Damnation Alley Read Online Free PDF

feeling better," and Tanner shrugged and turned his back on the scene and lit a cigarette.
    "I don't think you should do...” the man began, and "Screw," said Tanner, and blew smoke in his face. He turned to regard the two approaching men and saw that Greg was dark-eyed and deeply tanned. Part Indian, possibly. His skin seemed smooth, save for a couple pockmarks beneath his right eye, and his cheekbones were high and his hair very dark. He was as big as Tanner, which was six-two, though not quite so heavy. He was dressed in overalls, and his carriage, now that he had had a few deep breaths of air, became very erect, and he moved with a quick, graceful stride.
    "We'll have to bury Mike," the short man said.
    "I hate to lose the time," said his companion, "but...” And then Tanner flipped his cigarette and threw himself to the ground as it landed in the pool at the rear of the car.
    There was an explosion, flames, then more explosions. Tanner heard the rockets as they tore off toward the east, inscribing dark furrows in the hot afternoon's air. The ammo for the fifty-calibers exploded, and the hand grenades went off, and Tanner burrowed deeper and deeper into the sand, covering his head and blocking his ears against the noise.
    As soon as things grew quiet, he grabbed for the rifle. But they were already coming at him, and he saw the muzzle of a pistol. He raised his hands slowly and stood.
    "Why the goddamn hell did you do a stupid thing like that?" said the other driver, the man who held the pistol.
    Tanner smiled, and, "Now we don't have to bury him," he said. "Cremation's just as good, and it's already over."
    "You could have killed us all if those guns or those rocket launchers had been aimed this way!"
    "They weren't. I looked."
    "The flying metal could've… Oh. . . . I see. Pick up your damn rifle, buddy, and keep it pointed at the ground. Eject the rounds it's still got in it and put 'em in your pocket."
    Tanner did this thing while the other talked.
    "You wanted to kill us all, didn't you? Then you could have cut out and gone your way, like you tried to do yesterday. Isn't that right?"
    "You said it, mister, not me."
    "It's true, though. You don't give a good goddamn if everybody in Boston croaks, do you?"
    "My gun's unloaded now," said Tanner.
    "Then get back in your bloody buggy and get going! I'll be behind you all the way!"
    Tanner walked back toward his car. He heard the others arguing behind him, but he didn't think they'd shoot him. As he was about to climb up into the cab, he saw a shadow out of the corner of his eye and turned quickly.
    The man named Greg was standing behind him, tail and quiet as a ghost.
    "Want me to drive awhile?" he asked Tanner, without expression.
    "No, you rest up. I'm still in good shape. Later on this afternoon, maybe, if you feel up to it."
    The man nodded and rounded the cab. He entered from the other side and immediately reclined his chair.
    Tanner slammed his door and started the engine. He heard the air-conditioner come to life.
    "Want to reload this?" he asked. "And put it back on the rack?" and he handed the rifle and the ammo to the other, who had nodded. He drew on his gloves then and said, "There's plenty of soft drinks in the fridge. Nothing much else, though," and the other nodded again. Then he heard car three start and said, "Might as well roll," and he put it into gear and took his foot off the clutch.
     
    Charles Britt listened to the bell. His office was diagonally across the street from the cathedral, and each peal of the massive bell made his walls shake, and he was contemplating a lawsuit, for he maintained that its constant tolling had loosened his fillings and was causing his remaining teeth to ache.
    He brushed a wisp of white hair back from his forehead and squinted through the bottom of his bifocals.
    He turned a page in the massive ledger and lowered his head to read further.
    Losses, all. If only he'd cornered the drug market. Patent medicines and aspirin