Sooner Dead (Gamma World) - Mel Odom [69]
CHAPTER 18
Three ’Chine popped out of the passenger compartment doorway at about the same time Stampede stepped from the stairs to the deck. He stomped his foot, and the deck quivered, causing the ferry to jerk like a fish at the end of a line in the river.
The three mechmen went down in a tangle of arms and legs, and Stampede shot them to pieces at close range. Growling, he kicked the remains away from the door, paused at the edge, and peered inside.
Falling into position on the other side of the door, Hella looked inside as well. She wondered if Pardot’s cargo had survived the incendiary blast then reasoned that anything that could crash to earth as a meteorite couldn’t be harmed by anything they could throw at it.
A handful of ’Chine remained active inside the compartment, and they shot wildly, obviously still in distress over the EMP grenades. The fire had all but gone out, but flames still clung to the wooden tables and chairs bolted to the floor. The garish light the flames provided rendered the burned and twisted mechmen even more horrible.
Bracing herself in the doorway, Hella fired into the surviving creatures and watched them go down, glad that they didn’t have to use another EMP grenade. She didn’t know if she could keep her senses about her if they did.
Satisfied that the opposition was all dead, Stampede took out his comm link and shoved it into his ear.
Hella did the same.
“All right, Red, let’s see if we can save what’s left of this tub.” Stampede went back through the door, and Hella followed, grateful to have his voice back inside her head.
The river had gentled out some as they got farther from the falls. Hella gazed out at the turbulent water and couldn’t believe they’d survived the assault. The ferry remained at risk, though. A sandbar or a riverboat sunk during the flooding or any time before, and they would be in the current themselves. Hella didn’t think she had the strength to save herself if she ended up in the water.
Stampede led the way to the ferry’s stern. Hella couldn’t remember which stern had faced the north and which had faced the south bank. In fact, if it hadn’t been for knowing that the river ran west, she’d never have known north from south. All along the banks, trees and brush grew rampant.
At the railing, Stampede opened a compartment built into the wall, ignoring the blood that stained most of it, and pulled out an anchor and chain.
“If you try to drop anchor in the river, the current will tear the ferry to pieces.” Hella hung onto the railing and willed her stomach to be more settled.
“I know. But our luck isn’t going to hold forever.” Stampede let the metal, three-forked anchor drop to the deck and fed a length of chain out after it. When he was satisfied, he started swinging the anchor overhead. A moment later, he threw the anchor into the trees lining the north bank.
The chain jumped and juddered in Stampede’s hands like a live thing, and in the forest it ripped through trees and brush. Just when Hella was certain the anchor was about to tear loose a final time and drop into the river and maybe become a hazard for them, one of the tines hooked something solidly.
Stampede grunted in pain and effort as he held on to the chain. He set himself and Hella knew he was using his power again to tie himself to the ferry’s deck. Anyone who didn’t have Stampede’s power would have slipped. Anyone with less than his strength wouldn’t have been able to hold on or would have had his arms torn from his sockets. Anyone less stubborn wouldn’t have endured the agony that he went through.
Screaming in pain, Stampede held the chain in a death grip. The ferry stopped rushing forward and started slipping sideways in the current, edging closer and closer to the bank. Finally, after several minutes had passed and Hella didn’t think that Stampede could hang on one second longer, the ferry’s bottom touched the riverbed.
Then Stampede hauled on the chain, fighting the current till it finally bucked them to the side and the ferry rested