Free The Crocodile's Jaws: An Alice in Deadland Adventure (Alice, No.7) by Mainak Dhar Page B

stay there!'
    An explosion rocked the other side of the bus and Alice was lifted
by the impact and thrown several feet away. Two men came at her, carrying old
rifles. Both looked like the addicts she had seen so far, wearing tattered
clothes, with ancient weapons, and with scaly skin all over their arms. Alice
knelt and put a three-round burst into one man's stomach and the man went down
in a heap. The second one knelt and took aim but Alice stitched him with
another burst that sent him down.
    An impact on her back sent her staggering. The men directing
the attack had used the addicts as cannon fodder to distract her and reveal her
position, and had flanked her, bringing fire onto her from behind. Alice rolled
into a shallow ditch on the side of the roads and turned to face her attackers.
More firing rattled in the distance. Presumably John was still alive and
fighting back. Men shuffled among the buildings ahead and she took aim.
    That was when a voice spoke in a strange accent.
    'Give up or we kill the boy.'
    Zohar.
    Alice watched with a sinking feeling as a large white man
emerged from the buildings, dragging Zohar forward with one hand, while in the
other he held a pistol pointed at the boy's head. He was flanked by two
addicts, both carrying automatic rifles pointed at Alice. Has it just been her,
Alice might have taken her chances, but she was not going to sacrifice an
innocent boy.
    'Put down your weapon.'
    Alice did as she was told and then sensed movement behind
her. She barely had time to look back when two men rushed at her and put a
cloth sack over her head and hit her head with the butt of a rifle. Alice fell
to the ground as the men bound her hands behind her while the man holding Zohar
called out to her again.
    'Resist and I blow the boy's head off.'
    Alice's head rang from the blow and she struggled to her knees
when a kick to her back sent her down again. She could see nothing with the
sack around her head but she could hear Zohar crying and the occasional pop of
gunfire. There were more attackers out there who seemed to have John and Bunny
Ears pinned down. Hands pulled Alice roughly to her feet and she was dragged
away and loaded onto a vehicle of some sort. As the vehicle started moving, she
felt a comforting hand on her leg. It was Zohar, sobbing uncontrollably.
    'I'm so sorry. I couldn't fight them off.'
    That focused Alice. She had no idea who her attackers were
or where they were taking her, but she needed to be strong for Zohar.
    'Don't worry. I've got out of worse situations before,' she
said, not entirely believing her own words.
    'Shut up!'
    A kick to her back rocked her forward, and Alice was quiet.
They drove for several minutes and then the vehicle stopped and Alice was
hustled out and thrown into some other vehicle. As it began moving, Alice
sensed that they were on water, on a boat of some sort. It was rocking from
side to side and she heard the sound of waves lapping the sides of the boat.
    Where were they taking them?
    They kept going for some minutes and then the boat slowed
down considerably and rocked violently as large waves hit it. She was dragged
upright and pushed forward. Spray hit her body and Zohar gripped her leg tight.
The boy's hand was shaking in terror.
    'Nikolai, that is not a very polite way to treat an honored
guest. Please take off the sack.'
    The big man who had captured her yanked off the sack, and
Alice blinked, trying to accustom her eyes to the sudden light. What she saw
took her breath away.
    The city of Karachi was well behind them, and they were out
to sea. Alice had seen the sea from the airplane when she had flown to the Homeland
but had never actually been in it. The vast expanse of water stretching all
around her filled her with awe and dread. But even that was not the thing which
most shocked her. In front of them was an immense black apparition that sat
half submerged in the sea. Alice would have thought it was some monstrous
creature had she not seen the