Homeward Bound (d-5) by James Axler

Author:James Axler [Axler, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: sf_action

They finally ran out of gas a little before noon. Fortunately the rebuilt wag had been giving them plenty of warning, the engine stalling and backfiring repeatedly. Jak, who was at the wheel, had ample time to pick a secluded spot off the deserted blacktop. He eventually parked the truck in a grove of trees, completely out of sight of any casual passersby. They hadn't seen a soul since crossing the Susquehanna, so it looked like a good place to safely store some of their clothes and blasters.

"We go and we look. Find a way — if there is a way — to take out Harvey and his woman. And his bastard son. We need more power, we come back here and collect the rest of the blasters."

The Armorer sighed at Ryan's words. "Surely like to have the Uzi in my hand, going into a hostile ville like this."

"Sec men'd chill us 'fore we got ten paces over the moat."

"Sure, Ryan, sure."

Their secluded grove was a place of quietness and muted grays and greens. A small, furry animal scuttled amid the rustling leaves, darting out of sight behind the wheels of the wag.

"Nice forest," Krysty said. "Any mutie critters around here?"

"Some humans," Ryan replied. "There's still some black bear in the hills, and mebbe some cougar. Pa used to breed wild boars. Big mothers, six feet at the shoulder, with curved tusks that'd rip your belly open 'fore you even saw 'em coming."

"Nice, lover. I'll stay close to you. This all the woods from the Front Royal ville?"

"Used to be. When I was a kid it seemed like we owned half the Shens. Now... I don't know. Just know that we gotta step careful."

"When do we move?" Doc asked. "There's ample daylight left for us to continue with our odyssey, is there not?"

Ryan put his hands to his chin, as if he were praying, trying to decide what'd be best. It was nearly twenty years since he'd been in Virginia. There could have been lots of changes — probably had been. In fact, in the year since there'd been any reliable, fresh news, much might have altered at the ville. Harvey could be dead. So could his wife and son. There could have been a rebellion. It was widely known that precious few barons ever died peacefully in their own beds.

"Wait for dusk," he finally decided.

Most of them slept through that long afternoon.

They all dreamed, locked in their own private memories and thoughts.

Jak was riding a great alligator, fully sixty feet long, with mutie jaws and teeth. Somehow it skimmed above the surface of a vast swamp, covered with rich, waxy flowers in unearthly shades of purple and green.

Lori was wandering naked along swept corridors of gray stone, turning corners, walking and turning more corners. Always the corridors stretched ahead of her, limitless and featureless. Yet she knew that she must keep walking. She was cold, but if she could only find it, there was warmth somewhere for her. Her feet were sore and bleeding and she cried.

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