Operation Honey Trap vs The Emperor of the Apocalypse-Chapter 196: In the Blast Zone

Wolf’s opponent managed to get a slice across his left forearm, but Wolf used the man’s lapse in concentration after scoring the hit to get in under his guard.

He pierced his sword through the man’s ribcage.

The soldier dropped to his knees, looking up at Wolf with surprise. Wolf hardened himself and shoved the blade in deeper, ending him.

Blood bubbled out around the entry point and the man’s face turned white, his eyes turning glassy.

Wolf placed a boot on the dead man’s chest and pulled his sword free.

"All clear, General," he reported to Alton after checking another fifty metre radius around the area.

They ran back towards the bridge, running into Baer halfway there.

"Ready to go, General," said Baer.

"Alright. We’ll use the blast as cover to get onto one of the supports on the new bridge and blow that up too. Niko, Wolf, Brenner, find us a tinny and bring it here so we can plant those explosives. Stay out of range of the blast. Baer, get the next packet ready asap. Get ready to set off the first blast as soon as you see the guys in a boat."

"Sir," saluted Niko, and the three men sprinted down towards the water to find a runabout.

"Delphi, take your team and take up hidden positions where you can cover us. Put the horses out of sight."

"On it," Delphi gathered the women, pointing out trees and structures for them to use as cover. "If things get too hot, head back to the horses and hotfoot it out of here."

The girls gave each other their secret handshake before running to take up their chosen positions, Delphi in the one closest to the water.

Baer was busy preparing the next explosive package and keeping watch as the three men located a tinny down by the edge of the river, freed it, and motored away from the old bridge.

The minute they were at a safe distance, he took the next packet of explosives under his arm, lit the detonating cord on the old bridge, and ran like buggery for the little brick hut he had decided to use for cover from the blast.

The hut was an old telephone exchange. He crouched behind it, covering his ears and waiting.

It seemed to take longer than he expected for the cord to burn down, but he wasn’t silly enough to poke his head around to look.

At last, there it was! A massive blast followed by the sound of broken concrete raining down on the road and onto the roof of the telephone exchange. Thankfully the brick hut held up to the blast and didn’t collapse on him and the bomb he was carrying...

He picked up the bomb and started to run for the tinny.

Niko, Brenner and Wolf watched from a safe distance as the explosion blasted a huge hole in the old Bridgewater Bridge. The hole was right in the middle of the road where the bridge joined the land, and the bridge cracked around it, until the whole section sheared off into the water with a massive splash.

The three young men cheered like crazy. The soldiers on the other side of the bridge had control of the lifting span now, and were already back at road level, so they would have been across and after them within no more than a few minutes. Now, they would have to go right around the long way, assuming they were successful blasting a hole in the new bridge.

"There’s Baer,"" pointed Wolf.

Baer was haring down the riverbank towards them.

"What a madman to be running like that with a massive bundle of explosives under his arm," said Niko uneasily.

"Let’s hope he doesn’t trip," said Wolf.

Baer reached them and jumped into the boat, and Niko immediately set off for the new bridge.

"Very impressive man," he said to Baer over the roar of the outboard motor. "You definitely made that thing uncrossable."

Baer nodded with satisfaction. "I was hoping that position so close to land would be a weak point."

"It definitely was! Look at the soldiers," laughed Wolf.

The soldiers were all standing well back from the missing piece of the bridge and scratching their heads while clearly talking animatedly.

The boat was coming up to the nearest bridge support on the new bridge.

Baer looked up at it. "We need to climb up onto that plinth and leave the explosives there," he said, pointing at the base of the support which was square with a flat ledge about ten feet above the waterline.

"I’ll check for a way up," said Niko, revving the tinnie’s engine and doing a loop around the support.

On the inside, out of sight from land, was a ladder; possibly for maintenance. Niko pulled the boat up alongside the ladder and Baer climbed onto it before motioning for Brenner to hand him the bomb.

"How are we going to get out of the blast zone fast enough, Niko?" asked Wolf.

"It’s going to be hairy. I think our best bet is to take the boat behind the support we’re not blasting and shelter there."

"The obvious problem is if that support falls too," said Brenner.

"It looks pretty solid," joked Niko. "All jokes aside," he said seriously, "we’ll shelter behind it, but keep on driving the tinny as far from the bridge as we can get."

The other two nodded nervously. The little 25hp outboard motor wasn’t going to be motoring them anywhere very fast.

All of a sudden Baer thudded into the tinnie, having jumped off the plinth. He landed like a rock in the boat and the whole thing lurched dangerously

"Go! Go! Go!" he shouted. "Detonator’s lit!"

"Fuck Baer!" cursed Niko. "A bit of warning’s good, man."

Niko over-revved the engine and sped off at the fastest speed the small boat could manage.

"Go man!" shouted Baer. "Go as fast as you can!"

The tinny just managed to make the far side of the next huge bridge support when the explosives were lit and the blast almost deafened them all, they were still so nearby.

They hunkered down low in the boat watching pieces of concrete fly past on either side of the bridge support, and smash into it, knocking huge, pitted holes in the side facing the blast.

The bridge support that Baer had blown up was cracked and almost blown right through and the bridge started to lean precariously on the reduced support.

"It’s going to go Niko," shouted Baer, "get us out of here!"

Niko revved the engine and headed away from the bridge and towards the riverbank. The speed and weight of the four large men was too much for the little boat and the engine started to scream while losing power, going more and more slowly.

"Shit!" cursed Niko, trying unsuccessfully to get it working again. "I think it’s cactus boys," he said sadly, "we’re going to have to swim for shore".