SCAVENGER ATTACK

   Marcus dove for the asphalt as the figures closing in from both sides opened up.  Bullets buzzed overhead and thudded into the road.  Without a break in his motion, he rolled to the left, presenting as difficult a target as possible, swiveling and aiming at the attackers surging from the woods on his side of the highway.  he aimed and fired on the move, and he was gratified to see three foes drop--and then he knew what they were.
   The dozens of ambushers charging from the forest were scavengers, a large band of predatory wanderers who preyed upon everyone they encountered.   Scavengers were the bane of the postwar era, as prolific as the large rats that inhabited the underground sewers and tunnels in the cities.  The Outlands were infested with both.
   Marcus shot two more, continuing to roll, never lying still for a second.  to do so would mean his death.
   Shabbily attired, many in filthy rags, and armed with everything from pitchforks to lever-action rifles, the scavengers screamed and bellowed as they rushed the Warriors.

#22
GREEN BAY RUN

THE GHOULS TAKE GREEN BAY

   Blinded by the blood in his eyes, the farmer released the Warrior to wipe his left forearm across his face.
   And Yama pounced his right hand held in the Nukite position, and speared a piercing hand strike at the thing's throat, his training compelling him to go for one of the softest and most vulnerable areas on the human body.  He felt his fingers sink into the yielding flesh halfway to his knuckles.  without missing a beat, as he drew his right hand back, he whipped his left hand in a Tegatana-naka-uchi, a handsword cross-body chop, connecting on the side of his opponent's neck.
   Standing a few feet away, Melissa Vail heard a distinct snap and saw the thing go abruptly limp.  "You did it!"  she exclaimed in amazement.
   The Warrior straightened, his eyes narrowing, "I was lucky."
   "You were magnificent," Melissa breathed, her eyes sparkling, her cheeks flushed.  "No one has ever broken their hold before.   Usually, once one of those things grabs you, it's all over."
   "I've never seen anyone behave the way this man did,"   Yama commented, moving to retrieve the Wilkinson.  "It's as if he wasn't responsible for his actions, as if he was a robot."
   "Now you know why we call their kind the walking dead."