Finding a place to hide

Who: Jack, Alota, Dean, McJohn, Amber, Victoria and Elian
Where: In a jungle, hunted by GELFs
When: Right after Andy's last post
<snip>
"Amber, bad news, we've got company, incoming at 6 o clock, moving
rather quickly" he subvocalised to her, who was still running
towards the landing site. Jack ran back down to join them, where
Amber had already informed the group.
"you know, we'd better hide, theres no way we can make it to the
ships before them, they're fast!" dean pointed out, before looking
for a suitable hiding place.
<end snip>
"What I wouldn't give for a gatling gun right about now!" McJohn
thought as he ducked through a bush looking for a hiding place for
the others. A brush he had pushed aside whipped back and slapped
Dean, who was following him, in the face.
"Oi!"
"Sorry." McJohn said as he stumbled over a fallen tree trunk. He
looked back at the trunk. It was a good size, but not large enough to
be at all practical to hide behind. Or under, for that matter.
"Hurry up," Dean hissed. "We've got to find *somewhere* to hide from
the GELFs!"
"I know that!" McJohn spat back angrily, "Don't ya think I know that!"
McJohn took a few more steps onto a small rise before he saw the cave
mouth on the other side.
"Hey! I found a cave!"
"Great, how big?"
"I think... Yes. Dean, it's wide enough for you to find a way to
crash inside it."
"Very funny," replied Dean, "I'll go and tell the others."
McJohn sprung up from his crouch and grabbed Dean's shoulder. "No,"
he said. "You get in there, I'll get the others!"
McJohn moved off, and less than two minutes later the entire group
was running hell for leather towards the cave mouth. They almost
dived inside, rushing quickly into the darkness of the cave interior.
"Anybody bring a light?" asked Elian.
Victoria pulled a large flashlight from McJohn's partially empty
haversack. Then she threw the bag to McJohn.
"Those grenades in there, you'll probably need 'em." Victoria said as
she hurried off into the cave, following Amber, Dean and Alota.
"They're getting close!" hissed Jack, crouched just outside the
entrance, his Tommy Gun at the ready.
Elian paused next to McJohn. "Good luck, amigo."
"Thanks, you too."
McJohn caught a glimpse of Elian's retreating figure as he picked up
the sack of grenades and crept out towards where Jack had crouched
behind another, larger fallen tree just outside the cave's entrance.
----meanwhile, inside the cave----
Alota, Amber, Dean, Elian and Victoria crept deeper into the semi-
darkness inside the cave. The floor was just a tiny bit slippery, and
Victoria lost her balance, falling forwards and knocking Dean off his
feet. She ended up falling on top of him, and her flashlight, still
switched off, clattered ahead of them. Somebody shooshed them.
"Sorry!"
Alota and Elian helped them to their feet and Amber picked up the
fallen flashlight. She flicked it on and shone the bright beam ahead
of them into the deepening cavern. At first, the light beam fell on
the cave floor, revealing that it was slightly sloped downards ahead
of them. Then she played the beam across onto the cave wall.
It was covered in paintings.
Not cave paintings either. Wooden framed portraits neatly arrainged
on the wall.
Amber quickly shone the flashlight onto the other wall. More framed
paintings. Some portraits of famous figures and the like, a few
impressionist landscape scenes, some other regular landscapes,
a "minimalist" piece consisting of a red circle with the inside left
blank and a black diagonal stripe in the top left corner. and a very
splendid oil painting of King Arthur and Sir Launcelot charging into
battle. The paintings all appeared, on a few seconds' examination, to
be hung on heavy, metallic spikes driven almost completely into the
rock walls of the cave, like nails into wall plaster.
"What the smeg..." breathed Alota slowly.
"It's the Tarzan Art Gallery on the planet of the homicidal GELFs,"
declared Dean, who seemed to be taking the surrealness of their
circumstances far too calmly.
The group fell silent and gazed around for a few moments, until the
heavy voice of what sounded like an old man echoed from deeper inside
the cavern.
"Welcome," said the voice.
----back outside the cave at just about the same time----
McJohn had reached Jack's position and flattened himself beside it,
dropping the heavy sack in between them.
"How close are they now?" McJohn asked in an urgent whisper.
"Too smeggin' close. Oh for a bazookoid!" muttered Jack.
"Would a couple grenades suffice?" McJohn asked as he pulled three
grenades from the interior of the sack.
"Admirably." Jack said, smiling slightly. Then his face went serious
again.
"By the way," Jack asked, "just where'd you get all this stuff from,
anyhow? I mean for smeg's sake you can't just buy a Thompson SMG in
deep space!"
McJohn scanned the undergrowth in front of them for any signs of
movement before replying. "I took 'em from the castle armory on Plebe
a while back."
"And where'd they come from before that?"
"Well how the smeg should I know?" McJohn snapped.
Suddenly, Jack waved his hand for silence. In the distance, the
bushes began shaking loudly, and the noises grew steadily closer.
<tag, here they come>
OOC - I'm going to be gone most of tomorrow, but I should be back in
the evening.