Sooner Dead (Gamma World) - Mel Odom [18]
“That was surprising.” Hella handed the bisonoid his bowl.
Stampede sat cross-legged and held his stew in one shaggy hand. “Wasn’t sure how that was going to go.”
“So why did he knuckle under?”
“Because I’m right. I think he was maddest because this was something he would have thought of if he’d given the situation any consideration.” Stampede shook his head and snorted. “Kills that sawed-off little runt for anyone else to be right before he is.”
Hella glanced around at the encroaching darkness. “We’re lit up like a glowbug.”
“I know. I’ll be surprised if the Sheldons don’t attack tonight.”
“I’ll take first watch.”
Stampede shook his head. “Not us, Red. Me and you are going to get a good night’s sleep for a change. Lit up like this, there’s not much you or I could do except offer an early warning. And out there, the Sheldons might take us before we knew it.”
“Not on their best day.”
“We’ve been pushing ourselves. The rain isn’t helping. We need to rest.”
“What if the Sheldons attack tonight?”
Stampede didn’t hesitate before answering, and he didn’t look guilty either. “We run. Even with those stupid defense bots, we’re not set up to hold this place. We signed on to deliver experience and maybe to die protecting these people, Red, but we’re not sticking our necks out if they insist on committing suicide. We sell our experience, our expertise, but we don’t sell our lives. I’ve told you that since Day One.”
Hella chewed her food. Truthfully she looked forward to resting. Just the thought of her bedroll was almost enough to make her happy.
Stampede blew on his stew. “So how did your talk with Dr. Trammell go?”
Hella shrugged. “You were listening over the comm.”
“Thought maybe you had some insights you wanted to offer.”
Hella thought about everything she’d sensed about the woman. Stampede remained convinced that Hella could read humans, especially women, better than he could. “She doesn’t like being here.”
“Why?”
“She has a daughter back home; I got that. Doesn’t want to be away from her. The only reason Colleen seems to be here is because she’s sensitive to the ripples.” Hella glanced at Stampede and studied his long, shaggy face. “You ever heard of anything like that before?”
“No.”
“Do you believe it?”
“Maybe. I’ve seen weirder things.” Stampede smiled but the effort was joyless. “You have too. Some people that haven’t gotten out much think I’m one of those weirder things.”
Hella didn’t disagree. Bisonoids were few and far between. In all her years, she’d met only four. Some believed they were from another reality, not a strain of creatures that had mutated from local stock. Even Stampede didn’t know. “There are people that hunt the ripples.”
“Fools.”
“Sometimes good stuff comes through them.”
“And sometimes whatever comes through kills you in a heartbeat.” Stampede shook his head. “I’d rather face an enemy I know any day. You don’t know what’s getting hold of you till after it’s crawled through a ripple. The people that go chasing after ripples have zero life expectancy.”
“Yet here we are.”
“Me and you are different, Red. We’re not looking for what comes through those ripples. We’re just here to guide these people through the ’Blight. The minute it gets any more dangerous than that, we fade back into the forest and leave them with whatever they’ve found.”
Hella spooned more stew into her mouth and gazed around the tent. She chewed thoughtfully, thinking about Riley and his men and the careful way they treated Pardot and Colleen. “What do you think they’re after?”
Stampede sighed. “I don’t know and if you really start caring, you’re stepping into a bear trap. Curiosity kills more people than stupidity. I’ve told you that from Day One too.”
Hella woke curled in her blankets inside the dome tent she shared with Stampede. Her hands were still hands, so she knew whatever had woken her wasn’t immediately threatening. Stampede slept on his back only a short distance