“Some of them, princess,” Hickok replied.
“Will we find Uncle Rikki soon? I don’t like this place.”
“The folks hereabouts are a mite inhospitable,” Hickok said.
“What?”
“These cow chips are real meanies,” Hickok clarified.
“They sure are,” Chastity agreed.
Blade and Bonnie joined them. Blade knelt and started removing the sergeant’s belt and holstered 459’s.
“Thanks for the assist, ma’am,” Hickok said to Bonnie.
“Don’t mention it,” Bonnie responded.
“More Hounds will arrive soon,” Blade declared, and looked at Bonnie.
“You’ve lived here for a long time. Where can we hide for an hour?”
“We could mingle with the crowds downtown,” she proposed. “The Hounds will conduct a thorough search once they find these bodies, but they might not expect us to go there.”
“Lead the way,” Blade instructed her, rising with the confiscated belt in his left hand.
Bonnie hurried off.
“What about Rikki?” Hickok inquired.
Blade headed after Bonnie. “We won’t do him any good if we get caught. We’ll lay low for an hour or so, then go get him.”
“Now you’re talkin,” Hickok said.
Bonnie led them on a winding, circuitous route into the inner city.
Memphis became even filthier and ever more squalid the farther they went.
“Rats must vacation here,” Hickok cracked at one point.
They traversed an alley, darted across a narrow street, and paused under a rusted fire escape.
“In two or three blocks there will be shanties,” Bonnie detailed. “Ignore the beggars if you don’t want to attract attention.”
“Do you have a house of your own?” Blade inquired.
“Clyde and I shared a room in the back of a demolished store on the west side. It was cramped, and there weren’t any windows, but the door was sturdy and the lock worked.”
“Do all the people in Memphis live under such conditions?” Blade asked.
“Most,” Bonnie divulged. “Except for the Hounds. They live in their Headquarters Complex, and everyone should have it so cushy. Anything the Hounds need, they get. They seized all the paint and building supplies they could uncover when they turned the old Depot into the Complex.
They confiscated most of the vehicles. And they searched high and low for the material for their uniforms.” She paused. “Only one person in Memphis lives better than the Hounds. The King. That bastard has an estate you wouldn’t believe. Every time the Hounds raid a town or outpost, the King takes the best of the spoils. He’s filthy rich.”
“Let me ask you something,” Blade said thoughtfully. “Where would the Hounds bring a prisoner? To the Complex or the King’s estate?”
“To the estate,” Bonnie answered without hesitation. “The King likes to interrogate prisoners personally.”
“You know this for a fact?”
“My former squeeze, Jeff, told me,” Bonnie stated.
“Then we should head for the estate,” Blade declared.
“The King’s estate is guarded better than the Complex,” Bonnie noted.
“You’ll never sneak in there.”
“You let us worry about that problem,” Blade said. “For now, we’ll stroll around downtown Memphis. The Hounds might be expecting an attack at the estate or the Complex. If we delay a bit, they’ll slack off and make our job easier.” He nodded directly ahead. “Lead the way. You can give us a guided tour of the inner city.”
“We could run into trouble,” Bonnie predicted.
“Nothin’ I can’t handle,” Hickok said.
Bonnie shrugged and walked to the end of the block, then took a left. At the next intersection she turned right, then traveled two blocks. Voices arose, a jumble of conversations, men and women talking and laughing, children playing.
Blade quickly looped the sergeant’s gunbelt around his waist above his own belt and fastened the buckle. He aligned the holsters just behind his Bowies, and looked up as they rounded a corner.
The avenue they were entering was packed with people, most of whom were grungy and wore attire in need of repair. Pedestrians crammed the thoroughfare, while on the sidewalks were dozens of booths where shady characters hawked everything under the sun. Haggling and arguments were commonplace.
“Wow!” Chastity exclaimed. “Look at all of them.”
“You stay close to me,” Hickok advised, slinging the M-16 over his right shoulder and taking her hand in his.
A few of the milling crowd gazed at the newcomers, but the majority went about their business.
“I’ll stick out like a sore thumb,” Hickok remarked.
“I see other men in buckskins,” Blade mentioned, surveying the populace. “Why will you appear any different than them?”
“I took a bath yesterday.”
Blade stepped alongside Bonnie. The four of them strolled along the avenue observing the swirl of humanity, alert for Hounds. “I didn’t realize there were so many people in Memphis,” Blade commented. “Where did they all come from?”
“From all over the Outlands,” Bonnie answered. “A lot have arrived in the past month or so, and I’ve heard that many more are on the way.”
“Why would they come here?” Blade queried. “Memphis doesn’t have a lot to recommend it.”
“Memphis has the Hounds,” Bonnie said, “and most of the men arriving here hope to become Hounds. A lot of the people are related to Hounds.
Some come because living in the city beats living in the woods. Others want to get in on the ground floor. They expect Memphis to grow like crazy as the Hounds conquer more and more territory.”
“How much territory do the Hounds intend to conquer?” Blade asked idly.
“The whole world.”
Blade began laughing, but ceased when he realized she was serious.
“The Hounds plan to conquer the world?”
“The King does. He told me so himself when he invited me over for a candlelit, romantic supper three nights ago,” Bonnie said bitterly.
Blade remembered her earlier comment and put two and two together.
“There’s no need to go into that, if you don’t want—”
“I want to tell you,” Bonnie said, cutting him off. “I want you to know the kind of bastard you’re dealing with.”
“I can imagine,” Blade assured her.
Bonnie glanced over her right shoulder at Hickok and Chastity, who were ambling eight feet away. She stared straight ahead somberly. “I never thought it would happen to me.”
Blade did not respond.
“I mean, I heard all the tales floating around,” Bonnie said softly. “I heard that every month or so the King would have the Hounds scour the city for a bed partner, but I never expected I would be picked.”
“There’s really no need to discuss this,” Blade reiterated.
“Please, let me finish,” Bonnie requested. “I have to get this off of my chest. I’ve told no one the full story.” She paused. “I couldn’t even bring myself to confide completely in Clyde. I told him bits and pieces, but I knew he’d go off the deep end if I gave him every little detail. I didn’t want him storming to the estate and getting murdered by those sons of bitches.”
“The Hounds took you to the King?”
“Yeah. I was on my way home with a few strips of venison jerky I’d traded for, when this Hound patrol stopped me and I was ordered to go with them.”
“What do you do?”
“At first, I didn’t know what was going on. The captain in charge was a tight-lipped scumbag. I didn’t catch on until we were near the King’s mansion.”
“Did you resist?”
“Damn right I did, once I saw where they were taking me. I screamed and demanded to be let go, but the captain had me carried the rest of the way. I’d never met the King, and I wasn’t about to let the prick paw all over me,” Bonnie detailed. “But before I knew it, there I was in the King’s mansion.”