James Axler Deathlands 008 Ice and Fire

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mothers that ever walked through the valley of the dead."
Ginsberg nodded. "I did a sociology thesis on these guys. Well, I mean, not
these guys. These guys weren't going to be born for fifty years when I wrote
'The Social Phenomenon of the Motorcycle Gangs
Macho or Myth?' I decided that they were about ninety-nine percent myth."
"What you saying about us, you four-eyed straight mother?"
Ginsberg stepped closer. "You've got the colors and chopped hogs. Sissy bars.
It all comes back to me, Ryan," he said excitedly.
"How come you know so much? You ain't from around these parts. You seen other
chapters of righteous brothers, someplace else?"
The long-barreled Smith amp; Wesson was sliding slowly from the tooled
holster.
"No. I read about you back in"
"Enough, Rick," Ryan interrupted quickly. "Let's cut the talk. We're traveling
through. We lost our wag three days back. Heading for Snakefish. There going
to be some sort of problem here?" Ryan's hand rested on the butt of his
automatic rifle.
"Problem, straight? Outlander comes in looking like he's in charge of a gang
of mercies. Snakefish doesn't like mercies."
Ryan figured they could take all eleven out, but not without a minimal body
count against them.
"Mercies?" Rick whispered.
"Hired blasters," Krysty replied. "Short for mercenaries."
"Wrong. We aren't mercies. I asked you once. I'll ask you one more time. Do we
have a problem here?"
Now the Smith amp; Wesson was jerked clear of the holster. The leader of the
cycle gang smiled at Ryan, showing a mouthful of broken teeth. "Problem? What
the fuck do you think?"
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Deathlands - Ice and Fire
Chapter Fifteen
"I THINK if there was a problem, there'd be some blood spilled," Ryan replied
calmly.
"Could be right. Not mercies, you reckon?"
"No."
"What d'you want in Snakefish?"
"Bed and food for a couple of nights. Then I guess we'd be moving on."
"We're sec patrol for the ville."
Ryan nodded. "Figured that."
The Smith amp; Wesson was put back in the holster.
"You got names?"
Ryan introduced his six friends. The leader of the bike gang looked like he
was concentrating hard. "You got all those?"
"Sure. Don't read or write much, but I got total recall." To prove it, he
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repeated the names of the group faultlessly.
"You got names?" J.B. asked.
"Yeah. I'm Zombie. Little guy with the beard's Priest. Fat brother's Riddler.
Rat next to him. Mealy next."
Ryan looked at the faces behind the names, faces you saw in a dozen villes
across the land. He'd read some about tunes before dark day, and had seen some
faded vids. Old photos. Here they were. The same faces from the old pix.
Brutish, redneck faces. Good old boy, shit-kicking faces. Narrow eyes that
would never look friendly and would often look coldly vicious. Most had their
names emblazoned across the backs of their denim jackets Harlekin, Dick the
Hat, Vinny, Freewheeler, Ruin, Kruger.
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Deathlands - Ice and Fire
After the introductions there was an uneasy silence, which was broken by Doc.
"I would be most awfully grateful, gentlemen, if you could see your way clear
to conveying a tiny piece of information. What's the distance to the nearest
metropolis?"
"What?" Zombie gaped.
"How far t'ville?" Jak translated.
"Why dinne say so?" mumbled the Angel called Rat. "Stupe-straight!"
"Mile an' half," Zombie told them.
"Gas smell is strong," Ryan said. "You got a big plant in town?"
"Just outside the ville in an old fun park."
Rick Ginsberg coughed. "I used to be interested in theme parks and funfairs.
Magic Mountain, Six Flags, Elitch Gardens and what was this one called?"
"Sierra Sunrise Park. You know it?" Zombie looked suspicious.
"Heard of it. Built very late in the nineties. Nothing special."
"Special! It's where our chapter has its home!" exclaimed the rider called
Dick the Hat. Since he rode bareheaded the name was something of a puzzle.
"Yeah. Last Heroes redoubt. You stay a few days in the ville, you could come
see it," Zombie offered, addressing his words specifically to Lori. Who
grinned at him. "Who's the baron?" Ryan asked. "Baron
Brennan, Edgar Brennan. Old guy. Been baron more years than anyone can
remember."
Rick had another question. "Where did you get the choppers?"
"Me and some of the other righteous brothers came here around three years
back. Kind of traveling on.
Found a big old warehouse, way out beyond the edge of town. Part where folks
said it was a hot spot. We got us a geiger. Warm, not hot. Orange, not red."
Zombie laughed. "Folks been scared for nothing. It had been HQ for a chapter
before the winters. Found it all. Hogs. Colors. Manuals. Rules. Kruger's best
at reading so he told it all. We liked it. Good way of living. All rebels."
"What are you rebelling against?" Doc asked curiously.
To his surprise, the bikers answered him in chorus "Why? What ya got?" Then
they laughed at some obscure private joke. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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