Free Tainted Cascade by James Axler Page B

the longblaster, Ryan ambled closer. “Any sign of our…boots?” he asked, stressing the last word.
    â€œNot here,” Jak said meaningfully, looked sideways at the undamaged wag. The fighting in the cage had finally stopped, and several of the prisoners were stretching their arms between the bars to try to reach something on the ground. Obviously, during the ruckus, the key had accidentally dropped into the grass.
    â€œAnybody see who sold us to the slavers?” Ryan asked in a loud, clear voice. Walking closer, the man lifted an ammo pouch from his belt, hefting it in a palm. “There’s a reward.”
    Unfortunately, nobody had seen the transaction.
    Getting the water skin from under the wag, Doc passed it around, making sure that nobody had more than a sip the first time, but then allowed them to drink freely the next. “There’s a river just that way,” Doc said, indicating the direction with his chin. “Plenty of clean water.”
    â€œLots to eat, too,” Jak said, thrusting a spare knife into the rump of a dead horse. “Long as you don’t mind raw meat.”
    Mumbling excitedly, the freed prisoners expressed their sincere opinion that raw meat would do just fine.
    â€œMister, I could eat the ass off a swampie if it held still long enough,” a tiny wrinkled woman said, her flowing hair silvery-white with age.
    Snorting in amusement, Jak tossed her the knife. She made the catch and started for the animal.
    â€œBefore that, which one of you is the skinny guy that kicked the slaver off the wag?” Ryan asked, looking over the assemblage.
    â€œThat was me,” a burly man stated, stepping out of the crowd.
    Only a split second behind the man was a skinny woman, her breasts flaps of loose flesh on her bony chest.
    â€œNuking liar, I did it!” she shot back defiantly. “Me!”
    â€œShut up, bitch,” he growled, raising a clenched fist.
    Moving fast, Krysty pressed the muzzle of her longblaster against the side of his throat. Instantly, he froze in position.
    â€œBest to let her speak,” Krysty stated, thumbing back the hammer with a loud click.
    Casting a glance at the muscular legs of the naked man, Ryan then looked at the skeletal woman and rammed the wooden stock of his longblaster into the stomach of the man. Air exploded from him in a wheezing gasp, and he collapsed to the grass softly moaning.
    â€œHe eats last for lying,” Ryan stated, resting the stockof the weapon on a hip. “But you get a blaster, water and food from the stores of the slavers, plus a pair of boots for helping. But we keep any of the live horses. Savvy?”
    Her eyes wide in astonishment, the woman nodded her understanding, her pale tongue licking her chapped lips.
    After a moment, Ryan jerked a thumb. “Take whatever you want, then start walking.”
    Hesitantly, she started forward, then scurried to claim her prizes from the dead and took off for the trees with amazing speed.
    â€œAnybody that goes after her will get an arrow in the back,” Ryan declared, staring hard at the assembled people.
    They nodded, looking at the fleeing woman with a mixture of avarice and raw envy.
    Minutes passed before the running woman reached the trees and vanished into the thick foliage.
    â€œOkay, everybody else go eat,” Ryan directed with a curt wave.
    Drooling with hunger, the starving people descended upon the dead animals, clawing at the hide and ripping off chunks of raw meat with their bare hands, stuffing the gobbets into their faces like wild animals.
    Staying in a group, the companions headed for the second wag. Ryan took the lead, with Jak in the rear. The teenager’s longblaster was primed and cradled in his arms in case of trouble. Unchained slaves were always grateful to the folks who freed them for a while, but often a few of them would turn on the very people who set them loose. Mildred had once said it was aform of