The quick shower helped a lot
as my hands and face are no longer sticky with scout-gore. I grab a chocolate
bar from the rack by the door and head out again. I stop by the entrance-way
and leave a stack of pipebombs in a shadow. I might need them there later.
Heading down the left ramp, I hear gunshots from the prison lobby. I do a quick
reload and switch back to normal thump-boom grenade mode. With a leap, I enter
the lobby and see two of my teammates hosing down this poor schlep at close
range.
Their enemy tried to muscle past the two guys and somehow
managed to get his Alice-gear caught on one of my guys' sword scabbard. He was
frantically trying to get some distance but was getting royally shredded by some
close range nailgun action. It is an ugly scene as his perforated body gets
blown clear and into the door. The handicap sensor detects the movement and the
door slides open with a grinding noise. I guess marrow does not act as a great
lubricant. Through the door, I can see a couple of guys in blood red scuba
suits just coming out of the lake. As the door slides shut, I drop a few
grenades through it hopefully into the path of the aquatic antagonists. Alas,
no luck, though I do hear a grunt from one of them. The door grinds open again
and I launch a couple in that direction as I backpedal out of the blast radius.
I am not making that same mistake twice! The grenades knock the pair of them
around a bit and I high-tail it back up the ramps into the courtyard. The
security lights snap on and I wait a heartbeat or two and trigger the pipebombs.
This time, the blast knocks them into oblivion. I can see the horrible carnage
slide wetly back down the ramps. I had forgotten how gruesome this grenade
launcher can be. Well, what are ya gonna do? Nobody invited them in to begin
with....
One of my teammates scoops up their ammo packs and tosses a clip of
grenades over to me as he runs down to the lobby. Well! That was unexpected.
Very few people remember that the grenades they lug around are not usable. With
a shrug I run down to the lake. I catch a glimpse of muzzle flash from one of
the balconies seconds before a sharp pain spins me around. I drop into the
brackish water and sink like a stone, too numb from the shot to do much of
anything. Fortunately, I was not snagged by the ground clutter and I am able to
claw my way through the underwater tunnel that leads to the mine under the enemy
courtyard, I start to gag just as I break the surface and pull myself up onto "dry"
land. That water tastes like crap. Good thing I brought some Ice Tea to get
the mud out of my mouth.
Taking a swig from my canteen, I look down the dim tunnel stretching
out into the darkness. My arm hurts like hell and I can feel at least one
cracked rib. Once again, I find myself uttering a silent prayer to Crom and the
maker of Kevlar. The medkit at my side has a couple slap-patches left in it and
I administer some battle field first aid.
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