Zero City

A faint grayish light was emanating from the distant opening to the outside world, giving enough illumination for driving, but Ryan hit the headlights just the same. The brilliant halogen bulbs flashed on, filling the tunnel with blinding white light, almost painful to see.

“That should blind the mutie, if it returned in the night,” Mildred said, blocking her face with a raised hand. “Damn near blinds me, as it is.”

Jak, an albino, said nothing, and simply slid on a pair of old cracked sunglasses.

“Well, if it did come back, this will chew it to bits,” J.B. boasted, jacking the big arming bolt on the M-60. “But watch for the brass. She spits them fast and far.”

“Too bad that .50 cal from storage wouldn’t fit,” Dean said wistfully. “That’d chill any mutie.”

J.B. ducked under a roof support beam. “And most war wags.”

“And flip over the vehicle,” Ryan commented, both hands on the wheel. “Not even a Hummer can support a .50 cal in full fire.”

“Thirty fine,” Jak stated. “Not need nukes chill ants.”

“John, be sure to aim for the center,” Mildred said, sitting uncomfortably on top of a field-surgery kit. “The wings are only membrane with no real circulatory system.”

“Like shooting fish in a barrel,” Dean stated confidently.

“No, son. Only a fool aims for the fish,” his father said, concentrating on driving. “You shoot the barrel. It can’t dodge.”

“Just spend the brass, and save your ass, because I don’t want to have to use this,” the physician said, affectionately patting the belted canvas lump between her boots. It was the find of her life, and one that she had been searching for since she awoke in the twenty-second century. A field-surgery kit. A real, honest to God, fully equipped, U.S. Army MASH medical kit. Mildred had found the incredible treasure in the first-aid station, which had the only locked room in the redoubt. Probably to keep the troops out of the brandy and drugs in the supply cabinet. And as Mildred wasn’t registered with the redoubt’s mainframe as the doctor on duty, the palm lock had refused her admittance, but a crowbar convinced the door to open for her anyway. Neatly jammed with surgical instruments specifically designed for soldiers in combat, the pack was as heavy as hell, but the physician couldn’t have been more pleased. Dr. Mildred Wyeth was a trained doctor, but without instruments, there wasn’t much she could do for serious injuries.

The external light got brighter, and the companions prepped their weapons. Ryan slowed the Hummer to a crawl, but as they rounded a turn they found the outside ledge completely empty, only a few of their spent brass from the previous night on the rocky ground.

Braking to a halt, Ryan killed the engine to save fuel. The companions disembarked, with J.B. staying at the machine gun to give them cover if necessary. Warily stepping outside, the friends found the tunnel ended at the top of a gently sloping hillock that flowed downward into a vast expanse of sandy desert, low dunes rising and falling across the barren vista like waves on a calm sea. In the far distance, completely dominating the horizon, were the sprawling ruins of the huge pre-dark city.

“Spread out and look for the mutie. Five yards, one on one,” Ryan directed, blaster in hand. A breeze wafted over them from the desert, carrying the smell of heat and dust. Instinctively, he checked the rad counter on his shirt collar and was relieved to see the background count was normal. This wasn’t a hot area.

“Not circling above us,” Dean said, squinting at the overcast sky. “But it sure looks like a storm is on the way.”

“Those are the wrong type of formations for rain,” Mildred commented, studying the overcast sky. “They more resemble dust clouds.”

“Nukes,” Jak said, frowning, scratching his cheek with the muzzle of his .357 Magnum. The tinted lenses of the sunglasses made the teenager seem even paler than usual.

“Or a chem storm.”

“No spoor, or bones from a kill,” Ryan said, kneeling on the ground and studying the soil for tracks or prints.

“Quite right. We seem to be alone, captain, O my captain,” Doc said, holstering his huge blaster. “Our uninvited guest has sought lodgings elsewhere.”

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