Axler, James - Deathlands 65 - Hellbenders

by Hellbenders [lit]

  That was always assuming, of course, that the chem storm would abate by morning. It was also highly possible that it could continue for hours, even days, and so completely wipe out the planned rendezvous for the two convoys.

  All this raced through the one-eyed man's mind as he watched the monitors. "How long has this been going on?" he asked.

  "About two hours," Correll replied.

  "How long do they usually last?" Ryan queried.

  Correll shrugged. "Hard to say, friend. We don't really get much in the way of chem storms out here. This is only the third I can remember in as many years."

  "Fireblast," Ryan cursed softly to himself. "You've got to admire the timing of it."

  Correll nodded, his lips set grimly. "There's no way they'll rendezvous if this continues," he said in an artificially even tone, trying to keep his temper. "It'd be suicide to try and move through that."

  They remained silent for a moment, watching the images on the screen. The storm was awesome in its fury, with the rolling clouds crashing together, sparking off flashes of lightning colored by the residues of chemicals carried within the acid rain that beat strange patterns into the soil, fashioned by the conflicting drifts of wind that beat into each other, causing eddies and whorls of dust and mud to whirl around the sparse vegetation, which was being ripped from its fragile rooting. Any animals or reptiles that wished to risk the storm were soon chilled, the majority opting to take whatever cover they could find. The unearthly, orange-gray sulfurous light that spread and suffused across the land cast an unearthly pallor on the landscape, making it seem even more alien and unfriendly than it had ever seemed before.

  "If it abates before the sunrise, then we've got a chance of things going ahead," Ryan mused. "I can't see the rendezvous not taking place unless it's as absolutely impassable as this."

  Correll shook his head slowly. "Jourgensen and Hutter both have a mutual need. They've taken long enough to get this far with each other. They're not likely to blow it out their asses unless necessary. For a start, they need to communicate with each other to arrange a mutual point and time, and that won't be easy…especially as they won't know whether or not the other has sent their convoy out."

  Ryan mused on this for a moment. Things were starting to get complicated. Should they risk a move?

  "How about us?" he asked, turning to face Correll, tearing his eye away from the terrifying spectacle that was taking place outside the redoubt.

  "What—should we stay or go?" Correll posed.

  "No, I mean what about your spies? Is there any way that they could let us know about changes of plan?"

  "No reason why not if it's a rearrangement," Correll said tightly. "Thing is, they can't let us know in this bastard chem storm. This is when I wish we already had the secrets of the old tech."

  "I don't know," Ryan said quietly, stroking his chin as he scanned his memory. "I can't think of anything I've ever come across that could penetrate successfully through the rad interference you get with such a storm. You've got spies in both villes?"

  Correll nodded. "One in each. And up to now they've been able to keep us informed with some old radio equipment that we worked out how to use—well, Danny did. That boy's useful to us, despite the fact that I reckon he'd buckle in a firefight. But these old handhelds are only so effective. The signal gets too broken up too easily, even with the usual rad shit that's in the atmosphere, let alone with some bastard storm like this."

  Ryan nodded. "If it abates before morning, they'll get in touch as soon as they can to let us know if it's still on, won't they?"

  Correll smiled mirthlessly. "They know they have to— let us down at this point, and they might as well kiss their asses goodbye about ever linking up again. Same reason our man in Charity didn't help the recce party. No way could he afford to blow his cover, not at this point, If they got into trouble and got themselves chilled, well, that was their problem, right?"

  Ryan nodded almost imperceptibly. "Had to be," he replied; but he did wonder if Correll's hardline discipline didn't run the risk of engendering rebellion. As long as it held for the next day, then they would be okay. On reflection, it did seem that, despite his tendency to harsh judgment, he had little to fear from his people, all as driven in their own manner as their leader.

  All the while he and Correll had been exchanging views, the other two inhabitants of the room had been sitting in silence, monitoring the storm. Now one of them spoke.

  "Look at that!" he whispered in awe.

  Outside, the storm was showing no signs of abating. If anything, it had decided to whip itself into even more of a frenzy than ever before. Two banks of clouds, tinged in alternate shades of orange and blue, were buffeting each other from opposing directions, the cross winds that drove them making them clash with a force and speed that caused the dense mass of liquid contained within them to visibly shake, the chem-ridden clouds shuddering at impact, raining all the more heavily and driving their packets of chem-ridden water into the earth. The immovable objects and forces of the clashing clouds caused great sparks of static electricity to shoot across the sky, bolts of orange, red and blue lightning clashing and lighting up the sky until the images from the monitor screens in the darkened room were bright enough to show every line of hate and revenge etched across the face of Correll as Ryan cast an eye over the Hellbenders' leader. The man's eyes blazed almost as bright and fierce as the storm.

  "Shit," Correll whispered. "If this doesn't calm down, there won't be any Charity or any Summerfield to fight against. I figure we must be safe enough down here—unless a bolt of that lightning hits the rock full on and splits it—but it must be hell on earth to be in those villes right now." But despite the words, Ryan could detect not a single note of sympathy in Correll's voice.

