prisoners would warrant such a search attempt.’
Then he froze.
‘Alice, look,
there! At two o’clock, maybe a kilometer out, near that large Banyan tree.’
Alice had her
rifle up at her shoulder and looked through the scope. It was a sunny day and
there was excellent visibility, but she did not notice what Satish had seen
until he pointed it out again. During her own training in the Deadland, her
instructors had taught her the art of escape and evasion, but she had never
really been trained to look for a concealed enemy, simply because Biter hordes
were not exactly proponents of stealth and concealment. However, in the house
to house fighting against the Red Guards that had followed, it had become a
critical skill, one she had learnt from Satish and Arjun, and from her own
combat experience.
Satish gave an
appreciative whistle. ‘That man sure has guts, that much is for sure. He’s got
an attack helicopter on top of him and perhaps fifty Red Guards on land, and he
hasn’t lost his nerve and made a run for it.’
Now that Alice
had spotted him, she saw that there was a bit of an arm visible beneath the
undergrowth. It was not going to be visible from the air, but once the Red
Guard vehicles got there, it was only a matter of time before they discovered
the fugitives.
Alice put her
rifle aside.
‘Satish, how
many men do you have covering the chopper?’
‘Just a two-man
SAM crew and two riflemen. With the element of surprise, I have no doubt they
could take the chopper down, but they cannot hold off all those Red Guards. I
have two more teams with RPGs headed here, but they won’t make it for the next
thirty minutes.’
The buzzing
sound of a large caliber automatic gun firing made Alice swivel her head
around. The attack helicopter had seen something and was firing from its chin
mounted turret, the rounds kicking up dust and rocks on the ground below. Alice
looked through her scope and saw a frail old man stumbling along the ground.
Another man was trying to pull him back under cover, but the older man had
clearly lost his nerve. It was hard to be sure from this distance, but their
complexion and features suggested that these were indeed the two Americans who
had escaped.
She turned to
look at Satish, and he just looked back, an eyebrow raised, silently asking her
the question.
‘Bring it
down!’
As Satish
relayed the order to his men, a trail of white smoke rose from the ground to
Alice’s left and snaked up towards the helicopter. The pilot had been so busy
in trying to target the fleeing fugitives that he never had a chance to react.
The missile slammed into the mid-section of the helicopter, consuming it in a
giant fireball.
Alice could now
see the Red Guard vehicles fast approaching the two men. She mounted the bike,
with Satish behind her, and they sped towards the scene.
Alice was more
than five hundred meters away when the lead Red Guard APC opened fire with its
machine gun. Alice swerved her bike to the right and dove off the seat, rolling
and coming up behind the cover of a large tree. Satish was concealed behind
another tree. Satish’s men were about a hundred meters to their left, but they
too were holding their fire. Assault rifles would do little damage to the APCs.
‘Over here!’
The two men
heard Alice’s shout and scrambled to her. Alice did not have much time to
register their appearances, but they were clearly white, one a reed-thin old
man whose ribs showed prominently through a dirty vest, and the other a younger
man, perhaps the same age as Arjun, wearing a tattered leather jacket. The
younger man’s eyes widened a bit as he saw Alice, and he started to back up,
when Alice pushed him down.
‘Stay here and
you may just live.’
The Red Guard
APCs were now advancing steadily, and they had guessed correctly that the
absence of any resistance must have meant that they were not up against enemies
with heavy missiles or firepower that could threaten their vehicles. The
Then he froze.
‘Alice, look,
there! At two o’clock, maybe a kilometer out, near that large Banyan tree.’
Alice had her
rifle up at her shoulder and looked through the scope. It was a sunny day and
there was excellent visibility, but she did not notice what Satish had seen
until he pointed it out again. During her own training in the Deadland, her
instructors had taught her the art of escape and evasion, but she had never
really been trained to look for a concealed enemy, simply because Biter hordes
were not exactly proponents of stealth and concealment. However, in the house
to house fighting against the Red Guards that had followed, it had become a
critical skill, one she had learnt from Satish and Arjun, and from her own
combat experience.
Satish gave an
appreciative whistle. ‘That man sure has guts, that much is for sure. He’s got
an attack helicopter on top of him and perhaps fifty Red Guards on land, and he
hasn’t lost his nerve and made a run for it.’
Now that Alice
had spotted him, she saw that there was a bit of an arm visible beneath the
undergrowth. It was not going to be visible from the air, but once the Red
Guard vehicles got there, it was only a matter of time before they discovered
the fugitives.
Alice put her
rifle aside.
‘Satish, how
many men do you have covering the chopper?’
‘Just a two-man
SAM crew and two riflemen. With the element of surprise, I have no doubt they
could take the chopper down, but they cannot hold off all those Red Guards. I
have two more teams with RPGs headed here, but they won’t make it for the next
thirty minutes.’
The buzzing
sound of a large caliber automatic gun firing made Alice swivel her head
around. The attack helicopter had seen something and was firing from its chin
mounted turret, the rounds kicking up dust and rocks on the ground below. Alice
looked through her scope and saw a frail old man stumbling along the ground.
Another man was trying to pull him back under cover, but the older man had
clearly lost his nerve. It was hard to be sure from this distance, but their
complexion and features suggested that these were indeed the two Americans who
had escaped.
She turned to
look at Satish, and he just looked back, an eyebrow raised, silently asking her
the question.
‘Bring it
down!’
As Satish
relayed the order to his men, a trail of white smoke rose from the ground to
Alice’s left and snaked up towards the helicopter. The pilot had been so busy
in trying to target the fleeing fugitives that he never had a chance to react.
The missile slammed into the mid-section of the helicopter, consuming it in a
giant fireball.
Alice could now
see the Red Guard vehicles fast approaching the two men. She mounted the bike,
with Satish behind her, and they sped towards the scene.
Alice was more
than five hundred meters away when the lead Red Guard APC opened fire with its
machine gun. Alice swerved her bike to the right and dove off the seat, rolling
and coming up behind the cover of a large tree. Satish was concealed behind
another tree. Satish’s men were about a hundred meters to their left, but they
too were holding their fire. Assault rifles would do little damage to the APCs.
‘Over here!’
The two men
heard Alice’s shout and scrambled to her. Alice did not have much time to
register their appearances, but they were clearly white, one a reed-thin old
man whose ribs showed prominently through a dirty vest, and the other a younger
man, perhaps the same age as Arjun, wearing a tattered leather jacket. The
younger man’s eyes widened a bit as he saw Alice, and he started to back up,
when Alice pushed him down.
‘Stay here and
you may just live.’
The Red Guard
APCs were now advancing steadily, and they had guessed correctly that the
absence of any resistance must have meant that they were not up against enemies
with heavy missiles or firepower that could threaten their vehicles. The
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