Part 30 (1/2)
Those who did not become part of the burning interstate did their best imitations of a State Trooper turn-around and carried their a.s.ses back to Gallup.
Wiser, but not a d.a.m.n bit smarter.
Picking up his M-16, Ben shot any survivors who staggered from the inferno.
He stood up and looked at Rani. ”Now we can continue with our journey, dear.”
”And what the h.e.l.l do you think you accomplished by doing this?” she demanded.
”Making the world a little bit safer for innocent travelers, darling,” he told her. ”And I got rid of a lot of crud.”
”You could have been killed!”
she squalled at him. ”Now I see why your people think you need a keeper!”
”The world would have been in a h.e.l.l of a shape if theRangers on D-Day and the Marines on Wake Island had shared your sentiments.”
”What the h.e.l.l is Wake Island?” she asked.
Chapter 29.
Ben managed to calm Rani down and get them once more pointed west, heading toward Flagstaff.
They could see the smoke from the burning pyre in their mirrors for miles.
And Rani didn't let him forget it, yapping at him over the CB.
Ben took it good-naturedly, with a lot of ”Yes, Dear's,” and ”No, Dear's,” as they drove along. He also agitated a lot.
”I bet you thought Hilton Logan was cute,”
Ben needled her.*
”Stop changing the subject! And no, I didn't think President Logan to be cute.
And by the way, what part did you have in the death of that man?”
”I ordered his death by our Zero Squads. A very brave young man gave his own life to kill that b.a.s.t.a.r.d.”
The CB was silent for a few miles. When Rani again *
Out of the Ashes transmitted, she had wisely changed the subject.
”How far is it to the Tri-States, Ben?”
”Well, we're going to see some country first, Rani. We'll be there in a week or ten days.
I'm going to lead those following us on a goose chase for a time.”
”Those following us?”
”Sure. Campo and Texas Red. I read those two like a good book. They pulled their people out of Texas and let us rush around like crazy, looking for them. All the time they were probably holed up three or four hundred miles away, getting information on us from scouts. All the time waiting for you and I to pull out. They're behind us.”
”And they would know you were heading for the Tri-States?”
”I'm sure.”
”Ben?”
”Yes, Rani.”
”Is the story true? Did you really kill a mutant with your bare hands?”'
”No,” Ben said flatly. ”I shot the d.a.m.ned thing seven times with a .45 and then split its skull with a Bowie knife.”
”I see.”
I wonder.
”Ben?”
”Yes, Rani.”
”You don't seem the least bit worried about the outlaws following us.”
”I'm not in the least worried. Let me put your mind at ease, dear. I know the old Tri-States like the back of my own hand. Weleft enough bombs, guns, ammo, and materials cached out there to outfit a small army.
And I know where it all is. Relax, Rani.
They'll probably find us, but they'll wish they hadn't.”
”I do wish I could share your confidence, Ben,”
she said, the dryness coming through the speaker.
Ben just chuckled and kept on driving.
It took them the rest of the day to travel between Gallup and Flagstaff. Ben had never seen an interstate so cluttered with junked vehicles.
”The first thing we have to do,” he said aloud, ”is to clear the highways. That will give the people something to do; take their minds off their troubles. Or are you just kidding yourself, Raines?”
Probably, he concluded.
He knew people only too well. Ten out often would volunteer at first. Two out of ten would end up doing most of the actual work. The others would find some excuse not to work. They would b.i.t.c.h and moan and eventually walk away.
Not even the most destructive war known to humankind had changed that undesirable aspect of human nature.