<meta><title>109</title></meta>
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- <p><quote>I count six of them<ch.ellips/>and a truck,</quote> says Rickenbacker, as he peers through the dirty windshield at the distant bridge: <quote>They<ch.apos/>re from Yuma,</quote> offers Cookie. <quote>Puma scouts. Probably part of the group that came lookin<ch.apos/> for me.</quote></p>
+ <p><quote>I count six of them<ch.ellips/>and a truck,</quote> says Rickenbacker, as he peers through the dirty windshield at the distant bridge. <quote>They<ch.apos/>re from Yuma,</quote> offers Cookie. <quote>Puma scouts. Probably part of the group that came lookin<ch.apos/> for me.</quote></p>
<p>Carefully you assess the situation. A frontal attack on the bridge could prove costly, and the long whiplash aerial that you see fixed to the clansmen<ch.apos/>s pick-up can only mean that they are in contact with their base at Yuma. It would not take very long for their leader, Pentagon, to send reinforcements if the scouts radioed that they were under attack. The foul, black waters of the Gila River may look uninviting, but at least they are shallow and fordable, and it would be easy for you to circle around this bridge in the pick-up and cross further upstream, where you could not be seen. However, no matter how shallow the water, the convoy<ch.apos/>s buses would never make it. No, the only way the convoy is going to reach the Imperial Reservoir is by crossing here at this bridge.</p>
<p>Rickenbacker, who has been given a transceiver by Pop Ewell, radios the convoy to inform them of the situation. At once they suspect that Cookie is trying to lead you into a trap. He denies the charge, and in order to prove his good intent, he offers to try to lure the clansmen away from the bridge.</p>
<p>Pick a number from the <a idref="random">Random Number Table</a>.</p>
<meta><title>149</title></meta>
<data>
- <p>As you enter the pass and approach a section where a rocky outcrop overhangs the westbound Lanes of the freeway, you notice a glint of sunlight reflecting off something perched on the peak of the outcrop. It occurs to you that it could just be a trick of the light, but it could just as easily be a clan sniper lying in ambush!</p>
+ <p>As you enter the pass and approach a section where a rocky outcrop overhangs the westbound lanes of the freeway, you notice a glint of sunlight reflecting off something perched on the peak of the outcrop. It occurs to you that it could just be a trick of the light, but it could just as easily be a clan sniper lying in ambush!</p>
<choice idref="sect96">If you wish to bring your roadster to a halt, <link-text>turn to 96</link-text>.</choice>
<choice idref="sect348">If you decide to continue through the pass without slowing, <link-text>turn to 348</link-text>.</choice>
</data>
<p>It is an hour after dawn when the fortified gates of the Davis-Monthan base are unlocked and dragged open. With a reassuring smile, you bid farewell to Kate, and then accelerate the roadster out of the base along the pot-holed asphalt of a service road that leads to Interstate 10. Beside you sits Gary Rickenbacker, an ex-flying circus stunt pilot from Midland, Texas. He is one of the Big Spring colonists who joined up with DC1 when your convoy reached that town, the first of the few civilized strongholds you have visited on your journey west. In your driving mirror you see Macy and Langdon, both from Tucson. They are the other half of your scouting party. They drive a supercharged Trans-sol that is sheathed in grey armour-plate, a custom modification that has saved their skins on more than one occasion.</p>
<p>You hit the freeway doing sixty-five and follow the blistered road signs pointing north to Casa Grande. Thirty minutes later you pass through the fire-blackened ruins of Rillito and Marana, two towns the Outlaws torched last month to show the Tucson colony what Shiloh had in store for them.</p>
<p>Ten miles slip by before you reach the next town<ch.emdash/>Red Rock. There you see something unusual, which makes you ease your foot off the gas and bring your roadster gliding gently to a halt. Macy and Langdon pull up behind you, leap out of their car, and run forward to find out what is wrong.</p>
- <p><quote>Check out the wreck over there on the road,</quote> you say, pointing to a car parked outside a derelict drugstore.</p>
- <p><quote>What d<ch.apos/>you think?</quote></p>
+ <p><quote>Check out the wreck over there on the road,</quote> you say, pointing to a car parked outside a derelict drugstore. <quote>What d<ch.apos/>you think?</quote></p>
