She blushed and lowered her golden eyes. “In your way, you can ‘see’ as good as me, Ryan. Tell you later. But now there’s no time. Muties are getting closer.”
“Take my gun,” Dean said eagerly. “Easy to use. Point it and squeeze the trigger.”
J.B. offered more advice. “But brace your wrist with your other hand. Powerful blaster and it’ll kick some. Don’t want you with a broken wrist or damaged tendons from being careless.”
“All right. Under protest.” She took the offered 9 mm blaster and tucked it into her leather belt.
“Better to have a gun.” Ryan began.
“And not need it,” J.B. continued.
“Rather than need a gun.” Krysty said.
“And not have it,” Jak concluded. “Favorite saying Trader.”
Emma’s attention had wandered, looking out into the dusk. “They’ve stopped,” she said quietly.
“Close?” Ryan glanced at Krysty, who shrugged.
Emma replied. “I think so. That way.” She pointed with a long forefinger.
“Camping for the night,” J.B. suggested.
“Probably. If we’re lucky we should be able to circle clear past and backtrack them. Find somewhere in the next hour to camp ourselves.”
“They got prisoners!” Emma exclaimed. “Surely there are some things that a person can’t just walk around?”
“Twelve or so stickies against seven-or eight-of us. In poor light. Not great odds.”
J.B. agreed with Ryan. “And we don’t know who the prisoners are. The first rule of all for survival in Deathlands is to look out for yourself and your close friends. Rest of the world has to look out for itself.”
“What coldhearts you are!”
“Realists,” Krysty said.
Then, in the distance the screaming started, high and thin, like a stallion under the gelding irons.
Ryan took a slow, deep breath, looking at Emma, “All right.”
Chapter Seventeen
“What’s the big water to our left?” Ryan whispered. “Is it Lake Potomac?”
Jak was at his side. He had tied his hair back, minimizing the startling flare of white. “Must be,” he said.
“There was a warehouse or something like that in this direction. I saw it before the storm started and we took cover. Guess they’re in there.”
Jak had the best night vision of anyone in the party, though his pigmentation problem meant that he saw much less well in bright sunlight.
Now he stopped, steadying himself on the uneven muddy ground, peering into the dark. “Think I can make out the glow of a fire,” he said.
“Sounds like stickies. Torture and a fire. Nothing makes the mutie sickos happier.”
Krysty nudged him, pointing with a toss of the head toward Emma. “Lay off muties, lover.”
“Oh, yeah, sure. Sorry.”
The first burst of screaming hadn’t been repeated, but they had caught the sound of raucous laughter.
“One’s chilled,” Emma said as they crept closer to the ruined building. “Can’t tell how.” Her neat, round face was as white as parchment.
“That is probably a merciful blessing for you,” Doc said solemnly.
“Everything was blurred by his pain.” She shuddered. “So many times I wish this curse could be lifted from me.”
AFTER SOME CONSIDERATION, and a discussion with J.B., Ryan decided to split his small force, sending half one way around the wrecked warehouse, the rest coming in from the opposite direction.
He took Krysty and Dean, along with Jak. “Emma, go with J.B., Mildred and Doc.”
“Mind if change with Doc?” Jak asked. “More equal divide.”
“I don’t see why.” He stopped speaking as Krysty touched him gently on the arm. “What?”
“Doesn’t make much difference, lover.” He lowered his voice. “Then why?”
“Use your eye. See how Jak’s been sticking closer to the woman than wasps to honey.”
“Oh. Yeah.”
He turned to Jak. “Sure, that’s fine. You can go with Emma. With Emma, J.B. and Mildred.”
“Go in together,” the Armorer asked. Ryan thought for a while. The wind was blowing toward them from the building, carrying the scent of wood smoke. And of burned meat.
“Looks like an entrance around the far side. You go for that. Give you.three minutes. At that point we’ll pour it in through the broken window on this side. All right?”
J.B. nodded. “Sure. Three minutes from-” he checked his wrist chron, “-now.”