"David L. Robbins - Endworld 10 - New York Run" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robbins David L)

Captain Edwards saw the hulking figure towering over Dougherty, but
he hesitated, unwilling to risk hitting the trooper. The cloud of dust
reduced visibility to only a few feet, and he wanted to be sure before he
pulled the trigger. He moved in closer, aiming his rifle, when strong hands
clamped on his shoulders and lifted him bodily from the floor.

Private Geisz, enveloped in the dust, tried to catch a glimpse of her
companions. She saw several struggling forms in the middle of the dust
cloud, then felt her blood freeze as a terrifying screech reverberated in the
confines of the gloomy stairwell.

There was a loud, crunching noise, like the sound of breaking bones.

"Captain Edwards!" Geisz shouted. "Doughboy! Wink! What's
happening?"

No one answered.

A tall scarecrow shape loomed above her, its stick-like limbs clawing in
her direction.

Something growled.

Private Geisz cowered against the wall, her meticulous training
overwhelmed by her instinctive loathing of the form on the step above. She
could see one bony hand reaching for her neck, could see its wrinkled, gray
flesh and its tapered, yellow nails, and could even see the brown dirt caked
between its extended fingers. She wanted to bolt, to flee for her life, to get
the hell out of there. But at the very second when those gruesome fingers
touched her skin, instead of racing pell-mell down the stairs in reckless
flight and abandoning her mates and friends, she reached deep within
herself and discovered her innermost self, her true nature, her
fundamental essence, the steel of her personality. Her bravery was tested
to its limits, and she wasn't found lacking.

"Eat this, sucker!" Geisz stated defiantly, and angled the Dakon II
toward the creature's midsection.

The creature hissed.

Geisz squeezed the trigger.

Her attacker was blown backward by the impact of the dumdum
bullets, its body bursting apart across the chest and face.

Geisz didn't bother to check it; she knew the damn thing was dead. She
punched the Dakon II onto full automatic and bounded up the stairs, into
the dispersing dust cloud, searching for her companions.