On the Road Again No. 017

I awoke from that nice rest and got up and hoped over my little barricade and walked down the stairs, as I walked down the stairs I heard some squeaks and then I ran down.

Those damn rats!

Running out of the stairwell I saw the two that had found my supplies and were trying to get into it. I aimed and fired a shot into the first rat, killing it, the second one ran to the left and was trying to get in a bite on my left leg, I rotated my body and landed a kick one the rats underbelly, sending it through the uprights that were the doorway. Firing a shot this one was dead.

A quick check brought a great relief as none of my manuals or food were eaten.

I left and began my treck to Petrovadosk, I wouldn't encounter another city that wasn't off the highway until Kem, which is around 4 hours from Petrovadosk, and Kem is 28 hours from me. 32 hours, a little over 2 days of traveling until I run into another city and then my journey still isn't over. The sooner I started the sooner this trip would be behind me, so off I went.

***

Five hours in I went to the side of the road to make a quick little lunch. It's nice to have a cart to sit in so your not on the ground.

After my little lunch of some cooked rice I got back on the road, luckily there weren't too many car wrecks around, but it was almost noon and I would need a place to sleep.

It took around 4 hours until I ran into anything else. There was a line of downed trees in the road around 500 yards away. I pulled over to the side of the road and hopped off my bike. This was obviously not natural and had to be some kind of man made trap to catch people moving on the highway. I crept over around 20 feet in the treeline from the road.

The first 400 yards I slowly walked being cautious. At around the 405 mark I went 15 more feet into the tree line, I could still see the road and the trees were closing in.

I continued, crouching and trying to stay low for 55 more yards and then I stopped. I was around 40 yards from the treeline, there were no sounds, no ruffling of trees, nothing. It felt odd, but this was normal for this new world. Until I heard footsteps, there was a bunch of thick bushes around 2 yards forward and hid in them waiting. I pulled out my pistol and set my self up.

Then I heard it,

"Hahaha Dmitry, do you think we will find anything today after laying around back home?"

"We would have been here if you would have gotten up before twelve and not demanded eating lunch in the house."

"Well I wanted food, we have plenty and there is always more fools coming into our trap."

That word hit me, trap, I had escaped through pure luck and I wouldn't be the first one to do that either. If I killed them I could go to their house and get that food.

The only problem is if there were one or more people left behind to protect the house. It was a risk I was willing to take, there was only one problem. I was still 40 yards from the road block, and about 45 from what the two men were walking too. My pistol was accurate within 10 yards, burst of five ups it to 25. There were two bushes, one around 10 yards from the tower, and one around 20 from it.

That means if I used the entire clip, I might get one, that's 15 seconds. It would take 5 seconds to reload and then another 15 to fire all the shots. Plus the time to get to the closer bush would be at least a minute for the close one add 20 seconds to the second one. The point they were walking two was 35 yards away from the target, it will take them two minutes to climb up and get on top of the tower, I have 30 seconds where they will be climbing that I have to sprint into the cover of the bush.

I waited, 5 seconds, 10 seconds, at 15 I army crawled through the light brush and at 50 seconds I heard the loud clanging of them going up the ladder, I sprinted 10 seconds I was at the first bush, still they were making noise so I went for the second bush, no noise no branches could be broken, I sprinted halfway there and then slowed down to a crawl. A second later the ladder noises stopped. Within the next 10 seconds I was at the next bush. Under cover. I could wait for the time, I pulled the second clip out ready to load it into the gun.

"No one has even moved the branches yet! See Kirdan! We have missed no one yet!"

"Demitry you ignorant imbecile, they still could have just gone around it! That's why we have this lookout post. We shoot them before they get around it."

"Well sometimes they are stupid and just try and drive through it, then we wouldn't have to waste any bullets!"

"How would we get the car of the road if it was damaged Demitry, think! You never think and I do all the brains while you have half the brawn"

"You're a sly fox Kirdan, you're a sly fox!"

I could hear their bickering and waited for five minutes to strike.

Five minutes after I had gotten to my second hiding spot I quietly looked up and aimed, I got into a kneeling position from behind the foliage out of their sight. I had been watching and they both had a habit of sweeping the same area, it would take them about 10 seconds to move one way, then 10 back, I waited until their gaze was fully on the road and then I rose up, Makarov pointed at them.