Sooner Dead (Gamma World) - Mel Odom [106]
Scatter’s face suddenly formed in front of her. “Ocastya is only a short distance from you.”
Hella dived and took brief shelter beside an overturned ATV. She covered her head as bullets smacked into the vehicle. The sharp tang of fuel filled the air. “Where are you?”
“I am still locked in the electromagnetic field. Dr. Pardot has the key.”
“Where’s he?”
“A security team has taken him into hiding to protect him.”
Hella pushed herself up and ran. The ATV exploded just behind her. The heat washed over her, and the concussion almost knocked her from her feet.
“You cannot shut down the field without Dr. Pardot’s key. Please, Hella, take Ocastya. She is under guard, but she is not locked up.”
“Show me.”
Scatter’s face darted ahead of her and cut left around a burning tent. Hella followed. Before she turned the corner, one of the hardshells lunged out of the smoke and brought up his rifle.
The face shield looked alien and unforgiving. The amplified voice sounded mechanical and cold. “Stop where you—
CHAPTER 28
The hardshell suddenly lifted as a large-caliber round smashed into his chest and knocked him backward. Hella never broke stride, following the shimmery silver gleam that floated in the air in front of her. She knew that Stampede had taken out the hardshell. No one else was around.
“Here.” Scatter hovered over the entrance to one of the medical tents. Flames engulfed the back half of the tent and were already twisting inside.
“Careful, Red. You’re going to have chemicals all throughout that tent.”
Knowing Stampede had his eye on her made Hella almost feel protected, but she knew that was false. Until both of them got clear, they were at risk. Still, it was good hearing his rifle boom almost constantly. Two of Trazall’s men went down around her as they spotted her.
She ducked into the tent and discovered she could barely see through all the thick smoke. On one of the tables, chemical vials exploded in quick succession, unleashing bright colors, different-colored smoke, and detonations loud enough to hurt her ears.
Ocastya lay on one of the collapsible examination tables the expedition had packed in.
Scatter hovered fretfully over her. “Here. She is here.”
“I see her.” Hella hurried to the fractoid’s side. Ocastya looked a lot better than she had the day Hella had pulled her from the swamp. Nearly all of the blackened metal had turned pristine silver again. Evidently the fractoid was healing even better than Hella. Memory of the burns she’d suffered and the horrid thing her arm had been turned into kept Hella back. “Can she move?”
“Not yet. Soon.”
“She moved back at the swamp.”
“That was reflex. A conditioned response from the near-death experience.” Scatter’s floating face turned to Hella. “Please help her.”
Reluctantly Hella approached the table and the strange being lying on it. An explosion outside the tent hurled shrapnel through the material, shredding it instantly.
“Hella?” Stampede sounded tense.
“I’m fine.”
“Get out of there. I don’t have eyes on you, and I’m starting to attract attention.”
Knowing she didn’t have time for indecision anymore, Hella slipped her knife from her boot and sliced through the restraints holding Ocastya to the table. The fractoid’s head turned smoothly toward Hella, and she lifted a hand. Blades sprang free of her fingers.
Hella lifted her knife and morphed her other hand into a weapon.
Scatter’s face slid between Hella and Ocastya. The harsh, screeching machine language filled the smoke-laced air. The chemicals burned Hella’s eyes strongly enough to bring tears.
Ocastya’s knife blades disappeared. She swiveled her attention to Hella. “I am to go with you.”
“Yes.” Hella let out a breath, but her newfound calm was shredded when another rocket struck the earth