“Hickok!” Chastity shouted, her hands pressed to her cheeks, her eyes panic-stricken saucers.
The ape flung the M-16 to the dirt and bared its fangs.
Hickok took several swift strides backwards, his hands hovering near his Pythons, a sneer on his lips. He wanted to lure the beast farther from the girl.
Drooling and grunting, the monstrosity took the bait and lumbered after the human in buckskins.
“Hickok!” Chastity yelled once more.
“Piece of cake,” the gunfighter assured her calmly. His hands flashed to the Colts, and he planted the first two shots in the creature’s beady eyes, the slugs tearing into the pupils and bursting out the rear of the mutant’s cranium. In a fit of pique, he shot the thing twice more in the face, each blast causing the creature to stagger and weave, and with the final round the ape toppled onto its back.
Chastity saw the gunman twirl the pearl-handled Colts into their holsters. “You did it!” she exclaimed in relief.
“There was never any doubt,” Hickok said.
She ran to him and wrapped her arms around his legs. “You saved me.”
Hickok leaned over and picked her up. “I’d never let anything happen to you, princess.”
Chastity impulsively kissed him on the right cheek. “I love you,” she blurted out.
The Warrior pecked her on the forehead. “And I reckon I’m right fond of you.”
“I’d be the happiest girl in the world if you’d be my daddy,” Chastity said hopefully.
“I told you that I need to ponder the notion,” Hickok reminded her.
“You’ll say yes,” Chastity predicted.
“You sound very confident,” the gunfighter observed.
“I’ll pray to God,” Chastity said. “Mommy always said God will answer our prayers.”
Hickok looked at the rim of the pit. “Time for us to mosey on. Let’s climb to the top. Hang onto my neck,” he advised, squatting so she could climb aboard.
Chastity attached herself to his neck. “All set.”
The Warrior reclaimed the M-16 and slung the automatic rifle over his left arm. “Here we go,” he said, and gripped the pole. With deceptive ease, moving hand over hand, he ascended the shaft to the surface. After swinging his legs onto the edge, he clambered to a standing position.
“Carry me piggyback,” Chastity prompted.
“I can’t,” Hickok said. “Climb down.”
“Why can’t you?” she inquired.
“I need to have my arms and hands totally free in case we’re attacked again,” Hickok answered. “So climb down.”
“You’re no fun,” Chastity groused, but she slipped to the ground.
Hickok gazed at the deceased mutant. “We were fortunate. The Spirit smiled on us.”
Chastity scanned the forest. “Which way do we go?”
“We head east for a spell,” Hickok replied. “First we’ll locate Rikki, and then we’ll go after Blade.”
“Which way is east?”
Hickok pointed in the appropriate direction. “The sun always rises in the east and sets in the west. Remember that, and you’ll be able to keep track of your location.”
Chastity went to take a step, then paused and stared at the corpse.
“Where do you suppose it came from?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. Get going.”
“I’ve never seen one like it before,” Chastity remarked.
“Me neither. Let’s go,” Hickok urged her.
“Do you think there are more just like it?”
“Most likely,” Hickok said impatiently. “Where there’s one, there are bound to be others.”
Chastity glanced at the vegetation. “Would they be near here?”
“Don’t fret,” Hickok responded. “Any other critters are miles from this spot.”
A roar of unbridled rage proved the gunman wrong a moment later as a trio of mutated apes charged from the forest, converging in a feral fury on the man and the girl.
There was no time to unsling the M-16. Hickok drew the Colts and fired the right Magnum, then the left, and each shot was on target. One of the mutants was hit between the eyes and flipped backwards. The second mutant angled to the right as the Warrior fired, bearing down on Chastity, and the movement saved its life. The bullet intended for its forehead instead perforated the fleshy portion of its cheek and exited through its ear. Stunned, the beast doubled over in agony.
Chastity bolted for the woods.
Hickok pivoted and triggered the Pythons, both slugs tearing into the third ape, ripping into its chest and spinning it around in its tracks. He thumbed the hammer on his left Colt and sent a shot into the creature’s brain, and as the mutant crumpled he turned his attention to the injured ape. Too late.
The wounded brute rammed into the Warrior and encircled him with its skinny arms, the impact of its assault propelling both of them rearward.
Hickok felt his feet leave the ground, and with a start he realized they were going over the edge of the pit. The beast’s lurid features were within inches of his own, its yellowish fangs spearing for his throat. If those glistening teeth didn’t get him, the ten-foot plunge just might. He smashed his forehead into the ape’s nostrils and twisted, jerking his body in a spin to the left, his momentum upending the creature and reversing their placement so that the mutant was on the bottom when they landed with a bone-jarring impact.
The beast released its prey, arched its back in torment, and tossed the human aside.
Hickok rolled to a stop on his abdomen, dazed, the Pythons clenched in his hands. If he didn’t recover before the mutant, he was a goner. His chest ached terribly, but he suppressed the pain and forced his arms and legs to function, rising slowly and facing his bestial foe.
The mutant was already up.
Hickok elevated the Colts, his reaction sluggish, and he was unable to shoot before the ape took two steps and swung its left arm, connecting with his right temple and knocking him over.
The thing uttered a triumphant howl.
On his left side in the dirt and debris, dust swirling about him, Hickok looked up at the creature as it advanced. He raised his right arm.
With a savage snarl, the ape pounced, its knobby knees driving into the Warrior’s midriff, its right fist pounding the gunman on the jaw.
Hickok nearly blacked out. A wave of vertigo washed over him, and he could taste his blood on the tip of his tongue. Another blow snapped his teeth together, and he abruptly perceived that he was on the verge of losing his life. What a stupid way to die, he mentally noted, killed by a deformed monkey!
The ape locked its fingers on the gunman’s throat.
“Leave him alone, you bad monster!”
The pressure on his neck unexpectedly loosened, and Hickok took deep breaths to clear his head. He gazed upward, astonished to behold Chastity at the pit rim.
“You leave my new daddy alone!” she shouted defiantly.
Distracted by the yells, the ape was glaring at the child, its lips twitching, crimson flowing over its chin and ear.
“Leave him alone, you meany!” Chastity hollered.
The mutant roared and beat its fists on its chest.
Momentarily ignored, Hickok used the reprieve to gather his strength, feeling his senses returning to normal. He blinked rapidly, and happened to glance at the earthen floor in front of him. A tingle of excitement galvanized him as lie spied a veritable godsend: the Uzi! He’d forgotten all about it during the fight!
Having decided the girl was not a threat, the ape was turning toward its original adversary.
Hickok dropped the Colts, seized the Uzi, and tucked the stock against his chest as the mutant completed its turn; he flicked off the safety as the creature bent forward; he squeezed the trigger when the ape’s nails were within a hand’s-breadth of his throat.