There was movement outside of the mine. A big group of white dots had appeared from the north. A quick zoom in confirmed what Rona feared—more raiders.
“Aeron, more tangos just showed up outside. A bunch of them.”
“Good thing we kept you in the air then.”
He sounded totally unfazed.
“What about you?” Rona asked.
“I’m going to kill them,” Aeron said, as casually as if he were talking about taking out the trash. “How many of them are there?”
Rona did a quick estimate. “About fifty?”
“Location?”
“They’re outside the north entrance right now. Wait… now they’re splitting up. Half of them are going west, and half are going east.”
“Probably heard all the commotion and came to see what’s up. Now they’re trying to find a way into the mine.”
“They won’t be getting in from the west,” Rona said, remembering the sight of the collapsed entrance.
“Affirmative,” Aeron agreed. “Keep an eye on the eastern group and let me know where they go. I’m going to hang tight here until we figure out what they’re up to.”
“Roger that.”
Rona had to admit, it was kind of fun playing the role of overwatch. Or rather, it would have been fun if the three men she cared about weren’t in danger. Two of them were buried under a heap of rubble, and the third was facing down a gang of twenty-plus bloodthirsty mutants.
He’s gonna kick their asses, Rona told herself.The muties don’t stand a chance. Just look at what Zeth and Murdok did to the rest of them…
Still, this felt different somehow. Aeron was by himself down there, and he no longer had the element of surprise.
Rona kept her eyes glued to the map.
“The tangos have reached Checkpoint Alpha,” she reported in the steadiest voice she could manage. “They went right past their unconscious buddy. Guess they thought he was dead.”
“Which way are they going now?”
“Middle tunnel, straight toward you.”
“Thought so. Most muties aren’t real smart, but some of them have a good sense of smell. They should be able to follow my scent trail right to my position. I’ll be ready for them.”
Rona didn’t like that idea. She didn’t like it at all. It wasn’t that she didn’t think Aeron could take on the raiders all by himself. But facing that many head on, there was always a chance something could go wrong. A stray bullet. An explosion. Just look what had happened to Zeth and Murdok.
She remembered last night, when Murdok had spanked her for doubting Aeron’s ability to take care of himself. She decided she was willing to endure another spanking if necessary.
Her eyes darted over the map.
“Babe,” she said into the mic. “How do you feel about shooting someone in the back?”
“Zero qualms,” Aeron answered.
“In that case, I have a plan.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“The raiders are fast,” Rona said, “but you’re even faster. If you follow my directions, I can get you around behind them before they even know what you’re doing. Then you can ambush them from the rear.”
There was maybe half a second of silence.
