Crossways: Book Summary
The jump ends up killing Melmoth, as the vampire is too fragile to take it. He nearly takes Ryan with him. They have to snap his dead fingers to pry him off Ryan. Funny thing is, after the genetically engineered vampire dies, it begins to dissolve into a disgusting puddle of goo.
It’s rare, but the redoubt is almost totally damage free. They know that at least part of the redoubt is open, because they can all taste the fresh air. As they near the exit of the redoubt, they encounter two brothers, who claim to be redoubt guards. It appears that they are the last of a descendents of a group that after a long time, found the code to open the sec doors. They offer to let the group stay behind.
After eating with them, they go to sleep. Ryan decides that he could use a shave and heads to the bathroom. When he is done, he turns around and finds himself facing the brothers. A brief firefight occurs and both are killed. During the fight, a stray round hits a water pipe, cracking it. They have no way of stemming the flow, so they just ignore it.
When they wake up, they find that at least six inches of water is covering the floors, all from the pipe. They leave, opening the sec door, allowing the water to wash out. Their biggest fear is that the gateway will be flooded when they return.
Checking his sextant, J.B. determines that they are located in Colorado, not all that far from Harmony ville. Krysty wants to head out immediately to her old home, but Ryan wants to drop Dean off at the school he knows about, which is supposed to be located in Leadville.
The redoubt is located only a few miles from a ville called Glenwood springs. They stop in a diner called Mom’s run by a three hundred pound transvestite. They barter seven round of 9mm FMJ for the food. It is so bad, they refuse to pay for it. The owner pulls out a scattergun and attacks. Ryan kills him, then Jak goes into the back and steals some food. He lets them know that there is a big pot of fat about to burn over on the stove, and that it’ll provide perfect cover for them. As the building catches fire, they are on the outskirts of the town.
They go back in, playing stupid, seeing if they can find out some news about the local area, and what has been happening since Krysty left. They learn that a gang of norms and stickies have been terrorizing the area for several months, and they also learn that the school they are looking for is located near leadville, and run by a man named Nick Brody.
Ryan arranges for transportation for both he and Dean up to Leadville with a smell trapper named Lemuel who is taking a predark piano up the trail, and could use some help unloading it when he gets to his destination.
After a tearful goodbye, and the agreement to meet in fairplay in two or three days, Dean and Ryan are off.
During the night when they make camp, Dean once again asks Ryan if he loved Sharona, and once again, Ryan lies, saying that he did, but no where as much as Krysty. Dean accepts that. The talk touches Ryan so much that he nearly abandons his plans to give Dean a decent education, but ends up sticking to his guns.
Back at the ville, Krysty and the others are having a hard time locating transportation, and they encounter the girl who used to work for Mom. She ends up threatening them, saying that she is going to go tell the townsfolk what happened. Krysty cold cocks her, instead of killing her like she was thinking of doing.
Next day around noon, they are going over a trail on the edge of a hill, and are ambushed by three bandits. They say that they will let them go if they give them the piano. Everyone knows that they are lying. Lemuel provides the distraction they need to attack. The bandits are killed, but Lemuel is hit by a lucky shot, and he too is killed. The fight scares the mules and they take off, heading straight for the edge. Ryan blasts the rope holding Deans leg and they both jump off in time.
A ways up the trail, Ryan and Dean find the bodies of a old man and a young girl who were obviously the victims of the bandits. A way past, they discover a sign declaring Brody’s school for boys, twelve miles ahead. Across from the sign is the ruins of an old gas station. They go there and spend the night.
The next day Krysty and the others pass the ruins of Basalt, and are not all that far behind Ryan and Dean. Krysty confides in J.B. that she has a hard time sleeping unless Ryan is beside her, and he tells her not to worry, they’ll both be fine.
About half way to the school they pass another sign, declaring Brody’s school is six miles away, and warns them that if they don’t have business, to turn away now. Just a little past that they encounter a pair of sec men.
At this time, Krysty and the others encounter the site of the ambush, and they can easily figure out what happened.
The two men are Joel and Ahab, and Ryan convinces them that he has legitimate business with the school, so they escort the both of them to the school.
Doc has been suffering from dreadful nosebleeds because of the altitude, but tries his best to keep up with the others.
Brody’s school is a fortress, with well armed sec men and their own crops. The two are taken to meet Nick Brody, who Ryan takes an instant liking to. He offers to let Ryan stay for the night and eat with them. He accepts it gladly. While at supper, one of the teachers recognizes Ryan as one of Traders right hand men. Things are tense, but it turns out that he just wants to thank Ryan, because Trader helped him and his family against a group of Ku Klux Klanners.
