Devil's Attic

By Chris Van Deelen

A sharp stinging pain swam across Maverick's face. "Amante?" The pain once again, but from the other side. "Amante, come on back to me. You are starting to scare me." The pain struck for a third and final time.

"Fireblast woman, quit hittin' me." Maverick snarled and opened his eyes. He looked around and was shocked to discover that he was no longer inside the gateway chamber. He was lying on a cot. Gitana, Gedoena and Joe were standing around him to a person they were looking very worried. "What the fuck are you staring at?"

Joe grinned from ear to ear. "He's fine." And he turned and walked out of the room. Ged paused only long enough to kiss Maverick on the forehead and followed the other man. The silence closed over the room like a cloak.

"You were asleep for a very long time Amante." Gitana said as she stroked Maverick's short cropped hair."

"How long?"

"Nearly twenty four hours. Nothing any of us did could get an reaction out of you. Chance said that you had slipped into a coma. Then about five minutes ago you started to snarl and howl in your sleep like a wild animal. That is when I started to slap you to help bring you back to us."

Maverick sat up and shook his head in an attempt to shake loose the cobwebs that clung to the dark corners of his mind. He shut his eyes tightly as the memory of his jump into the far future returned. Or was it a dream? He couldn't be sure. The soulless eyes of the creature called Balam filled his minds eye. He shuddered involuntarily.

Gitana sensed his distress and wrapped her arms around him and held him close. "What is wrong with you Amante?"

He shook his head. "I… I. Well something happened when we made the jump. I don't know if it was a nightmare or if it was real."

She pulled away and regarded her lover with worried eyes. "What happened. Tell me."

Slowly he told the tale of his visit to the Deathlands future. Like pieces of a puzzle falling into place his memories of the brief encounter returned. Gitana listened in silence until he finished the tale. He looked at her and grinned. "Pretty damned hard to believe isn't it?"

Gitana nodded. "That was some dream Amante. But that doesn't explain why you were out of it for so long."

"Actually, yeah, that would explain it. Let's face it Gitana. You all woke up right after the jump. I didn't. I just wish there was…" he paused and patted his jacket.

"Wish what?" Gitana asked.

Maverick turned serious as he reached into his jacket and removed the CD case that Lakesh had given to him. "Wish that I had proof that I had been there!" He almost yelled in triumph. He handed the CD to his lover.

She took the case and opened it. The CD was blank, nothing was written on it. She examined it uncomprehending. She had seen CD's before and knew that they often held music or vids, but they always had some sort of marking on them. She handed it back to Maverick who carefully placed it back in the case. "Where did you get that Brett?"

"From a whitecoat who was born before the skydark. Said his name was Lakesh. This disk contains all the destination codes as well as the locations of redoubts all across the Deathlands and the rest of the world as well. Said that we would need it in our fight against the program of unification that was to begin in about 15 years time or so."

She wasn't sure if her lover had gone crazy or not. But she knew that there wasn't any way that he had picked that up before they had left. She came to her decision. "I believe you Amante."

Maverick swung his feet over the edge of the cot. "I was hoping you would. Something-triple bad happened to me in that jump and I have seen what the future holds for us. I sure as fireblasted hell don't want my baby growing up in what Lakesh described." He patted Gitana's still perfectly flat belly.

She positively beamed at him and then hugged him. "What do you want Amante? A son or a daughter?"

"I never really thought about it Gitana. Frankly I didn't really expect to live this long. And, well, I actually figured that I would be a loner my entire life." He said as he pulled his combat boots on and did up the laces.

"All that aside Brett, what do you want?" She persisted.

He pulled the Desert Eagle out of his holster and cocked it, then examined the barrel and removed the magazine to make sure it was still fully loaded. "I guess, like any man, I would like a son."

She nipped his ear playfully causing him to nearly drop his gun. "Then my love, I shall give you a son."

"C'mon Gitana. Let's go see the others. We gotta prep for the trip to California." He stood and holstered the mans-topper before he grabbed his shotgun. He pulled open the door and then stopped. "How are Chance and Montague holding out?"

"They are still in a state of shock. They can't believe that so long has passed since they had been in the redoubt. Matt is taking it a lot harder than Montague, that's for sure." She shrugged her small shoulders.

Maverick shook his head. "Well, they'll have to get over it triple fast. Our home is a hell of a lot different than theirs. And if they don't adjust, I might as well kill them both right now and save some mutie or Outlander the trouble." He noticed the hard look that Gitana was giving him. He continued in a softer tone. "If they can't adjust then they could end up getting you or Ged or Joe killed. And I won't allow that."

Gitana nodded. "I think you'll find that they are made of sterner stuff than that. Though Chance is avoiding Feral at all costs. I'd swear that he was afraid of the girl."

"She's still here? I figured that once we got back she would be out of here like a round out of a rifle."

"She and her large friend decided to stay with us. I think that she is tired of being alone all the time." She answered as she joined him. She could see the anger building on his face so quickly changed the subject. "What is your next plan of action Amante?"

Side by side the walked out of the room and headed towards the communal dining area. "Let's just get fully geared up and then we'll use the codes on this disk and jump to California. I want to get Ged home. And if it's a nice place, I think we should settle down there with them and raise our kid."

"That sounds like a good idea to me Amante. Our baby should grow up constantly on the run or fighting every few hours for his life."

They reached the dining room and entered. Something struck him as very odd about it. The last time he had been in the redoubt, before they jumped back in time, the room had a sterile, un-lived in look to it. But he looked around and could see that it appeared that someone had been using the room for years, possibly decades. It was clean, but had that 'used' look to it. Gitana sensed his unease.

"While you were in the coma we scoured the redoubt. All the corpses had been removed and were placed in a single room. It's totally different from when we left it. We changed the past."

The news shocked Maverick. Their actions in the past had changed the future. They might have been able to prevent the skydark from taking place. He felt sick to his stomach.

He looked at Matt and Ged as they sat together and she was, as the last time he had seen her, talking animatedly with the man from the past. Feral and her cougar were no where to be seen. Joe looked up and came over to Maverick, leaving Montague seated. He clasped his friend's hand. "Feeling better kid?"

Maverick lifted one eyebrow. "Kid?" He gave Joe's hand a hard, but heart felt squeeze. "A lot better now Joe. We're home after all."

The barrel chested man's eyes twinkled mischievously. "I'm glad to hear that Bro. You had us worried."

"Gitana told me that something strange happened. We actually changed the past didn't we?"

Joe nodded, his face was serious now. "Yeah. The chambers we saw before jumping, the ones that held the clones. They're empty. And we've seen evidence that this redoubt had been lived in for a long, long time after we left."

"Any idea who?" Maverick asked.

His friend shrugged. "Not really. Could have been some of the soldiers, could have been the clones. Who knows. But the way I figure it the redoubt was finally abandoned about sixty, mebbe seventy years ago. A huge chunk of the food is gone, but that shouldn't be a surprise. But there is still more than enough goods here to last decades more if someone wanted to stay."

Maverick nodded as he took the information in. The clones were no longer in the redoubt. Maybe their corpses were with all the others in the makeshift morgue, or maybe they did leave the redoubt and managed to survive the nuclear winter and the mind numbing terror that followed during the early years of the Deathlands. If Gedoena's clone had been with them, she probably wouldn't have survived long.

"Well, it doesn’t matter to me. We're leaving after I eat. Gather up the woman and her overstuffed cat. I don't want to spend any more time in this place than we already have." He walked over to Montague who was studiously ignoring the bigger man. "Mitch, I want you to find them and give them the news. We'll meet them in the Mat Trans chamber in ninety minutes."

Mitch looked up at Maverick and frowned. "Yeah, sure thing Brett." He stood up and stormed out of the room. Maverick was about to grab him by the shoulder and ask him what his problem was when he realized that the other man was still in a state of shock.

Maverick grabbed a couple of self-heats and sat down at the table and dug in with gusto.

* * *

Ninety minutes later they stood inside the cleared out Gateway control chamber. The corpses had been removed and it appeared that someone attempted to repair the damage the control computer had sustained. Maverick sat down at the terminal and placed the CD Lakesh had given him into the reader.

Instantly a menu of each state appeared. He clicked on the State of California and then read off the list of active redoubts. He chose the one closest to Gedoena's home and clicked on it. A code appeared on the screen as well as general information about the redoubt. It had been cleaned out right after the holocaust but emergency rations and medical supplies had been left behind. Perfect!

Maverick typed the destination code into the computer and hit the enter key. The computer displayed the words: destination code accepted and locked. Mat Trans Interphaser synced. Ready to initiate.

He turned and looked over his companions. His Lover, Gitana still carried the twin gold plated colt .45 caliber handguns she had taken from Jim Greaves. Over her shoulder she hand slung a CAR 15 Carbine. Perfect for her due to her tiny stature. She was dressed in her usual white shirt, baggy green pants, combat boots and a black jacket. Under the jacket she wore the body armor that Maverick had insisted that they all wear. Her pack was loaded down with the extras they would need. Across her narrow hips she had a web belt from which hung magazine pouches for her weapons. She smiled at him, her deep brown eyes twinkling. "Like what you see Amante?"

He nodded and returned her smile. He then looked over at his young ward, the mutant girl he had grown to love like a daughter. She was wearing her blue jeans with a hole cut in the back for her tail, a white shirt and a heavy quilted Jean jacket. Like Gitana, she too carried her pack and had her weapon, a Styre Scout sniper rifle slung. On her left hip she had a Glock 17A 9mm automatic. As a counter balance she carried a large Bowie knife on her left hip. But considering how deadly her talons were, Maverick couldn't help but wonder why she bothered. She was too busy staring at Matt Chance to bother returning Maverick's look.

He allowed his eyes to inspect the latest addition to his band. Matt Chance, the predark whitecoat. He shook his head. The man had very little chance for survival. He was used to the cushy life of science, not the harsh reality of day to day survival that was the Deathlands. The M16A2 Assault rifle that he had slung over his shoulder looked decidedly out of place. In a shoulder rig he carried a pair of Beretta 9mm pistols. Like Ged, he carried a large Bowie blade strapped to his right hip.

He had given up his scientific garb for more utilitarian clothing. Gone where the dress pants. Instead he now wore black jeans, nearly new hiking boots, a dark green T-shirt and a black windbreaker. Maverick knew that he would have warmer clothing in the pack he carried. His double shoulder holster rig also acted like web gear from which he hung his magazine pouches. He looked away at Maverick's gaze.

Maverick's bright gray eyes came across his friend, the mysterious Joe. The man was dressed in new combat fatigues, a dark gray shirt, and new combat boots and a heavy jacket filled with numerous pockets. He too, carried a heavily weighed down backpack. Around his neck hung the leather bag that held the Kachina doll. Strapped to his left hip was a USP .45 caliber combat pistol. Maverick noted that he had it in a 'quick draw' holster. He knew that his large friend could use it. But like so many things about the other man, how he knew was a mystery. In his large hand he held his 12 Gauge pump action Mossburg shotgun at the ready. The barrel chested man grinned at Maverick. "Ready to take another jump into the unknown?"

"Hell no! This time I know exactly where we're going bro!" Maverick laughed and shook his head.

The next person in Line was the other mutant. Recently dubbed Feral, the woman seemed to be the physical embodiment of what the word meant. She was sleek, if rather tall for a woman, standing at five foot seven. She wore a pair of deep black baggy pants, a black T-shirt that hugged every curve of her torso. Before the jump back in time she used to wear a mis-matched pair of boots, one that climbed her leg till just below the knee, and the other a regular hiking boot. But at Ged's and Gitana's prompting she gave them up for a pair of soft black leather boots. They had belonged to one of the redoubts female soldiers, but considering that she had been dead for nearly a century, she wouldn't miss them. Over the ensemble she wore a light weight black leather jacket. The woman was in love with the shade of black it seemed to the big survivalist.

Below her outer layer he knew she would be wearing a form fitting, silk body suit that she had found. Why she wore it, he didn't know, nor did he really care. Despite her nature, he had to admit that she was an attractive woman. In the past, people would have described her as having the body of a dancer. Very little body fat to speak. He frowned.

"Where are your blasters Feral?"

She stuck her chin out at him and opened her jacket. She had a small automatic hanging from a shoulder holster. Maverick could make out that it was a Detonics scoremaster. She traded it. "See?"

"Yeah, good choice. What else?" He asked.

"Got, Uzi in pack. Lot ammo. Many blade too." She patted her hips where he could see two large bowies strapped, as well as a smaller K-bar strapped to the calves of her legs..

