Tanner said. "Damn."

The radiation level fell and there came crashes amidthe roaring overhead. A light fall of gravel descended forperhaps half a minute, along with the rain.

"We're running low," he said.

"On what?"

"Everything: Lucfc, fuel, ammo. Maybe you'd havebeen better off if I'd left you where I found you."

"No," she said. "I'm with you, the whole line."

"Then you're nuts," he said. "I haven't been hurt yet.When I am. it might be a different tune."

"Maybe," she said. "Wait and hear how I sing."

He reached out and squeezed her thigh."Okay, Corny. You've been okay so far. Hang ontothat piece, and we'll see what happens."

He reached for another cigarette, found the packempty, cursed. He gestured toward a compartment, andshe opened it and got him a fresh pack. She tore it openand lit him one.

"Thanks."

"Why're they staying out of range?"

"Maybe they're just going to pace us. I don't know.**

Then the fogs began to lift. By the time Tanner hadfinished his cigarette, the visibility had improved greatly.He could make out the dark forms crouched atop theirbikes, following, following, nothing more.

"If they just want to keep us company, then I don'tcare," he said. "Let them."

But there came more gunfire after a time, and he hearda tire go. He slowed, but continued. He took careful aimand strafed them. Several fell.

More gunshots sounded from behind. Another tireblew, and he hit the brakes and skidded, turning aboutas he slowed. When he faced them, he shot his anchors,to hold him in place, and he discharged his rockets, oneafter another, at a level parallel to the road. He openedup with his guns and sprayed them as they veered offand approached him from the sides. Then he opened fireto the left. Then the right He emptied the right-hand guns, then switched back tothe left. He launched the remaining grenades.

The gunfire died down, except for five sources—threeto his left and two to his right—coming from somewherewithin the trees that lined the road now. Broken bikesand bodies lay behind him, some still smouldering. Thepavement was potted and cracked in many places.

He turned the car and proceeded ahead on six wheels.

"We're out of ammo. Corny," he told her.

"Well, we took an awful lot of them...."

••Yeah."

As he drove on, he saw five bikes move onto theroad. They stayed a good distance behind him, but theystayed.

He tried the radio, but there was no response. He bitthe brakes and stopped, and the bikes stopped, too, staying well to the rear."Well, at least they're scared of us. They think we stillhave teeth."

"We do," she said.

"Yeah, but not the ones they're thinking about."

"Better yet."

"Glad I met you," said Tanner. "I can use an optimistThere must be a pony, huh?"

She nodded; he put it into gear and started forwardabruptly.

The motorcycles moved ahead also, and they maintained a safe distance. Tanner watched them in the screensand cursed them as they followed.

After awhile they drew nearer again. Tanner roaredon for half an hour, and the remaining five edged closerand closer.

When they drew near enough, they began to fire, riflesresting on their handlebars.

Tanner heard several low ricochets, and then anothertire went out.

He stopped once more, and the bikes did, too, remaining just out of range of his flames. He cursed and groundahead again. The car wobbled as he drove, listing to theleft. A wrecked pickup truck stood smashed against atree to his right, its hunched driver a skeleton, its windows smashed and tires missing. Half a sun now stood inthe heavens, reaching after nine o'clock; fog-ghosts driftedbefore them, and the dark band in the sky undulatedand more rain fell from it, mixed with dust and smallstones and bits of metal. Tanner said, "Good" as thepinging sounds began, and, "Hope it gets a lot worse"and his wish came true as the ground began to shake andthe blue light began in the north. There came a boomingwithin the roar, and there were several answering crashesas heaps of rubble appeared to his right. "Hope the nextone falls right on our buddies back there," he said.

He saw an orange glow ahead and to his right. It hadbeen there for several minutes, but he had not becomeconscious of it until just then.

"Volcano," she said when he indicated it. "It meanswe've got another sixty-five, seventy miles to go."

He could not tell whether any more shooting was occurring. The sounds coming from overhead and aroundhim were sufficient to mask any gunfire, and the fallof gravel upon the car covered any ricocheting rounds.The five headlights to his rear maintained their pace.

"Why don't they give up?" he said. "They're takinga pretty bad beating."

"They're used to it," she replied, "and they're ridingfor blood, which makes a difference."

Tanner fetched the .357 Magnum from the door clipand passed it to her. "Hang onto this, too," he said, andhe found a box of ammo in the second compartmentand, "Put these in your pocket," he added. He stuffedammo for the .45 into his own jacket. He adjusted thehand grenades upon his belt.

Then the five headlights behind him suddenly becamefour, and the others slowed, grew smaller. "Accident, Ihope," he remarked.

They sighted the mountain, a jag-topped cone bleedingfires upon the sky. They left the road and swung farto the left, upon a well marked trail. It took twenty minutes to pass the mountain, and by then he sighted theirpursuers once again—four lights to the rear, gainingslowly.

He came upon the road once more and hurried aheadacross the shaking ground. The yellow lights movedthrough the heavens; and heavy, shapeless objects, someseveral feet across, crashed to the earth about them. Thecar was buffeted by winds, listed as they moved, wouldnot proceed above forty miles an hour. The radio contained only static.

Tanner rounded a sharp curve, hit the brake, turned offhis lights, pulled the pin from a hand grenade and' waitedwith his hand upon the door.

When the lights appeared in the screen, he flung thedoor wide, leaped down and hurled the grenade throughthe abrasive rain.

He was into the cab and moving again before heheard the explosion, before the flash occurred upon hisscreen.

The girl laughed almost hysterically as the car movedahead.

"You got 'em, Hell. You got *eml" she cried.

Tanner took a drink from her flask, and she finished itsfinal brown mouthful.

The road grew cracked, pitted, slippery. They toppeda high rise and headed downhill. The fog thickened asthey descended.

Lights appeared before him, and he readied the name.There were no hostilities, however, as he passed a truckheaded in the other direction. Within the next half hourhe passed two more.

There came more lightning, and fist-sized rocks beganto fall. Tanner left the road and sought shelter within agrove of high trees. The sky grew competely black, losingeven its blue aurora.

They waited for three hours, but the storm did notlet up. One by one, the four view-screens went dead andthe fifth only showed the blackness beneath the car. Tanner's last sight in the rearview screen was of a hugesplintered tree with a broken, swaying branch that wasabout ready to fall off. There were several terrific crashesupon the hood and the car shook with each. The roofabove their heads was deeply dented in three places.The lights grew dim, then bright again. The radio wouldnot produce even static anymore.

"I think we've had it," he said.

"Yeah."

"How far are we?"

"Maybe fifty miles away."

"There's still a chance, if we live through this."

"What chance?"

"I've got two bikes in the rear."

They reclined their seats and smoked and waited, andafter awhile the lights went out.