Because of the nosebleeds, Krysty and Mildred look for a place that they can rest up. They find a house a little way off the main highway that hasn’t been opened since the skydark. Going inside they discover that the owners are still there, having committed suicide because of suffering from radiation poisoning. They make a meal and rest up, then bed down for the night.
After breakfast, Dean and Ryan have a tearful farewell. He leaves, not wanting to change his mind. He continues on his way.
The others decide to take a bath before leaving. Krysty gets antsy, wanting to get on the road as soon as possible. But, just when they are ready to go, a snow storm begins and they are forced to stay for the night, because by midnight, nearly five feet of snow had fallen. If they had gone out, they surely would have perished.
Krysty stays in the main floor, and is surprised when a pack of wolves show up and surround the house. Finally, the leader gets the courage to crash through the window and attack. The fight is hard and bloody, but they beat off the wolves. They decide to leave and try and catch up with Ryan.
In the ville of leadville, Ryan first gets a room in a hotel, then he goes across the street to get a meal. The owner is very friendly and stuffs him. But, next thing he knows, someone presses a blaster into the back of his neck. The teen demands to know if he knows what happened to three of his friends back on the trail. Ryan pretends to be scared, then attacks, killing the three bandits. The owner gives his meal to him for free for clearing out the scum. After the excitement he goes to his room to get some sleep.
The next morning Ryan stops in the restaurant for his breakfast once again. He asks the owner to look out for his friends, and describes them. After he leaves the message, he takes off, heading towards the ruined ville climax.
After a short time later, he encounters a wag and the few survivors. They were Quakers, and had just recently been attacked by the bandits. Five women were taken captive by the bandits. Ryan can’t do anything to help them, and simply tells them to head towards Leadville, where they will be able to get some help.
After getting caught in the rain, Ryan begins to look for shelter. He begins to find the corpses of the women as the bandits kill them. A slow rage begins to burn deep down inside, demanding revenge.
The next day Krysty and the others come across the Quaker’s, who are all dying. They stay with them until they finally pass over the dark river.
Ryan enters one of the houses and finds it is actually inhabited. The woman soon realizes that Ryan isn’t one of the bandits. She relaxes and lets him stay. Her name is Elvira Madison. They talk for a while, then, without warning, a mudslide collapses the house on top of them.
Krysty feels it happen and insists that they break camp and head out towards the ruined ville, as she know’s Ryan is in trouble.
Ryan wakes up and finds himself look into the face of Elvira. She is trapped like him, and he watches as she dies. Then, a huge hoard of tiny mutant mice come in and start to eat the flesh off her face and body. Ryan is trapped, and he is unable to move. The water is slowly rising, and if it doesn’t stop soon, he is going to drown. The mice attack, and he is able to fight them off.
Just at dawn, he’s about to give up and die, when Krysty and the others find him. They scare away the mutant mice and spend most of the morning and part of the afternoon freeing him. They then send time warming him up before they hit the trail. By evening, they reach the ville of Fairplay.
Stopping in a restaurant called the Brown Burro for a meal, they meet Carl Lanning, the man who took Krysty's virginity. They spend time learning what happened to all those who were close to Krysty, and learn more about the gang that took over Harmony. It is obvious to all that Carl still carries a torch for Krysty.
The group take several cabins that are currently un occupied to rest in. Carl makes a move for Krsyty, and Ryan catches the tail end of it. He teaches Carl the error of his ways. At sunrise they head off towards Harmony.
The spend nearly the whole day hiking towards Krysty's old home. As they approach, two stickies are leaving, heading out on a patrol. They ambush them, killing one. They are going to interrogate the other when Carl smashes it's head in, killing it. He angers Ryan, but what's done is done, and there is nothing they can do to change it. They spend evening and most of the night resting and preparing to attack.
At precisely five in the morning, they split up and head to different parts of the ville, entering the buildings and houses that are inhabited by the gang. The massacre, begins, and within fifteen minutes the entire gang is wiped out. Carl Lanning is the only casualty, as he has his throat cut by a stickie, while he is trying to defend Krysty from them.
The villagers want them to stay behind, but on Krysty's request, they refuse and take the wag the gang had been using. They spend the day travelling back to the redoubt and enter it, fearing that the gateway itself might be flooded due to the busted pipe. It is partially flooded, but they are able to activate the jump and leave.
End of Crossways.