“So how do we know what to look for?” Mildred interjected, her mind still distracted by the hunting party.
“Signs of disturbance, mebbe regular use,” Dean mused. “If this ville is underground, then I guess they try and keep it as sealed off as possible, with just one or two ways in and out.”
“Exactly,” his father agreed. “So if we can find some signs of life, then we’re heading right.”
Jak had been scouting the way ahead while they stopped to examine the map, as they had reached an area beyond his previous foray. J.B. kept watch.
“Jak’s back,” the Armorer said softly as Jak whistled to alert them.
The albino reached them, appearing noiselessly in their path. “Found way in,” he breathed. “But sec men headed here. Armed.”
Ryan cursed. “If they’re after the muties, then they’ll be trigger happy. Take cover until they’re past. Keep alert, but no firing unless necessary. This is their land, and they know it too well.”
Ryan was stating the obvious, but it didn’t hurt to reinforce this in his companion’s minds. Without needing instruction, they split into two separate groups, one taking each side of the trail they had been following.
Jak and Dean took one side, with Mildred and Doc, while Ryan, Krysty and J.B. took the other, mindful that they were a man short on their side.
They were safe in cover and stilled when they heard the sec team approach. The sec men were making no attempt to hide their approach, and the conversation that could be overheard soon revealed why.
“Those mutie fuckers. I say we should wipe them out once and for all,” one sec man muttered savagely. He was a large, bearlike man with straining muscles, flowing white hair and beard. He carried a battered Heckler & Koch like Ryan’s old and once favored blaster. The one-eyed man noted this from cover, knowing how effective the H&K could be, especially in the relatively confined clearing of the track.
“You know Alien wouldn’t hold with that,” drawled another, a rangy man with receding sandy hair and a Lee Enfield .303 in his hand, carried with a casual air that suggested speed when surprised.
“Damned Alien,” the bear growled. “Harvey knows what I mean. We can’t afford to lose kids like that.”
“We can’t afford to lose anyone, Jake,” a third sec man said, this one younger than the others, seemingly sluggish. He was fat, with a belly that spilled over his belt, and had a blaster that looked from a distance to be a Colt Detective Special.
The fourth sec man wore a plaid shirt and had long, silver-gray hair that belied his youthful face. Carrying a Sharps rifle over his shoulder, he had so far been silent but now he spoke in slow measured tones. He sounded more thoughtful than the others, and had a reasoned edge to his voice.
“Seems to me there’s no way to stop the muties. The Sunchildren have always been a problem, but their pesthole ville is too exposed to mount a good attack without them seeing us coming from a long way off. No good to us to have too many men chilled wiping them out. They don’t often trouble us, right? They only sacrifice once a year, and it’s only the dumb-ass kids that lets themselves be swiped. Just the casualties of living.”
The bearlike man glared at the silver-haired sec man. “We get them back, and I’ll let that stand, Downey. We lose them, then you ‘n’ me gonna come to blows…Harvey or no Harvey.”
“Meaning?”
“You know what I mean. It’s a shit code to live by, letting our young get taken and not giving a fuck.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t give a fuck. Just that you have to accept shit if you live in it. We win, we lose.”
The four sec men passed by where the companions had hidden themselves, blasters ready.
Ryan was relieved that the sec men hadn’t seen them and there had been no need to fight. From their dress, they weren’t allied to those who had attacked them on the blacktop, and perhaps they would know who those weird people were. And certainly he knew that his friends wouldn’t be averse to joining a party headed for the mutie ville of Samtvogel. But not now. To reveal themselves would be to invite a firefight. They would stay hidden, then progress to the ville. The arrival of the sec men was fortunate, as it would allow them to track an entrance to the underground ville that much more easily.