  "Let's hope they hold out—come to that, if there's casualties, let's hope that your spies in each ville aren't among them," Ryan added. "No way we'd know if it was being chilled or fucked-up equipment that stopped them getting in touch."

  Correll didn't reply. He snorted, almost a sigh as he breathed out heavily. There was an almost imperceptible shaking of his head as his eyes, unblinking, stayed fixed on the screen.

  "Nothing we can do," Ryan said eventually, his attention divided between the screen and the Hellbenders' leader. "I figure we should try to get some rest and prepare in the morning as though we were setting out. If the storm's still raging, or if we hear the rendezvous is off from either side, then at least we're practiced for the real thing."

  His words were practical, but he tried to frame them in a manner that Correll would also find soothing. Not for the first time, Ryan was aware that the gaunt man beside him was walking a knife-edge of sanity, driven almost beyond human endurance by his desire for revenge. If Correll went over the edge, then they would all be doomed, for there was no way that the companions could detach themselves from the Hellbenders at this stage.

  For a few moments, it seemed as though Correll hadn't heard Ryan. Then he turned to face the one-eyed man, his eyes at first cold and blank, then firing with recognition as he dragged himself back from his own personal hell.

  "Yeah," he said finally with the briefest of nods, "Guess you're right."

  Ryan turned and left the room, but as he paused on the threshold and looked back, he saw that Correll wasn't about to follow. The gaunt man had turned back to the monitors, his eyes still unblinking.

  RYAN FOUND IT difficult to get any more rest during the remaining few hours of night. The memory of Correll's gaunt, unblinking stare haunted him. The Hellbenders' leader was reining in all his anger and rage, all the hatred that drove him on. The problem was, if he kept doing this, then there would come a point when it would explode. And the likelihood was that it would explode when they mounted the attack on the twin convoys.

  Danny had been right to point this out to Dean, as the younger Cawdor had told them. It was something of which the rest of the companions had also been aware. But Ryan felt, as the lead
er of the group, that there was little he could do to avoid confrontation over this matter. Their only chance of getting out was to go to the mat-trans and jump, but if they did that they would have to fight their way past Correll's people, in all likelihood, and this would just exacerbate the man's rage and bring it out earlier than they had otherwise thought.

  Ryan hoped that the chem storm would abate, so that the convoy rendezvous could go ahead, and so that the attack could likewise proceed. At least they could cover their own backs out in the field, with a wag of their own, no matter what may happen to Correll and the Hellbenders.

  But having to fight their way out of a three-cornered fight wasn't the best way to end this encounter. And still the CD-ROM they had in their possession needed to be decoded. From what Dean had described, the stash of old tech that Baron Al Jourgensen was holding could actually contain the key to unlocking the CD, and perhaps tell them all they wanted to know.

  Ryan had a bad feeling in his gut. So many things to juggle, so many variables to go wrong. And at the head of it all, a man who was becoming, more and more, completely unstable and unpredictable.

  So it was that, when Travis poked his head around the door of their berth a few hours later and briefly informed them that the hour had come to rise and prepare, Ryan had managed little rest and was in the middle of a shallow, dream-filled sleep where Correll had turned into a stickie whose sucking fingers were ripping at his heart, trying to tear it from his body.

  When the rest of the companions had risen, and Ryan was on his feet, his eye looking sunken and red, Mildred took one look at him and nodded.

  "You too, eh? Can't say I was able to get much rest thinking about Papa Joe's team talk coming up. I'd be much happier if we could play this our own way."

  Mildred was aware that Ryan had discussed with Correll the manner in which the attack could be mounted, and the tactics that could be used. She was also aware that, although ostensibly taking notice of the one-eyed man, Correll was liable to dismiss them all for his own, tunnel vision aims.

  Even more so when Ryan told them of the chem storm.

  J.B. shook his head, pushing his spectacles onto the bridge of his nose. "It would have to stop right now for us to get out there—and there'll still be enough rad interference in the atmosphere to make radio communication impossible right now. If it's over, we'll have to assume they're going ahead."

  Ryan agreed. "That's how I see it, but how's Correll going to read it?"

  "I think we'll go," Krysty said. Her hair was waving slightly, as though caressed by a breeze despite the fact that the redoubt's air conditioning didn't disturb the air in such a fashion. The movement could only mean that her mutie sense was telling her that there was a dangerous situation ahead. "I can't see Correll stopping now. Not after waiting so long. This is the culmination of all his dreams. He's not going to throw this away unless it's totally impassable out there."

  It was a view with which the rest of the companions could only concur. So when Travis reappeared to summon them to eat, they left their berth in silence, anticipating what could lie ahead.

  The entire community was gathered in the large room that served both for the feeding of their minds and bellies. The latter was the case at the moment, as the forces of the Hellbenders ate heartily, readying themselves for the confrontation that lay ahead. Certainly, they were acting as though the chem storm had abated.

