“Uh… you need some help with that?” I offered as I unfolded the E-Tool.
“That’s the idea,” she drawled sarcastically.
So, I stabbed the tool into the ground and began to assist the Scavenger in her digging endeavors.
After just a few minutes, Natalie stood up and wiped the sweat off her brow.
However, the hole before us couldn’t have been more than three feet deep.
“Done already?” I asked. “Maybe I’m just missing something here, but I don’t think that hole’s gonna be big enough for them to fall into and get trapped.”
“Then it’s a good thing ‘trapped’ isn’t what we’re going for.” Natalie shrugged.
The Scavenger took the two halves of the former bed, flipped them over, and then pushed them into the dirt so their jagged ends were standing straight up. Then she began to push all the leaves and foliage around us into the hole.
“Ahhhh,” I noted. “Neat trick. But how in the world are we going to get them to step onto this exact spot?”
Natalie looked up at me with a weak smile.
“Bait,” she chuckled.
“Don’t these guys all have guns?” I reminded her. “They’ll just shoot us the second we’re within their sight.”
“We’re not the bait,” the Scavenger explained. “I’m going to offer up something the Rubberfaces simply cannot resist… ”
Natalie then slid her AK-47 off her shoulders and placed it a few paces in front of the hole.
“An assault rifle?” I raised my eyebrows. “Don’t they already have like, a million of those?”
“They do.” The woman nodded. “But you should see a Rubberface when they find a new gun. My parents always used to compare it to a child on that winter holiday everyone used to celebrate. The one where you gave each other gifts.”
“Christmas,” I reaffirmed.
“Right,” Natalie mused. “That one. I’ve never seen a Rubberface turn down the opportunity for a new weapon, and I’d wager that’s not going to change now.”
“Okay, so say this works,” I noted, “that’s still only going to kill off one of them. Didn’t you say there could be at least two more?”
“We’ll take care of the others,” Natalie explained. “May I see that twine of yours?”
“Uh, sure,” I agreed, even though I wasn’t sure what she was talking about.
I nodded as I pulled the backpack over my shoulder, placed it on the ground, and unzipped it in a flash. Then I pulled out the spool of twine and handed it over to Natalie.
The Scavenger unwound a bit in her hands, stretched it out horizontally, and then studied it like she was going to be quizzed on it later.
“This will do,” she admitted. “Not ideal, but I guess beggars can’t be choosers.”
Natalie then took the spool of twine and tied a long trip cord between the trunks of two Radon Roots, right in front of the hidden pit. Once those had been tied off, she tested the twine for tautness and covered it up with leaves and foliage.
“That’s gonna hurt.” I whistled as I thought about the Rubberfaces getting skewered.
“That’s the idea.” Natalie smiled. “How do you want to kill yours?”
I guess I hadn’t thought of that, yet.
“Probably with my E-Tool.” I shrugged. “That seemed to work the last time.”
Natalie’s expression grew amused, but she finally just nodded.
“I guess if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” the blonde Scavenger chuckled.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I demanded. “Do I need to do some sort of over the top execution?”
“No, no… ” Natalie retorted, though I could tell she was somewhat disappointed. “I’m sure whatever you do will be fine.”
“Well, now I felt obligated to do something cool!” I argued.
“You are cute. Just get into position.” The woman laughed and pointed to a nearby Radon Root. “Make sure they don’t see you as they approach, obviously. Then, once they’re past our position, we sneak out and kill them from behind.”
“I’m still thinking about how you said I was cute,” I snickered at her.
“You are,” she stated. “And a great lover, but I need you to kill some Rubberfaces now.”
“Of course.”
It all sounded simple enough. Then again, I knew I was nowhere near Natalie’s league when it came to stealth.
With my luck, I’d trip and fall over my own feet before I could sneak up on the Rubberfaces. Then again, I did have years of experience sneaking up on mice and roaches…
I guess that was a form of stealth.
As I headed over to the tree, I figured I’d consult with the expert.
“Hey, Karla?” I asked the disembodied voice in my head. “This may sound like a stupid question, but what’s a badass stealth kill I can do? One where I sneak up on them from behind?”
I suppose that all depends on how you want your opponent to die, the voice on the other side pondered aloud. Do you want to skewer them through the brain? Rip their heart out of their chest? Decapitate them? There are a million answers, Hunter. I need more details.
“I don’t know,” I mused. “Natalie’s just expecting me to do something cool when I kill these next Rubberfaces, and I don’t want to let her down.”
You’ve already slept with her, Hunter, Karla chuckled, I don’t think you need to go out of your way to impress her any more.
“Wow.” I clicked my tongue. “Your exes must have been really terrible if that’s the norm for you.”
Very funny, Miss Nash grumbled. Do you want my help, or not?
“I do.” I rolled my eyes. “I’ve already smashed one’s head in and killed another by stabbing my spade through his skull. Maybe change it up a little bit? Something that doesn’t involve the head, maybe?”
Heart rip it is, Karla laughed. Would your E-Tool be sharp enough to stab through its chest?
“Probably,” I pondered. “But that’s gonna take a precision strike to take him out with one blow. Also, I’m not sure if I’m quite that strong.”
Then I’d go with something simple, the voice continued. You can never go wrong with a throat slit. That’s stealthy, and it always looks badass. If you did it with your E-Tool? Well… I bet Natalie would want to have you again, right there on the corpses.
“You’re mocking me, aren’t you?” I sighed with an amused grin. “Jealous?”
I would never dream of it, Hunter.
“Well, the joke’s on you,” I shot back, “I’m gonna go with that, and then I’m gonna get laid on a pile of corpses. It’ll be like I’m on the cover of a metal album.”
Now that I had settled on a technique, I simply crouched down behind the trunk of the Radon Root and remained silent. There was nothing but the sound of chirping bugs and the blowing wind for a long while.
But then, we finally heard the sound of approaching footfalls.
Natalie peeked her head out from behind the tree, pulled it back immediately, and then gestured that there were three Rubberfaces on their way.
I stood straight up, pressed myself against the trunk of the tree, and readied my E-Tool. I held the makeshift weapon by its hilt rather than its handle, and I made sure the serrated edge was pointed inward.
“Brakda,” one of the Rubberface scouts gurgled to his partners. “Brakda kalfrak ik turam.”
I had no idea what they were saying, but the fact that he sounded so calm made me think they hadn’t seen us yet. I saw Natalie begin to make her way around the back side of the tree, so I did the same. My feet shifted as if the ground was made up of glass shards, and I moved with the silence of a mouse. As soon as I was safely on the other side of the tree trunk, I dared to look around the corner.