Sunspot by James Axler

Author:James Axler
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises
Published: 2007-03-25T16:00:00+00:00

MALOSH’S ARMY DIDN’T break camp as much as they walked off and abandoned it. They left behind everything that wasn’t vital to the battle—the tents, carts, mules and food supplies.

The troop of cannon fodder limped after the masked baron and his chestnut steed, heading over the hill in the direction of the interstate. As the sacrificial ranks filed past, Ryan saw that the two Redbone swineherds, Bezoar and Young Crad, had been reunited. Not that it really mattered to him one way or another. Their fate was, well, their fate. It no longer had anything to do with his.

From horseback the baron’s officers organized the procession of norms, muties and dogs. Norms moved to the front of the file, with the muties and their panting beasts bringing up the rear. Once they were in position, they began a deliberate, careful advance to the northwest, keeping to the hollows and saddles between the low hills as much as possible. The only light came from the stars, and it turned the desert into shades of gray spattered with pockets of impenetrable black.

The long row of troops in the main column was easy to get lost in. There were at least 250 souls, not counting dogs. Ryan moved slowly enough so the other norms had to pass him. In this way, without drawing attention to himself, he gradually dropped back to the end of the norm ranks, along with Mildred and J.B.

Figuring Ryan would do just that, Krysty and Jak advanced to the front of the muties until they were walking right behind their companions.

“Doc never turned up,” Ryan said over his shoulder to Krysty.

“But the droolie did,” J.B. said.

“For Gaia’s sake, don’t tell me Doc got chilled up there,” the tall redhead said.

“Truth is, we don’t know,” Ryan told her. “He could be dead already. Or he could have been captured by Haldane’s men. There’s no way of finding out before we attack the ville. Malosh isn’t going to let us wander off and search for him.”

“We can’t desert Malosh’s army without making sure Doc is beyond our help,” Krysty said. “We just can’t.”

“From the way the droolie tells it, Doc sacrificed himself to get the word back, so Malosh wouldn’t skewer us,” Mildred said. “So we’d have a chance to get away.”

“That’s why we’re not going to leave him behind,” Krysty said.

“He would never leave us like that,” Mildred agreed.

At the sound of a snarling dog, Ryan looked over his shoulder. A swampie in a red stocking cap had moved within ten feet of them. He held the massive animal by a chain around its neck. Swampies were sour-faced by nature, but this one was extra unhappy.

“That swampie looks like his dog just died,” Ryan said.

“It did,” Krysty said. “I blew its head off earlier. I didn’t want to, but he didn’t give me any choice. That’s Meconium, the boss swampie. I would’ve shot him, too, but I was outnumbered.”

“Isn’t he the same bastard who shit his pants back in Redbone?” Ryan said.

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