The man turned away from the generator and opened one of the wall lockers. He took out the sub-gun and long blaster that had been stored away days before when Ryan and his group first entered Freedom Mall. He quickly handed over the Uzi and the Steyr.
“Thought you might need these. I’d planned on getting them to you earlier, when you first joined the Freedom sec squad, but circumstances prevented their delivery.”
“Thanks,” Ryan said as he and his friends eagerly took back their weapons.
Morgan unlimbered a large 9 mm Weaver PKS-9 Ultralite submachine gun and a double handful of clips from the locker for himself. “You taking us down?”
“No. I’ve got my own problems to deal with here before departing.”
“All right. Jak, you’re in first.” The albino stepped down, followed one by one by the rest of the group. Finally only J.B. and Ryan were left. Morgan was waiting for them to vanish before closing the hatch back up.
“Welcome to come with us,” Ryan said. J.B. gave him a warning glance, his sallow face darkening with a deep scowl.
Ryan returned an icy cold stare. “Dammit, J.B. The offer’s sincere.”
“Turning this into a damn parade,” Dix muttered. “Only need drums and balloons.”
Morgan laughed. “Blunt as stone, but your Armorer is right. Thanks for the invite, Cawdor, but no. There’s already seven of you, and that’s about six too many in my learned opinion. I work better alone. I find a single moving target to draw less attention than an entire flock.”
“Your choice.” Ryan stuck out his hand. Morgan extended his own and met Ryan’s palm for a quick, firm handshake.
“I’ve still got a few items I want to salvageand a few scores to settlebefore I make my own great escape from this cavernous hellpit,” Morgan said, his voice dropping down a bit in fond memory of Freedom. “Pity about that, really. I rather liked being in mall management.”
“Yeah, well, it’s harder than dick to find a career with any sort of longevity these days,” Ryan agreed. “You ought to look into farming.”
Morgan cackled. “See you on the other side, Cawdor.”
Ryan waited until J.B. clambered down into the floor hatch before lowering himself into the narrow access.
RYAN STEPPED OFF the last rung of the rusty metal ladder into thigh-deep water and nearly stumbled when the soles of his heavy combat boots tried to find a secure purchase on the slippery tunnel floor.
“Fireblast,” he snarled, grabbing the ladder with one hand as securely as possible while halting his fall. He had no desire to fall into the foul-smelling sewer water. He closed his eye for a few seconds, willing himself to get used to the faint lighting. Bare bulbs glowed from sockets set into the ceiling at ten-foot intervals, but only every third light was still working, and if the generator above happened to lock up or run out of fuel, even those feeble signposts would be extinguished.
“Good show,” Doc said to Ryan after the big man had arrested his fall and stepped off the ladder into the water. “I can only wish for my long lost days of yore when I, too, possessed such agility.”
Even in the gloom, Ryan could still notice that Doc’s white hair was dripping, and the greenish black of his frock coat had taken on a much darker hue. Doc’s trousers were also soaking wet, accenting his bony frame.
“Doc took tumble,” Jak volunteered. “Went splash.”
“This accursed floor is as slick as shit through a goose,” Doc groused. “It is a wonder all of us haven’t gone down in a tangle.”
The albino snorted, his red eyes glowing merrily in the semidarkness. “No one else fell. ‘Cept for you,” he said.
“Carry on Krysty,” Ryan said. “Head count.”
“Seven. Everyone’s here and accounted for,” Krysty said. “What next?”
“I’m fresh out of elaborate or idealistic ideas. I say we get the hell out of here and forget we ever heard about Freedom Mall,” Ryan replied.
“At least we don’t have to worry about choosing a wrong direction,” Mildred said. “For the time being, this tunnel appears to run only two ways, forward and back.”