Taking careful aim, Ryan triggered the Kalashnikov, the bullet smashing apart the cooking skull, the great wad of brain tissue expanding through the cracks until the gooey pieces dribbled to the floor. The runts went deathly still as the howling monster violently shuddered, then lurched forward one last time before dropping lifeless to the ground. Fed by the blood of the dead god, the fire raged out of control for minutes, then quickly died.
As the flames expired, the companions braced for the expected attack. But it didn’t come, and they heard the runts chanting something musical.
“Trick,” Jak said, working the bolt on the AK-47 to clear a jam.
“No, I think they mean it,” Ryan said, lowering his blaster. “We aced their god.”
Mildred barked a humorless laugh. “So now we’re the gods?”
“Care to test that theory?” J.B. asked, keeping a steady two-handed grip on the Colt.
Stepping out of the cab, the one-eyed warrior approached the crackling corpse and saw the runts scamper away from him, bowing their heads respectfully.
“Speak talk?” Ryan demanded, standing brazen in the beam of the headlight.
“We speak,” a runt muttered. He was dressed in armor like the female warriors, with a spear and leather shield. There was an elaborate weave of bones in his graying hair. “Machine god no kill, we worship!”
“I chief!” another male stormed. “You no talk machine god!”
“Machine god?” Jak asked.
“Machine-gun god is more like it,” Doc muttered.
As the challenger strode forward, Ryan calmly shot the chief dead and the rested covered their faces in fear.
“No kill! No kill!” the grayhair begged from the ground.
“You chief,” Ryan stated, and, taking the shield of the aced runt, handed it to the old runt.
Astonished, the mutie accepted the shield with reverence, then stood tall before the others. “Bow before new chief!” he screamed, spraying spittle from his loose-lipped mouth.
The others obeyed, moaning the song once more. Facing the much larger norm, the chief went to one knee and lowered his misshapen head. “What machine god want us do?”
“Return to your homes,” Ryan said, resting the stock of the Kalashnikov on his hip. “We follow.”
“Yes, god!”
“And bring best rats. Many mushrooms.”
“Bring all?” the chief asked fearfully.
Trying not to choke on the stink of the burning slug, Ryan knew food had to be very scarce down here. “One rat for each finger and toe,” he said. “Then I give great gift.”
“Gift?” the runt asked fearfully.
Magnanimously, Ryan waved a hand at the dead creature. “Eat fill of old god. Make strong!”
The chief runt could only gawk at the incredible offer. He tried to speak several times and finally got out, “Hail, machine god!”
On cue, the rest repeated the words. But one young male mumbled something under his breath. Turning, the chief charged at the heretic and smashed the leather shield on the youth’s head again and again until he dropped senseless to the tunnel floor.
“No challenge gods!” the grayhair shrieked. “Obey-obey-obey!”
The remaining runts doubled the level of their cheering, while several began to loot the body of their fallen leader.
“What now?” J.B. asked, sidling closer. Acting casual, he tucked the Colt into the holster, but he kept his hand on the butt of the blaster.
“We take the food and get back inside the redoubt,” Ryan said. “After that, we eat and lay some plans. Mebbe the runts here can help us get through the wall around the ville.”
“Better than that,” Mildred said, gesturing with her head. “See the rock wall over there? Remember the huge explosion we heard when we first approached the Shiloh base? That was their stone quarry exploding during an avalanche.”
Jak looked at the bodies laying near the crushed wag. “Overseers?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yep. Just on the other side of those rocks is their base.”
“Dark night,” J.B. exhaled. “We got a back door.”
With a stern expression, Ryan started toward the wall, then paused. “We only get one chance at this,” he said solemnly. “We dig our way out, and the blues will find the hole pretty damn fast. Got to do this at night, and with more weps.”
Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124