James White Cykl Szpital kosmiczny (02) Gwiezdny chirurg
James Lee Burke Robicheaux 12 Jolie_Blon's_Bounce
James Alan Gardner [League Of Peoples 06] Trapped
James Alan Gardner [League Of Peoples 04] Hunted
James Axler Outlander 26 Sea of Plague
Fae Sutherland & Chelsea James His Every Breath (pdf)
James Axler Outlander 10 Outer Darkness
James Axler Deathlands 049 Shadow World
James Axler Deathlands 043 Dark Emblem
Curwood James Oliver Szara wilczyca
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"Shit a brick!" he exclaimed, "dose to dawn already, and they ain't back."
He finished urinating and did up his pants, whistling softly through his teeth.
"Ryan said if dawn came on the third day& Looks like being me to the rescue
again." But not even Abe was convinced by his own tone of voice.
"HOW MUCH LONGER, Ryan?"
The one-eyed man was just outside the broken door to the big tower, head on one
side, straining to listen. "Sure I heard dogs, far off. Wonder if the gang's still out
there, mebbe hunting Trader. Could be he's wounded."
"Wouldn't want to be the one bent down to cut his throat," J.B. commented. "Even
a dying Trader would bite your face off and spit it in the dirt."
Ryan turned back. "Just a touch of light from the east. If we're going to Abe, then
we should move on." He paused. "What was that?"
"What?"
Both of them stood together, with blasters ready, staring into the blackness that
lurked down the steep hill from their hiding place.
"Someone coming."
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J.B. was so close that their shoulders brushed. "Walking crook."
The sound of a limping man's footfalls reached them, as did the noise of labored
breathing.
"Trader?"
"Soon know."
The voice was high and strained, but instantly recognizable. "Yo, inside! Anyone
there?"
"Yeah. Both here, Trader. Need a hand?"
"Need a couple of fresh legs, Ryan. Mebbe a new set of lungs. And I admit,
between you and me, that the old dick isn't quite as good as it used to be."
They went toward the voice, each putting an arm around Trader, helping him into
the shelter. Ryan felt a passing shock at how frail the old man seemed, more like a
bundle of dried branches held together with whipcord.
"Got a knife in the ribs, but it went shallow and long. Nothing serious touched.
Bled some. Burns like fire. Another of the stupes missed me point-blank with a
Kentucky musket. Flash blinded me, and the fuck-head broke the butt across my
left thigh. Near broke my leg. And I fell in a bastard ditch and swallowed five
gallons of gnat piss."
"Apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, what did you think of the play?" Ryan said, using
one of Doc's favorite jokes.
But Trader didn't laugh, preoccupied with his own wounds and exhaustion.
"Go outside, J.B., and see if I was followed. I heard dogs. Reckon they might be
trailing me. Hope to pick us all up at once."
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The Armorer eased himself through the gap in the shattered door. Ryan knelt by
Trader.
"You got your blaster?"
"Course. Nearly right out of ammo for it. Your SIG-Sauer fires 9 mm rounds,
don't it, Ryan? Pass me some spares."
"Yeah. I got a full mag and about half a dozen more. Won't last long."
"J.B.'s got a few rounds for the M-4000. Not the best of blasters to use in a siege
situation."
"No nines?"
Ryan shook his head. "Plenty up with Abe."
"Then we best get back to the camp."
"Could be that Abe's on his way."
J.B had come back inside the tower, overhearing the last part of the conversation.
"Hope so," he said. "Because we got some company coming."
ABE WAS in a ferocious temper. Back at the farmhouse there had been four of
them to handle the harnessing of the quartet of jet-black mares for the hearse.
Even then it had proved difficult and complex. Now, alone, he was finding that
trying to cope with four horses was close to impossible.
"Stand still, you bastard!" he screamed, spittle flying from his open mouth. The
animals reacted against the blind anger in his voice, stamping nervously, backing
away from the traces, one of them getting hooves tangled in the trailing harness,
kicking out so hard it nearly broke one of the shafts.
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"For the sake of bleeding Christ, keep still," he moaned, almost in tears at his own
helplessness.
The light was gathering with every wasted second, and he could see no hope of
getting the rig ready for at least an hour. Abe shut his eyes and attempted the
technique for calming himself that Krysty had tried to teach him, slowing his
breathing and counting backward from twenty, trying to clear his mind and focus
on a white-painted wall.
Gradually he felt self-control seeping back.
TRADER OFTEN SAID that life came down to two choices run or fight. With
his injuries, running anywhere away from the water tower was out of the question,
and the deteriorating ammo situation was making the prospect of a successful
defensive fight of the ruined building seem increasingly remote.
Thirty or forty of the ragged hunters spilled from the southeastern flank of the
devastated ville, pursuing the trio of outlanders with the powerful weapons. There
was also a pack of eight or nine lean mongrels, baying their eager hatred to be set
free to harry thek enemy.
"Should have brought the Uzi," J.B. said, watching the approach of the posse from
an upper window.
"And the Steyr rifle," Ryan agreed. "Anything to hold them off."
Trader sat on the floor, holding the gash in his ribs. They'd bandaged it with strips
of rag, but he'd lost a significant amount of blood and it was obviously hurting [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
