Bones of my Father Read Online Free Page A

was pretty sure it had nothing to do with broken ribs. She was the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen.
    “You saved my life,” I said, my voice hoarse.
    She kissed me on the forehead and grinned. “Come on,” she said, standing. I let her help me up. I wasn’t used to having so much of my person exposed to angry metal-clad attackers. I was feeling a bit more vulnerable than I was comfortable with.
    Magenta adjusted her wig and pushed me on the shoulder. “Get your gear,” she said, pointing to the pile she’d cut from me.
    I limped over, sure there was something vital broken in my nether regions, and fished out the comm-link. I slipped it over my left ear and then bent over the lifeless body of Amazonia. She looked angry even in death. I couldn’t fathom the life she and her people had led.
    I took her knife. Magenta was obviously a whiz with the flechette. As no one else had appeared in the doorway, I hobbled over that way and tapped on the comm-link.
    “You there, old man?” I asked into the ether.
    “About time,” Grandpa’s voice sounded in my ear. “You got trouble, boy. Looks like a group of muties attacked the Femme-Bot camp a few minutes ago, but the Femme-Bots are holding their own.”
    I pulled myself around the door frame as a scream sounded ahead of me. Several yards down a long hall, a large mutant ferret was dragging the kicking body of the second Amazon warrior away. I flipped the knife, catching it by the tip of the blade and flung it toward into the mutie. The blade sunk hilt deep into its furry body, but it didn’t fall over like I’d hoped. It did, however, give the warrior a chance to bring her laser to bear. She shot three bursts into the wounded ferret. It lumbered back a couple of feet, already dead, but two more of its friends chose that moment to arrive. Big, furry eaters. Not even sure of the original genus, other than hungry.
    “Muties,” I called out, looking around for another weapon. “Need a hand here, Magenta.”
    “Hang on.”
    The warrior fired one final long thread of light, slicing off one of the new attackers’ limbs, and catching the second one a glancing blow, forcing them both to scamper back. The singe of fur and the crackle of cooked flesh barely registered over the sounds of battle outside.
    “Magenta,” I cried, hiding my body behind the door frame, but looking down the hallway. “We’ve got to go.”
    Her hand on my arm startled me.
    “You okay?” Grandpa whispered urgently into my ear.
    “Just jumpy,” I said. Magenta had taken the time to slip on her panties, a small pack and her wig before she crept up beside me. She also wore my holster with the second pistol, and the bandolier of cartridges. She looked hot.
    “Who are you talking to?” Magenta asked.
    “My grandfather,” I said. The muties hadn’t returned to the hallway, but the warrior was not looking so good. “Come on.” I grabbed Magenta’s hand and pulled her away from the door. “That way is blocked. What’s her name has that way covered. Let’s look for another exit.”
    “Claudia,” she whispered. “She wasn’t nice to me, either.”
    “Right.” We ran back into the main warehouse where my pack poked out from a scattering of tables and chairs. I pulled it out of the rubble, slung it over my shoulder and pulled Magenta along toward another doorway. “Hope this leads somewhere,” I said as we jogged.
    The universe is a wacky place, but sometimes it gives you what you need. We careened around three bends, through two doors, and voila...sunlight.
    We stood at the door, listening and catching our breath. For the longest time, the sound of gunfire and screams almost drowned out Magenta’s crying.
    As I watched the landscape, trying not to vomit with the overwhelming empty sky above us and the smell of burning flesh coming from upwind, I was once again startled as Magenta slowly caressed my exposed shoulder.
    “The laser burn on your back is healing fast,” she said, a