  Correll was in his usual position, flanked by Jenny, the redoubt armorer, and Lonnie, who seemed to have established himself as second in command. On seeing the companions enter, he beckoned to Ryan and J.B. to join him. As the leader of his group, Ryan was an obvious choice, and J.B. was picked because of his ability with weapons. Indeed, while the others had been engaged either in training or in the recce mission, J.B. had forged a good working relationship with the Native American woman who now acknowledged him with a smile. Despite her initial misgivings and hostility, she was now sure that J.B. was invaluable. He had helped her to maintain and repair some of the weapons that had been damaged during training, and had also given her invaluable advice about the best times to use concussion and shrapnel grens in enclosed environments. She had learned from him, and as a result her respect for the man had grown.

  Ryan and J.B. collected their food and joined the table, while the rest of the companions found spaces around the room. Dean, Jak and Doc joined Danny who, as usual, was seating himself a little apart from the rest of the group.

  "Heard about the chem storm?" he said in an undertone as they joined him. When they acknowledged this, he continued, "I figure that Papa Joe would send us out whatever the conditions, way he feels about things. But the good news is that it's stopped out there. At least we won't have to fight our way through a shitload of acid rain."

  "Not good conditions, though," Jak noted.

  A sentiment that was being echoed on the table where Mildred and Krysty were now breaking their fast. At the request of Rudi, they had joined the table where he sat with Catherine and Cy, among others. Mildred regretted it almost as soon as she had sat down, as he put his arm around her to "settle her in." She didn't know which was worse, the feel of his unwelcome hand, knowing that she couldn't deck the mother with a roundhouse punch in front of all his fellow Hellbenders, or the glare she received from Catherine, as the last thing they needed to do at this stage was to make enemies—not before going into a firefight.

  "You ready for some action?" he asked her, with a wicked grin on his face.

  "You'd better be," Catherine added in a venomous undertone.

  "I'm ready to go out there and fight, if that's what you're trying to say," Mildred replied with a faked ingenuousness, shrugging him off.

  "We're all ready, aren't we?" Krysty added, trying to change the subject.

  "I'd like to say I am, but I dunno," Cy said with a tinge of regret in his voice, gesturing to his still bandaged shoulder. "I can fire a blaster, but not a real heavy duty one. You did a good job on this, Doctor, but there hasn't really been enough time for it to heal, y'know?"

  "Just take it easy, and pick your shots," Mildred said to him, glad to sidle away from Rudi and change the subject and focus of her attention. "Worse thing you could do is get carried away and end up opening up that wound—then you'll be no good to anyone except the other side."

  While she handed out these words of advice, at another table Correll was filling Ryan in on events following the one-eyed man's return to his rest.

  "The chem storm carried on for another three hours, and believe me, my friend, it got to the point where I believed that we would have to postpone the mission. But when it cleared, it cleared with a speed that was breathtaking. It was as though the winds that drove the clouds together had suddenly reversed poles, like magnets. Where they had been driving themselves together, now they could think of nothing but driving themselves apart, and the faster the better. Within minutes, the sky was clear and dark, only the stars lighting the sky."

  "That's good," J.B. mused, "but what about the villes— would they still go?"

  "More importantly," Ryan added, "have you had any signals from them?"

  Correll shook his head. "Not much chance of that, friend Ryan. The rad interference is still far too strong.

  Nothing going across that air except ear-blasting static. There's no way I'm gonna hear from either of my spies this side of next week, if the strength of the interference is anything to go by."

  "So how can you be sure the convoys will be going ahead?" Ryan queried.

  Correll shrugged. "Can't be a hundred percent sure, I guess, but I do know one thing—Jourgensen and Hutter both need to meet badly. Badly enough for them to risk taking their convoys across ground that has been hit by a chem storm. If the ground hasn't dried out, then it'll be muddy and hard going, and mebbe both of them'll be late at the rendezvous point. But you can sure as hell bet that they'll be going. And if they go, then we go."

  "I reckon that it'll take them longer, but if you work out the di
stance and the likelihood of us having the same problems over the territory, it'll kind of even out so that we don't have to worry too much about changing our time of departure in order to reach them at the same time as they arrive," Jenny added.

  "That seems a fair assumption," J.B. commented. "But how will it change our tactics? What are the conditions like out there?"

  "Just as you'd expect," Correll replied simply. "The desert is like a swamp right now. The earth has been turned into mud and quicksand, so we'll have to be careful as we negotiate the old tracks, but it's drying out rapidly. I figure that we'll leave some tracks, but mebbe by the time we get to where the rendezvous is taking place we'll have been out there long enough for the desert to have dried out and not leave any telltale tracks."

  J.B. nodded. It was more or less as he had thought it would be should the rains cease, and he knew that Ryan felt the same. Their main concern was never going to be the conditions if they were anywhere near good enough to start out.

  After they had eaten, Correll had the room cleared of all the tables, and the Hellbenders arranged their chairs so that they were seated facing the one direction—the part of the hall where Correll had set up his maps and charts. He waited for the group to settle before beginning.

  "Okay, people," he said, staring at a point somewhere over their heads. "Now I know you all know about the chem storm, and the effect that it's had on the terrain out there, but I have to tell you that I feel that it doesn't affect the basic plan. We can still get there in plenty of time to mount our ambush, and then to claim our rightful reward.