James Axler – Gemini Rising

“Mebbe they were damaged by the gren you threw in,” J.B. suggested. “No, if they were hit by the blast, they should have ignited.”

“Under collapse?” Jak asked, firing randomly at both groups. No cries of pain answered his shots.

“Or they’re not in the cave,” Ryan said slowly, levering in another round. “Could be hidden elsewhere.”

“Where?” Mildred asked, choosing her targets carefully with her ZKR revolver. J.B. passed her the shotgun, and she removed the shells from the shoulder strap and quickly loaded the scattergun.

Following their lead, Nathan switched his AK-47 to single shot to conserve ammo. “Might be anywhere.”

“However, if the fuses aren’t in the cave,” Krysty said, “then fuses for the cave should be there, too.”

The woman had recognized the trap as soon as they entered the clearing. However, all swords had two edges. If there were secret fuses leading to bombs to blow up invaders, there also had to be more explosives hidden inside the cave in case the enemy seized the limestone hill and Overton had to destroy his own weapons so they couldn’t be used against him. Those fuses could end this whole battle for either side in only seconds. Only, where the hell were they?

“Fuses?” asked Dean, confused.

Frowning, Clem studied the battlefield. “Only one way to find them, you know,” he drawled.

“Yeah, I know,” Ryan growled. “Makes me sick just to think about it, but we got no other way. It’s this or die.”

“Well, heck,” the hunter replied. “Ain’t no choice there.”

“Hey, Overton!” Ryan shouted through cupped hands.

Silence from the cave.

“I know you can hear me,” the one-eyed man called. “We need to talk.”

“You need to die, traitor,” came a shout, and a grenade bounded out of the cave.

Mildred fired the shotgun, showering the area with shrapnel but harming nobody in particular.

“Cut the shit and tell us where the fuses are hidden,” Ryan shouted. “They’re obviously not in the cave, or else you would have used them already.”

More silence.

“Tell us, and we’ll use them on the others!”

Nothing.

The words tasted as bitter as ash in Ryan’s mouth, but the Trader had always said only a fool fought to the death when he had another way out. “Tell us, and I give my word that you and your men live.”

A bellowing laugh. “Live as starving slaves in the baron’s dung pit? Fuck you.”

Some Casanova men tried a sortie to reach the truck, and never made it halfway there.

“We let you live and go free,” Ryan stated. “Keep your weapons, food, I’m talking a full truce. Never bother us again, and we won’t go after you afterward. That’s a promise.”

“Horseshit,” came a reply. “We don’t need your help!”

“Yes, you do, and you know it, jackass!”

A softer voice said, “Sir, what if he means it? We’re dead men if we stay in here.”

“Listen to your man,” Nathan shouted, slapping in his last clip for the longblaster. “I also give my word of honor, as the baron of Front Royal.”

“We help each other, or die,” Mildred added, over the booming shotgun.

Firing at the Casanova troops, Ryan added, “Your call!”

Minutes passed.

“Agreed,” Overton shouted, blowing thunder at the enemy with his huge M-60. Every man hit flipped over as if struck by a cannonball. But more of the Casanova sec men darted amid the wreckage and the rock. “They’re over here, under the avalanche.”

“By the Three Kennedys!” Doc intoned, staring at the small mountain of dirt and grass covering the left face of the hill. “How are we supposed to move a ton of dirt while under attack?”

“Any C-4?” Jak asked.

J.B. shook his head. “Not a thing. I’m out.”

“I was saving this for our retreat,” Nathan said unexpectedly, dropping his backpack, “but now I see it’ll serve us better as a shovel.”

“Rock out of range?” Ryan asked gruffly.

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“Excuse me, my lord,” said a sec man, fumbling to load his rifle with a bloody hand. “But now that we know where the fuses are” He left the sentence unfinished.

“I gave my word, Sergeant,” Nathan said coldly, kneeling to open the pack.