“Go for it,” Ryan commanded, and braced for the impact.
Grimly, Krysty held the course. At the last moment, the driver saw them suddenly looming close and screamed in horror. Then the Hummer disappeared from sight below the prow of the LAV. The companions lost their footing as the nose of the war wag went high, aiming toward the sky. Underneath the floor was a terrible crunching noise, mixed with high-pitched shrieking. The APC tilted at an angle, almost flipping over, then leveled out and was back in the corn again, riding on even ground.
Braking to a halt, Krysty returned to the crash site and stopped a short distance from the flattened wreck. Stepping from the rear of the APC, the companions approached the destroyed Hummer, warily walking over the crushed cornstalks to avoid the pieces of broken machinery and twitching meat.
Gore-splattered limbs jutted from the smashed chassis, red blood and gasoline dripping from a dozen spots. An eye lay on the ground near the splintery stock of a Kalashnikov. Shards of glass from the windshield were sprinkled across the cornstalks like diamond dust. Circling around the site, Ryan found a sec man dangling out of the crumpled metal, still struggling to get free in spite of the fact his body was shredded below the waist. “Help me…” he panted, blood welling from his mouth at the words and dribbling down his chin.
“I’ll end the pain,” Ryan said, going closer, a hand on his blaster. “Just tell me where your home base is. Who is your leader?” There were more questions he wanted to ask. A lot more. But those were the most important—where and who. “H-help me…”
“Where is your home base!” the warrior demanded. Drooling blood, the man blindly reached out a trembling hand with only two remaining fingers.
“He can’t hear you,” J.B. said, resting his Uzi on a shoulder.
Ryan turned. “Mildred?” The physician shook her head. “Fair enough.” Drawing his blaster, Ryan put a 9 mm round into the dying soldier. The man jerked at the impact and went still.
“Let’s go,” Ryan said, holstering the piece. “There’s nothing here to salvage.”
Doc sniffed the air. “And we had best hurry, my dear Ryan. I think the cornfield is on fire.”
“Yeah,” Dean said from the turret, squinting into the distance. “And it’s coming this way fast.”
Chapter Three
Moving quickly past the remnants of the Hummer, the companions climbed into the APC and took seats. Settling in, Doc began the lengthy process of reloading his LeMat, while Mildred checked on the unconscious Jak. The teen was lying on a bedroll, a wet compress on his bruised forehead. He had received a small concussion from a falling ammo box, but otherwise seemed undamaged.
“Let’s go,” Ryan said, slamming home the bolt. “This corn is burning fast as a fuse.”
Starting the engines took a few tries, but Krysty finally got the diesels to turn over. A slight shudder was detectable in the floor as she struggled to slide the stick shift into neutral.
As the wag rumbled forward, a nasty grinding noise came from the engine. It became steadily louder.
“Fireblast, we do have damage!” Ryan cursed. “Must have been that damn satchel charge. No chance to fix it now. Keep going!”
Fluttering his eyelids, Jak tried to speak and began to cough.
Dampening a cloth with water from a canteen, Mildred turned to the youth and saw gray tendrils of smoke rising from the nearby vents. Dropping the canteen, she tried to slide the vent covers closed, but they were firmly jammed in place. Muttering curses her minister father wouldn’t have approved, the physician grabbed some more rags from the pile and started stuffing the openings closed. Dean rushed to assist and, working at opposite ends of the craft, they got the larger holes sealed. That helped, but not much. Wisps still seeped into the vehicle around the doors and hatches.
“Get moving!” Mildred barked, splashing more water on the rags to keep them wet. “We have to get out of this or risk suffocation!”
“I’m worried about that,” Ryan answered, placing a palm on the hull. The metal was still cool to the touch. “It’s the external fuel cans. Those flames get too close and we ignite like a bomb.”