“She’s got a point, Rudi,” agreed another of the Hellbenders clustered in the gallery. Besides Mildred and Rudi, who was now making his way back toward the group, there were four others, none of whom she particularly recognized. A small, sturdy woman with short blond hair and green eyes looked at Mildred askance.
“You always like to play hunter, do ya?” she asked. Mildred thought she caught an edge in the woman’s voice. She wasn’t the only one. Rudi gave the woman a sharp stare.
“Leave it, Cath,” he snapped.
“I was only saying,” the blonde replied. “Papa Joe sent her here to get some practice in, right? Only she ain’t really doing that if she just shoots at a standing target, is she?”
It seemed reasonable enough, but there was an edge to the woman’s voice that the other three Hellbenders in the room picked up on. There were two men and a woman, all dressed in camou and showing the muscularity that suggested Correll liked to train his people hard. Other than that, Mildred couldn’t yet identify them. They exchanged glances that Mildred read as meaning that the blonde could be trouble. Without meaning to, Mildred had walked into a situation.
There was only one way out.
“She’s right,” Mildred said with mock sadness, shaking her head so that her plaits swung about her. “I really need to take the more difficult option here.”
The blonde grinned with a lopsided expression that made her look sinister, an impression reinforced by her tone of voice as she said, “That can be arranged.”
She walked over to a panel on the wall, where Rudi joined her. While they argued in whispers that Mildred couldn’t quite catch, one of the others came across to her.
“Cath thinks everyone is after Rudi,” he said simply, “and she’s a possessive bitch. But harsh. You know how this works?” he asked, indicating the range. Mildred shook her head, so he outlined the course briefly, and had just finished when Cath and Rudi came over to Mildred.
“You ready to show how good you are?” the blonde said, sneering. When Mildred nodded, she added, “I’ve set the fucker on the highest level, just to give you a good workout.”
“Thanks,” Mildred said, trying to keep the sarcasm from her voice.
She took her mark at the beginning of the course, and waited.
The lights dimmed, and Cath screamed, “Go!” as she triggered the course.
Mildred had to take the course at top speed, running down the middle of the concourse from one end to the other. Along the way she had to fire at opposition targets as they sprang up, avoid firing at figures without targets that were sprung as decoys, and also avoid being hit by opposition fire, which was indicated by paint bombs.
It was a test of her reflexes, her flexibility and her sure eye. The targets were to each side and in front, causing her to change direction and pull back at speed as they sometimes sprang up to her rear, or right in front of her. And all the time she was acutely aware of the paint bombs that were fired from oblique positions.
The two-hundred-yard course was littered with targets and decoys, and Mildred had to pitch and roll to avoid the paint bombs, snapping off shots as she rolled or came to her feet, twisting around the targets and decoys that hurled upward into her path, giving her little time to catch her breath, let alone reload the ZKR.
She acted completely on instinct, letting it wash over her conscious mind and take control, and before she knew it, she was at the end of the course, back against the wall, panting heavily.
The lights came up. She looked down, there was no paint anywhere on her body. She turned and tried to look over her shoulder, but the whoops of the other Hellbenders told her that she had made it through unscathed. Rudi was walking the length of the course, whistling softly to himself. When he reached Mildred he looked at her, shook his head in disbelief and turned to the others.
“She hit all the bastard targets and didn’t chill a decoy,” he yelled, unable to keep the amazement from his voice.