"I wanted everyone to carry a long arm. Where's yours?" He growled.

"Don't know how shoot. Don't want. Hurt you or other if I did shoot." She snapped right back, showing that the far larger man did not intimidate her. Her cougar companion lowered her ears and growled ever so slightly.

"Ok, I'll give you that." He refused to say that he thought that she made the right choice. He would have preferred that she did take an assault rifle, or at the very least a carbine, but if she couldn't use it, she could be as deadly to them as she was to the enemy.

Finally he looked over the last addition to his band. Another man brought from the past. The soldier's name was Mitch Montague. Unlike Matt Chance, Maverick gave the soldier a fighting chance in the Deathlands. Green he may be, Maverick could see the determination in the other man's eyes. He was dressed in combat fatigues as well. Camouflaged pants and jacket, a green shirt, combat boots and even had the helmet. He held his M-16A2 rifle with practiced ease in his hands. At his hip he carried a single Government Issue Beretta 9mm handgun. The other man still looked rather beaten, but at least the swelling had gone down enough that he could open his right eye again. It was un-nerving the way it looked, still bright red from the burst blood vessels. Neither man spoke. Mitch simply nodded and looked away.

"Everyone into the chamber. We're out of here." He said as he removed the CD and placed it in his jacket. No one questioned where he had gotten the disk. Even if they had, he wouldn't have answered them.

Everyone sat down with his or her back against the armaglass walls of the hexagonal chamber. Ged looked up and smiled at her protector. "We're really going home to see my parents daddy Brett?"

He couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, we are Geddy." He closed the door to the chamber and sat down next to Gitana. The now familiar mist began to curl up from the floor. He carefully placed his shotgun on the floor next to him and pulled the cerberus hat that he found so it was nestled snugly on his head. It felt like he had found the cap so long ago it was if it was another lifetime completely.

His senses felt like they had been wrapped in cotton so he didn't bother to fight the inevitable any longer.

Maverick closed his eyes.

* * *

Unlike the other Jumps the survivalist had experienced, this one turned out to be relatively painless. He opened his eyes and looked around. There was no doubt in his mind that they had succeeded. The walls of this particular gateway were a dark brown. Almost the same color of dried blood. He didn’t like that one bit.

He stood up and was surprised at how good he felt. He figured it must have had something to do with the fact that they didn't time jump. The other six members of his small group were starting to show signs of life as well. He opened the gateway door and looked into the control chamber beyond.

It was in shambles. The lights, the few that were still on were flickering intermittently. There were huge cracks in the walls and ceiling, some nearly a foot in diameter. Only two of the computers lined against the wall were still fully functioning. He was amazed that they managed to make the jump at all. What caught his attention the most was the fact that there was a huge pile of rubble in front of the doorway leading out of the control chamber. They could move it in a matter of a few minutes but there was no chance that someone could open it from the outside.

'Radfire!" Exclaimed Joe as he joined his friend. Maverick nodded and stepped out of the chamber into the control room. A thick layer of dust coated everything, but there were no signs of water seepage. The air tasted ancient. Stale. Like some of the caches and redoubts he had visited while travelling with Trader and the convoy.

It struck him as very odd. He had personally walked the corridors of at least four redoubts during the two years he spent riding with the crew, but not once did they ever find signs of Mat-Trans units. Then again odds were that the Mat-Trans units had either been concealed or had not been installed before the holocaust occurred.

Joe walked around the room inspecting the damage as Maverick waited for the other members of his group to come around. "Mav, I'd hazard a guess that either this place was near a major earth shaker sometime in the past, or a nuke detonated right above it."

"I agree." He said. He didn't have to elaborate. Everyone knew about the earth shaker bombs the soviets had used on the San Andrea's fault line nearly a century before. Hundreds of miles of coastline sank beneath the waves of the Pacific ocean because of it. He had never been near the coast where it happened but heard about the Los Angeles islands. Maverick made a mental note to take Montague and Chance with him to see the coast. They could easily point out the changes in geography.

And if the damage wasn't caused by quakes, then either a near miss or possibly an errant warhead could have caused it. He automatically dug his small rad detector out of his pocket and checked the readings. It was in mid range green. Safe, slightly higher than normal background radiation.

The three women came around almost at the same time. Gitana stood up and took his hand in hers. "We made it."

He nodded. Gedoena was trying her best to conceal her excitement, but he could read it in her purple eyes. "Come on Brett, let's go!"

"Patients Ged. We have to wait for the others to wake up. We don't leave anyone behind. You know that." He growled as he squeezed Gitana's hand. He didn't Ged to get overly excited. After all, it had been a long time since she had seen her family.

And because of the nature of the Deathlands, it was a very real possibility that her family might not even be alive anymore. But those thought's he kept to himself. No point upsetting the young woman.

Feral walked around the gateway chamber. It un-nerved the scarred man the way she tested the air much in the same way that a predatory animal would. He didn't like the look he saw on her face. She frowned and sneezed slightly. "Bad air." She announced. Her cougar friend had her large ears flattened against her skull and the hackles along her spine were raised.

"What the hell does she smell?" Maverick asked, starting to get a little nervous himself. The others noticed what was going on.

Feral shook her head. "Smell bad. She remembers smell. I keep see Spint in her mind."

Gitana interrupted. "But he's been dead for nearly a century. And we chilled him in space."

"You did?" Montague asked in surprise.

Maverick nodded. "I blew his leg off and she snapped his rad sucking neck. He was on the last train to the coast when we left him."

The soldier sighed. "Good."

Feral grimaced. "She right. Smell like Spint."

Maverick unslung his SPAS 15 shotgun. "Alright people. Lock and load. We don't know what'll be waiting for us once we open the door. Keep your blasters at the ready." He walked over to the pile and handed his weapon to Gitana. "Joe, Mitch, lets get this shit out of the way."

Between the three of them it took less than ten minutes to clear the rubble out from before the doorway. The door itself was slightly dented but when Maverick turned the handle, it swung outwards with little resistance. He took back his weapon and crouched before the entrance. "Joe, on three, open it fully."

Maverick counted up to three and Joe opened the doorway. It showed a short hallway with several more doors on either side. Only one light-strip was still functioning. The shadows it cast on the rubble-strewn hallway sent shivers of fear up his spine. He forced the alien emotion down as far as he could.

"Triple creepy." Gedoena voiced for him.

"Yeah, damned straight on that count." He entered the hallway and walked down it, the blaster held rock steady. The first sign of anything hostile, he intended on shooting first, ask questions later. Gitana and Gedoena pulled out their halogen flashlights that they took from the redoubt and turned them on. Maverick nodded in approval.

He took the point, checking the knobs on each door he passed. They were all locked. But he figured that if he wanted to they could easily blast their way into them. But not right now, but maybe later.

One of the beams of light flashed off something long and white lying half buried in the rubble. He stepped up to it and carefully pulled the rubble away. It revealed a long, twisted bone. The general shape reminded him of a human femur but it was oddly twisted. "Guess a mutie bought it here."

Feral joined him and she picked up the artifact. "Look. Chewed." She held it out to Maverick who took it and examined it under the light.

"Yeah, your right. Bone's been cracked to get at the marrow." He tossed it on the floor. Nothing really special about it. He'd seen that plenty of times over the years. Everything from the chewed remains of a man killed by a pack of mutie wolves to the left over remains of a cannie's meal. Could have been anything. But the fact that it was inside an obviously closed redoubt, despite the damage, that gave him pause for concern.

"Still smell it Feral?" He asked. She nodded once without answering.

"Stronger? Weaker? The same?" He prodded, growing slightly impatient.

"Same."

The group made their way to the end of the short corridor and found it blocked off with a large metal door. All the chalk dust and debris from the damaged redoubt acted like camouflage. He tapped the butt of his shotgun against it. A small key pad was set into the wall. He wiped it clean and was surprised to see that the number pad was lit. It had power. "Joe, you seem pretty hot with elecs, come on and crack this puppy open. We have to get out of this redoubt. Place gives me the creeps in the worst way.

"No need Brett." Matt said quietly. He shrank back as all eyes closed in on him. The man was still in shock from the jump from the past into the future.

"Oh? What do you know Chance?" Maverick prodded.

"Try the code 352. That'll open the door. It's the universal code used throughout the redoubt network."

He nodded at Joe and Mitch. Both men kneeled and raised their weapons. Gitana and Ged stood behind with their hand-blasters as well. Maverick held his shotgun at the ready and punched in the three-digit code.

Nothing happened.

He growled slightly and hit the three numbers again.

Silence.

He was about to type the code in again when an unearthly wail seemed to emanate from the walls all around them. He almost pulled the trigger on his blaster when he realized that the sound was coming from the hydraulic gears that had spent the better part of a century unused. Slowly, inch by inch the heavy metal door raised into the ceiling. It stopped at just over three feet in height.

Maverick gagged at the horrid stench that wafted in from the outer chamber. It was the smell of open, fested wound, overlaid with a nearly overpowering goatish odor. "Oh fuck me."

The stench caused Feral to vomit nosily in the back. Maverick did his best to fight down the gag reflex. The odor was far worse than anything he had known in the past. The scent of corruption, the dead left to rot mixed in the scent of unwashed bodies and human waste. He clamped his mouth shut and grabbed the flashlight from Gitana. The small Spanish woman pulled a bandana out from her pocket and wrapped it around her mouth. The others in his group followed her example.

Maverick decided to wait. He needed to get a good look outside. He was very tempted to just turn around and take everyone back into the gateway and jump out, but they came this far, they might as well fight their way out.

His flashlight revealed another long corridor, similar to the one they were currently inside. But that is where the similarity ended. The damage was far worse on the other side of the door. He could see puddles of what he hoped was simply stagnant water. But figured it would be something much worse.

The inky blackness of the long tunnel seemed to swallow the light itself. He figured that the halogen beam should have penetrated far deeper into the devil soul's blackness. The only sound they could hear was the steady dripping of water somewhere off in the distance. Not a single light was working down the entire corridor.

Maverick crawled from under the heavy doorway and kneeled, keeping his shotgun pointed into the heart of the darkness. Any sign of movement he would fire. Joe, then Mitch, and finally the others stepped out into the corridor. He turned and saw that Feral was just standing, attempting to keep herself from becoming violently ill again.

He was about to demand that she join them when his eyes caught the exterior of the heavy door. Huge scratches, some an inch deep or more crisscrossed the metal barrier. It was as if some huge animal had tried to break into the other section of the redoubt. And from the looks of it, nearly succeeded. He shone his light to where the keypad was supposed to be located. All that remained was a jagged hole and several loose wires.

A tap on his shoulder nearly caused him to fire the shotgun. Maverick whirled around and glared at Joe. "Fuck me. Don't do that!" He hissed quietly.

"I think we better head back to the gateway and jump out Mav." He said as he shifted his shotgun from one hand to the other.

Maverick was sorely tempted to do exactly as his friend suggested. But he shook his head. "It can't be too far to the exit, lets just double time it out of here and we'll see the sun in a matter of a few minutes."

"Brett?" Came Gedoena's quavering voice. "Brett, can we go? I'm really scared."

He walked past the mutant woman who had taken Gitana's hand for comfort. "I know you are, and I'm not too keen on staying here any longer than I have to. Lets move out."

He walked forward about a dozen yards before he stopped and looked back over his shoulder, He could see Feral and the cougar backing up further into the other section of the redoubt. In the silence, even a whisper could be heard a long way off. "Feral, we're not going to wait for you. You either come with us now, or find yer own way out of here." The woman would easily pick up his normal tone.

She shook her head and didn't budge an inch. "Ok, I meant it." He turned around and continued down the corridor. Gedoena caught his arm in her steel grip and glared at him. "Your just going to leave her there?"

"Yeah, I am. We're all in this together. If she doesn't want to be part of the team, she can fireblasted stay behind. We'll be out in a few minutes." He yanked his arm out of her talon, and grimaced as the sharp nails almost tore through the fabric of his jacket. Before she could object he strode forward.

About twenty yards further down the corridor they came to a pair of doorways, one on either side of the corridor. Maverick shone his light inside one, seeing that it branched off. The other opened to a large nearly empty chamber.

But what he saw turned his stomach. It was obviously the place where the current redoubt's inhabitants relieved themselves. Years of organic waste coated nearly every inch of the room. Maverick turned away before he lost it.

They continued down the corridor past the branch and the makeshift latrine. The damage from either the quakes or the nukes was more pronounced the further they traveled. Entire sections of the wall had collapsed, as well as part of the ceiling in areas. The overhead lights that had not burned out seemed to have been smashed. He could have sworn that he saw movement inside the walls. Then again it could have been the shadows cast from his flashlight.

