He turned to Mr Snow for help, but the Old One had vanished. Looking
down, he found a Tracker carbine in his hands. There was a bayonet
mounted under the barrel cluster and magazines in all three breeches.
With trembling fingers he selected full auto and began firing from the
hip, spinning round to cover the circle as the screaming warriors
closed in.
Volley upon volley of needle-point rounds chewed holes in their bodies,
and shredded their faces in a spray of blood. But as each man went
down, two more appeared to take his place! On they came - drawing
closer and closer - the sunlight catching their flickering, probing
blades.
The roar of their voices drowned his senses. He kept firing, firing,
severing knife arms, pulverising bone and muscle. He could feel their
hot breath, their spittle on his face. He drove the bayonet savagely
into the nearest body, felt the barrels of the carbine press against
the chest of the warrior as the blade sank in up to the hilt - and
found himself looking into the grinning face of Shakatak D'Vine! He
shut his eyes but he could not blot out the vision, could not escape
from the nightmare that had engulfed him. He felt his own body
convulse with shock as a dozen ice-cold steel blades pierced his flesh,
felt the hot rush of blood, the screaming pain, the crushing,
suffocating weight as the warriors fell upon him and began to tear him
limb from limb .Oh, Sweet Mother. Save me. Ahhh. A-AHHH. AAA-AA-AA
HHHHHH.
As his brain caved in, overwhelmed by terror, his physical and mental
agonies vanished. An incredible lightness filled his body and, with
it, a wonderful sense of release. He felt a cool hand upon his brow,
the soft touch of lips upon his mouth. He opened his eyes and found
Roz kneeling beside him.
What was she doing here? Had they killed her too? Cadillac stared at
her for a while, unable to understand then, as the memories of his
death flooded back into his mind, he threw his hands across his face.
And when that failed to halt the tide of blood, he turned over on his
belly and hugged the ground.
Roz stroked the back of his neck and whispered, 'It's all right. You
are safe. It's over."
Cadillac smelt the grass and the earth beneath him. It seemed real
enough. He slowly eased himself up onto his elbows and scanned, his
immediate surroundings. They were alone. No shattered bodies, no
blood, nothing.
