“More than enough. Give me one, Jak another,” Ryan ordered, grabbing a bottle. “When the place goes dark, we make a firewall directly between us and them.”
A lone spear arched high into the air to come down just behind the companions. The runt warriors were testing the range.
“Won’t hold long,” Jak stated, sheathing a knife to take the bottle. The Colt Python had only one round, and he was saving that for their mass attack, the best chance to get more than one runt with the single round. And the closer, the better.
“It’ll do the job,” Ryan stated, watching Mildred flinch as the silent whistle was blown once more. “On my command we head to the right. Got it? The right!”
Another spear came their way as the moss began to dim, then the whole cavern abruptly went dark.
“Now!” Ryan shouted, and the two Molotov went flying.
The whiskey bottles crashed yards apart, the splattering fire forming pools that spread. The runts retreated a few yards, shouting in fury. Then Ryan lit the rag on the third bomb and sent it flying toward their left with all his strength.
The muties seemed to have been waiting for this, because they charged in that direction, heading for the cave Krysty’s arrow had gone into.
“Now,” Ryan said softly, running toward the right.
They nearly reached the side cave when a runt spied them and yelled a warning. Ryan shot him down, and with his last 9 mm cartridge got a female warrior in the armpit. She stood transfixed for a second, then toppled over as if boneless.
Reaching inside the cave, the companions lit the torches and threw them on the floor at the opening. Now anybody entering would be in plain sight, while the companions would stay in darkness. Spears flew through the flames, hitting the walls and throwing off sprays of sparks.
Retreating for additional distance into the cave, Ryan bitterly cursed when he saw they were trapped. The cave was merely a hole in the cavern wall that opened onto a granite bridge that stretched over a black abyss and ended on a sheer rock face. Nothing but endless space was visible below.
Doc spit out a word that had never graced his lips during his own era, then he said it again more forcibly.
“Yep, this is going to be bad,” Ryan said, bolstering his useless blaster. “There’s still a lot of them, and we have nowhere to go.”
“We could always jump,” Mildred said, glancing into the gloomy pit. There wasn’t even a moaning wind to emphasis the depth of the yawning crevice. Just total silence.
“Always knew I’d get aced someday,” J.B. said stoically, tilting back his fedora. “Only hoped it was in bed making love with Millie one last time.” It was the first time J.B. had ever mentioned their sexual relationship in front of his companions.
The physician turned at the pronouncement and grabbed the man by the jacket lapels, pulling him close. The lovers kissed hard, then broke apart fast as another spear came out of the tunnel, sliding along the rough ground.
Notching the final arrow, Mildred placed the loaded crossbow on the bridge for anybody to grab, and she drew her Czech-made .38 ZKR target pistol. She was going to make those three rounds last for as long as possible.
Just then a screaming warrior dived over the torches and rolled along the ground undamaged. She warbled a cry, and more jumped through the flames successfully. Going to one knee, Doc leveled his blaster, holding the cannon with both hands.
“Wait,” Ryan advised.
Inside the passage, the armored runts gathered into a group, seemingly having to gather their courage before attacking. But soon they were frothing at the mouth and bellowing a challenge. The muties swarmed toward the norms.
“Now,” Ryan said calmly.
Doc took in a breath, held it and fired. The muzzle-blast illuminated the darkness to daylight. The leader spun, arms outstretched, throwing blood across the others. The runts howled and covered their faces, dropping weapons and stumbling in the gloom. A couple bumped into each other, then walked straight off the bridge and plummeted out of sight Doc fired again, the second blast scoring two Mils. Then J.B. threw the last Molotov, the liquid fire splashing over a group of warriors carrying a basket. Screaming in agony, the creatures dropped the basket and started to beat at their burning bodies with empty hands. Holding the crossbow, Jak waited for an undamaged target, when harsh blue light came from the basket, along with a sputtering and hissing noise.