Taking a torch, Ryan stuffed a plastic bag full of extra greasy rags into a pocket. “Ready?”
“Damn near,” J.B. replied, standing. The carpetbag over his shoulder clicked from the Molotovs, and he opened the flap to stuff in some more cloth rags to keep down the noise.
“Half a league, half a league onward,” Doc rumbled in an odd singsong manner that indicated he was quoting somebody.
“Don’t finish that,” Mildred warned, cutting him off. Kipling was a good poet, but a damn poor military adviser.
Going to the bottom level of the redoubt, the companions gathered before the armored door and assumed combat positions. Going to the stairs, Dean readied a Molotov in case the others needed cover.
“No more than two torches at a time,” Ryan warned, setting fire to his with a butane lighter. Oddly, the flame was weak and he realized the cig lighter was almost exhausted. Not good. “I’m on point. J.B. cover the rear.”
“Gotcha,” the Armorer said, igniting his own rag torch. Dense black smoke rose from the crackling flames, the smoke crawling along the ceiling like a living thing. Dean shifted position on the stairs to get out of its way.
“Remember the codes?” Ryan asked the boy. Dean nodded. “When I ask who’s there, only open the door if you give your real name. Albert, Alvin, anything like that means it’s an ambush and don’t open the door no matter what else you say. Any name like Roger, or Ralph, means run. I take the mat-trans and go.”
“Immediately.”
“Yes, Dad. Immediately.”
The Deathlands warrior grimaced. There were more codes they had created over the years, but these were the only ones appropriate for this situation. Open the door, or not open the door. That’s all there really was.
“Okay, open it,” Ryan said, drawing his blaster and using a thumb to snick off the safety.
Doc threw the bolt, and the others lent a hand to heave the massive door aside. The cellar light illuminated a section of tunnel that stretched into the blackness. The floor was worn smooth, and arches made of the same black metal as the exterior of the redoubt supported the ceiling at regular spacings. Empty hoops along the wall showed where power cables should have been attached to lights.
“Damn fine workmanship,” Mildred noted, studying the details of the braces. “Wonder what it was for?”
“Find out soon enough,” Ryan said, extending his torch and entering the darkness.
The companions followed in close order. Pausing at the door, J.B. took a breath and walked through. Many years earlier he had been trapped for days underground with a rotting corpse. Tunnels and caves weren’t his favorite places.
The torches crackled noisily, throwing dancing light along the rocky passageway for several yards. Then a shadow on the floor didn’t dissolve under the light, but instead turned and charged with claws snapping.
“Mutie!” Ryan warned, lowering his torch.
Blinded by the light, the creature hissed loudly, but kept on coming. Shooting from the hip, Ryan blew off a leg, yellow blood squirting from the ghastly wound. The mutie howled in pain.
Mildred launched an arrow, the wooden shaft shattering into splinters on the rough shell. She cursed, and the crab was among them. Jak dodged a claw as Krysty fired, the bullet scoring a shallow line along the creature’s shell. Ryan thrust a torch into its face, burning off an eye stalk. The mutie squealed, and Doc stabbed with his sword, skewering the thing in the open mouth. Squalling madly, the giant crab scuttled off into the darkness at remarkable speed, leaving a trail of blood behind.
“Tough little bastard,” Mildred noted, notching a steel-tipped arrow.
“Can’t let go,” Jak stated, cradling his weapon. The teenager was leaning forward, as if already in pursuit.
Ryan snorted. “All that food? No way.” Kneeling he critically studied the broken leg. The shell was abnormally thick. Arrows would never penetrate. They’d have to use the blasters. “Okay, one yard spread, double-time. Watch for spoor. Stay close and quiet. Our voices will carry for miles down here.”
“Good,” J.B. said, working the bolt on his Uzi. “Then so will anybody else’s.”
With Ryan in the lead, the companions took off after the mutie down the long subterranean passageway.
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