One boot resting on the back wheel, J.B. laughed and displayed a finger. “And I still have the scar.”
As the rest jammed into their seats, straddling boxes and crates, Ryan studied the slope of the hillock. Off to their west was a flat section of desert, a nice long stretch of hard-packed sand. Maybe an ancient highway, or a dried riverbed.
“We’ll head for that natural road,” Ryan said, starting the engine again. “Should make good time.”
“Others might have the same idea,” Krysty cautioned, wrapping the strap of the Steyr around her forearm so it couldn’t be dropped. “Best be ready for an ambush.”
“Gotcha,” J.B. said, straightening a kink in the ammo belt of the M-60. “Stay sharp, folks.”
“An ambush. From whom?” Doc asked, sounding perturbed. “A tumbleweed, perhaps?”
“No, she’s right. Those searchlights can be seen for miles,” Ryan said, shifting gears and releasing the hand brake. “Could have every coldheart bastard, junker and nomad from the whole countryside down there.”
“Wherever down there is,” Mildred added, using a strip of cloth to tie back her long beaded plaits. The city was vaguely familiar to the woman, but that was all, nothing specific. Then again, most big cities resembled each other. Who could tell Toronto from Seattle if their major landmarks were gone?
“We’ll find out when the stars appear tonight,” J.B. said confidently, straightening his fedora. “That cloud cover is going to break soon. I can smell it.”
“We used to sled down a hill like this,” Doc said softly. “All covered with snow and twinkling with ice. My wife would have hot chocolate waiting for the children and I when we came home afterward. Cold. It was so cold in Vermont that winter.” His voice faded away, and he stared into the distance, reliving another life in another world.
“Hold on tight,” Ryan said, dropping into low gear and starting down the slope.
The grade was steep, but the Hummer dug in and he began zigzagging to control their speed. However, they were still going faster than he liked when the Hummer bounced over a hidden gully. The companions cursed, and the supplies jumped about wildly, but none left the wag.
“Warn us next time, will you?” J.B. snapped, clinging to the M-60 with both arms, the ammo box jingling with every jolt. Mildred handed him back his dropped fedora, and he stuffed it on.
Ryan dodged another gully, then a cactus. “You want to drive instead?”
“Sure! Pass me the wheel.”
At the bottom of the slope, the Hummer dipped into a ravine and rolled up gracefully onto flat land. Ryan gunned the engine and started in the direction of the crude road they had spotted from the hill.
Keeping a grip on the M-60, J.B. looked around, studying the horizon for any suspicious movements. “The landscape is bare for miles. At least nobody can sneak up on us until we reach the city.”
“And if the locals won’t trade, there must be some stores to loot,” Mildred noted, altering her grip on the med kit. A shopping list of supplies was already forming in her mind.
“Mebbe some canned goods that haven’t gone bad,” Dean suggested.
“In this heat?” Jak scoffed, elbowing the lad.
“Not likely,” the elder Cawdor added pointedly, watching a tumbleweed roll across the road. “Mebbe some homemade preserves in a glass jar, but nothing in a tin can.”
Sweeping the vented barrel of the M-60 from side to side, J.B. shrugged. “Hell, anything is possible. Just look at the place.”
“Indeed,” Doc said, leaning on his swordstick. “It could be the veritable cornucopia, a bacchanalian trove of treasure!”
Everybody hung on as the Hummer rolled up an incline and came to rest on the path. The dried sand had cracked into a crazy jigsaw pattern. Dunes rose on either side, offering some protection from the warming desert winds. But they all realized that if this was dawn, by noon the city would be an inferno.
The miles went by in steady progression, the three-hour-plus trip to the ruins uneventful. A cooling breeze blew into the military wag from their speed, but also a contrail of dust rose from the Hummer’s studded tires on the loose sand. Any hope of sneaking into the ruins was now completely gone.