Re: Clouds Over Scotland
This is not the way a cavalry officer makes a charge! Viktor thought as he moved around the corner of the building.
He thought Mercy's tactics made sense, since there were now three possible locations for guards: the tent, the mine and the one on duty. Without better knowing what the situation was, they couldn't risk one of them sounding the alarm and alerting the others... for who knew what they might do!
In the dark like this, however, he wasn't sure how well he could sneak up on the guard smoking. The glow of the cigarette's end helped Viktor locate him in the dark, though the eastern sky was already lightening up enough that the guard was outlined against it.
Then he heard the clank of Hugo, the mechanical bartender, coming up the road. The guard heard it, too, but had no idea what he was hearing. Viktor thought to wait a moment until the guard actually saw Hugo, which was likely to surprise him even more, but Mercy gently urged him forward. The plan's success really depended on him keeping the guard silent, which seemed to rule out shooting, at least until someone else shot first.
Viktor switched to holding his revolver by the barrel, and raised it to strike with the butt of the weapon. As he gingerly stepped forward, his foot may have scrapped a pebble through the dirt, making enough of a sound to alert the guard, for the guard started to turn! Throwing caution to the wind, Viktor quickly took a long final step to get him within reach and swung the gun down on the guard's head!