Operation Honey Trap vs The Emperor of the Apocalypse-Chapter 190: Escaping the Capital

"Go, go, go!" shouted Alton as they sprinted towards their rendezvous point with Arrie and Wolf, slowed by their heavy packs.

Wolf, who stood waiting with Arrie and the horses they’d purchased, looked at the General with concern as he reached them.

"Sir?" he asked the man.

"We’ve got to get out of here, Wolf! The Emperor was injured but not killed. They’ll be on our tails. The whole city will be shut down soon if it’s not already."

"Oh shit!" yelled Wolf.

He quickly helped Arrie tie her pack to her horse and shoved her up onto its back, dropping their horses in behind Delphi and Alton, who would take the lead on their escape from the capital. Niko brought up the rear, constantly checking behind them for signs of pursuit.

They galloped the horses flat chat down the backroads Delphi had chosen to try and avoid soldiers. There was no chance they wouldn’t be seen, a group of ten men and women riding so hard, thought Alton; it was just a matter of when.

"Bugger!" said Delphi, pulling her horse up on a dime. "There’s a roadblock up ahead, let’s try another road."

They group turned and streamed back the way they had come, trying another small suburban road.

"Same thing," Delphi called to Alton. "It looks like they’ve already blocked all of the exit roads."

"Let’s see if we can cross through some backyards and find a way out," Alton yelled, leading the way down the side of someone’s house.

Arrie looked fearfully into a side window of the home, where she saw two little girls’ faces pressed to the glass, watching with wonder and pointing and calling for their mamma, as the group of horses and riders galloped into their front garden and down the side of their house.

"Baer! Wolf! Brenner!" shouted Alton. "Get up here and kick this fence down, privates!"

The four men quickly dismounted and gave the fence a couple of very hard kicks with their military boots until they managed to kick off a section of palings and rails.

"Let’s go! Everyone through the gap!" shouted Alton.

The horses streamed through into the next backyard, and Delphi and Alton lead the way down the driveway of the house and onto a quiet cul-de-sac.

The owner of the house came running out onto his front veranda, waving his fist at them. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"What the fuck?" he shouted. "You’ve fucked me fence, you bastards! Get back here and pay for the damage!"

"Sorry mate, we haven’t got time today, we’re in too much of a hurry," apologised Brenner politely.

"I’ll give you ’haven’t got time’! Let me go and get my crossbow and we’ll see if you can make the time!"

Niko pulled out his bow and trained an arrow on the man, who raised his hands in supplication and started walking backwards towards his front door.

"Piss off mate," said Niko. "We’ll come back some other time when we’re welcome around here and pay you for the damage. Unfortunately today’s not that day, so you’ll have to excuse us. It’s an emergency."

"Sure mate, yeah," mumbled the man. "No problem, mate. I get it," he made it to his front door and quickly slipped inside and slammed it shut.

The Generals lead the way down the cul-de-sac, but as they rounded the corner, there was yet another roadblock.

"Okay, we need to breach one of these roadblocks!" called Alton to the team. "Baer, Wolf, Delphi, take out the soldiers as we approach. Brenner and Niko, take the rear position and protect us on your way through. Ladies," he said to the other women, "we’re going to be jumping the barrier. Do you think you can do it?"

"Yes Sir!" they all called in reply.

"Hyaaah!" Alton kicked his horse into a gallop, and they raced towards the roadblock.

"Halt! Who goes there?" shouted a guard, jumping to his feet. "Slow down on your approach or we’ll shoot," he roared.

More guards appeared, scrambling to their feet and staring in wide-eyed surprise at the approaching group of horses and riders galloping like the hounds of hell were chasing them. Clearly not what they had expected to see in this sleepy suburban dead-end, and they were coming at them from the wrong side of the barricade.

The sound of an arrow searing down the cul-de-sac could be clearly heard. Then, the soldier who hailed them was silenced by Delphi’s arrow, dropping to fall across the barrier.

In quick succession Baer, Wolf and Delphi shot any soldiers who dared raise their heads after the first man was shot. They covered Alton as his horse jumped the barricade and kept on riding down the road. Once he was across, Alton pulled his own bow to cover for the archers as they each made the jump.

Delphi came next, then Baer.

"Soldiers coming up the road, General!" bellowed Niko.

Soldiers on horseback were streaming out of the same driveway they had just exited, with the homeowner now standing back on his front veranda, shouting and gesticulating at the soldiers.

"Let’s go! Let’s go, privates!" yelled Alton.

Wolf made the jump, shouting for Arrie to follow him.

She was petrified as she approached the jump that was higher than anything she had ever made before.

"Hyaaah!" she urged her horse, kicking him as hard as she could on the lead-up.

As he sailed over, she clung desperately to his neck, her eyes closed. He landed with a solid thump, but she was clinging on with everything she had, so she managed to hold on and sit back up, as Wolf give her a huge smile. She gave him a watery smile in return, shaken and fearful at how close their pursuers were.

"Amazing job, Arrie," he called to her.

Loveday and Opal followed Arrie, both clearing the jump without pause.

"Brenner! Get over here!" shouted Alton, as they cleared up the other guards, chasing them down on horseback and using their swords to cut the men down as they ran.

Brenner urged his horse across the jump and rode over to help with the chase. They couldn’t afford any of these guards to become hidden archers.

"Indy, go! Go! Go!" shouted Niko, who was bringing up the rear and now had a horde of shouting riders on his tail.

Indy, who had moved aside for Brenner, started her run-up too short and her horse shied at the jump, rearing up, and tipping her backwards to the ground.

"Aaah," she screamed as she fell, landing hard on the tarmac, her horse skittering away from her.

She was far too frightened to feel any pain just yet.