As always, under such circumstances, he was alert tosounds at his back.

When he heard the quick footfall, he turned. It was theman who had inspected the bill that stood before him, hisright arm extended.

Tanner's right hand held his leather jacket, draped overhis right shoulder. He swung it with all his strength forward and down.

It struck the man on the top of his head. and he fell.

There came up a murmuring,' and several peoplejumped to their feet and moved toward him.

Tanner dragged the gun from his belt and said, "Sorry,folks,'* and he pointed it, and they stopped.

"Now you probably ain't about to believe me," hesaid, "when I tell you that Boston's been hit by the plague,but it's true all right. Or maybe you will. I don't know.But I don't think you're going to believe that I drovehere all the way from the nation of California with acar full of Haffikine antiserum. But that's just as right.You send that bill to the big bank in Boston, and they'llchange it for you, all right, and you know it. Now I'vegot to be going, and don't anybody try to stop me. If youthink I've been handing you a line, you take a look atwhat I drive away in. That's all I've got to say."

And he backed out the door and covered it while hemounted the cab. Inside, he gunned the engine to life,turned, and roared away.

In the rearview screen he could see the knot of peopleon the walk before the bar, watching him depart.

He laughed, and the apple-blossom moon hung deadahead.

XIV

Albany to Boston. A couple of hundred miles. He'd managed the worst of it. The terrors of Damnation Alley laylargely at his back now. Night. It flowed about him.The stars seemed brighter than usual. He'd make it, thenight seemed to say.

He passed between hills. The road wasn't too bad. Itwound between trees and high grasses. He passed a truckcoming in his direction and dimmed his lights as it approached. It did the same.

Il must have been around midnight that he came tothe crossroads, and the lights suddenly nailed him fromtwo directions.

He was bathed in perhaps thirty beams from the leftand as many from the right.

He pushed the accelerator to the floor, and he heardengine after engine coming to life somewhere at his back.And he recognized the sounds.

Thev were all of them bikes.

They swung onto the road behind him.

He muld have opened fire. He could have braked andlaid down a cloud of flame. It was obvious that they didn'tknow what they were chasing. He could have launchedgrenades He refrained, however.

It could have been him on the lead bike, he decided,all hot on hijack. He felt a certain sad kinship as his handhovered above the fire-control.

Try to outrun them, first.

His engine was open wide and roaring, but he couldn'ttake the bikes.

When they began to fire, he knew that he'd have toretaliate. He couldn't risk their hitting a gas tank or blowing out his tires.

Their first few shots had been in the nature of awarning. He couldn't risk another barrage. If only theyknew....

The speaker!

He cut in and mashed the button and spoke:

"Listen, cats," he said. "All I got's medicine for thesick citizens in Boston. Let me through or you'll hearthe noise."

A shot followed immediately, so he opened fire withthe fifty calibers to the rear.

He saw them fall, but they kept firing. So be launchedgrenades.

The firing lessened, but didn't cease.

So he hit the brakes, then the flame-throwers. He keptit up for fifteen seconds.

There was silence.

When the air cleared he studied the screens.

They lay all over the road, their bikes upset, theirbodies fuming. Several were still seated, and they heldrifles and pointed them, and he shot them down.

A few still moved, spasmodically, and he was about todrive on, when he saw one rise and take a few staggeringsteps and fall again.

His hand hesitated on the gearshift.

It was a girl.

He thought about it for perhaps five seconds, thenjumped down from the cab and ran toward her.

As he did, one man raised himself on an elbow andpicked up a fallen rifle.

Tanner shot him twice and kept running, pistol in hand.

The girl was crawling toward a man whose face hadbeen shot away. Other bodies twisted about Tanner now,there on the road, in the glare of the tail beacons. Bloodand black leather, the sounds of moaning and the stenchof burned flesh were all about him.

When he got to the girl's side, she cursed him softly ashe stopped.

None of the blood about her seemed to be her own.

He dragged her to her feet and her eyes began to fillwith tears.

Everyone else was dead or dying, so Tanner picked herup in his arms and carried hen. back to the car. He reclined the passenger seat and put her into it, moving theweapons into the rear seat, out of her reach.

Then he gunned the engine and moved forward. Inthe rearview screen he saw two figures rise to theirfeet, then fall again.

She was a tall girl, with long, uncombed hair the colorof dirt. She had a strong chin and a wide mouth andthere were dark circles under her eyes. A single faint linecrossed her forehead, and she had all of her teeth. Theright side of her face was flushed, as if sunburned. Herleft trouser leg was torn and dirty. He guessed that she'dcaught the edge of his flame and fallen from her bike.

"You okay?" he asked, when her sobbing had diminished to a moist sniffing sound.

"What's it to you?" she said, raising a hand to hercheek.

Tanner shrugged.

"Just being friendly."

"You killed most of my gang."

"What would they have done to me?""They would have stomped you, mister, if it weren't forthis fancy car of yours."

"It ain't really mine," he said. "It belongs to the nation of California."

"This thing don't come from California."

"The hell it don't. 1 drove it."

She sdl up straight then and began rubbing her leg.

Tanner lit a cigarette.

"Give me a cigarette?" she said.

He passed her the one he had lighted, lit himself another. As he handed it to her, her eyes rested on histattoo.

"What's that?"

"My name."

"Hell?"

"Hell."

"Where'd you get a name like that?"

"From my old man."

They smoked awhile, then she said, "Why'd you runthe Alley?"

"Because it was the only way I could get them to turnme loose."

"From where?"

"The place with horizontal Venetian blinds. I was doing time."

"They let you go? Why?"

"Because of the big sick. I'm bringing in Hamkine antiserum."

"You're Hell Tanner."

"Huh?"

"Your last name's Tanner, ain't it?"

"That's right. Who told you?" /

"I heard about you. Everybody thought you died inthe Big Raid."

"They were wrong.'*

"What was it like?"

*T dunno. I was already wearing a zebra suit. That'swhy I'm still around."

"Why'd you pick me up?"

" 'Cause you're a chick, and 'cause I didn't want to seeyou croak."

"Thanks. You got anything to eat in here?"

"Yeah, there's food in there." He pointed to the refrigerator door. "Help yourself."She did, and as she ate Tanner asked her, "What do theycall you?"

"Corny," she said. "It's short for Cornelia."

"Okay, Corny," he said. "When you're finished eating,you start telling me about the road between here andthe place."

She nodded, chewed and swallowed. "There's lots ofother gangs," she said. "So you'd better be ready to blastthem."

"I am."

"Those screens show you all directions, huh?"

"That's right."

"Good. The roads are pretty much okay from here onin. There's one big crater you'll come to soon and a couple little volcanos afterward."

"Check."

"Outside of them there's nothing to worry about but theRegents and the Devils and the Kings and the Lovers.That's about it."