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Plus, there were the rumors about Gameland Everyone knew that it was back, but soed That it orse

The men and women alked or rode up this hill were not fans of Gameland Not in the least It was the antithesis of the freedom they treasured And ht Gameland was an abomination, and they all wanted to see it burn

Sally rode, eating her pain and drawing her plans All thatTom in time

57

TOM CRASHED BACKWARD INTO THE BRUSH WITH BOTH MEN CLAMPED around his body There had been no chance at all for him to avoid the hit, but as they fell he wrenched his hips and shoulders around so that he wouldn’t land first They hit hard, with To the full brunt of his oeight and most of the mass of the others Redhead’s back struck a stone the size of a football, and the bounty hunter screamed so loud that it chased the birds froh toHis ar under the weight of the nored the man’s screams Without a moment’s pause, he twisted sideways and hammered Stosh on the ear with the side of his balled fist Stosh let go of Tos and tried to block, but Toh to spill him five yards down the slope Tom back-rolled down after hi both of his feet into Stosh’s face The man’s head jinked sideways on his neck, and there was a sharp, wet snap! Stosh collapsed into a lifeless sprawl

Tom relaxed People with broken necks don’t reanimate Another one and done

Up the slope Redhead was still screaust, To, and his screas were dead and his arms barely flapped

Tom squatted down and assessed the er to his lips "Shhhh" The other e and filled with terror "Your back’s broken"

Redhead began to cry

"Listen to me now You’re done You know that I can leave you here like this and you can spend your last hours screa Lot of zoht not even feel it when they start tearing chunks out of you After that … well, you’ll reani to lie here for the rest of ti, ible words Torace You square things with me and I can ease you down You’ll never feel it, and you won’t come back It’s your call"

The reality of it all hit Redhead, and he stoppedHe stared at Tom with eyes that suddenly possessed a dreadful wisdom about the nature of his world To blossom in the man’s eyes

"Okay …," Redhead whispered, then hissed in pain

Toloat That never occurred to hiave the man a sip "Who took the boy from Stosh’s buddies after they were auys White Bear’s tearing up everyone from Charlie’s crew, ’cause of what happened to Charlie"

"Why? What does White Bear care about what happened to Charlie?"

Redhead albetween Charlie and White Bear?"

"Jeez, man … you can see it when you look at him"

"I never met White Bear"

"Yeah, you did He was there when you burned down Gameland"

"What? There was no one there like hi hi he ca sense," To to piss me off"

Redhead looked instantly afraid "God … please don’t leave me like this!"

"Shhh, shhh," Tom soothed "Just tell me about White Bear and Charlie"

"It’s all about Gainning to fade Shock was setting in, and the"When you burned down Gameland, Charlie lost a lot of people, a lot of friends You know that But what you don’t know is that soo by the na Jim Matthias? Charlie’s brother? He was at Gaot messed up pretty bad, too Face all burned, lost an eye Almost died Charlie sent hiot real sick They say he died for a while, but he didn’t come back as a zom They say that while he was dead he had a vision of some old Indian medicine man, and that when he came back he wasn’t Jim Matthias any his head "White Bear is Charlie’s brother I’ll be damned That’s why he wants me"

"You … and your brother and his friends He wants you so bad that it’sMountainside, ood, he put everyone he has out into the Ruin There’s a hundred pair of eyes looking for you, man You won’t make it off this mountain"

To Charlie’s men?"

"Not all of them Just the ones he thinks should have been with Charlie when you hit his camp last year Bla Charlie"

"That’s crazy"

"White Bear is crazy, man Plays it cool … but he’s totally out of his mind Makes Charlie look like Joe Ordinary Citizen"

"Swell Okay, now tellWhere’s Gameland?"

"If I tell you … will you do what you promised? Make it easy? Keep me down?"

"I promise"

"Swear it, man I … I used to be Catholic Swear on the baby Jesus"