[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]"Do you see them?" The baron came to a stop beside them.
LeMarck hesitated only a moment. No matter what else the one-eyed man might
represent, he was a danger to Hardcoe if he chose to follow a path of
vengeance. "Not clearly, sir, but I'm hoping for a shot."
"Good man." Hardcoe set his Ameli 82 on the fence line. "Mebbe I can flush
them out for you." He settled in behind the machine gun and opened it up.
"Dawson, Hughes!" Connrad roared. "You people are with me! Now move your
asses!"
Out of his peripheral vision, LeMarck watched Connrad grab a home-built
grenade launcher along with a small bag of bombs, slinging both over his
shoulder.
"You can stay up here if you want," Connrad told Hardcoe, "but I'm going down
to ground level and fuck those bastards over royally. You can sort through the
pieces later."
"You've got men down there, too," Hardcoe said.
"Then mebbe we both lose," Connrad said. "Mebbe we'll do the Big Game over in
the next few weeks, or mebbe Giskard just gets lucky this year. Either way,
those skanks die in the next handful of minutes. You can take an ace on the
line on that."
Connrad led his men down the metal staircase that had been welded together to
reach the ground, their boots ringing against the steps.
LeMarck looked back through his scope, sorting out the blacks and the greens
until he found part of a face. Memory told him the fedora and steel-rimmed
glasses belonged to one of the men among One-Eye's group. He let out his
breath and steadied for the shot as
Hardcoe's machine gun howled in unrestrained carnage.
Then the building shuddered again, letting him know there had been a secondary
set of explosives.
Peering over the edge, he saw the bottom of the convention center come spewing
out.
"Shit!" Glancing back up, he saw the line of riders gallop out of the trees.
He turned and used the stairs Hardcoe and his sec crew had taken.
file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/J...%20Deathlands%20038%20-%20Mars%2
0Arena.html (276 of 291) [12/29/2004 10:49:29 PM]
file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/James%20Axler%20-%20Deathlands%20038
%20-%20Mars%20Arena.html
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Ryan fought his horse as the plas ex went off in the building, showering the
trees with concrete chips and debris. Watching the wall fronting the
underground garage, he saw the hole take shape, yawning open to a mouth of
darkness almost twelve yards across and nearly as tall.
"Ride!" he told the others.
Krysty took the lead since she knew the interior of the garage, followed by
Mildred.
J.B. held back, manhandling his frightened horse. Specks of blood glowed on
the animal's muzzle, sprayed out through its nostrils. "These animals don't
have much more to give."
Ryan nodded in agreement. "Mebbe they got enough, though."
When the last of the riders took off, Ryan kicked his mount in the sides.
Bullets hit the ground in front of him and on both sides, striking sparks off
rocks. The snipers on top of the wall were getting their nerve and the range
back.
J.B. took a slight lead over him as they neared the rock-strewed incline
leading to the hole in the underground garage.
Ryan stayed low over the saddle and the horse's neck as he passed through the
hole. His eye had problems adjusting to the darkness in the underbelly of the
convention center.
Wags had been blown haphazardly around, tumbling over one another. Even rusted
Page 167
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
ones showed new scratches and dents, whole patches of oxidized metal rubbed
raw again.
On the other side of the garage, Jak had stopped the extra horse for Doc. The
old man appeared shaken up but whole. Jak had to assist him in getting a boot
into the stirrup, then reached down and grabbed Doc's waistband, helping pull
him into the saddle.
file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/J...%20Deathlands%20038%20-%20Mars%2
0Arena.html (277 of 291) [12/29/2004 10:49:29 PM]
file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/James%20Axler%20-%20Deathlands%20038
%20-%20Mars%20Arena.html
Krysty navigated the stairway leading to the upper floors. The horses' hooves
rang on the stone, echoing hollowly in the cavernous vault. Mildred was behind
her, trailed by
Thompson, Conor, Perry and Dean.
Coming up behind Doc, Ryan looked down and saw Bernsen's body nearly buried in
refuse that had tumbled from the ceiling. His throat was cut, clots of crimson
covering the front of his shirt.
"What happened to him?" Ryan asked.
Doc grabbed the reins from Jak. "Thank you, my dear boy. I fear I am somewhat
shaken about, and my equestrian skills are not as sharp as we would prefer."
He shifted his attention to Ryan. "He suggested, very strongly, that I be
remiss in my friendship. I
corrected his oversight."
"For once and for all, it looks to me," J.B. noted.
"Yes."
Ryan slapped Doc's mount on the flank and got it moving. Doc guided it up the
stairs, the horse's breath blowing out in steamy clouds as it clopped up the
steps.
Glancing out the hole made by the plas ex, Ryan spotted the sec wags only a
few yards away.
"They might get them in here if they're lucky," J.B. said, clamping down his
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]zanotowane.pldoc.pisz.plpdf.pisz.plkajaszek.htw.pl
