There was a dead man on the ground dressed in the same outfit she wore, one of Robin’s men. She searched his clothing finding only a small laser powered pistol. She seized it, holding it in her hand and returning her attention to where she had seen the soldiers, but they were gone.
How? How could the three of the robots vanish? Though they did move fast. Perhaps they had run away? Marion slowly moved through the bushes, keeping her head down as she heard men screaming in the distance.
A metal hand grabbed her shoulder and Marion screamed as she raised the gun to the soldier’s face. The robot smashed the gun from her hand, punching her out cold. The soldier lifted her, throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her off into the forest.
Chapter twelve: Broken bow. Broken bones.
Rain poured in the forest night, soaking the trees and the earth. Robin opened his eyes, his face in the mud coughing as he tried to sit up.
His body was in agony; bruised and bloody, he shivered in the cold as he fought and forced himself into a sitting position.
Robin fell back, resting against a tree as he stared outward into the darkness of the forest. He had no idea if his men had survived... or Marion! By God where had she ended up? She could have been injured or even killed. The thought of it feeling like a lump in his throat that was impossible to ignore.
He cursed under his breath for allowing her to join his ridiculous crusade. So many of his men were injured and others could have died.
Robin pushed himself onto his feet, groaning in pain but fighting through it as he limped through the rain, his clothes soaked and tattered. He limped on through the mud, reaching down and grabbing a stick to balance him. The stick was strong and would serve him well to walk with through this rain and mess.
Robin pushed on through the pouring rain in the thick forest, the rain causing massive puddles on the ground which he splashed through. There was something else on the ground ahead – a body. Robin hobbled up closer to it, squatting by the side of his fallen comrade. It was the Ranger and he was most certainly dead.
Robin said a quiet prayer for his friend, removing two coins from his pockets and placing them over the closed eyes of the fallen soldier. He then pushed himself back up onto his feet, walking off in the direction of the secret bunker Ranger had shown him.
*****
Inside the bunker, Will Scarlet covered a trembling injured man with a blanket as John Little and Friar Tuck looked on. The man had a serious stomach injury which bled out onto the floor of the bunker. Friar Tuck forced his way past Will, wrapping bandages around the gaping wound, trying to stop the bleeding.
“This man needs a hospital! I can’t help him here, and there are three others just like him,” Tuck said and Will shook his head.
“Any sign of Robin or Marion?” Will asked and John Little shook his head.
“Ranger’s dead. Robin and Marion stayed behind to fight off those metal bastards. They could be dead too," John said and Tuck looked at him angrily.
“Would you stop being so bloody negative? We don’t know they’re dead! We should go out there and find them! That’s what I think!” Tuck exclaimed. Will shook his head.
“No! You saw how many of those things were out there! They could still be looking for us,” Will said and Gilbert Whitehand nodded as he approached, giving the injured man some water.
“I agree. I say we wait. If they are still out there, we’ll be killed or captured. Enough blood has been shed on this day,” Gilbert said.
Tuck shook his head, keeping pressure on the injured man’s wounds.
“Robin and Marion should be here! Something is wrong! There’s not a man in here that he would leave for dead!” Tuck said angrily and Will raised a hand in protest.
“Robin told us to come here! He wanted us to survive so we could finish what he started! There will come a time for vengeance, Tuck but this is not it,” Will replied.
There was a loud crashing sound as though a heavy door was being closed and as Will and Tuck continued to argue, John grabbed a rifle.
“Shut up all of you! Someone’s coming!” John said, raising his gun towards the hatch as Robin slowly climbed down towards them, collapsing onto the floor. Will, Gilbert and John running over to him, kneeling by his side.
“Marion? Is she here?” Robin asked and there was silence.
“No lad. She’s not," John said.
“We thought she was with you," Will added and Robin cursed.
“Damn it! She’s nowhere out there, they must have taken her,” Robin said aloud trying to get up but falling down again. John helped him relax.
“Be easy, Loxley. You can’t save her if you’re dead. You need rest, lad! You need to heal. We will find her, I promise you," John said and Robin nodded his head.
“How are you still alive? You look like you’ve had the crap kicked out of you," Will said and Robin nodded, accepting a glass of water offered by Gilbert and drinking.
“He wouldn’t kill me. He wants to see me suffer. He knew Marion was special to me, John! He knew,” Robin said and John shook his head.
“You think he’ll kill her?” Tuck asked and
