“Good. Then we should reach the library without any problem,” Blade said.
“Yeah,” Mel cracked. “Unless we run into one of the… things.”
“I’ll protect you,” Blade assured her.
“I hope so,” Melissa stated. “Being eaten alive by one of those ugly suckers isn’t high on my list of things to do.”
Blade nodded toward the doorway. “Walk slowly. And remember what I told you. Don’t try anything funny.”
Mel moved to the doorway, stopped, peered into the hallway, then walked from the room.
Blade stayed glued to her heels.
They descended the stairs to the ground floor and reached the front door.
Melissa hesitated, her right hand on the doorknob.
“Let’s go,” Blade goaded her.
Mel took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and opened the door.
The night air was cool and crisp.
Blade followed the Leather Knight as she hurried down the cement steps to the street and took a left. She kept to the middle of the streets as she proceeded into the murky bowels of St. Louis, constantly scanning the surrounding buildings for any hint of movement or the slightest sound. He lost track of the route they took. The few remaining street signs were vague markers impossible to read in the eerie gloom. Ominous rustling noises and scratching sounds emanated from gutted structures and darker alleys.
Melissa drew up short as a loud hissing issued from the mouth of a gaping alley.
Blade prodded her with the Commando barrel. “Keep going.”
“I don’t like this,” Melissa muttered nervously. “I don’t like this one bit!”
Blade nudged her again. “I’m right behind you.”
Mel glanced over her left shoulder. “I hope Terza feeds you to Grotto!” she snapped. She resumed their journey.
Blade stared into the impenetrable alley as he passed, but he couldn’t see a thing.
The sooner they reached the library, the better!
Mel increased her pace, evidently equally anxious to reach their destination.
Headlights appeared at the far end of the street they were on.
Blade gripped Melissa’s right shoulder and shoved her toward the left sidewalk. “Take cover!” he ordered.
Melissa blinked.
Blade pushed her, causing her to stumble and almost fall. “Take cover!” he repeated, his tone a threatening growl.
Melissa crossed to the sidewalk and crouched in a dim doorway.
Blade joined her, flattening his powerful frame against the right jamb.
“Don’t make a sound!” he warned her.
Blade ran his finger along the Commando trigger.
It was a Leather Knight patrol, five riders moving at a leisurely pace, packed close together, every one of them armed to the teeth.
Blade watched Melissa, wondering if she would betray him.
The patrol passed without incident.
Blade waited until the five bikers were out of sight to the west. “Thanks for not giving me away,” he said.
Melissa rose. “Don’t thank me,” she said angrily. “I just didn’t want to get caught in a crossfire.”
Blade stepped into the street. “Okay. Lead out.”
Mel frowned and took to the street again.
Blade’s mind drifted. Even after he freed Rikki, he was still facing a major problem—namely, how to raise the SEAL to an upright position. If the transport weren’t flat on its side, he might be able to use leverage by inserting a huge board or limb between the SEAL and the ground. But as it was, leverage was impractical. Then how could they manage it? Without the vehicle, none of the Warriors would be able to return to the Home. The distance was too great and the dangers insurmountable.
There must be a way!
Melissa led the Warrior ever inward, block after circuitous block. The gigantic skyscrapers blotted out the stars overhead. Instead of being freshly invigorating, the night air became dank and foul. The residents of St. Louis were not meticulous about their personal or civic hygiene; piles of rotting garbage and rodent-infested trash filled most of the alleys.
Just when Blade began to doubt the Leather Knight was really leading him to the library, she stopped and coughed.
“There it is,” Mel said, pointing across the street.
Blade could distinguish a huge building about 20 yards off, utterly devoid of life and light. “There aren’t any guards,” he whispered suspiciously.
“Why should there be?” Mel countered. “Who’d want to break into the library? There’s nothing there but a few moldy books.”
“But what about keeping your prisoners from breaking out?” Blade asked.
Melissa laughed. “No way.”
“You’re that confident?”
“No one busts out,” Mel assured him.
“You don’t know Rikki-Tikki-Tavi,” Blade said.
Melissa took a step away. “Well, you won’t be needing me any longer.”
Blade covered her with the Commando. “Yes, I will.”
“But I brought you here like you wanted,” she protested.
“Now you’ll take me to where they’re holding my friend,” Blade told her.
“And what if I don’t?” Mel challenged him. “What are you gonna do. Shoot me? The noise will attract the others.”
Blade patted his left Bowie. “I could always use this,” he said. “Or this,” he added, touching Rikki’s katana.
Melissa got the message. She turned and headed for the library, moving cautiously, manifestly nervous.
Blade sensed something was wrong. She had been antsy on the way here, true, but not like this. She was acting… different. Had she lied? Were there guards posted outside the library? Was she attempting to lead him into an ambush? Was it likely to—
A machine gun opened up from the direction of the library.
“No!” Melissa screamed, throwing her arms up. “It’s me! Mel! Don’t shoot!”
Her cry came too late.
The street around them was struck by a zigzag pattern of slugs.
Blade heard Mel grunt as she was hit. She doubled over and fell forward, and in that instant he spotted the flash of the gunner hiding at the top of the library steps.
So! She had tried to trap him!
Blade was caught in the open. If he endeavored to reach cover, the guard would have ample opportunity to fill him with lead. In the microsecond it took him to perceive the threat and evaluate his position, Blade decided on the timeworn course of action prove in innumerable conflicts: the best defense is invariably a good offense. He charged the library, weaving back and forth, firing from the hip, going for the gunflash on the library steps.
A bullet nicked his left thigh.
Blade executed a diving leap for the tarmac, scraping his elbows and the katana’s scabbard as he rolled to the left and came up on his knees, the Commando pointed at the library stairs. He fired a burst in a sweeping arc.
Someone shrieked, and a moment later a woman toppled from the deeper shadows at the top of the steps and tumbled to the sidewalk.
Damn!
They’d probably aroused every Leather Knight in St. Louis!
Blade rose and ran to the prone form on the sidewalk. The woman had been shot in the chest and was oozing blood from a cavity where her right breast had once been. He turned and raced up the stairs to the glass doors.
Please let them be open!
He gripped one of the handles and yanked, and was rewarded by the door flinging outward.
The interior of the library was, if anything, even darker than the outside.
Where the hell would Rikki be?
Blade ran down a wide corridor, his footsteps creating a hollow echo as he pounded from door to door, his boots smacking on the tiles, searching for his fellow Warrior. Four doors opened into stark offices. The fifth revealed a massive chamber filled with bookshelves. Most of the shelves were empty.