They came to a t-intersection. Maverick stopped and held up his hand. "Shh… I think I heard something." The others stopped and spread out, covering all angles of approach. Luckily for them, any potential enemies had only two ways to come at them.

Maverick leaned against the wall and carefully swung his flashlight around the edge. It's light hit something right out of Maverick's worst nightmare. The big man actually yelped in fright and staggered backwards, he tripped over a piece of rubble and the shotgun went off, blowing a fist-sized hole in the ceiling.

At the same time a roar of pain and anger came from around the corner. The other members of his band all swung forward and watched in abject terror as the creature that had frightened the survivalist peered around the corner.

The creature was reptilian in nature. It had tiny, egg white eyes set deep into the cranial bone. From it's elongated jaw sprouted what could only be described as mandibles. Coarse tuffs of either hair or fur sprouted at random intervals over its scaled head. From its jaws hung the decapitated head of a Scalie mutant, the eyes were still moving in its skull in a horrifying parody of life. Overall, the mutant's head was nearly a full yard in size.

The mutant turned its head and dropped its food. The Scalies skull hit the dirt-encrusted floor with a sickening thud. It rolled twice before coming to a stop. The beast let a ear splitting roar and stepped even further into the corridor.

Maverick grabbed his fear by the balls and squeezed. If he didn't act fast they would all be killed. "Fucking chill it!" He screamed and pulled the trigger on his SPAS 15 shotgun. He could hear Mitch's Assault rifle open up on full auto and the smaller pops from Gitana and Gedoena's handguns. The beast's head actually seemed to nearly deflect the shots. But one of its milk white eyes popped like a grape. Chunks of it's scaled flesh were torn away to reveal the crimson bone beneath. It had to be incredibly thick to withstand the hail of lead the group poured into it.

It screamed in anger and stepped even further into the corridor. Maverick emptied his shotgun into the mutant's head and let the weapon fall on Its sling. He groped for the HK MP 5 and brought it to bear.

But it wasn't needed. The combined firepower of the group finally cracked the beast's skull and destroyed its brain. Like hitting a light switch, the creature dropped to the floor.

Maverick stood up and approached the beast. He swung his light down either end of the tunnel to make sure it had no other companions waiting. From where he stood the mutant was nearly fifteen feet in length from the tip of its mandibled mouth to the end of its rump. The body reminded him of a huge hunting cat's, but it was covered in scales and tuffs of fur. The hind legs were powerfully built, and appeared that it could walk in bipedal mode if it wanted to. The fore legs were almost as long, but were oddly human like in their make.

Except for the six-inch wickedly curved claws at the end of its four fingers. There was nothing he could see down either end of the corridor. The goatish odor was overpowering. He could hear his companions approaching.

"Reload people. I hope that this fucker is the only one, but I somehow doubt it." He turned to face the others. Mitch was white as a ghost but did as he was told. The boyish smile disappeared off Joe's face like frost off grass when the sun hit. Matt Chance was frozen. His weapon at the ready. Maverick could make out his lips moving in the near total darkness. "Snap out of it Chance. You lose it, you get left behind."

Ged stopped him with her hand. "He keeps saying, Devils Attic, over and over."

Maverick stopped and looked down into the fear filled eyes of his young ward. "Screw this Geddy, we're going back to the gateway and we're gonna jump to a different redoubt. This place is too fireblasted dangerous."

Ged only nodded as she pulled away. Gitana clasped his hand and gave him a fear filled smile. "I think Amante, that would be the best idea."

As a single body they turned and started back the way they came. Then their lights caught movement from the intersection further on down. A second creature, similar to the first, only larger stepped out from the side corridor and roared.

There was no time to hesitate or think about their actions. Single members of the small band opened up with their weapons. Like the first creature, this one was hit by multiple rounds, which seemed to have very little effect on it. Maverick's HK clicked on an empty chamber and he popped the clip. "AP rounds!" He shouted as he ripped open one of his ammo packs attached to his web belt.

In her fear, Ged brought up the halogen flashlight and the intense beam hit the creature right in the tiny eye. Its scream was nearly human sounding as the light blinded it. The creature reared up on it's powerful hind legs and slammed down. The entire floor shook with the impact. Maverick opened up on the nightmarish creature just as both Joe and Mitch ran out of ammo. The teflon coated rounds from his sub gun were just what the doctor ordered. The beast reared again as his first three round burst smashed through its tough cranial plating.

Gitana and Ged both fired their weapons at the same spot. The effect finally toppled the terrifying apparition. It fell to the floor.

And right through it!

Years of run off from the sewers and the constant pounding of the redoubts inhabitant's feet finally weakened the support beams below the floor enough that it finally collapsed under the weight of the dead beast. The floor began to cascade down at a break neck speed. Before Maverick could react, Gedoena was swallowed by the expanding hole. Gitana who had been standing before him threw herself backwards and out of harms way. The hole stopped collapsing less than two feet away from where Maverick stood.

"Geddy!" Maverick shouted and grabbed the flashlight out of Gitana's hand. He shone it into the pit. About thirty feet below he could make out Ged's form lying on a pile of rubble. Cold fear gripped his heart as he thought that she might have been killed in the fall. But then she sat up and clasped her head.

"Geddy, are you ok?" He shouted.

"Daddy? Help me! I'm so afraid!" She cried back. He could see her looking around in fear. His light revealed a large open chamber. It looked almost like a waiting room of some sort, but he could make out a deep depression that his light was unable to penetrate running from the north to south for the entire length of the chamber.

"Hold on baby, I'm coming for you." He stood and slipped out of his pack. "Joe, Mitch, watch our six." He tore into his pack. Gitana knew exactly what he was going for and removed her pack as well.

Matt Chance spoke up. "Brett? The light hurt the creature. It only makes sense that they would react poorly to any source of light. Flares, flashlights, flash bang grenades, thermite. That should buy you the time to get her just in case they come back."

Maverick nodded his head. "Yeah, triple good idea." He said as he pulled out a coil of thin but incredibly strong rope. He tossed the rope on the floor and dug further into the pack and pulled out several grenades.

Gitana picked up the rope and tied it to a pipe that had been exposed. Maverick finished clipping the grenades to his web gear. He threw the rope over the edge of the hole. "Gitana, you and the rest make your way back to the gateway. Don't wait for us. Just hit the LD button and go back to the other redoubt. I'll get Ged and meet you as soon as I can."

"No Amante, I am going with you. I care for Gitana as much as you do and she needs me." She flatly stated.

Maverick felt the anger rising faster than a high tide during a full moon. "Fireblast woman!" He shouted at his lover. "You are carrying our fucking child now for once do as your goddamned well told to do. Don't fucking argue with me!"

Before she could reply slipped the flashlight into the collar of his jacket and started to shimmy down the rope. He reached the bottom of the chamber in seconds. Ged was waiting for him and wrapped her arms around him before he even let go of the rope. She was so terrified she was shaking and he could feel the fear. He stroked her hair gently. "Easy baby, I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you."

From above he could hear the sound of gunfire. "Amante!" Gitana's fear filled voice reached his ears. "They're coming from both sides."

Maverick could hear screams of pain mixed in with the chatter from the weapons. He handed his shotgun to Ged then shouted. "Get to the damned gateway and jump out!"

"Oh fuck." He heard Mitch yell. "There's dozens of them. Maverick could make out the flashes from the weapons fire. He could actually see the rounds burning throughout the blackness.

He jumped as Ged triggered the shotgun. Something in the darkness screeched and landed with a loud crash. Maverick shone the light in the direction of where the scream came from. He could see several man sized creatures coming towards them at nearly impossible speeds. The big survivalist didn't have the time to think he simply pulled the trigger on his HK and poured the entire magazine into the rushing mob.

Most of the attackers went down under the combined fire from his and Gedoena's blaster.

Most, but not all.

Three made it through the gauntlet. Two went straight for Gedoena, one for Maverick. The mutant girl dropped his shotgun and crouched. He could hear her growling low and deep in the throat. She lost it. Maverick remembered the times he had seen her lost in her blood lust frenzy. He almost felt sorry for the mutants.

His attacker came at him like a runaway freight train. Maverick easily jumped out of the creature's way, but was still shocked at how fast it could move and react. It recovered from the near miss and pivoted on its feet faster than he thought possible.

The beam from his flashlight gave him a perfect view of the beast. Unlike the first two, this one was still human in shape. From it's back sprouted a short stubby tail, and it's skin was greenish tinged. Scales were developing over portions of its body. The hair on its head was at best ratty and splotchy. He could swear he saw clumps falling out as it moved. The face was still vaguely human, but had a decidedly reptilian appearance. The lower jaw stuck out further than it should have. From the side's of it's mouth small mandibles protruded.

It's eyes were the worst to behold. They were still a bright blue but were deeply recessed into the bony skull. It was obvious to Maverick that the mutie before him was undergoing some sort of transformation into the beast he and his companions had killed above. Maybe this particular breed of mutie metamorphosed as it grew. He didn't know and he didn't want to find out.

The creature hissed and lunged at the Survivalist. There was no way Maverick could easily avoid it so he struck out with his fist as it approached. The uppercut connected squarely with the muties jaw. It rocked backwards from him and fell to the floor. The rags the beast was wearing slipped off to reveal a pair of scaled breasts. The muite was a female.

Not that sex meant anything to Maverick. In a fight for survival gender never came into play. He pulled his Desert Eagle out of the holster and fired three shots almost point blank into the creature's head. The first round made a small entrance wound but blew a fist sized chunk out of the back of the muties skull, taking an even larger portion of it's brain with it. The other two shots literally blew the muties skull to pieces. It was dead.

He turned to help his young ward. She didn't need it. The two mutants, similarly deformed to the one he had just dispatched had bitten off more than they could chew. He had seen his little girl go into a blood frenzy that would scare a Stickie out of its wits, and she was in one right now.

She was on the back of one of her attackers. Her left hand was buried to its wrist in the creature's back. Gedoena held the other mutie at arm's length. She had her talons clasped around its throat in a deadly embrace. He could see rivulets of blood pouring from below her talons. She was totally impervious to the pain of the muties claws as it tore the flesh of her arm. With a savage yank, she pulled the spine loose of the one she was on top of. It screamed and died.

Maverick wasted no time. He adjusted his aim and fired at the creature held in Gedoena's talons. The shot blew out its eye and most of its cranial matter. Gedoena tossed the blood slick spin away and took the muties head in her hand. With a savage twist she crushed what remained of its skull and tore the head from the neck.

Even Maverick was sickened at the sight. He knew his young ward had a blood lust un-matched by even the deadliest of muties he had seen in the Deathlands. He turned away as she ripped the creature apart with her bare hands. From above the sounds of a scream tore at him. He looked up and saw the latest member of his band in the clutches of one of the beasts. It had lost its grip on the edge and carried them both over.

Matt Chance howled in fear as he struggled with the creature. Fortunately for him when they landed the mutant was on the bottom. The landing stunned both the mutie and Chance. Maverick was on them in a second. He threw the scientist off the beast and pumped the last of his magazine into the creatures' head, killing it.

He reached down and hauled the quaking scientist to his feet and slapped him hard. "Fuck man, get a grip. You wanna lose it, you stay here and die." He shouted. He looked over at Gedoena who was coming down from her blood lust. He could see her shoulders shaking as the rush left her. "I'll be with you in a sec Geddy. Hold on baby."

Maverick popped the spent clip and placed it in a pocket. He pulled out another clip from his web gear, taking the time to make sure it was loaded with Teflon coated rounds. He slammed the magazine home and chambered a round. He moved over to Ged and placed on hand on her shoulder. "You ok Ged?"

She nodded without answering. He knew that the young woman was physically ill after having allowed the bloodlust take control. But she seemed to be getting better at controlling it. He felt proud of his young ward.

He looked up at the hole above. "Hey, everyone intact up there? Anyone get chilled?"

Joe peered over the ledge. "No one bought it Bro. But damned if those things don’t seem to be coming out of the woodwork."

Maverick nodded. "Tell me about it. Chilled four of the bastards down here." He glanced around the large chamber. The size surprised him. But it wasn't part of the redoubt. It was something else entirely. He had no idea. "My orders still stand Joe. I want all of you back in the Gateway and jump back to Redoubt Whiskey. I'll find a way out and meet you there as quick as I can."

"Could prove to be a big problem then Mav. The damned floor collapsed all the way up to the intersection. Too far to jump."

