over the body and examined it. “Most of these scars have been healed over for weeks. The fresh ones look like she’d been picking at them.”
“Mebbe was crazy,” Jak said.
Mildred ignored the comment. “Well, whatever bang is, she wanted it pretty bad.”
“Think it’s a drug?” Ryan suggested.
“That would be a good guess.” Mildred got up from beside the body. “Can’t be sure, though.”
“Well, whatever it is, it’s a good bet that there are other people in the redoubt,” J.B. stated.
Ryan nodded. “Triple red, people.”
The chatter going on behind Ryan died down, and his companions followed him through the redoubt in silence.
As they moved up and down stairs, along corridors and through holes blasted in the walls, they could find nothing of value left inside the redoubt and no evidence of anyone else living inside it. Most items left behind had been destroyed, or had otherwise been rendered useless. Two sections of the redoubt that had been cleaned out were the medical lab and the kitchen. Everything inside those rooms had been carted away, with pipes and wires neatly cut from the walls rather than torn out in a hurry. Somebody was making use of the equipment, and likely using it for more than making meals and treating the sick.
They continued searching the redoubt for anything of value, and as they turned the corner at the end of a long corridor, Ryan saw a light in the distance.
It was a dimly reflected light, and had to be checked out.
“Jak,” Ryan said.
The albino teen moved to the front of the line and came up by Ryan’s side.
“See where that leads,” Ryan commanded.
Without a word, Jak headed down the corridor toward the light. The others had their blasters trained on the end of the hallway, covering him just in case.
They watched the teen’s body get smaller and smaller until all that could be seen was his stark white hair growing brighter the closer he got to the light source. And then, all of a sudden it was gone as he turned the corner into the light. Minutes later he reemerged, and when he neared, it was obvious that he had some good news.
“Outside,” he said, gesturing down the hall.
“People?” Ryan asked.
Jak shook his head. “No.”
“What’s out there, then?”
“Sky. Rolling fields. River.”
“Anything else?”
“What more want?”
Ryan and the others walked toward the light and exited the redoubt to a hot, sunny day, the sky tinged by a slight purple hue with streaks of green and orange throughout. The surrounding fields were barren, or else overgrown by weeds, but they seemed to roll with the irregular undulation of foothills, suggesting they might be somewhere in the Midwest.
Jak tapped Ryan on the shoulder and pointed to the south. “River, near trees.”
Ryan took out his marine telescope from a pocket in his coat, extended it to its full length and brought the lens up to his eye.
After making several adjustments to focus, he said, “About an hour away on foot. We can make camp there, mebbe catch something to eat in the river.”
“Sounds like a plan,” J.B. said.
And then, without another word, the friends were off, heading south in single file to cover their tracks in the earth, Ryan leading the way, J.B. bringing up the rear.
They didn’t know what to expect.
But together, they were ready for anything.
Chapter Two
When they got to the river’s edge, Mildred did a quick rudimentary test of the water to see if it might make them sick. “It’s pretty clean,” she said, holding up a test tube of the clear liquid.
Ryan nodded. “Let’s make camp, then. Krysty, Doc and Mildred set up a perimeter. Jak, you and J.B. see if you can catch us something to eat.”
In silence, the friends split up and took their positions.
Meanwhile, Ryan gathered a few dried branches and set them in a pile for a fire. He’d light it later, depending on how lucky J.B. and Jak were in the river. If not, they’d have to eat the last of their rations and hope to find something else to eat in the morning.
His stomach growled and churned at the thought of it.
“Help!”
It was a woman’s voice coming from somewhere downriver.
“J.B.?” Ryan called.
“Heard it. ’Bout a hundred yards south.”
“Let’s move.”
Almost as one, the friends picked up and headed south through the trees, always sticking close to the river’s edge. Ryan could barely see the others through the brush, but he instinctively knew that Jak and J.B. were to his right, spaced about ten yards apart, while his left was flanked by Doc, Mildred and Krysty, with one of them, maybe two, hanging back slightly to cover their rear.
Another scream came from up ahead.
It was a woman’s voice, but a different woman than before.
Jak, the best tracker in the group, stopped and signaled to J.B. and Ryan to do the same. Ryan sent the message along to the others and together the friends slowly closed in around a large clearing by the river.
Two women, naked. They were either swimming or just spending some time alone together by the water. One was young, tall and blond, her body lean, taut and muscular. The other was older and a bit shorter, with long dark hair that was streaked with gray. Her flesh sagged a bit, her belly distended slightly, but she was more mature and full figured than old and fat.
The two women were surrounded by four muties similar to the ones the friends had seen in the redoubt. They were dirty and scraggly, their bodies covered by the same sores the girl in the redoubt had.
“Bang,” one of the men said.
Another one lunged forward at the women, then stepped back in fear. “Gimme bang.”
“More crazies?” Krysty said under her breath.
“There are stranger things in the Deathlands,” Ryan answered evenly.
“Want jack.”
“Need smash.”
“What are they saying?” Krysty asked.
Ryan
