Sooner Dead (Gamma World) - Mel Odom [26]
“I wouldn’t know. I didn’t know she was out there till I heard her scream. I’d say she was out of her mind then. Anyone would be under the circumstances.”
Riley tried the smile again. “That’s funny. Parker said Trammell didn’t scream till after you fired on the creature that had her.”
“Things happened pretty quickly last night. Parker’s wrong.”
“He’s not a guy usually wrong about things.”
“He is about this. Are we done here?”
Riley stepped back and nodded. “Sure. Just wanted to give you a little friendly advice.”
“Don’t believe everything Dr. Trammell says. Got it.” Hella retraced her steps and walked back into the camp.
Stampede growled in her ear. “They’re getting all spun up about last night, Red.”
“You think?”
“Hey, no need to be mad at me.”
“Then you should have let me hit him.”
“Maybe. We’ll see. You may still get your shot.”
As usual, Hella rode point on Daisy, but she was aware of the wingmen Riley had assigned to her. Both guards, one man and one woman, moved awkwardly through the forest. She was certain both of them thought they were being stealthy, but the forest animals cleared out ahead of the hardshelled invaders. Anyone looking for signs of intruders would have spotted them easily.
Klein Pardot hadn’t gotten the expedition up and moving till after lunch. By then, they’d wasted half the day and all the cool of the morning. With the rain gone for the moment, the Redblight turned into a sauna filled with the sound of running water as the land tried to drain the excess precipitation.
While she rode, Hella’s thoughts turned often to Dr. Trammell. She couldn’t help picturing the woman with her little girl, both of them tucked away in some small home in New Mexico. Hella didn’t know enough about the country there to guess what the home would look like, but she thought she knew what it felt like. The home would be warm and safe, and only soft voices would be used there.
Everything would smell like baking bread. That was one of the luxuries she and Stampede didn’t get while they were guiding expeditions. Even Pardot’s group didn’t have a way of baking bread.
Don’t do that. Don’t think about things like that. Stay focused or you’re going to get Stampede killed. Hella got angry with herself, and Daisy sensed it. The lizard trilled anxiously beneath her and cocked her head to look up at Hella.
“It’s all right.” Hella patted Daisy on the forehead and smiled. The smile was a habit. Daisy probably didn’t really register facial expressions. The lizard interpreted the world through smells, sounds, and touch. She rubbed her head up at Hella’s hand.
The fact that she couldn’t remember her own childhood tormented Hella. She wondered if it were possible that she still had parents and siblings out in the world somewhere. But she didn’t know. Her earliest memories were of being alone and of Stampede. Sometimes she felt guilty for wanting to know more. The bisonoid had been a good provider for her until she’d been able to become a full-fledged partner.
She pushed Colleen Trammell out of her mind; then Riley jumped right in there. The man had been interested in her as a woman, and that had been … intriguing. A lot of the men Hella encountered were all about lust. She knew what that felt like, and she’d isolated herself from the way their looks had made her feel alternately unclean and vulnerable. In their eyes, she was just a prize to be won.
She hadn’t thought that was the case with Riley. Or maybe she didn’t want it to be the case with Riley. She had to admit, and it was easier doing that with herself than with Stampede, that idea was pretty stupid. Riley saw her differently than anyone else had. She saw that in his eyes.
To make up for some of the time he’d lost them, Pardot also insisted on traveling into the night. According to Pardot, Riley and the guards could use night-vision gear to keep watch for potential pitfalls.
“Back out of there, Red. Let them have point.”
Reluctantly Hella had done that even though she felt confident about her and Daisy