from " The Adventures of Barb Wire " by L'Espion

[esercito sconfitto]

Episode 1 The Bounty Hunter





Chapter 6 Retribution

Sergeant Aliba made her way to the cell of the White Lioness, as His Excellency liked to call her. It was her duty to inspect the prisoner every night; although how anyone could escape through a solid steel door that was two centimeters thick was beyond her.


She opened the peephole and peered inside. “What?” she gasped. “No she couldn’t have!” She pulled out her key, inserted it into the lock, and jerked the heavy door open.


The White woman was hanging from the ceiling fixture in her cell. Somehow she had managed to rip the light fixture out of the ceiling and used the wires and strips of bedding to fashion a crude noose which was now tightly wrapped around her throat.


“Oh no,” Aliba wailed. “His excellency will kill me for this.” There seemed no doubt the White woman was dead. Her tongue was sticking out of her mouth and her eyes bulged, wide, and sightless. Nevertheless, Aliba ran forward on the faint hope that it might not be too late. She got to within a meter of the dead woman when suddenly and miraculously the woman sprang to life and kicked Aliba square in the chest.


The impact knocked her clear across the cell and out the door and as she lay there dazed Aliba saw what she should have seen before had she not been in such a panic, and that was that the White woman had actually been balancing on the edge of the bed so that only a fraction of her weight was supported by the noose. She tried to shout for help as the White woman removed the rope from her neck, but the breath had been knocked out of her and she could only gasp helplessly.


Barb hurriedly disentangled herself from the noose. She hadn’t meant to kick Sergeant Aliba right out of the cell, just disable her. Now there was a chance that another guard might show up and give the alarm. She jumped down from the bed rushed into the corridor and gave the Sergeant a punishing blow to the jaw. The woman went limp and Barb quickly dragged her back into the cell. Once there she stripped the unconscious woman and tied and gagged her with strips of bedding.


She and Aliba were not quite the same size, but they were close enough and Barb hurriedly dressed in the guard’s clothing and strapped on her weapons. Pretty good equipment, Barb thought as she released the safety on the Tec-9. The magazine was full and she had a spare if she needed it, which was a very strong possibility. Now to deal with that asshole.


She had no intention of trying to escape from the palace. She wanted payback, and she was going to get it. Besides, it might be easier to escape if she could get hold of Mohomi than having to fight her way out through the dozens of guards and soldiers in and around the palace.