Stomping on the gas pedal, Ryan turned the Hummer and headed directly toward a group of greenies they’d encountered earlier. The muties greeted them with a wave of barbed darts that hit the windshield and bounced off.
Angling for the low point in the barrier, the Hummer started to climb sideways up the mass of debris, the tires spinning wildly as rocks crumbled away under their weight.
“Shift right!” Ryan bellowed, twisting the steering wheel.
The companions dived to the right side of the wag, their weight holding it steady as the transport jounced and bumped over the timbers and automobile parts. Then the rubble shifted, and the Hummer slid out of control. There was a strident crash of wood, and the predark wag reared on its aft wheels, threatening to flip over. Ryan hit the brakes, then the gas, regaining control of the machine, and the Hummer madly rolled back onto the street.
Waiting below, the greenies charged, and the companions fired in a volley at the mass attack. Doc leveled his LeMat pistol and fired twice through the chaos. A greenie loading a blowpipe jerked backward, slamming into a greenie behind. They both fell, blood gushing from huge wounds.
As the Hummer pulled away, its engine roaring in high gear, a dozen of the muties lay sprawled on the cracked macadam, dead or merely pretending. There was no way of knowing.
“Now we can leave!” Ryan shouted, fighting the wheel. The wag streaked across the ruins. “It was a diversion to get them going in the wrong direction. We’re busting out of here right now!”
As they zigzagged past the potholes and manholes, the insurance building rose before the companions, its mirrored windows darkly reflecting the tiny racing vehicle.
“Blow us a hole!” Ryan commanded, heading straight for the tinted-glass doors.
The 7.62 mm blaster ripped into life, spraying the facade of the insurance building. Cracks appeared in the revolving doors, nothing more. But the large ground-floor windows shattered into a million pieces. Shifting gears, Ryan plowed through the jagged opening and into the building. Cresting the sill, the wag landed on top of a mahogany desk, smashing it under their tonnage. Fighting for control, Ryan rammed into a room divider, and for a brief instant, he saw a skeleton in a pin-striped rags holding a cup slumped before a dark computer screen. Then everything went flying as the Hummer plowed across the office, leaving a trail of total destruction.
A headlight winked out as Ryan headed straight for a short hallway. The fit was so tight that sparks sprayed out from the armored chassis scraping along the marble facade, then the wag smashed aside a set of double doors and reached the cafeteria. Tables squealed as they were forcibly shoved out of the way, plates, newspapers and chairs flying everywhere.
The M-60 blaster spoke again, clearing away the windows, sand pouring into the room. But the angle was too steep, and the Hummer couldn’t gain enough purchase in the shifting sands.
“Fireblast, we need a shim!” Ryan shouted, braking to a halt amid the destruction. “J.B., Dean, get that soda machine!”
The two jumped from the Hummer and raced to the huge soda dispenser. Rocking it back and forth, they got it moving and started slowly waddling it toward the pile of sand pouring in though the broken window.
“Incoming!” Jak shouted, firing the M-60 into the hallway. A greenie was torn apart and dropped to the carpeting.
Krysty pulled the pin on a gren and threw it hard at the marble wall. The sphere hit and rebounded out of sight. A few moments later, a thunderous explosion shook the room and smoke poured down the hallway. Jak wasted rounds shooting into the smoke just in case. Muties crawled into view, blood gushing from the hideous stumps of missing limbs. But they still tried to reach the wag even as they died.
“This is not a fight, but a jihad!” Doc cried in realization. “A holy war of revenge! They will never stop until we’re dead.”
A greenie dropped from the ceiling panels, landing amid the companions. Krysty blew off its head, and Dean slit its throat as it fell from the wag.
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