The Huntress Ch. 02

Anya grabbed him and yanked him back behind cover. "PANCAKE! IS CODE WORD! YOU CALL HELP ON PANCAKE!" Ashley winced, vaguely recalling a conversation they'd had once while drunk. She groped along the top of the ATV until she retrieved her rifle. "VERY VERY AMATEUR!" He frantically tapped at his wrist, and then blindly returned fire with his pistol. "Ee-dee nah hooy, Africa!"

He poked his head around the rear of the ATV again, just in time to see a woman in the bed of the truck suddenly stand up with a rocket launcher on her shoulder. "Down!" Anya screamed, throwing herself over Ashley. His world erupted in a roar of sound. Ashley covered his face, expecting flames to engulf him, but the heat never came. The silence that followed was deafening.

A thick, choking cloud of dust engulfed the room, obscuring everything. Warily, Anya got to her feet and offered Ashley a hand. All around them, beams of light shone through the dust. Ashley shielded his eyes, tracking the beams back up to the ceiling. The corrugated metal was riddled with holes. He idly wondered how it managed to keep from collapsing down on them.

As the dust began to settle he could see the once smooth floor of the warehouse was deeply pocked and pitted, covered in chips of concrete. Ashley stared numbly at a piece of rubble. It took him a while to realise he was looking at the shredded remnant of an arm. He shuddered.

Wind buffeted the building and Ashley could vaguely make out Flight of the Valkyries blasting from somewhere outside.

Anya gave his hand a tug. "Come on." She winced, hobbling for the entrance. Ashley realized the leg of her pants was matted in blood. "Is not bad," she said over her shoulder. "Shrapnel." The way she gritted in pain told him she was lying.

Their comms chirped. "Did you see that?! They were all blamblamblam but then I flew in and my chaingun was all BRATATATATAT! I totally blasted them. Did you see it guys? It was awesome!"

"Am thankful, but how you know to come saving us?"

"Oh, I was listening the whole time. I hacked Ashley's comm unit months ago."

Ashley's stupor was too dense for him to do more than stare blankly at Anya. "You hack his comm?"

"How else am I going to spy on you two when yer away?"

Anya shook her head tiredly. "In future, do as told."

"But sitting around in an empty lot is boring! I wanted to shooooot stuuuuuuuff!"

Together, they shuffled out of the groaning structure, leaving the twisted remains of their ATV to rot alongside everything else.

***

"Are you sure?" Ivanka's incredulous image flickered on the vidscreen. "Dead?"

"As sure as we can be," Ashley said sharply.

The large Russian frowned and poked her tongue into her cheek. "But you still have my merchandise?"

"Safe and sound."

"Are you sure?"

"Do you need me to drag Anya up here to repeat it?"

"No, I trust you, Mouse. Let her rest."

He sighed and dug his pinky into his right ear. "What do you want us to do now?"

"Just bring it back for now."

"Ok. See you in two days." He shook his head as he killed the line and walked out the back of the cockpit. Anya was stretched out on the foldable table while the Autodoc tended to her leg. Ashley grabbed a beer from the fridge and slumped in a chair. "Easy in easy out she said... frell." Anya snorted.

They both sat in silence for a while. Anya puffed her e-cigar while the Artemis tended to her bullet wound.

"Don't think Anya did not notice boner earlier," she said eventually.

Ashley blinked. "W-what?"

"On ATV. Why is constant with you? Always boner."

Ashley flushed a deep red. "I have to cling to you and... that thing vibrates! It's not my fault!"

Anya blew a smoke ring. "Is very amateur."

"Verrrry amateur," The Artemis agreed. He sighed and shook his head as they flew out over the Mediterranean.