<p><quote>That sure weren<ch.apos/>t there the last time I drove through this place,</quote> answers Macy, squinting at the distant vehicle. <quote>An<ch.apos/> that was jus<ch.apos/> the day before yesterday.</quote></p>
<p><quote>If there<ch.apos/>s Outlaws in that town, we<ch.apos/>re gonna have to flush <ch.apos/>em out. If they get word back to Shiloh about the convoy, we<ch.apos/>ll have his entire gang come down on us like a ton o<ch.apos/> bricks,</quote> says Langdon, as he unbuckles the holster-flap covering his pistol.</p>
<p>You agree with him and propose a plan. Two of you will enter the town and search the buildings in the area near where the car is parked. They will flush out any Outlaws that may be hiding there. Meanwhile, the other two will skirt around the town and wait on the far side at the freeway exit. If the Outlaws attempt a getaway, they will prevent their escape.</p>
<p>You look over Cutter<ch.apos/>s shoulder and see two Tucson men holding Rex Tyler firmly by the arms. Fear is stark in Rex<ch.apos/>s eyes as another Tucson colonist launches a stream of questions at him, and jabs him repeatedly in the chest with his index finger.</p>
<p><quote>Why are they holding Rex?</quote> you ask, growing concerned for your friend<ch.apos/>s safety.</p>
<p><quote>They reckon he<ch.apos/>s the killer,</quote> replies Cutter.</p>
- <p><quote>But Rex wouldn<ch.apos/>t hurt a fly,</quote> interjects Rickenbacker.</p>
- <p><quote>I can<ch.apos/>t believe it<ch.apos/>s him.</quote></p>
+ <p><quote>But Rex wouldn<ch.apos/>t hurt a fly,</quote> interjects Rickenbacker. <quote>I can<ch.apos/>t believe it<ch.apos/>s him.</quote></p>
<p><quote>Neither can I,</quote> says Cutter, <quote>but it was his knife they found in Gorgas<ch.apos/> chest.</quote></p>
<p><quote>What<ch.apos/>s gonna happen to him now?</quote> you say.</p>
<p><quote>I guess we<ch.apos/>ll have to give him a fair trial<ch.emdash/>it<ch.apos/>s the least we can do. Only it<ch.apos/>s gonna have t<ch.apos/> wait. Macy and Langdon have spotted some Outlaw scouts on their way here. They<ch.apos/>re heading a large pack, judging by their numbers, and they<ch.apos/>re only <ch.apos/>bout three hours away, so they reckon. I hope you two didn<ch.apos/>t find no trouble in Sentinel <ch.apos/>cause we<ch.apos/>d better move out now if we<ch.apos/>re gonna stay ahead of those clansmen.</quote></p>
<p>Outside you find a pick-up truck. It was the vehicle Mad Dog used to reach the lodge ahead of his clansmen. Now these Detroit Lions cannot be too far away, and they have been reinforced by an additional contingent of Chargers. Quickly the four of you jump into the truck and head west, driving cross-country until you rejoin the freeway near a small town called Boulevard.</p>
<p>During your escape, Cutter makes radio contact with Pine Valley and tells them that you are on your way. He also warns them that you have a clan army hot on your heels. <quote>Don<ch.apos/>t worry <ch.apos/>bout them,</quote> comes the reply. <quote>We<ch.apos/>ve got a little surprise in store for those guys. You just keep your foot down and don<ch.apos/>t stop for nothing, y<ch.apos/>hear?</quote></p>
<p>All of you are puzzled by the message; then, as you reach a high peak called Crestwood Summit, you hear the roar of a jet engine, approaching from out of the western sky. It is a fighter aircraft, and Kate is the first to see it as it skims the top of Long Valley Peak and comes screaming towards you, tracking along the line of Interstate 8.</p>
- <p>Captain Ed Hughes makes a mental note of his air speed and altitude, and realigns his F-14 Tomcat ready for a strike. His is the last serviceable fighter of the VF213 Blacklions squadron left at the Miramar Naval Air Station, and he is proud to have been the one called upon to fly this ageing but deadly combat machine on what could be its last mission. The target appears in the distance and, automatically, Hughes arms his sidewinders and locks-on his targeting computer. He is seconds away from contact. A last radio check confirms that the target is valid and, with an almost casual ease, he depresses the twin red fire buttons and sends his missiles screaming towards the line of clan vehicles. By the time they have struck and destroyed the clan column, he has already banked out of his dive and is heading west, above the Sawtooth Mountains, on a bearing that will take him back to his base at NAS Miramar<ch.emdash/>Fightertown USA.</p>
<illustration class="inline">
<meta>
<creator>Brian Williams</creator>
</meta>
- <instance class="html" src="small4.png" width="386" height="150" mime-type="image/png"/>
- <instance class="html-compatible" src="small4.gif" width="386" height="150" mime-type="image/gif"/>
