Sooner Dead (Gamma World) - Mel Odom [115]
Mounted on Daisy, Hella took point and rode in the direction Ocastya indicated. Riding helped sort her thoughts, but she still caught a stray memory every now and then that belonged in Ocastya’s head, not hers.
They moved on through the day, stopping only to water Daisy, eating on the go, and paying attention to the wilderness around them. The unforgiving sun burned down, and the humidity from the swamplands and the plant life made the air thick and fragrant. Down in the bottoms where they were, everything smelled of death. The occasional traces of a mineral spring tainted with sulfur reminded Hella of the stories she’d heard about the Christian hell.
And they traveled, going as fast as they dared.
As soon as the sun rose the next morning, they were on the move again. Daisy was recalcitrant at first, objecting to the hard ride only because it was boring and she wasn’t getting to explore as much as she wanted to or to hunt, but she finally settled into the distance-eating gait that made her a smooth ride.
At midmorning, they cut a fresh trail.
Senses alert to everything around her, Hella reined Daisy in and dropped down to the ground. The mountain boomer nuzzled Hella, seeking a treat or a scratching session, doubtless bored again. “Watch.”
Daisy instantly abandoned her attempts and focused on the world around them. She snorted, stomped her feet, and set herself in the ready position.
Stampede spoke over the comm link. “You’ve stopped.”
“I’ve cut sign.” Hella knelt, brushed loose dirt and grass from the tire impression cut into the ground, then stuck her fingers into it. The dirt was still moist enough to stick to her fingertips.
“Who?”
“Looks like one of the ATVs. Must be Pardot’s group, so some of them survived.”
“Could be Trazall.”
“His group didn’t have any vehicles.”
“None that we saw.”
“He doesn’t like vehicles any more than you do.”
“Trazall doesn’t like them because they cut into his bottom line. Too expensive to operate and maintain. I don’t like them because you become too dependent.”
Hella brushed the wet earth from her fingertips onto her jeans and stood. “Ground’s still damp and the impression is sharp, not worn down. They didn’t pass this way too long ago.”
“Headed in the same direction we are?”
“Yeah.”
“Break off the trail. Find a new path that’s just ours.”
Hella didn’t like that. “We’re going to lose time doing that.”
“Better to find our own way than to get too close to Riley’s hardshells and get discovered.”
“I know.” Hella peered up into the mountains. “We still have forest up to the ridgeline. I’d rather go up than down into the swamps.”
“Agreed.”
Hella remounted Daisy then cut off the trail and climbed the incline. Soft ground peeled away under the mountain boomer’s claws, but she gained purchase and smoothly headed up.
While she waited for the rabbits to cook in the coals of the fire they’d burned till sundown then allowed to burn down so the flames wouldn’t be seen at night, Hella stared at Scatter’s image on her palm. It seemed as though he were right there, just out of her reach.
“You’re thinking too much.”
Hella closed her hand and looked up at Stampede. She hadn’t even heard him come up to her. “I guess so.”
Stampede knelt with his rifle across his thighs and warmed his hands above the coals. “We’ll know more tomorrow.”
“Yeah.” According to Ocastya, they were within only a few klicks of wherever Scatter was being held.
“I spotted Pardot’s expedition. Thought maybe you and I would go take a look at them tonight. See what we’re dealing with.” Stampede grinned. “Gonna have to be sneaky, though. Out here in the woods, away from everything they know, they’re gonna be extra paranoid.”
“We’re really sneaky when we want to be, though.”
“I know.” Stampede gestured at the coals. “Are those rabbits about done?”
“You can always eat grass.”
“I have been eating grass. Not very much of it around here is good, and