Maverick slammed his fist against his leg. Shit! That means they are going to have to try and find another way back to the gateway. Which means that they are going to be forced to explore the redoubt. With the muties running around, he didn't like the prospect of that at all.

"Ok. Take the left tunnel where the first mutie came from. Mebbe it'll curve around and come back towards the gateway. Check it out."

"How about we climb down with you?" Joe asked.

"Negative. Try the tunnel first. If that doesn't work, then we'll give your idea a shot. I am going to see if I can find a way out of here first. Make sure you get your comm gear on. We'll need to keep in contact as long as the walls of this place will allow."

Maverick walked around the chamber as he pulled the comm gear out from a pouch attached to his belt. He flashed his light around, taking in the sights. What ever the chamber had been, it was filled with centuries of mud and filth. If it weren't for the perfectly straight shape of the walls and floor, he would have sworn that he had been inside a natural cave. The floor below him was coated in a layer of thick clay. He had no idea how deep it was. He glanced over at Ged and Chance. He was putting on his comm gear as Ged covered him, watching the shadows for any sign of movement.

In the center of the chamber was a hut. He had been too busy with the battle to notice it before. The hut was about ten feet in height and about half again as long. In the near darkness he could just make out that it appeared to have been put together with thick branches and rocks. His curiosity got the better of him and he stepped up to the structure. He was shocked when he got a good look at it. The hut wasn't made out of branches and stones. It was made of human and mutant bones. He walked around it, noticing that Ged and Matt had joined him.

On the north side of the hut there was an entrance. A thick blanket made from dozens of bits of rags covered it. He carefully opened the makeshift door and looked inside. There was a table that had been made out of leg bones and rib cages. On the table rested bits and pieces of metal. He wasn't sure what the metal had once been. The chamber had what looked like a raised throne at the very back.

"What the hell is this?" Maverick muttered out loud.

Ged shook her head. "I have no idea. Never seen the like before. Seems to be something like a… " She paused searching for the word. "Either a throne room or possibly a small temple. But to what I don't know. It is quite possible the mutants have some sort of primitive religion."

Maverick nodded. That was possible. During his travels with the Trader he had seen all sorts of pre holocaust churches and places of worship. Some of the small villes he had been in still practiced religion, going to church every Sunday and paying homage to a god that didn't care whether humanity lived or died. He had also seen many of the inbreds and mutie temples. People worshipped everything from God to cabbage.

Gedoena entered the chamber and looked at the items resting on the table. She picked one up and looked at it. The item was a wheel. She replaced it and looked at the second item. It was a metal curved armrest. "I think this is the remains of a wheelchair."

"Huh?" Maverick said surprised. "These muties worship a fireblasted wheelchair?"

She nodded. "That would be my guess."

"Lets go Ged." He held the curtain open for the girl and she left the morbid hut.

He placed the light in his teeth and took the time to reload is HK. They were going to have to find a way out, and soon. Despite being loaded down with ammo, the mutants they were running into were exceptionally tough, and took a great deal of ammo to put down.

"You two ready to move?" He called as he walked up to the deep depression his light had revealed. It was long and about twenty feet wide. There was a small stream of foul looking liquid running down the center.

"Yes we are Brett." Gedoena answered him as she and Chance joined him. The man was looking around in fear, but to his credit he held the M-16 steady in his hands.

"Alright. Let's move." He followed the depression until it came to a solid wall. He debated taking the tunnel but figured that since the cavern was man made, and not natural, and the fact that a large group of the mutants had come at them from no where near the depression. To Maverick that meant that there had to be another tunnel or some sort of opening that led out of the chamber. He flashed his light down the wall, searching for what he knew had to be there.

"Matt? What are you doing?" Ged's surprised voice broke the survivalist's concentration. He turned and watched as the scientist jumped off the edge of the platform and bent down to pick something up. He held it in his hand as Gedoena helped him up.

"I saw this floating down the stream. I think I recognize it." He said as he held the strange plant out for Maverick and Gedoena to examine. It was some sort of flower, but unlike anything they had seen.

The survivalist shrugged. "So what? Just a mutie plant."

Chance sighed. "I believe it might be more than that. I think we might be inside the Devil's Attic Redoubt.

"Huh?" Maverick exclaimed. "You were saying that before the second mutant attacked."

Chance nodded. "Yeah. If this place is what I think it is, we're not in California. We're below Manhattan."

"Newyork?" He shouted in surprise. "Fireblast! I entered the right code into the targeting comp."

"I can't explain it. It's possible that the code might have been off and we jumped randomly, or it's possible that the code you used was correct, but for this location. And who knows, with the damage that the computer sustained a hundred years ago, it could have simply malfunctioned."

"I don't give a fuck if we're on the moon. We're getting the fuck out of this hellhole and we're going to jump back to Whiskey."

Gedoena interrupted him. "Matt, you said this was the Devils Attic. How do you know that?"

Maverick didn't wait for the other man to explain. He walked along the wall, looking for a way out of the chamber. Chance explained as he followed. "The redoubt was named after what the local homeless called this section of the Manhattan subway system. Back in the early 1900's a group of the cities rich and influential wanted to have their own private subway system, away from the common worker. They dug deeper than any of the tunnels had gone before. The private system was finished and had been running for only a handful of months, a couple of years at the most before it became too costly to maintain. Water seepage, collapse of the tunnels and other hazards spelled doom for the private system."

"Over the years it gained the name 'Devils Attic' by both the homeless that made the subway system their home, as well as the city workers who maintained the system. All sorts of rumors abound. Some thought that the system was too deep, and that it had been cursed by Satan himself for coming so close to his private domain. One thing was for sure, a lot of deaths, strange disappearances and accidents took place. It wasn't long before the entire system was blocked off and forgotten. Buried deep within the records of City hall."

"I had heard rumors, you know urban legends among the staff about a secret redoubt that was buried below Manhattan. I know that there is a gateway chamber located above us in the sub-basement of the World Trade centers, as well as at least one other somewhere on the island, or possibly in Jersey."

Even though the survivalist didn't show it, he was quite interested in hearing what the scientist had to say. He stopped and held up his hand as he spotted what he hoped to find. A small tunnel lead out of the chamber into the blackness. He stepped into the tunnel and shone his light. The powerful beam seemed to be swallowed up by the hellish darkness. He thought that he spotted the light being reflected off a pair of eyes but couldn't be certain.

Maverick pulled open one of the pockets on his jacket and removed several long strips of C-4. He placed them in the cold, slimy mud surrounding the opening of the tunnel. When he was finished he added a remote detonator. He saw Gedoena's questioning look. "In case we need to block our entrance. Mebbe we can take a couple of the mutie bastards with it."

The three continued down the corridor. He spoke into his comm gear. "Go on Chance. You were saying?" He figured that if he kept the man talking it would help take his mind off the mortal danger they were in.

The scientist cleared his throat and fingered the trigger of his blaster nervously. "Right. Anyhow, we heard that one of the other divisions, possibly Excaliber or Genesis had obtained a very unusual strain of virus from the Amazon basin. Something that thrived in a unknown species of Lily-pad. Legends were learned from one tribe down there that in the time of war, one of their own would consume the plant and undergo a metamorphosis of this special plant. The transformed warrior would be all but invincible and would kill the rivals without mercy or remorse. He wouldn't harm the members of his own tribe as long as he was fed a steady diet of the plant that contained the virus."

"Well, as it turns out, the government got their hands on this plant and began to test the virus. I heard a story how one of the scientists was infected by the virus while working down in the Amazon and disappeared for several long years. Later, around 1995 the Manhattan museum of Natural history was the site of several bizarre murders…."

The sound of Gedoena's Handguns drowned out the rest of his sentence. Maverick spun without hesitation and opened up with his HP MP5. Three of the human like creatures they had encountered in the chamber were less than a dozen yards from their position and were closing fast. Maverick was relieved that his ward had such sensitive hearing. It probably had saved their lives. The withering hail of lead cut the creatures down.

"Fireblast, how many of the fuckers are down here?" Maverick hissed, making his voice sound gruff so he could try to hide the fear that was eating away at his guts like a cancer. He almost pulled the detonator out of his pocket to close off the tunnel behind them, but didn't just in case that would be their only way out.

Maverick flashed his light straight ahead and was surprised to see that the tunnel seemed to be climbing gradually. At the very end of his light he could see what could be the opening to another tunnel or possibly a chamber. The smell was still oppressive, and the Goatish smell clung to everything like a damp cloth. He found himself sweating, even though the tunnel was cool.

Gedoena carefully reloaded the spent rounds of her handgun. "Come on Matt, continue."

He did so. "From what we learned, it appeared that the scientist that disappeared in the jungles had been transformed into a huge, hybrid beast. He had become some sort of creature that was a chimera of human, reptilian and insect DNA. He was lacking in the hormones and proteins that were produced by the lily pad and the human brain."

Maverick shuddered. "I guess that mutant brains would also have the same chemicals."

"Very observant Brett." Chance congratulated the survivalist. They had reached the opening Maverick had spotted a short time before. It opened to another chamber. A lot smaller than the one they had been in earlier. This one was just as empty. But it seemed to be lived in. He couldn't place his finger on exactly why he thought that.

"After the scientist was finally killed the government decided to do more research into the virus and figured that they could build a small redoubt in the Devils attic. As far as we could figure, they used the mat-trans below the twin towers to bring in the material and crews. Must have taken a couple of years but they finally got the redoubt constructed and continued to research the virus. Since they wanted to see the effects on the human body, they used the homeless who lived in the subway system as test subjects." He shrugged his shoulder. It appears that the creatures we are encountering are the descendants of those homeless that were used in the experiments."

Maverick nodded as he explored every nook and cranny of the chamber. There were piles of rags half buried in the dirt. Maverick noticed that the chamber seemed to be a lot drier than the one they had came up from. Even seemed, for lack of a better word, cleaner than the rest of the tunnel system.

"Watch the entrance Ged." Maverick ordered as he crouched and used the barrel of his HK to lift up the rags. He figured that they were either clothing or possibly bedding. He didn't dare touch the fabric for fear of what might be crawling in it. Since his immunization nearly a century in the past, he could care less about disease. But mutie insects are another story. He had seen several pretty deadly bugs over the years."

He switched his comm unit to broadcast. "Hey, Gitana, Joe, Feral, anyone of you copy?"

The signal he received in reply was weak but he could make it out. "We're here Amante. There is no way we could cross the hole in the floor. So We're gonna try the tunnel which the first mutie beast came from."

"Roger that. We're going to find a different way back up to you. Climbing back up is going to be a real pain in the ass." He stood up and looked around the chamber. What to do now?

* * *

Joe surveyed the numerous corpses that were scattered around the tunnel. They had killed more than twenty of the creatures. He shuddered to think of how the table could have turned if they didn't have the full auto blasters. He stole a glance at Montague. The soldier from the past was rock steady but he could see the fear radiating from the man's eyes. He couldn't blame him one bit. He too was more than a bit scared. He listened to the conversation between Maverick and Gitana. That was the best thing they could do at the time. He carefully stepped over the corpses, some of which were still twitching in a grotesque parody of life.

"Careful Joe. Those muties are triple nasty." Gitana told him, stating the obvious. He couldn't blame her. He too would be nervous if his lover had been separated from him. He paused and looked around the corner. The tunnel was empty. Though the Stignian Blackness still seemed like a physical barrier. A thought popped into his head and it struck him as odd. He was wondering what the mutant girl Feral was doing at this moment. He tapped the transceiver. "Feral, do you copy?"

There was no answer. He wasn't too surprised about that. The young woman barely knew how to use a fork and knife, let along something as complex as the radio head gear they were using.

Mitch Montague joined him and crouched. He kept his weapon aimed down the other tunnel. Joe was impressed that he had taken the time to tie flashlight to the barrel of his weapon. That would keep his hands free. He told the soldier from the past as much. The other man smiled.

Together they walked down the corridor. They walked for nearly five minutes before they came to another intersection. This one continued straight while the other turned to the right. That was what they were hoping for. One more turn and they would be lead back to the gateway.

"Did any of you notice how the corridor seemed to change elevation and direction slightly?" Gitana asked.

Joe shook his head. He hadn't. And from the look on Montague's face, neither had he. She explained. "It was pretty subtle, but I noticed now the water pooled in some areas, and how it seemed to flow in others. Also the fact that we never saw any obvious doors or the like."