- <instance class="pdf" src="small4.pdf" width="386" height="150"/>
+ <instance class="html" src="small6.png" width="386" height="95" mime-type="image/png"/>
+ <instance class="html-compatible" src="small6.gif" width="386" height="150" mime-type="image/gif"/>
+ <instance class="pdf" src="small6.pdf" width="386" height="150"/>
</illustration>
-
- <p>The sound of the F14<ch.apos/>s attack hits you like a clap of thunder behind the ears. There is a massive explosion, followed by a long and heavy rumble that echoes for minutes among the surrounding peaks. The suddenness and awesome power of the strike leaves all four of you stunned into open-mouthed silence, and it is not until you reach Pine Valley, and see your fellow colonists waiting expectantly beyond the fenced checkpoint, that you recover your senses fully and comprehend what has happened. You have survived the journey of a lifetime and, at last, you have reached your goal.</p>
+
+ <p>Captain Ed Hughes makes a mental note of his air speed and altitude, and realigns his F-14 Tomcat ready for a strike. His is the last serviceable fighter of the VF213 Blacklions squadron left at the Miramar Naval Air Station, and he is proud to have been the one called upon to fly this ageing but deadly combat machine on what could be its last mission. The target appears in the distance and, automatically, Hughes arms his sidewinders and locks-on his targeting computer. He is seconds away from contact. A last radio check confirms that the target is valid and, with an almost casual ease, he depresses the twin red fire buttons and sends his missiles screaming towards the line of clan vehicles. By the time they have struck and destroyed the clan column, he has already banked out of his dive and is heading west, above the Sawtooth Mountains, on a bearing that will take him back to his base at NAS Miramar<ch.emdash/>Fightertown USA.</p>
<illustration class="inline">
<meta>
<creator>Brian Williams</creator>
</meta>
- <instance class="html" src="small6.png" width="386" height="95" mime-type="image/png"/>
- <instance class="html-compatible" src="small6.gif" width="386" height="150" mime-type="image/gif"/>
- <instance class="pdf" src="small6.pdf" width="386" height="150"/>
+ <instance class="html" src="small4.png" width="386" height="150" mime-type="image/png"/>
+ <instance class="html-compatible" src="small4.gif" width="386" height="150" mime-type="image/gif"/>
+ <instance class="pdf" src="small4.pdf" width="386" height="150"/>
</illustration>
-
+
+ <p>The sound of the F14<ch.apos/>s attack hits you like a clap of thunder behind the ears. There is a massive explosion, followed by a long and heavy rumble that echoes for minutes among the surrounding peaks. The suddenness and awesome power of the strike leaves all four of you stunned into open-mouthed silence, and it is not until you reach Pine Valley, and see your fellow colonists waiting expectantly beyond the fenced checkpoint, that you recover your senses fully and comprehend what has happened. You have survived the journey of a lifetime and, at last, you have reached your goal.</p>
<p>Following your reunion with your fellow colonists, you are escorted by the army to the US Naval Hospital in San Diego, where those who require it receive expert medical attention. News of your daring journey spreads quickly, and many hundreds of San Diegans besiege the hospital for a glimpse of those who have come out of the Omega Zone, a region where no civilized man was thought capable of surviving for more than a few weeks.</p>
<p>It is not long before the full account of the hardships and perils you have faced are coaxed out of your fellow colonists by the news-hungry Californian populace. Within a few days you discover that your personal exploits have made you quite a hero in their eyes, especially when it is revealed that you were born and raised in California. Your reputation is further glorified when the full story of your love for Kate Norton is told, and of how you saved her from the clutches of a despised HAVOC leader against all odds.</p>
<p>The army and the civil leaders stage a special ceremony in honour of the indefatigable spirit that you and your colony displayed during your exodus. News of the ceremony comes as an unexpected surprise, yet there is an even greater surprise awaiting you. At the end of the grand ceremony, you are reunited with your family, all of whom have survived the post-holocaust years. It is a joyous and emotional reunion, the memory of which you will cherish for the rest of your life.</p>
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