Atlanta Run by David L. Robbins

Author:David L. Robbins [Robbins, David L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

The white plane's twin-engines whined as the aircraft arced at the band of Freedom Fighters.

"Cover!" Locklin called out.

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi knew he would court certain death if he stood; the Storm Police in the stand of trees would mow him down before he covered a yard. On the other hand, lying in the weeds exposed him to the diving plane. He compromised. Clutching the Uzi in his left hand, he quickly scrambled on his hands and knees into the dense brush. Above him the sky was rent by the rattle of a large-caliber machine gun.

Someone screamed in torment.

The Warrior rolled to a squatting posture, finding Locklin and other men and women in green near him. Three of the band had not been as fortunate, and their prone forms were visible sprawled in the weeds.

"Tuck!" Locklin cried.

Rikki peered upward at the aircraft as the plane climbed for a second run.

A squat, bearded man, hunched over at the waist, hastened to Locklin.

He held a crossbow in his muscular right hand. "Yes?"

"You know what to do," Locklin said.

Tuck nodded and knelt, reaching for a small, brown leather pouch attached to his belt on his left hip. He opened the flap and extracted an unusually large arrowhead.

"That plane is history," Locklin declared.

A crossbow against an aircraft? Rikki watched as Tuck shifted and revealed a quiver of crossbow bolts suspended from his belt on his right side. "You must be an outstanding archer," Rikki commented.

Tuck looked at the man in black. "Have you ever seen this done before?"

He placed the black crossbow on the grass.

"I've never seen anyone shoot down a plane with an arrow."

"Watch," Tuck said. He extracted a bolt from the quiver, a short, green arrow lacking a tip. The end of the shaft was hollow. "These were all the rage before the war," Tuck commented. "It's easy to use different arrowheads this way." He quickly inserted the threaded base of the oversized arrowhead into the hollow end of the bolt and screwed the arrowhead tight.

"We possess such arrows where I come from," Rikki mentioned. "And I have a friend who is an excellent bowman. His name is Teucer. But I doubt even he could down a plane with a simple shaft."

"Not so simple," Tuck said, holding the bolt out for Rikki to examine.

"This is an explosive arrowhead, and it's designed to detonate on impact."

"Where did you obtain it?"

"We found an abandoned house in Redan. In the basement was a cache of weapons," Tuck divulged. "The place must have belonged to a survivalist."

"The plane is coming in for another run," Locklin interjected.

Tuck scooped up his crossbow and stood. "Hold this," he said, handing the bolt to Rikki. He extended a metal stirrup from under the front of the bow, then rested the stirrup on the turf and slid his right boot into it to act as a brace and keep the bow in position while he pulled on the string.

Using both hands, he gripped the string and pulled until there was a loud click. "The arrow," Tuck said, and Rikki returned the bolt.

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