Montague nodded. "Makes sense. They probably built the redoubt in the existing tunnel system, so they wouldn't be detected. Be my guess. Any large openings would be where they placed the workshops and other facilities. Probably are getting their power from a nuclear generator that is below the twin towers. They probably tapped into the local sewer lines and water mains and siphoned off what they needed that way. With the thousands of miles of pipes below Manhattan the amount of water this place would have used wouldn't have been noticed."

They began to walk down the tunnel. Overhead they could see several large gaping holes in the ceiling, as well as along the walls themselves. One particularly large hole had a horrific reek of rotten meat. Joe and Gitana knew exactly what it was from. Both had seen death many times in their lives. It was a burial chamber. With the humidity and filth, decay would have a field day.

So would the bacteria and viruses and other particularly nasty bugs. Both Seen and unseen. Morbid fascination caused Joe to aim his flashlight into the noxious chamber. He recoiled in fright. The chamber was rather large. He couldn't see the ceiling but figured it was at least thirty yards long by about twenty wide. The chamber was filled with corpses. Some of the corpses no more than skeletons, others were quite fresh. He could make out the remains of humans, Scalies, Stickies, deformies, animals of all shapes and sizes. He even spotted several corpses that were identical to the ones that they had chilled. But what had caught his eye was the beast that was sitting on it's haunches casually stripping off the fetid flesh from the thigh of a long dead Scalie woman. It wasn't a dumping ground for the dead, it was the redoubt inhabitants equivalent of a meat locker!

The beast spotted the light and turned. It was similar to the first two that they had killed but smaller. This one was about fifty percent larger than a normal man. The light caused the beast a great deal of pain and it roared. All three opened up on it, aiming for the head. Not only was the creature smaller than the first two, it wasn't quite as tough. The AP rounds made short work of its cranium. It dropped like a puppet with it's stings cut.

The smell and sight of the larder was too much for Montague. He dropped to his knees and heaved what little food was left in his guts all over the floor. Gitana and Joe both figured that the sound of the weapons fire would more than likely attract the attention of more of the redoubt's denizens. But there wasn't a thing they could do for the soldier.

Montague Dry heaved for several minutes before he could move again. "How the hell can you two stand that?" He said as he wiped bile from his chin.

Gitana looked at him sympathetically. "We've seen plenty of things like this. Mind you not as bad as this but death and decay are every day occurrences here. You just learn to shut it out."

Montague stood and brought his weapon up. He couldn't control it's shaking. "Sorry, feeling pretty bad right now. But don't worry about me, I can hold my own." He looked at the his companions oddly then handed his weapon over to Gitana who tried to protest but had to take it or drop it.

The soldier pulled his pack off and rummaged through it. He pulled out a block of C-4 and a detonator. He then replaced the pack and molded the charge along the opening into the chamber and along the wall and ceiling. He embedded the detonator into it and pocketed the remote control. Without a word he took his weapon from Gitana. Both the small Spanish woman and Joe looked approvingly at his handy work.

"Before we leave, boom! Cut off the cannibals food supply."

Joe took the point and all three continued down the long corridor. The approached each opening with caution. But fortunately nothing decided that they would make a tasty snack.

* * *

Feral screamed and covered her sensitive ears as the wave of blaster fire assaulted her. Even from such a far distance the weapons fire was painful. The tunnels seemed funnel and amplify it. But the sound of death was mixed in liberally with the fire. She felt herself hoping that none of her new companions were making those sounds. She shook her head as the last of the fire died. No, it wasn't her friends. It was what ever had made the redoubt its home.

She knelt beside her cougar and stroked its tawny fur. The large animal growled in fear. It didn't like where they were and Feral couldn't blame it. She cursed her curiosity and the strange need she had developed for companionship. She desperately wanted to see the sun again. Being cooped up with the foul smelling norms for weeks on end was taking its toll on her. But it was even worse on her cougar companion. The animal was wild, and she had to exert her will over it constantly to prevent it from losing control and attacking. But she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep it calm.

"I know. Smell like Spint. Much badder." She glanced out into the darkness. Unlike the others she could actually see. Not clearly but she could differentiate between the temperatures of the surroundings. She didn’t know the term for it but she possessed infrared vision. That gave her a distinct advantage over the others. She could still see the residual traces of the heat from their bodies where they had walked.

She took the large cougars ears and stared into its eyes. She closed her own and opened her mind to it. She made it clear that she wanted to go into the redoubt and find the others. Despite the harsh words she exchanged with the scarred leader she felt a strange urge to go after them.

The cougar growled deep in her belly to show her displeasure. But despite being an animal she had a special bond with the mutant woman. One of mutual respect and love. She considered the woman to be, for lack of better terms, her cub. And like any good parent, she couldn't let the woman go off on her own into the danger. She didn't want to see her cub killed. With the cougar equivalent of a sigh she stood and padded into the chamber, crouching past the open door.

Feral dug the Mini Uzi from her pack and attached the ammo clips to her web gear. She pulled a pair of earplugs from her pocket and inserted them. It would hamper her hearing but she could easily rely on the cougar to alert her to the presence of the creatures. The cougar would act as her ears, and she could count on her sense of smell and eyesight.

She chambered a round in her Uzi like Gitana had shown her and cat footed her way up to the intersection where the main battle had occurred. She looked down at the bodies of the mutants that had been chilled. They were almost the same temperature as the walls and floors. They cooled off very quickly. She could see the small heat forms of various small predators and insect that made the much and filth their home converging on the bullet ridden corpses. She turned away and quietly made her way down the corridor that branched off.

* * *

The scarred survivalist finished his brief examination of the chamber. For all intent and purpose, it appeared to be a sleeping chamber. But it struck him as odd that he couldn't spot any other exits. With the number of tunnels inside the redoubt, it was bound to have one.

"Matt, you stand guard for Ged." He ordered.

The scientist nodded.

"Ged, check out the walls. I'm willing to bet you a full meal in the finest eatery in the next ville we come to that there is a concealed tunnel or some sort of entrance located on the wall."

Ged, despite the danger they were in, smiled. "Deal Brett." She walked along the walls, carefully examining every square foot. Occasionally she would tap the wall to see if there was any change in the sound. It sounded like hitting a mud pile to the survivalist but the mutant girl would notice any change in the pitch.

He found himself getting bored. Out of curiosity he looked up and stared. There was a perfectly circular hole in the ceiling above him, about a yard in diameter. He could make out the rungs of a metallic ladder half concealed in the muck and filth.

"Uhh… Ged?"

She turned away from the tunnel and saw where Maverick was staring. Matt noticed as well. "I guess that is what you were looking for." Ged said.

The opening in the ceiling was about a yard above his head. There was no way he could easily leap and grab hold of it. It occurred to him that the mutants must have had some way of accessing it. He called the mutant girl to him. "I'll give you a boost, and since you’re the strongest of all of us by far, you can pull the rest of us up." He crouched and cupped his hands together.

Carefully Ged placed one of her oddly shaped feet into his hand and he boosted her up. It still surprised him how much the girl weighed. She certainly didn't look heavy. She grabbed hold of the lowest Run and pulled herself up.

"Keep your eyes triple skinned girl. Don't need one of those muties coming down on top of you."

Her voice sounded odd as she answered. "You don't need to tell me twice Brett."

He turned. "Matt, lets move."

The whitecoat backpedaled from the entrance, not turning away from it once. It was unnecessary because Maverick had it covered. But the survivalist found himself thinking that he would more than likely have done the same.

The whitecoat staggered in mid stride. He had spotted something in the darkness. Maverick took several long steps and grabbed the scientist by the jacket and pulled him back. "Move Chance!"

The whitecoat got over his sudden panic attack and stood under the opening. Ged had nimbly hooked her leg around the rung and was reaching down. Chance had to jump slightly but her grip was firm and sure. She pulled the scientist up so that he could take the rungs on his own.

Maverick decided to play it safe. He fired a double burst into the opening of the tunnel. There was a angered screech. It wasn't the deep throated, animalistic roar of the other mutant beasts that they had killed above. It lacked the bestial quality. He figured he had just shot one of the humanoid mutants. What ever it was, the bullets stopped its advance.

"Brett, grab my hand." He heard Ged call.

Maverick turned and ran for the opening. Matt was somewhere above him, and Ged was, as she had with Matt, hanging off the rung with her talon outstretched. The large man jumped and grabbed her wrist.

She hauled him into the chute as if he weighed no more than a feather. He grabbed the rung and hauled himself up. "Go Ged. You take the point. Matt will stay between us. And stay on triple red!"

"Don't need to tell me twice Brett." Chance said sarcastically. Any other time Maverick would find himself bristling at the comment, but he ignored it, taking it as a sign that the whitecoat was holding himself together.

Ged clamored past Matt with amazing gracefulness and speed. Occasionally it frightened the survivalist to see her in action. He was quite certain that she wasn't the product of random genetic mutation. The short time that he had been in redoubt Whisky, he had been privy to a lot of information. Genetic engineering was part of it. Chance seemed to know a great deal about things like that. If they made it out of the redoubt in one piece he made a mental note to himself to talk to the other man about it.

He wasn't sure how far the chute traveled. It could have been a couple of feet to several hundred yards in length. He stopped climbing and looked below. He could make out shadows moving in the blackness below.

The survivalist grinned evilly. He pulled a flash bang grenade from his battle harness and pulled the pin. They didn't waste any time in dropping it. "Fire in the hole" He shouted.

The grenade landed in the muck below and detonated. The trio hanging from the rungs was spared the worst of the effects. The creatures below however were not so lucky. The mutants had been born in the pitch-blackness and few had ever seen anything brighter than a cloudless night on their infrequent forays to the surface in search of food.

Light that rivaled the intensity of the noon sun exploded, instantly and permanently blinding the five mutant creatures. But the effects didn't stop there. The thunderclap slapped into them like a fist, knocking each one to the ground. None escaped deafness, and at least one would suffer from permanent hearing loss as long as it lived.

"Keep moving." He ordered. Danger from below was something that they wouldn't have to worry about for some time.

Ged reached the mouth of the Chute and carefully pulled herself out. She checked her surroundings. The chute was set into an alcove just off the tunnel itself. She shone her light down both directions and other than the ever-present damage from the quakes and nukes, the way was clear.

Chance and Maverick joined her. Once again the big survivalist pulled a wad of C-4 from his bag and placed it around the opening. As Chance and Ged watched he set the detonator and covered it up with the muck.

When the headgear crackled to life he jumped slightly and almost fell into the chute. He had to reach out and grab the rim. It was Joe's voice that startled him. "Maverick do you copy?"

"Affirmative. What's your status?"

"We've chilled another one of those big mutie critters. Still trying to find our way back to the gateway. But this rad blasted hellhole is like a maze. Had to detour several times and a couple of the passages we've tried have been blocked. But I guess we're getting close."

"Roger that. Keep moving. I figure we're on the same level as you, as we just climbed up from the lower gallery. Could be higher as well. Seems that we've re-entered the redoubt."

There was a slight pause on the other end. Finally Gitana broke the silence. "Amante, what makes you think that?"

"Simple. The room the mutie broke through was something that had been here a long time. It seems that the room we fell into was probably built over one hundred and fifty years or more ago. I figure after the skydark a lot of the redoubt was opened to the surrounding tunnels and subway system. The redoubt survivors simply expanded."

The big survivalist found himself growing impatient. He wiped the cool sweat off his forehead and hefted his re-loaded MP5. "Ok, enough jawing. Let's get back to the gateway and get the fuck out of here. My orders still Stand Gitana. You make it there, you jump out."

"Ok, Amante. Just come back to me and Chica."

"Count on it."

* * *

Gitana looked over at Montague and Joe. "Well, you heard him, let’s keep going. Besides, I don't think staying here is all that healthy. Probably all sorts of nasty bugs floating in the air."

The trio traveled for what seemed to be an eternity. They had taken so many turns, bypassed so many cave ins and dead ends, that it would seem that they were hopelessly lost. But Gitana had enough sense to leave markings indicating which corridors they had been in.

The darkness, combined with the foul taint to the air was nearly overwhelming. They had been forced to change batteries in their lights once, and would more than likely have to do so at least one more time.

Gitana was in the lead. She carefully stepped around a moldering pile of rotted flesh and bones that for all she knew could have at one time been one of the muties or one of the creatures victims. The way the light played off the gangrenous flesh gave her the horrors. It almost seemed as if it was alive and moving. The Spanish woman's stomach did a back flip when she realized that it was indeed moving. Some sort of insect had laid eggs inside the corpse and the larva's had hatched and were slowly consuming the flesh. A single insect, more than two inches long slid out of the flesh and seemed to hover in the air, almost as if it tasted the currents.

