“I’ll take a quick look-see.”
The wag rolled to a smooth, slow stop. Sliding open the door, Ryan cautiously poked his head out and checked their backtrack. He saw nothing, but the wind carried faint high-pitched cries.
“Looks fine,” he said, shutting the door. “Start her up.”
J.B. keyed the engine to rumbling life, threw the wag into gear and sent the vehicle rocketing up the road. Everyone lurched backward. Mildred, who was trying to affix a strip of gauze over one of the man’s many lacerations, swore at him.
“Sorry,” J.B. said with a grin. “Got carried away. This wag handles like a dream. Much better than that old LAV we used to have.”
Mildred muttered something and returned to her task.
“One thing,” J.B. added. “Got a pretty good look at that guy’s bike when we passed it by. Looked like a Honda 150.”
“So?” Jak asked.
“It was in great shape. Almost perfect.”
“What’s your point?” Krysty asked.
“Motorcycles aren’t the safest form of transportation,” J.B. answered. “Most of the ones I’ve ever seen were wired-together rattletraps.”
Ryan considered J.B.’s words and agreed with him. Because they offered no protection from chem storms, mutie and human attacks or even bugs, motorcycles weren’t the conveyance of choice in Deathlands. They were quaint, useless relics from predark days, holding a curiosity value only for kids Dean’s age. Ryan could count on the fingers of one hand how many working models he had seen over the past thirty years.
An aspirated moan came from the man on the floor. ” Damn . My balls hurt”
“He’s coming around,” Mildred announced.
Chapter Three
The stranger propped himself up on one elbow, made a tentative move to touch his groin, blinked around, licked his lips and said faintly, “Hey.”
“Hey yourself,” Mildred replied. “Before you ask, you’re not hurt too badly. Contusions, abrasions, a lot of lacerations, but most are superficial.”
The man peered at her suspiciously. “You talk like a healer.”
“I am. What’s your name?”
The man scanned the faces in the back of the wag. “Those screamwings nearly chewed me to pieces. You got ’em off me?”
“Yeah,” Ryan answered. “It was the only fair thing to do since we stirred them up.”
“Accidentally,” Krysty added. “The vibrations of the engine disturbed them.”
Ryan made quick introductions all around, but the stranger didn’t seem inclined to identify himself.
“Where are you from?” the man asked.
“Far and away, hither and yon,” Doc replied with a smile.
“Never heard of them places,” the man muttered.
“We’re still waiting to hear your name,” Mildred reminded him.
“Zadfrak.”
“What?”
“Zadfrak,” the man said impatiently. “I don’t stutter, do I?”
Jak snickered, but fell silent when Ryan glanced his way.
“Where you from?” J.B. asked.
“Helskel.”
Ryan’s eyes narrowed. “That a ville, or what?”
Groaning, Zadfrak sat up. “A what.”
Though the light was dimming, Ryan gave Zadfrak a close inspection. No longer covered in blood, he didn’t look like a healthy man. His face bore a deep pallor that the sun could never touch, and his naked torso and limbs were fishbelly white. Between red-rimmed, watery blue eyes, an X was carved into the bridge of his nose. The scar looked like the result of a painful process involving a red-hot needle. Though the man appeared to be in his early- to mid-thirties, he was thin to the point of emaciation.
“Not carrying weapons,” Jak said.
“So? That a crime?”
“No. Just triple stupe.”
“How far to this Helskel?” J.B. demanded.
“What difference does it make to you, four-eyes?”
Ryan tensed, but J.B. only smiled gently. He took his foot off the gas pedal and allowed the wag to slow to a crawl. Turning his head to look at Zadfrak, he said in a quiet voice, “The difference is that I know just about every settlement, outpost and ville in Deathlands. I never heard of a Helskel.”
In a quick flick of the wrist, J.B. picked up the M-4000 from the passenger seat, swung it around and pressed the bore against Zadfrak’s back. “And since you were on a motorcycle, it means that wherever you came from isn’t far from where we found you. And if you talk to me like that again, the screamwings will finish you off. Now answer my question.”