like a rattler’s, if that helps. Don’t see any kind of obvious poison sac in the mouth or throat either.”
“Thanks, John. Whatever the cause, I have to radically revise my prognosis for him.”
“What do you mean?” Krysty asked.
Mildred glanced up, her brow knotted. “Judging by how fast it’s progressing, instead of a day or two, Jak might have six to eight hours—if he’s lucky.”
Chapter Four
“Hey, Doc, lend me your coat, please?”
“My pleasure, dear lady.” Shrugging out of his frock coat, Doc presented it to Mildred with a slight bow. “It does not look good for young Jak, does it?”
“No, it sure as hell doesn’t,” Ryan answered. He turned back to the panel, which still silently mocked him with its obstinate refusal to work. “Our clock just started ticking a whole lot faster. Either we figure out a way back to the mat-trans, or we get this hunk-of-junk steel box moving.”
“Got four choices.” J.B. pointed at the double doors, then at the elevator floor as he leaned against the wall, his dusty brown fedora tilted up. “Over, under, around or through.”
Even under the circumstances, Ryan couldn’t help smiling at the phrase, one of the Trader’s favorite aphorisms. “Yeah. Let’s try up first. C’mon, I’ll boost you.”
Ryan squatted, and J.B. nimbly climbed on his shoulders. When the tall man straightened, the Armorer reached the elevator roof with ease. For the next several minutes, he looked for any kind of hidden hatch, lever or emergency controls but came up empty. As he was finishing his sweep, he jerked his hands away from the ceiling. “What the—?”
“You got something?”
“Felt something. Wait a sec….” J.B. gently placed his hands back on the plastic grilled ceiling tiles. “Black dust!”
Mildred looked up from tending Jak. “What’s going on, John?”
Ryan glanced up to see J.B. staring down at them with wide eyes. “I can hear them jumping on the roof. There’s gotta be more of those rad-blasted pig-rats.” He slid off Ryan’s shoulders to the floor. “Stirred up one hell of a rat’s nest.”
They all listened, and once again, heard the squeals and thumps of rodent bodies hitting the ceiling, followed by the click-click of their hooves as the muties clattered around on the roof of the elevator.
Ryan shook his head. “What the fuck—fireblasted muties takin’ this personal?”
“Either that, or we smell better than whatever they been eating recently.” J.B. shrugged, as phlegmatic as ever.
“Rats chew on just about anything,” Mildred said with a shudder. “Think they’ll gnaw through the cable?”
“If they do, all the more reason to get the hell out of here. Let’s take a look at the floor.”
Two minutes later, the thin industrial carpeting had been torn up, revealing more of the same smooth metal. Drawing his knife, J.B. pressed the point into the steel as hard as he dared without risking the blade, but didn’t even make an impression. “No-go that way.”
“Right. That leaves the hallway.” Ryan turned to face the doors.
“Lover.” Krysty placed a hand on his arm. “You can’t be serious. You wouldn’t make it ten steps.”
Glancing at her, Ryan took her hand in his own callused one, squeezing for a moment before letting it fall. “Got no plans to take the last train to the coast just yet.”
J.B. joined him, the sallow man scratching his forehead. “What are you thinking?”
Ryan flashed him a tight grin. “Over. The way I remember it, those three pipes ran the entire length of the corridor.”
“Leap up, grab them and scoot. Crazy enough that it might work. How do we open the doors and get out without being overrun?”
“That’s the tricky part. Doc?”
“At your service, good sir.”
“Got any rounds left for that scattergun barrel of yours?”
“I believe I can find a few at the bottom of my capacious pockets.”
Ryan nodded at J.B., who had already picked up on his plan and had unslung the M-4000 shotgun and was checking the load.
“Ryan, you aren’t serious about this?” Mildred asked, rising from beside Jak.
The dark-haired man turned to face her. “Look into my eye and tell me I’m joking.”
She frowned. “The blasts in this enclosed space could permanently deafen us all.”
“Better alive and deaf than hearing and eaten alive. If you want to help, figure out a way to protect our hearing as best you can.” Ryan shrugged off his rifle, leaning it against the corner of the elevator, and made sure there were no loose pieces of cloth on his garments that might provide a convenient rope for the mutie horde outside. “Make sure everything’s secured, J.B.”
“I’m on it.”
Mildred shook her head, then looked around. “You two are both nuts.”
Ryan saw red for a second. “Fireblast, Mildred! If you aren’t helping, you’re hindering! Now get useful, or get the hell out of the way!”
Mildred’s face tightened, but Ryan didn’t give an inch, pinning her under his icy glare. Finally she turned away. “We need cloth, cotton wadding, anything to shield our eardrums.”
“How about that carpet we tore up?” Krysty borrowed J.B.’s knife and began cutting it into long strips.
Mildred felt it, then nodded. “Got just enough padding to do the trick. Make them narrower if you can. The more we can cram into our ears, the better.”
J.B. glanced over at their work. “At least it’ll muffle the noise of those little bastards slamming into the door.”
“I’ll get Jak ready.” Krysty moved to the motionless albino teen, plugging his ears and covering his head with Doc’s coat.
Doc had finally fished out a round for the shotgun barrel of his LeMat, and now stood with the pistol ready in both hands. J.B. had his shotgun ready, his gaze on Ryan. “Who’s going?”
Ryan smiled. “You and me, of course. I need your devious mind in case the cards are locked up or hidden somewhere.”
J.B. sighed. “Hip-deep in the shit, as usual.”
“Where else?”
Doc pressed his ear against the door. “Is there any chance that waiting a bit might make the cretins leave us in peace and seek more suitable prey?”
“They might, but if Jak’s getting
