Deathlands 55 Shadow Fortress by James Axler

Author:James Axler [Axler, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-03-28T20:21:54+00:00

until his boots found purchase on the rough surface, and he extended his arms to

find another crack.

Clawing for cracks, J.B. followed a few feet away from his old friend. Cold

logic dictated that everybody climb alone in case they lost their grip and fell.

They had no ropes, or pitons, only bare hands. There was no way to help each

other now, except for not colliding into someone on the way down.

Dean and Doc were already ten feet off the ground, moving faster than expected,

and Mildred was scaling the rocks as if she had done it her whole life.

As Jak slowly struggled along the crevices, Krysty snagged an outcropping on the

side of the mesa and pulled herself higher. Ryan and J.B. followed, pausing when

they reached a small ledge to shoot at the hunting apes below. More than half of

the muties were sprawled on the ground, but the rest continued on, uncaring of

the deadly lead flying past their stubby heads.

Checking below, Ryan cursed as he saw the huge apes pawing at the rock wall,

leaning close to sniff the mesa, then tap it with their massive fingers. The

bastard things were still trying to follow the group.

One gorilla reached up with an incredible long arm and pawed the rocks, pulling

itself off the ground with the one hand. Their flexible toes worked as auxiliary

hands that fondled the rocks to find any purchase, and the beast moved higher on

the wall. Grunting among themselves, the rest tried to follow the first and soon

the six were hot in pursuit, and moving faster than any of the companions.

A particularly large ape roared at the tiny humans, and Ryan tried to target the

big male, but the angle of the sheer cliff prohibited that now. Reluctantly, he

bolstered his piece and proceeded skyward once more.

"Still after us," Ryan warned the others.

"Fuck that," Jak said, and fired twice at the creatures with his .357 Magnum

blaster.

The apes flinched at the noise of the weapon, and one round ricocheted off the

wall, spraying out rock chips and dust. The other creased the hairy shoulder of

the bull male, and the beast sounded very human as it cried out from the pain of

the wound. Then it locked its gaze on Jak, and the teenager saw the murderous

intent in its face. He aimed again, and the mutie moved just as he fired, the

round missing completely.

Unable to load without falling, Jak bolstered the piece and concentrated on his

climbing once more. But not able to use the hurt leg, his speed was pitiful, and

the ape gained on the teenager with nightmarish speed.

There was a cry from Mildred, and J.B. saw her flail as the root in her hand

came free from the wall, loose pebbles sprinkling downward. Instinctively, J.B.

reached out a hand to help her, but she was yards away. He watched in horror as

the physician struggled not to fall, then cheered as she stabbed a knife into

the cliff and used that as an anchor to move to a more secure area.

Tense minutes passed as the companions did nothing but concentrate on their

individual tasks.

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