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Authors: James Axler
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over and crept to the driver’s door, slipping around to the other side and grabbing the handle. At Ryan’s nod, he popped the door open, allowing the one-eyed man to cover the driver with his blaster.
Ryan saw a flash of black metal and fired three times, the trio of bullets slamming into the wounded driver’s bloody side, breaking his arm and burrowing into his chest, one lodging in his heart. The black Beretta blaster fell from his grasp into the dust as Ryan grabbed the body and threw it out, then unslung the Steyr and set it behind the driver’s seat.
“Come on!” Ryan jumped into the front seat while Jak clambered onto the hood and headed for the turret, only to be met by J.B., who had climbed up the back and was already hauling the dead man out.
“Not today, Jak. Take the passenger seat.”
“Hey, was—”
“Jak, sit your ass down now! ” Ryan’s tone brooked no argument, and the albino teen ripped the dead bodyout of the passenger window and slid in, fuming silently. Ryan shoved the M-4000 shotgun and a full mag at him. “Reload, and keep your eyes peeled.”
Jak’s red eyes widened at receiving the weapon, then he yanked out the magazine, inserted another one and pulled back the cocking lever. “What waiting for?”
Shaking his head, Ryan was about to head out when J.B. slapped the roof. “Hold on, the others are coming!” His words were immediately followed by the deafening roar of the .50-caliber machine gun, its recoil shaking the wag’s entire cab, and Jak, who’d been watching out the passenger window, whooped in glee.
“Got him!”
“Course.”
Ryan stole a look out the passenger side to see another mil wag on the ridge, stopped and aflame. The rear passenger door opened, and a figure wreathed in orange flame fell out, rolling on the ground to try to extinguish the fire crisping his body. Bullets started cooking off in the heat with dull pops, and one of them had to have struck the flamer, as he suddenly jerked and lay still on the ground.
The back doors of Ryan’s transport popped open, and Krysty, Mildred and Doc squeezed into the cramped compartment. The women went in back, leaving Doc to try to crowd into the front. “Nukeshit, Doc, put stork legs somewhere not crotch!” Jak shouted as the lanky-legged timer traveler tried to arrange himself in the passenger seat. Ryan didn’t wait, but had popped the clutch and was moving the wag forward, his eyes on the fleeing figure pulling away from them with every step.
“I say, Jak, if you would just place that shotgun elsewhere—”
“Not happen—hold still!” Jak had squirmed outfrom under Doc, and was now sitting on his lap, a position neither one was enjoying. He stuck the barrel out the passenger window as the wag began to accelerate and fired five quick blasts into a group of running men, downing two and making the rest scatter for cover. J.B.’s fifty had also joined the fray, the weapon’s deeper roar overwhelming the S&W’s reports.
“Come on! Could get out run faster!” Jak egged Ryan on as he scanned for another target.
Ryan gritted his teeth as he forced the gearshift into Second. “Overloaded as we are, I might just take you up on that.” The Hummer was finally starting to catch up with their target when J.B. called out from the turret. “Wags at three o’clock!”
The one-eyed man glanced right to see two more mil wags crest the hill and speed toward them, one peeling off to chase the running woman, the other on a course to intercept Ryan’s hijacked wag. “Get them off us, J.B.!”
“No prob—” The Armorer depressed the trigger of the Fifty, which spit a short burst before going silent. He cleared the action and tried again, with similar results. “Black dust! Blaster’s jammed!”
“Marvelous.” Doc was pressed back into the passenger seat, fending off Jak’s elbow in his face as the teenager tried to get a better angle on the approaching wag. “Nothing like riding in
Ryan saw a flash of black metal and fired three times, the trio of bullets slamming into the wounded driver’s bloody side, breaking his arm and burrowing into his chest, one lodging in his heart. The black Beretta blaster fell from his grasp into the dust as Ryan grabbed the body and threw it out, then unslung the Steyr and set it behind the driver’s seat.
“Come on!” Ryan jumped into the front seat while Jak clambered onto the hood and headed for the turret, only to be met by J.B., who had climbed up the back and was already hauling the dead man out.
“Not today, Jak. Take the passenger seat.”
“Hey, was—”
“Jak, sit your ass down now! ” Ryan’s tone brooked no argument, and the albino teen ripped the dead bodyout of the passenger window and slid in, fuming silently. Ryan shoved the M-4000 shotgun and a full mag at him. “Reload, and keep your eyes peeled.”
Jak’s red eyes widened at receiving the weapon, then he yanked out the magazine, inserted another one and pulled back the cocking lever. “What waiting for?”
Shaking his head, Ryan was about to head out when J.B. slapped the roof. “Hold on, the others are coming!” His words were immediately followed by the deafening roar of the .50-caliber machine gun, its recoil shaking the wag’s entire cab, and Jak, who’d been watching out the passenger window, whooped in glee.
“Got him!”
“Course.”
Ryan stole a look out the passenger side to see another mil wag on the ridge, stopped and aflame. The rear passenger door opened, and a figure wreathed in orange flame fell out, rolling on the ground to try to extinguish the fire crisping his body. Bullets started cooking off in the heat with dull pops, and one of them had to have struck the flamer, as he suddenly jerked and lay still on the ground.
The back doors of Ryan’s transport popped open, and Krysty, Mildred and Doc squeezed into the cramped compartment. The women went in back, leaving Doc to try to crowd into the front. “Nukeshit, Doc, put stork legs somewhere not crotch!” Jak shouted as the lanky-legged timer traveler tried to arrange himself in the passenger seat. Ryan didn’t wait, but had popped the clutch and was moving the wag forward, his eyes on the fleeing figure pulling away from them with every step.
“I say, Jak, if you would just place that shotgun elsewhere—”
“Not happen—hold still!” Jak had squirmed outfrom under Doc, and was now sitting on his lap, a position neither one was enjoying. He stuck the barrel out the passenger window as the wag began to accelerate and fired five quick blasts into a group of running men, downing two and making the rest scatter for cover. J.B.’s fifty had also joined the fray, the weapon’s deeper roar overwhelming the S&W’s reports.
“Come on! Could get out run faster!” Jak egged Ryan on as he scanned for another target.
Ryan gritted his teeth as he forced the gearshift into Second. “Overloaded as we are, I might just take you up on that.” The Hummer was finally starting to catch up with their target when J.B. called out from the turret. “Wags at three o’clock!”
The one-eyed man glanced right to see two more mil wags crest the hill and speed toward them, one peeling off to chase the running woman, the other on a course to intercept Ryan’s hijacked wag. “Get them off us, J.B.!”
“No prob—” The Armorer depressed the trigger of the Fifty, which spit a short burst before going silent. He cleared the action and tried again, with similar results. “Black dust! Blaster’s jammed!”
“Marvelous.” Doc was pressed back into the passenger seat, fending off Jak’s elbow in his face as the teenager tried to get a better angle on the approaching wag. “Nothing like riding in
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