Chapter 6 - No Radio
With communications dead, Nora returned to methods older than the equipment on her vest.
Visual signals.
Timing.
Terrain.
She watched the infantry below and counted the movement pattern around the transports. Hale reached the lower trail and signaled with both arms. One driver understood. Engines increased. Civilians were pushed into the final vehicle.
Across the valley, the enemy column began spreading around the disabled lead truck.
Nora studied the movement.
They expected fire from her original position.
So she crawled twenty yards higher, using the shadow of the rock line to conceal the shift. Every movement hurt. Her ribs protested. One knee threatened to give out whenever she loaded weight onto it.
She kept moving.
The enemy mortar team adjusted toward her previous nest.
Another impact tore through empty rock.
Nora reached a narrow shelf overlooking the road.
From there, she could see the entire route.
Hale appeared below, waving the final civilians into the transport.
The last vehicle began to turn.
Then one enemy truck found an opening through the ditch.
It accelerated toward the evacuation line.
Nora adjusted her position and fired one controlled shot at the vehicle’s exposed front assembly.
The truck jerked sideways and stopped against the blocked lead vehicle.
The route closed again.
Below, Hale looked up toward her new position.
He raised one fist.
Nora answered with two fingers.
Move.
Do not wait for me.
The convoy began pulling away from Blackwood Valley.
For the first time since the radio died, Nora allowed herself one breath of relief.
May you like
Then she heard boots approaching from behind.
More than one set.
