Leaving
Mabel and Iona to torment the caretaker, George continued his way to
the window. Tricia guided him with instructions as he installed the
heavy machinegun at a mounting point before one of the closed
windows. The boy loaded the ammunition and added a solid plate shield
behind which the gunner could hide.
"Finished!"
George announced once he was done.
"You
sure, Squirt?" Tricia asked.
George
looked at the mounted gun. Ammunition, shield... He examined the
pivot points and found them to be sufficiently lubricated. "Yeah,
everything's there."
"How
are you going to fire it?"
"I'll
just..." Then George realized that there was no trigger.
Tricia
held up the manual trigger for him to install. Without that, George
would be reduced to throwing bullets out the window. Thankfully, the
Vixen did not make an issue of his mistake. Instead, she instructed
him in moving the gun into position, aiming and firing it.
"Are
you okay with having to shoot people?" Tricia asked after she
was done teaching George about the operation of a heavy machinegun,
"Real people?"
"We've
to, right?" George said, "In order for us to go home."
Tricia
bowed slightly to indicate agreement. Her power armor did not have a
neck. Thus, her nod could not be seen while she was in her armor.
"Besides, they're the ones who decided to stand in our way.
Squirt, do you understand the concept of suppressive fire?"
George
did not.
Lecture
time. "A manually aimed machinegun at this range isn't really
accurate. Instead of trying to hit something, use it to suppress the
enemy."
"How?"
George asked.
"Spray
bullets at them, force them behind cover so they don't shoot at me or
Io."
"Just
that?"
Tricia
bowed again. "Aim at groups of them. Leave the singles and pairs
to Mabel."
The
other two Vixens joined them at the window. "There's around
thirty of them," Mabel reported, "Two patched-up power
armors, four light vehicles."
"No
tanks?" Tricia asked.
"Not
with their budget," Mabel quipped.
Iona
stepped next to George and pulled his arm so she could inspect the
bracelet around his wrist. After she was done, Tricia had George test
the communicator in his helmet.
George
watched as Iona clipped a communicator onto her ear, the ear on her
helmet. He thought it was strange but the girl merely smiled at him.
He felt a little uneasy that Iona's grin was growing wider. And she
had fangs, really sharp ones. Why had he not noticed those before?
And the pupils of her green eyes were narrow vertical slits!?
Iona got
onto her hands and knees.
Okay, it
was getting creepy.
George
took a step back. He saw that Iona's fur cloak was expanding to cover
her body. So did her fur gloves and boots. The bone plates on her
limbs flowed as her arms and legs grew slender. The top of her helmet
moved down to cover the top half of her face... her face... The
teenage boy realized that he was looking at the face of a panther!
Iona was
an armored panther! Wait. Iona was the armored panther!?
George looked to the other Vixens but could not see their reactions
since they had their faces covered.
The
panther brushed roughly against George's leg, its plates scraping
against ceramic armor.
"Io
can shapeshift," Mabel said.
Well,
obviously! She did that just then!
"It's
a common ability among her people," Tricia mentioned.
Like
that explained everything!
"Anyway,
we've got to get into position." Mabel pushed George to his
assigned window. "Don't want to keep our playmates waiting any
longer."
There
was more that George had wanted to ask but that would have to wait.
He had to help secure his exit home. Also, he did not know where to
start with his questions. There were just too many things that he did
not know about the wasteland.
"Everyone
in position?" Tricia asked over their communications channel.
"Ready,"
Mabel said.
"Ready,"
George said too. He waited for the last Vixen.
"Io's
ready," Tricia said.
"She
can't say for herself?" George asked.
"Have
you ever heard a panther speak before?" Mabel asked back.
"Um...
no," George uttered.
"Well,
I have," Mabel mentioned.
What
other wonders were there in the wasteland?
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