Sooner Dead (Gamma World) - Mel Odom [73]
“What?” Stampede sounded half asleep.
“Make it stop.”
“Make what stop?”
“The ’Chine.”
That popped Hella’s eyes open. Her hands instantly morphed into weapons, and Stampede pulled his rifle over to him. She scanned the windows, thinking maybe some of the mechmen had survived after all. But only darkness filled the windows.
She looked at the small boy. “What ’Chine?”
The boy pointed at the metal man.
When Hella turned to look at him, the metal man stared back at her with iridescent silver eyes. Then he opened up out of the fetal position and started to get to his feet.
The children cried out in alarm and scattered like field mice avoiding the sudden swoop of an owl.
CHAPTER 19
Effortlessly rising to his feet, Stampede pointed his rifle at the metal man. “Stop.”
The metal man ignored Stampede. Moving slowly, the metal man reached his knees and started to push himself up further. His emotionless face revealed nothing of his intentions, but his head swiveled so his gaze took in the entire room. He opened his mouth, possibly to speak, but only a high-pitched grinding issued.
Mercilessly Stampede thrust the rifle butt into the side of the metal man’s head. It connected with a loud clank. The metal man flew backward and bounced off the wall, but he looked more surprised than hurt when he caught himself on hands and knees.
Stampede towered over him. “Stay down.”
The metal man looked up then tried to get to his feet once more.
Stampede lunged forward and put more effort into the second blow. Ready for it, the metal man evaporated into a million bright points of light. The rifle butt thudded into the wall and knocked a hole in the wallboard. Almost instantly, the cloud of bright lights flew behind Stampede and re-formed into the metal man. The bisonoid was still head and shoulders taller than the metal man, but the metal man didn’t act afraid in the least.
Instead he opened his mouth, and the strange noise came out again. When Stampede tried to swing once more, the metal man caught the bisonoid’s elbow and stopped the effort. Stampede wrenched free and swung the rifle. The metal man’s head separated from his shoulders and allowed the rifle barrel to pass through without connecting. Before Stampede could pull the weapon back, the metal man closed his fist on the barrel.
Shifting, Stampede released the rifle and swung his left hand toward the metal man’s face in a fierce backward thrust. The metal man evaporated, and when he solidified again, he stood beside Hella. Before she could move, he wrapped one hand around her upper body and covered the side of her face with his other hand.
Electricity shot through Hella’s brain, mixing up her senses and making her sick. Just as she felt her knees go slack, the metal man released her. She fell forward onto the floor, barely able to raise her hands to keep from smashing her face. Panicked, barely able to move, she rolled sideways. Stampede stepped forward and over her with one foot to protect her.
The metal man held his hands up, palms out. His voice sounded like a rusty screech when he spoke, lacking the proper timbre for anything human. “No. Harm. No harm. No harm.”
“Wait.” Hella caught Stampede’s leg and held him back.
“Don’t know if I could hurt him anyway.” Nervousness sounded in Stampede’s voice. “I’ve heard of things like him.” He paused. “Not exactly like him. But something like him. Made up of a lot of things. Faust swore he saw one in Dallas that was made out of rats.”
The metal man spoke more slowly, more like a human. “No. Harm.”
Despite her spinning senses, Hella got to her feet and stared at the metal man.
“Why’d he go for you, Red?”
“I think it’s because of the nanobots. Somehow, he’s able to connect with them.” Hella’s thoughts ran rampant. She’d never met anyone like her, and she’d lived in fear of the nanobots coursing through her. But the metal man seemed drawn to them.
“Don’t go there.” Stampede’s voice was gruff. “Whatever he is, that’s not where you came from. You’re not like that. Not by a long shot.