False Dawn Read Free Page B

they get close.”
    “How many?” Lastly was panting now, and not from exertion.
    “Who knows?” Rossi replied. “Dog packs can get pretty large.”
    “We got to get out of here,” Lastly said in fear. He swung his rifle uneasily. “Right? We got to find some place safe?”
    Rossi squinted up at the fading sky. “They haven’t picked up our scent yet. I’d say we have another hour yet. After that, we’d better climb trees.”
    “But they’re rotten—” Lastly protested.
    “They’re better than dogs,” Rossi said gently.
    But Lastly wasn’t listening. “There used to be camps around here, didn’t there? We got to find them. No dogs gonna come into camp.”
    “You fool.” Rossi’s voice was dispassionate, and whatever expression might show in his blue eyes was hidden by the waning light.
    “No talking. I don’t want to hear it.” Lastly’s gun wavered in front of Rossi.
    “Then both of you stop it,” Thea put in quietly, staring at Lastly. “The dogs can hear you when you shout.”
    All fell silent. In a moment Rossi murmured, “Thea’s right. If we’re quiet we might find one of your camps in time.” There was doubt in the tone.
    “You get moving then,” Lastly said hurriedly. “Right now. We don’t stop ‘til we find someplace safe.”
    It had been a summer cabin once, when people still had summer cabins, about a century old with rusted pipes that no longer ran water, and kerosene-lamps in sconces; there was no sign that it had ever been wired for electricity. The view below it had been of pine forests giving way to the fertile swath of the Valley. Now it stood in, a clearing surrounded by rotting trees high above the spreading contamination of the river. Oddly enough the windows were still intact.
    Rossi tapped one. “Break-resistant plastic. Probably had trouble with bears getting in.”
    “You think there’re bears?” Lastly demanded.
    “Not with dog packs about. They tend to remain in the high country. We can stay here for a while—a couple of days at least,” Rossi said after circling the cabin. “The back porch is heavily screened with metallic weaving; we can’t cut through it, but we can get the door off its hinges.”
    “We can break through a window.” Lastly said eagerly. “I’ll shoot one out.”
    “If the window is broken, the dogs can get in.” When this had sunk in Rossi went on. “The back is secure. We’ll be able to protect ourse1ves.”
    “You two get it done,” Lastly ordered, pointing his rifle toward the rear porch. “Get it done fast.”
    As Thea and Rossi struggled with the door Lastly straddled the remains of the fence. “Say, Rossi, you see what Cox did to that Mute in Chico? Took the skin right off him, hey. Cox, he’s gonna get rid of all the Mutes—just you wait.”
    “Yes,” said Rossi as he pulled at a rusty hinge.
    “Know what? Montague wanted to save ‘em.” He kicked viciously at the fence, splintering part of the brace so that it wobbled under him. “You hear that, Rossi? Montague wanted to save the Mutes. Why would someone want to do that? Huh? Why’d any real man save Mutes?”
    Rossi didn’t answer.
    “I asked you something. Rossi. You tell me.”
    “Maybe he thought they were the only ones worth saving.” He turned his back to Lastly, busying himself with the lower hinges.
    “What about you, bitch-piece? You save a Mute?” He bounced on the fence as he stroked his rifle. The old wood groaned at this treatment.
    With a look of raw disgust, Thea said, “just me, Lastly. I’m saving me.”
    “What are you saving for me? I got something for you…”
    “The door’s off,” Rossi interrupted, pulling it aside. “We can go in now.” He stood aside to allow Thea to enter the house ahead of him.
    Mice and insects had got into the house, eating the dried fruits and flour that had been stored in the ample kitchen. There were boxes strewn on the floor that had held cereal and sugar. But on the shelves they found cans