Montague shuddered in revulsion. "Damned, this world of yours is pretty disgusting, isn't it?"

The barrel chested man sidestepped the corpse, careful not to get too close. There were dozens of mutie insect species that could easily thrive on living flesh, as well as flesh of those long dead. Some, if not all of these species preferred warm flesh.

Montague held his hand up in the air and hissed between his teeth. Gitana and Joe both stopped and waited. Montague answered their unspoken question. "Thought I heard something." He sidled up next to the wall and leaned against it as much as he dared to. "I hear something for sure. Sounds like voices."

Joe kept his weapon ready and watched both directions of the corridor. Gitana stood next to the larger man and listened. Sure enough, she thought she could just make out the sound of someone weeping. It seemed to be coming from behind the wall itself. She played her light over the wall and then tested it with the barrel of her handgun. The weapon passed through the muck and continued. The wall wasn't solid here was it was elsewhere in the ruined redoubt.

She looked at the other two and they both noticed what had happened. Joe stood back and kept watch and Montague crouched Gitana pushed the barrel of her weapon right through until she met no resistance. She then pulled the weapon to the side and ran it around in a circle. It widened into a hole. The sound of crying grew louder as the hole widened.

She pulled her light out and shone it through the hole. She could just make out a small chamber on the other side. The light caressed the figures on the other side. Like a moth drawn to a flame, the filthy creatures came to the opening. The first one was a Scalie woman. Her reptilian green skin shone dully in the reflected light. From the clean trails that crossed the scale covered skin of her cheek, she was the one that Montague had heard.

"You." She hissed. "You here help us?"

Gitana could see Maverick in her minds eye as he would simply shake his head and say no. But she knew better. Any ally, no matter what it was, armed or not, would prove to be invaluable in this redoubt. Though deep down inside she knew that she was thinking if only as potential bait. "Yes, we're here to help you."

"What we do now?" The Scalie asked? Gitana noticed that at least six others joined the woman at the small hole. She could make out two more Scalies, three normal humans, and one deformaty.

"Widen this hole. Once it's big enough you can use it to get out." Gitana spoke and pulled away a large chunk of the clay like muck. The mutie understood and went to work. All of the people inside the chamber pulled at the wall, tearing chunks the size of a handful to larger than a dinner plate away. Soon the hole had been widened enough to let them all escape. A total of nine people were kept in the small room. All were naked and filthy. Several showed open wounds that were festering on their bodies. The site of the pathetic rag tag group sickened the woman.

"What were the creatures doing to you?" She said, careful not to call them muties as the Scalies, despite the fact that they were free, might take offense to the term.

"Food." The Scalie woman answered. "Usually chill and eat right in room. But sometimes take away." The mutant rubbed her arms vigorously to try and bring back some warmth. The chamber was down right cold, but not dangerously so.

Gitana remained silent. She knew exactly what happened to the captives that were taken away. They were killed and eaten. "Ok, well you don't have to worry about that. Let's blow this redoubt and head to the surface. The Spanish woman took the point while Joe took the rear. Mitch stayed with the group, placing himself in the middle.

They quietly made their way down the rubble-choked corridor. The group they had just liberated were sullen and quiet. Montague noticed that one of the humans, a male in his early twenties was eyeing the handgun he had holstered. The soldier snapped open the flap and handed the 9mm automatic to the man butt first. "Here, use it well." He handed all his spare magazines for the weapon over as well.

The man's eyes lit up like a child's at Christmas. "Thanks Outlander." He held the weapon against his chest with a reverant awe. Since he was naked, he had no place to carry the magazines except in his free hand. That might prove to be a problem when they next encountered the mutants. But at least another member of the group was armed.

Joe gave his handgun to one of the Scalie males who simply grunted his thanks, while Gitana gave both her handguns away. One of the twin blasters to the Scalie female and weapon to the deformity. Unlike many of the breed of muties she had encountered in her travels, the deformity had a glimmer of intelligence in it's eyes. She wasn't sure if it was a male or female due to the sheer amount of body hair it had covering its groin.

Giving their spare weapons to the mutants was always a dangerous proposition but at least it added the number of weapons that could be brought to play in a single battle. She opened the comm link. "Amante, we've found some prisoners. Broke them free. Going to take them to the gateway with us."

"You did?" Came her lover's incredulous reply. "Where?"

She sighed. Her lover could be so dense at times. "If I knew where Amante I would have us out of here by now!" She smiled, thinking how the comment would cause the warrior to bristle.

"Fireblast, why not point out the obvious to me?" He grumbled. "Ok, fine. Keep trying to find your way to the gateway." There was a short pause. "Watch your back baby." He said in a softer, less harsh tone.

"You too Amante."

* * *

Feral heard the approaching beast with plenty of time to prepare her attack. She didn't care for the noisy blaster but the sheer size of the mutant creature surprised her when she finally did see it. Her hand automatically brought the weapon up. At her side the mutant cougar growled loudly. Feral felt something she was totally unprepared for from the cougar. She felt her life long friends fear.

The mutant beast reared on its hind legs and roared a challenge. The creature's heavy tail swished back in forth in a frenzy of movement. The cougar snarled, in acceptance of the challenge. Before she could react the cougar crouched and leapt at the mutant.

A living whirlwind of fur and claws collided only a few yards before the amazed woman. Her hyper sensitive hearing picked up every growl, each slash and grunt. She could hear blood splattering the walls and floor of the tunnel. Deep in her heart she feared that it was from her friend, but the mental link they shared was still as strong as ever. She had to concentrate or she would have been lost in the same frenzy as her companion.

The spinning cloud of rage broke apart and the two beasts, one feline the other a hideous combination that nature never intended backed away from one another. The beast was bleeding from several deep slashes that stitched their way across its broad torso. Feral could see that her companion faired only slightly better. There was a large chunk of flesh and fur missing from her right shoulder and she was favoring her left hind leg.

Feral brought the Uzi up and thumbed the selector to full auto. She kept her eyes on the large beast and sent the mental image of a tongue of flame licking the creature. The cougar growled but backed away.

The mutant mistook the movement as retreat and it once again reared up on its hind legs and roared. The triumphant howl reberverated throughout the long corridor and nearly deafened the wild woman. She screamed in return and pulled the trigger. The UZI spit out its entire load in mere seconds. For a woman who barely had ever used a blaster, she did an admirable job. Almost all of the thirty rounds found their mark. She walked the full auto fire up the creature's stomach, blowing gaping holes and shredding the monster's intestines and stomach. She didn't know it at the time but the gun had been loaded with a mixture of Teflon coated armor piercing rounds and mercury tipped hollow-points. The combination was deadly. The rounds punched through the mutant's chest, then ripped through its neck. One round pulped the mutant's spine and instantly paralyzed it from the neck down.

The mutant collapsed to the ground and tried to howl. But the blood from the wounds on its neck sloshed down into its lungs. The beast would have drowned in its own fluids if the wounds had not already been so mortal.

Her cougar companion roared and struck the beast as it died. She pulled the creature's head from the ruined remains of the neck and shook the grizzly trophy with all her considerable strength. Feral remembered to remove the spent clip from the weapon and replaced it with a second, fresh magazine. She knew that she didn't have that many left, so she would have to be a lot more careful with her shots.

With a final snarl of angry defiance the cougar savagely whipped her head to the side and let go of the creatures blood soaked remains. The head flew into the wall and was embedded in the cool goo.

"You hurt." Feral whispered as she crouched beside the feline. She locked eyes with it and the cougar's thoughts immersed themselves in her mind. The large animal made it perfectly clear that it was nothing. She gave the woman images of things she found far more painful in the past.

Feral shook her head and ran her fingers through the grimy fur on the cougar's back. "No, you not ok. Hurt. Will get sick. Turn bad." She pulled her canteen off her web gear and opened it. She took a long drink then poured some of the cold liquid into her hand for the cougar to lap up.

With all the tender loving care she could muster Feral carefully poured the water over the wounds and did her best to clean them out. The large animal growled and snapped, but never moved a muscle. It took several minutes but she got the worst of the filth out of the claw and bite marks. "There. Better. Not good but will help." She wrapped her arms around the animal and nuzzled it. The cougar relaxed and purred slightly.

The cougar sent images of moving through the tunnel into Feral's mind then showed her images of First Joe and then the rest of the group. She finally brought up the image of the leader, Maverick.

Feral nodded in understanding. "We go."

The two life long companions treaded down the corridor as carefully as they could. Both woman and animal had their senses strained to the max in an attempt to hear or smell potential danger before it discovered them.

They came to an intersection and stopped. Feral was unsure which way to go. She turned and looked back the way they had come. It would not be difficult for her to follow the same trail back. At the very least she could follow the scent they left behind. Her cougar companion growled and flattened her ears against her skull. Feral turned and leaned in the direction her friend was looking in. Somewhere in the distance she could make out the sounds of a large group approaching. She didn't know if it was the creatures or her friends. There was only one way to find out. Feral lifted her Uzi and cat footed her way towards the sound.

* * *

Maverick, Chance and Gedoena spent nearly fifteen minutes of travelling before they finally came to a familiar sight. They found the cross roads where the first mutant had been killed. The survivalist smacked his fist into his hand and grinned. "Ace on the line! We're back up. Now it's just a matter of time before we catch up with the others."

Ged grinned from ear to ear and Matt looked greatly relived. "We're not out of the woods yet Brett." He grumbled.

Maverick nodded. "True. But we're getting triple close now." He tapped the comm gear. "Joe, Gitana, do you copy?"

The line was silent.

He tried again, but still silence greeted him. "Shit. Either the gear is losing power or there is something blocking the transmission."

Matt tried his own headgear. He too, was unable to make contact. He looked at Maverick and shrugged. "Gotta be some sort of interference. We could hear each other easily enough."

Maverick nodded. He resumed the point and Ged fell into the last place. They walked in silence. All three people were tense and alert. But not once did anything try to accost them. Following the trail left by Gitana, Joe and Montague was not all that difficult. They were the only people wearing footwear. The rest of the tracks were either clawed or made by bare feet. The trio passed the creatures Larder. Maverick grabbed Chance and propelled him forward as quickly as he could. Even the sight revolted him, a man who had seen death in its many of forms. He didn't want Chance to see it. The man still had to get used to the world.

The trail led them to where the others had broken into the chamber and released the prisoners. Maverick was certain he could hear something moving in the chamber and killed his light. The others followed suit. He knew that Ged could see him perfectly in the darkness. He motioned her to join him and she stood by his side. "Ged, take my hand and lead me to the mouth of the chamber. Tell me what you see and where they are. I'll nail them with the light, you open up on what ever you see."

"Ok Brett."

She pulled him along and took his arm that held the light. She aimed it to the right and whispered in his ear. "There are three of them. The humanoid types that we saw." She paused and he could detect the change in her voice. "They see me."

Maverick didn't hesitate. He flicked on the light and Ged opened fire on the creatures. Her aim was sure and true. Her fire took the monstrosities out in rapid succession. But the problem is that they were burning through far too much ammunition, too fast. The big man didn't want to admit to it but he was starting to get very worried.

"Joe, Gitana, Montague, do you read me?" He tried his comm gear once again. This time he picked up a burst of static then heard something. "….Te…bre….whe….you?"

He shut it off. "Fireblast, to much interference." He took the point yet again and continued down the corridor. "Let's pick up the pace. We're not too far from the others. The sooner we join them, the better."

Despite the extra prints from the freed prisoners crossing and in many places and blurring the boot marks made from their companions, they were able to follow the trail. Maverick wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "Seems like we've been tracking through these triple rad blasted tunnels forever."

The three of them stopped and leaned up against the wall to catch their breath. Maverick noticed that Chance was breathing heavily and sweating profusely. The man was very pale. He felt a twinge of pity for the scientist. But couldn't help but admire the man's resilience. If Maverick was tired, the other man must be almost dead on his feet. "Are you gonna be ok Matt?"

He took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes, I will be. I have not much of a choice in the matter, do I? If I get left behind, the mutants kill me."

Ged took his arm and placed it over her shoulder. "We won't do that Matt." She turned and glared at her surrogate father. "Would we Daddy Brett?"

He shook his head. "No, I won't leave anyone behind."

Ged pushed it. "What about Feral?"

"What about the stupe? She fireblasted well refused to come with us. Though now I sure don't blame her." He said angrily.

The mutant girl knew him better than he knew himself. "You would have gone back for her. I know it."

Deep down inside he realized that he probably would have gone back to get her after they found their way out. But he refused to admit that to Ged. "C'mon, lets triple time it. We can't be far behind.

