind them, a thunderous explosion shook the air.  Jimmy watched as two massive trees fell across the road.
    The first vehicle couldn’t avoid the trees and slammed into them.  The second vehicle rear-ended the first.  Jimmy heard the screech of metal crushing metal and looked back in time to see the men clambering out of their vehicles.  There was no use trying to go around the trees; on either side, the road cut through a small but steep valley.  Trying to go through the woods would be impossible.
    Jimmy clapped Vanessa on her back.  “That stopped ‘em!”
    She nodded.  “Figured it would.”  
    But then another man stepped out of the woods, holding a long rifle in his hands.  He seemed to be moving very deliberately.
    “Vanessa!”
    She shook her head.  “Can’t reach him!  Use the hanbo!”
    They flew at the shooter and then Jimmy swung the hanbo at the man’s head.  The impact of the strike took the man off his feet and very nearly made Jimmy drop the three-foot staff.  But he held on as Vanessa sped past the crumpled body and kept shooting forward.
    She steered the motorcycle around a bend and then they were out on the side road.  Another two minutes put them back on the highway.  Vanessa brought the bike over to the side of the road and kept the engine idling.
    She took off her helmet.  “You okay?”
    Jimmy laid