Ged held up her hand and stopped the survivalist. She looked down the corridor and hissed. "I can hear more of the mutants approaching. They are still quite a way off, but it sounds like a lot of them." She dug her talons into Matt's arm and pulled him along. She paused and looked at the survivalist. "What are you doing?"

Maverick had pulled slipped his pack off his shoulder and was pulling some fishing line out from it. He tied the end to the pin of a fragmentation grenade and embedded it in the rusty dirt encrusted pipes that showed through a hole in the wall. He tied the other end of the line to another pipe and made sure that it was taunt. In all it took less than thirty seconds to complete the task. He grinned savagely. "Leaving the mutie fuckers a little surprise." He could now hear the approaching pack and decided to move his ass.

* * *

Gitana nearly cut the mutant woman in half when she suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The girl had taken refuge inside one of the many huge cracks that were embedded into the wall of the redoubt from the earth shaker triggered quakes that rocked the country from sea to shining sea. She barely pulled the weapon away in time. "Feral! Stupe chica, I nearly chilled you!"

"Feral sniffed the air, feeling oddly relieved to see the small woman. "Not know if you. Had to hide. When smelled you, knew was ok." She actually smiled when she saw Joe. "You ok?" She asked.

Gitana thought the question was directed at her. "Yes we're fine. Picked up a couple of prisoners."

Feral had noticed that fact. She thought that at first it might have been more of the mutants, but knew it couldn’t be when her hypersensitive nose picked up the scent of Gitana and Joe. She didn't like the fact that there were Scalies with the group. They, like most mutants, had a very bad reputation.

The cougar growled and flattened her ears along her skull. The armed members of the newly freed prisoners brought their weapons up in order to defend themselves. Gitana sensed the impending confrontation and did the only thing she knew she could to stop it. She crouched and rubbed the felines head and neck with her free hand. "Shh… Hush pretty lady. They are not your enemies."

The cougar growled even louder at the touch. Gitana was insistent. Feral's feline companion relaxed and let raised her ears. "Atta girl." Gitana said calmly. Deep down she was frightened. Any sane person would be but she also knew that animals could detect fear. And to show the half-wild mutant could very well spell her own doom. So she forced it down in the same place she held her hatred for the Scalies that were with her. After all, it had been one of their kind that nearly had succeeded in raping her. She had the scars on her upper arms as a permanent reminder.

"Can we go?" One of the unarmed Scalies asked in a hushed voice. The mutation that gave the humanoids their name seemed more pronounced in the barely adequate light of the electric torches they carried.

Joe nodded. "Yeah, we'll go. Don't know how we're going to find a way out easily or not but we're going."

Feral grinned. "Stupe. Follow." She turned and placed her hand on the cougar's back. After having traveled several yards she stopped and threw a look over her shoulder. "Coming?"

The barrel chested man shrugged his shoulders and grinned sheepishly. It just occurred to him that the mutant woman had to have found them from an alternate route that led back to the gateway.

The motley crew of survivors and warriors joined her and she suddenly held her hand up and hissed. "Quiet." She craned her head in the direction they just had come from. "Big noise. Like pop. Screams."

Joe turned and threw a questioning look at Montague. He shook his head and spoke out loud. "Don't look at me, I didn't do anything. Think it could be Maverick and the other two?"

Joe nodded. "Hopefully. I doubt that the muties we've chilled have any explosives." He scratched the two day growth of beard on his chin. "Seem too primitive."

Gitana looked back the direction they had come. "I think we should go back. If it was Brett, we should join up with him."

"No. Maverick made it clear that we are to head back to the gateway. He's a mean son of a bitch and any of these stupe muties cross his path will find themselves pushin' up daises." Joe told her as he took the small woman by the arm.

She pulled her arm from his grip. "Yes, he did." Her voice calmed. "Sorry Joe. Your not to blame. I shouldn't take it out on you."

Joe shrugged. "I'm worried about them as well. But I've never seen a man that has survived that much and just seemed to come back for more. He'll bring Chance and Ged back with him."

She opened the link. "Amante, do you copy?"

The voice was filled with static but she could hear him. "…opy you …tana."

"We've met up with Feral and her cougar friend." She said relieved to hear her lovers voice coming in stronger than before.

"Aff….itive. …going…. Wards the gate… jump…. As soon…. Copy?"

"I copy Amante. We'll see you back at Whisky."

"…Out."

Gitana nodded and stepped in right behind Feral who led the group back the way she had come from.

* * *

Maverick winced as he heard the grenade go off. He figured that they had been walking for at the most two minutes in a fairly straight line. The creatures were definitely getting closer.

"Fireblast. We better double-time it. We can't be that far away from the others. And the muties are gainin' triple fast on us."

His head gear crackled to life. "Amante…. You…py?"

"Yeah, I copy you Gitana."

"We've…. Up…. Feral and …. Ougar….. end.

He repleated what he heard to Ged and Chance. Despite the static he could understand what she was saying. "Affirmative. Just keep going towards the gateway and jump out as soon as you get there. Do you copy?"

"I…y Amante."

He knew that they were just ahead of him and if Feral joined them, they have a clear route back to the gateway. That was the best news he had heard since they jumped out of redoubt Whisky.

Ged looked apprehensive. The survivalist sighed and asked. "What is it Ged?"

"I don't know if Matt can keep up with us." She said.

"He has no choice in the matter. He has to keep up with us. If he doesn't, he'll die. It's as simple as that Ged. You know it and I know it."

"But you said that we weren't going to leave anyone behind." She cried.

He regretted that instantly. "I know. And I don't break my promises to you either Geddy. So if worse comes to worse you can carry him. After all, you’re the strongest person I have ever met."

"Now hold on just a minute!" Chance snapped. "I can keep up. I won't be carried." He was angry and his voice carried the indignity he felt. "I sure as hell won't be carried like I was some sort of cripple."

Throughout the conversation they hadn't stopped walking. Maverick didn't turn his eyes away from the tunnel ahead of them. "Swallow the pride whitecoat. I made a promise and I won't break it. I'll get you and Gedoena out of here. If it means her carrying you, that is what we'll do."

Matt stopped and grabbed the survivalist by the shoulder. "Now just a min…" He never got a chance to finish the sentence. Maverick whirled and slugged him right in the jaw. The blow staggered the whitecoat and he would have fallen if Gedoena hadn't grabbed his arm.

Maverick stabbed his finger at the man. "Listen up you stupe bastard. You'll do exactly as your told. Any other time I would argue the point with you. But I got us into this fucking mess and I will get us out of it. When it comes to a live or chill situation, you are to follow my orders without question."

Matt Chance shook his head and spit out a wad of blood. "Yeah, I hear asshole." The other man was about to raise his weapon but Ged stopped him.

"Don't Matt." Was all she said.

The survivalist turned his back on the two of them and started to walk down the corridor. "Don’t ever think of drawing on me again Chance." He called out over his shoulder. "You do, I'll chill you on the spot without hesitation."

Chance shook with rage. Ged could see that he wasn't used to being treated like that by anyone. He may have been a whitecoat and was forced to do some unpleasant things, but every man has his pride. But she smiled inwardly Whether or not Maverick realized what he was doing, it was exactly what Chance needed. Maverick had inadvertently had taken the other man's mind off his fear and replaced it with anger. She reached out to the man but he pulled away.

"I can keep up. Just go." He snapped.

Maverick heard his comment and started an easy loping jog down the corridor, carefully keeping his light aimed at the floor the entire time to help them avoid any debris or obstacles that could at the least cause them to stumble and fall or at the worst break a leg.

Ged was close behind him, but kept her pace matched with that of Chance. She allowed her tail to drag in the mud so as to keep it from tripping the scientist.

The trio jogged for almost five minutes when Maverick brought them to a stop. He pulled out another chunk of C-4 and placed it around the tunnel wall. Ged watched him and listened. The creatures were still following but were doing so much slower than they had been. It was quite possible that they had

He stopped for two reasons. He knew that he had been harsh on the whitecoat but it had been for his own good. He wanted to plant another trap for the mutants that were pursing them, and figured that he should give the others a rest. He quite literally could run circles around both as he was incredibly fit. Even though he was sweating profusely from the travel, he was barely winded.

"We know that the others are together and I would guess that we could safely blow the charges that I planted behind us. Might just chill some of the muties as well as slow em down."

Chance had his hands on his knees and was breathing heavily. "Yeah…. I think your right."

"You gonna make it Chance?" The warrior asked gruffly as he embedded the detonator into the gray putty like substance.

Matt looked up and straightend. He was pale and sweating badly from the ordeal but nodded. "I'm ok."

"Good." Maverick turned and resumed jogging. Matt sighed and followed. Gedoena was right beside him and smiled encouragingly. Somehow the mutant girls smile seemed to lend strength to the man. He knew he was going to make it.

* * *

The group of suvivalists and former prisoners reached the heavy door that blocked the rest of the redoubt out from the gateway. One by one they crawled under the doorway and stood in the nearly black tunnel. Joe was the last one to clear the door. He looked at the group gathered and couldn't help but smile. Everyone in the group was covered from head to toe in filth. There was a man from the past, a mutant cougar, a half-wild woman with hyper senses, and a group of humans, Scalies and deformies. Human and mutants banded together despite the racial differences. Survival can make strange bedfellows.

He faced the group. "We're going to wait for them aren't we?"

Gitana nodded. "Yes. He's going to be mad but I won't jump without him."

Bennett smiled. "He'll get over it."

One of the Scalies stepped forward. "We trapped." It hissed. How are you going to get us out of here?"

Gitana stopped. She hadn't thought of that. "You'll be getting out of here through that." She pointed down the corridor to the room containing the gateway chamber.

The scalie pushed his way past her and looked into the chamber. He turned around and snarled. "How? I don't see any stairs or ladders."

She sighed and pushed down her revulsion. "Trust me on this. You'll make it out of here."

Gitana almost jumped when the comm link in her ear went off. "Gitana, do you copy?"

The line was almost totally static free. They must be close. "Loud and clear Amante. We're at the gateway now."

"Great! Jump out right away. I don't know how far we are from you but the trail you left us is clear." She could hear a loud explosion over the link. "Whoa, that sure must have hurt!"

"What did you Amante?"

"Left several surprise packages for the muties. Just detonated one." She could actually hear several more explosions. Though they were muffled badly. "Uh, make that detonated several. That should keep them off our tail long enough to make it back. How are you doing for ammo?"

"Not good, but not as bad as we could be. I figure we've fired off about half our rounds. Mebbe a little more." She answered as she checked her ammo pouches.

"Ok Gitana. Hit the gateway and I'll see you soon."

She grinned. "As you wish Amante. See you soon!" She broke the connection.

She turned and faced the group. "Now we wait."

* * *

As Maverick killed the connection he saw Ged's eyes grow wide with fear. She lifted her weapon and opened fire, just barely missing the big man. Chance Yelled as Maverick spun on his heels and opened up with the MP 5. He swallowed in fear. The corridor less than ten yards away seemed to be a solid wall of mutate flesh. He couldn't fathom how the creatures had managed to get so close so quickly. He had no time to think about it.

About six or seven of the creatures were felled by the withering wall of fire from the small group. Maverick burned a clip in seconds flat and backed up, dropping the now useless magazine to the floor. The creatures were slowed down from the fire but not stopped. He knew they needed a distraction.

He let the blaster fall on its sling and ripped three grenades from the harness. He didn't know what they were as he didn't have the time to check. He tossed them underhand and beat a hasty retreat. "Run!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.

They made it about another twenty yards before the grens detonated one at a time. There was bright flash and a thunderclap as one went off. A flash bang grenade. The creatures howled in rage and agony as the light burned out their optic nerves.

The third grenade detonated and he felt a sickeningly sucking sensation. It was an implode grenade. That would make short work of the creatures.

Ged was almost one hundred yards ahead. She had a firm grip on Chances arm. He knew it would be pointless in calling for her to wait. The fight or flight instinct. Typically in the woman it was fight. But she was smart enough to know when to run.

Despite his peak physical condition he was starting to feel winded when he finally caught up with the other two. They didn't dare stop for long as they could hear the radiation blasted monstrosities quickly closing. "How many of the rad blasted freaks are there?" He asked out loud?"

Chance shook his head as he gasped for breath. "No… Idea."

"Ged, carry him." He ordered and pulled out another chunk of explosives from his pocket. That was the last of it unless he wanted to take the time to dig more out. And he didn't want to do that. He didn't bother to hide it this time around. Instead he slammed the detonator home and took off running once again. He was pleased to see that Ged didn't argue, or for that matter Chance as well. She was carrying the man the way a mother would carry a child. It looked ungainly but at least he didn't have to worry about them.

When he figured they were far enough away he thumbed the detonator for the C-4. A powerful explosion sent a heated shockwave his way and slammed him in the back. He staggered but didn't fall. From behind he could hear the sounds of tortured metal and concrete crumbling and collapsing. He smiled a warriors smile and kept running.

It wasn't long before they reached the intersection where they had killed the second creature and blew a hole in the weakened floor. He could make out the light coming from below the opened sec door. He could also see feet mulling about. The man felt a surge of frustrated anger. They didn't jump. He turned and looked down both tunnels. He knew that he had to set charges and blow the place before more of the creatures arrived.

The survivalist crouched and began to rummage through his pack. He jumped when a hand touched his shoulder. "I couldn't leave you behind Amante." Gitana's soft voice caressed his ears.

He grunted as he pulled out a fresh block of C-4 and a handful of timed and remote detonators. As angry as he was at the direct disobedience that his friends showed towards his leadership, he felt a wave of love and pride for the small woman. He unwrapped the block of C-4 and tore it in two chunks, handing one and several detonators to his lover.

"Here. Coat the wall and floor ahead of us, near where it collapsed."

Joe, Montague and Feral joined them. He forced himself from smiling and concentrated on the job at hand. "Keep watch. We chilled a shit load of the freaks but probably not enough."

Joe and Feral kept their weapons at the ready while Montague went to work. By this time several of the freed captives joined them and were watching with a mixture of hate, apprehension and fear. Maverick paid them little heed. Time was too short and he figured that the surviving freaks could attack at any time.

He stopped working as the thought hit him. "What the hell am I doing? We should have jumped!" He stood and placed the last detonator into the putty like substance. He had taken the time to set the detonator to both remote and timed. He gave themselves fifteen minutes to make the jump. If something went wrong he could always shut the timer off remotely.

Joe joined him and clapped him on the shoulder. "I was wondering the same thing Brett me boy. But I know how stubborn and head strong you can be so figured I'd just let you do your thing."

He faced the assembled group. Ok, everyone into the gateway, now. Chance, I want to hit the LD button on the targeting comp." Chance nodded and ducked under the massive sec door. The group of survivors followed him sullenly."

Gitana stood beside him and took his hand in hers. "I was wondering when you would show up."

"The gates of hell couldn't keep me away from you. And this place is about as close as I have ever seen to hell on earth." Maverick replied and squeezed her hand. "Now get your little ass into the gateway and get ready to jump!"

Feral walked past and looked at the couple. She wrinkled her nose. "Smell very bad Amante."

Deep down Maverick laughed but didn't reply. He could see the mischievous twinkle in the woman's eyes. She was teasing him. "Yeah? So do you Feral, now take your stinking carcass and your overstuffed cat with you and get into the gateway."

He turned and watched looked down the corridor. Movement caught his eye. He stole a glance down the opposite corridor and could see movement approaching rapidly. "Fireblast. Here they come." He remembered a saying he heard in a movie once. "Let's rock!" And he opened up with his blaster.

Montague and Joe began to fire their weapons as well. They carefully chose their targets, making every shot, every burst count. Ammo was getting too short to waste. They killed a good dozen or more of the humanoid mutants as they retreated down the hallway towards the armored sec door. Mavericks eyes widened in shock as two of the huge chimera mutants loped side by side towards them, acting in sense as a living wall to protect the hoard of creatures behind them.

"Detonate the C-4!" Montague cried as he dropped the spent clip from his weapon and slapped a fresh one home.

"Can't. Chill us as well. We put up enough to bring down this entire section of the redoubt." Maverick answered as he pumped all seven shells from his SPAS 15 into the right hand mutant.

It roared and staggered but didn't stop. Both were larger by far than the others that they had seen and chilled. The shots tore great globs of flesh from the creature's body but barely slowed it. He dropped the weapon on its sling and brought his MP5 up. Just as his back hit the cold clammy surface of the blast door. "Joe, Mitch, under the door. I'll cover and when I say close the fucker." He added to himself silently, if it will close.

Maverick fired four bursts at the approaching horrors. He spent over a third of the weapons magazine in a heartbeat. The effect of the shots varied. The armor piercing rounds made short work of the thick bone layer that protected the creatures cranium, while the hollow-points penetrated even deeper and shredded the brain of the left hand mutant, stopping it in its tracks. The other bursts did nothing but anger the right hand creature even more.

It was so close he could smell its fetid breath and knew it was time to make his break for it. He ducked and slipped under the doorway and shouted. "Close it!"

Montague hit the code to close the door. Nothing happened. He managed to jump back out of the way as the right hand creature swiped at him from under the doorway. It managed to snag part of his pant leg and the force of the blow pulled Montague off his feet. He yelped in fright.

Joe brought up his shotgun and fired at the creature's arm, hitting it squarely in the wrist. The shot was perfect. It tore through the scaled flesh and muscle. The shot nearly severed the wrist from the mutants powerful limb and was enough to let Montague pull himself away.

Maverick saw several more of the creatures, the humanoid ones trying to crawl their way under the door. They were going to make it. "Get to the gateway!" He pulled the last of his grenades off the harness and backed away. He tossed the lethal ball underhand and turned. The timer was set of five seconds, as most grenades are.

He didn't bother to wait to see the results of the weapon. He turned tail and ran for the gateway control chamber. Joe made it inside first, then Montague. Maverick brought up the rear as the weapon detonated. He turned around and closed the doorway, seeing even more of the creatures making their way past the corpses of the group the gift of predark technology chilled.

The doorway to the control chamber closed with a final click. The group breathed a sigh of relief. "That was triple close."

"Yea…." Joe began to answer when the grate above exploded downward and smashed into his back. The big man was knocked right off his feet. Several of the mutants dropped into the room and charged at the three men. Maverick chilled one with the remaining rounds in his MP 5. Three more burst from another vent across the room.

The next seconds were some of the longest the man had ever witnessed. His hand scrambled for the Desert Eagle holstered at his side. One of the creatures attacked Montague and the other went for Joe.

The big bored blaster just cleared the leather when the mutant attacking Joe tore its claws down his right side, neatly shearing the clasps holding his body armor in place. Joe raised the shotgun and smashed it with all his might into the creatures skull, splitting it open like a eggshell. But the creature wasn't done. With its dying gasp it lashed out and ripped open Joe's exposed stomach.

"NO!" Maverick screamed as the weapon cleared the holster and he brought it up. The creature fell and Joe dropped to his knees, desperately trying to hold his intestines in. The wound was horrific.

Montague fired the last of his magazine off into the creature attacking him, blowing it straight off its feet. Maverick snarled in inhuman rage and methodically pumped two shots into the last three mutants, pulverizing their torsos. The big rounds were not to be stopped.

Joe gasped and collapsed on his back. Maverick rushed over to his friend and checked for a pulse while Montague reloaded his weapon. He could feel one but it was weak. He looked over at the gateway and noticed that it was empty. "Montague, get the door open."

The predark soldier did as he was asked and Maverick dragged the body of his friend into the chamber. He could see the gray, greasy loops of the man's intestines pushing past the torn flesh of his stomach. "Oh shit…."

Montague joined him and he was about to close the door when Maverick shouted. "No, wait. You shut it we'll make a random jump. I'll get the LD button, you watch my back." As he spoke he jumped up and ran out of the chamber. Montague had little time to get himself in position. The main doorway to the control chamber began to shudder as Maverick reached the targeting counsel and hit the Last Destination button. He turned his back and raced for the gateway just as the door shuddered once again and a huge crack appeared in the wall next to the hinges.

"Brett, I don't think he's gonna survive the jump." Montague told him as he entered the gateway and slammed the doorway shut.

"He's dead either way. So he might as well die with friends and not at the claws of those fuckers." The survivalist bit out as he sat down. The disks began to glow and a fine mist began to form.

Montague nodded. "True enough." The entire chamber shuddered as the huge creature that they had wounded slammed its impressive bulk into the chamber wall. The lights of the disks flickered but then came back to full strength.

"Shit!" Maverick yelped as the beast hit the walls again. But the Mat trans program wouldn't be denied. The mist thickened and Maverick saw sparkles dancing like fae lights. He found he couldn't keep his eyes open and the blackness claimed him.

* * *

The big survivalist came around to the noise of people moving around him hurriedly. "Quick, get him to the infirmary." He heard someone call. Maverick held up his hand in protest then opened his eyes. Chance and Feral had Joe and were lifting him out and placing him on a gurney.

Montague was still out as Maverick stumbled to his feet. He felt like shit and looked even worse. The jump was pretty bad and he felt nauseous. Gitana was by his side and helped him into the familiar control chamber. She kissed him hard on the lips despite the stench and filth. "Welcome home Amante."

On the outside of the gateway chamber he collapsed to the floor. He felt more exhausted than he had ever been before. His system was pumped up for what seemed to be hours on Adrenaline and he was coming off it.

"Hey." He said suddenly as his head snapped from side to side. "Where are the former prisoners you rescued?"

"We decided to send them on their way. We gave them clothing, weapons and food and showed them to the door. Made sure that we locked it up tight after they left. They know where this base is but won't be able to get in."

"Atta girl." He slurred as he forced himself to stand. "God, I am so tired." He found his legs were rubbery and would need sleep soon. His body had been through far too much as of late.

"We all are Amante." She helped her lover negotiate the corridors to the dorms. Maverick dropped his weapons on one of the beds and stripped off the grimy layer of clothing and tossed it in the garbage. No point in keeping it when they could get more easily. He and Gitana stepped into the shower and cleaned off. Both were too tired to consider making love.

The shower was quick and the man felt infinitely better. He collapsed on the nearest bed and was asleep instantly.

* * *

When he awoke he found fresh clothing waiting for him. His weapons had even been cleaned and reloaded and were within arms reach. He spared no time in getting dressed and armed himself then left the chamber. He went straight for the infirmary.

Joe was lying on the bed sleeping. As he entered. Feral sat in a chair beside him and was leafing through a magazine, looking at all the pictures. Her ever-present cougar companion was beside her. She looked up without expression.

Maverick couldn't help but grin. Both at the fact that his friend was still on this side of the dark river and the fact that Feral stayed beside him. "How's he doing Feral?"

"Better. Almost chilled." Her voice was cool and calm. If she was worried she didn't let it slip.

The cougar padded over to Maverick and rubbed her sleek head against his leg. Feral smiled slightly. "She happy you better."

He ran his hand over the cougar's skull and scratched it behind the ears. It purred slightly then swatted him with her paw and returned to Feral's side.

"She happy but not that happy." Feral smiled and patted the huge cat.

Maverick stood and looked down at the barrel chested man. They had been through so much together in such a short period of time. The man was pale but his chest rose and fell steadily. Maverick clasped the man's shoulder.

"Who did the operation?" He asked quietly so not to wake up his friend.

"Matt. Doctor. Fix good." Feral replied and stuck her nose back into the magazine. She couldn't read but did enjoy looking at the pictures.

Maverick nodded and quietly left. He headed for the mess hall and grabbed a meal for himself. He sat down and was about to dig in when he got the sudden urge to see the sun again. To breath fresh air. It was almost overpowering. He stood and carried his meal with him. He had no idea where the others were and with the exception of Gitana didn't really care.

The guilt of his stubbornness that nearly got the entire group chilled weighed heavily on his shoulders. As he walked through the deserted redoubt he thought of all the mistakes that he had made. If Trader or Ryan had been there none of those mistakes would have been made.

Maverick made his way to the main entrance and opened the huge sec doors. He sighed and shook his head. Some leader he turned out to be. Pride, stubbornness and the inability to think his way through a situation.

He stepped out into the bright afternoon sun. It was pleasantly warm and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The pure Azure blue of the sky was such a rare sight to see in the Deathlands. After literally weeks locked up inside the base his eyes hurt like hell as the natural light assaulted him. But he took it in stride.

He walked over to a small pile of rocks near the entrance and sat down. The hot sun beat down on him but he relished it. Maverick would not tempt fate again by using the Mat Trans. Too many bad things had happened for his taste. But the trip to the Coast wouldn't be so difficult. They had the Arma wags and plenty of weapons and food. Fuel would be a slight problem but he would be able to trade, find, or steal what they would need for the trip.

His leadership brought them to the very gates of hell, but he knew that the mistakes he had made would not be repeated. He was smart enough to realize that.

The big man leaned back against the rocks and lost himself in thought.

End of Devils Attic.