[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
outside when the muties get restless. More often than not, people on the inside of
Freedom have no clue there's a problem outdoors, and that's the way we want to
keep it."
"How does the night shift break down?" J.B. asked as all of them stepped into
former mall loading dock that had been taken over with targets, tumbling mats
and exercise equipment. A few sealed wooden cases of weapons could be seen in
a corner, locked up in a fenced-in area. Some of Rollins's regular sec squad were
working out.
"If you work days, the shift is longer 'cause there's lower stress. Work nights, you
can go from eight to four in the morning, or from midnight to eight. There's some
overlap. That's on purpose since it falls at the same time we tend to have the most
problems. Stickie activity usually hits between midnight and 2:00 a.m., although
they've been known to come earlier and try again later."
Ryan leaned against a rack of barbells. "Okay, here's the way we're going to do
this," he said. "We'll all stay on the night shift with patrolling and training. I don't
give a rip for day duty if the action always comes after sunset. Give us a few days
to get acclimated, meet your men and we'll try playing school. J.B. here can talk
hardware. I'm on tactics with J.B. Jak over there might not look like much, but
he's the finest hand-to-hand fighter I've ever known. All of us have been involved
in close-combat fights with stickies before and survived, so it's not impossible.
Stickies might be scary to some, but they're also triple stupe. Usually you can
outsmart them."
"What's standard armament for your sec men?" J.B. asked.
"M-16 long blasters. M-16 A-2s to be exact."
"Chambered to take 5.56 mm rounds?"
"Right."
The M-16 was the traditional weapon of the smart sec man or hired mercies. The
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effective range of the now classic Army blaster was just under 350 yards. The
weapon could be fired in four modes: on single shot, semiauto, automatic or full
cycle. Capable of firing close to a thousand rounds of ammunition per minute,
keeping an M-16 on full cycle would empty a full 30-round magazine in under
two seconds.
"Got a few extras of the M-16 if you want them, but there's not much ammo.
We're lacking in that department. Haven't gotten a new supply in months."
"Which explains why the blaster-and-ammo store we went to earlier had been
closed," Ryan said.
"We had to confiscate his stores. The man was paid, of course."
"Of course."
"Been meaning to ask you, Dr. Wyeth why do you keep carrying around a target
pistol? We could fix you up with an autoblaster with no problem," Rollins
remarked.
Mildred hefted the ZKR 551 6-shot Czech revolver and sighted an imaginary
target as she replied, "I've always been a believer in staying with what you know,
and I know this revolver. Know how it feels, know how it shoots. I can draw, aim
and fire without even thinking and hit my target time and time again with this
blaster. Switch to something new, even with an increased bullet capacity, and by
the time I learn it as well as I know this gun, I'd probably be dead."
"I see. Very well, the "
Mildred wasn't finished. "I like simplicity. The double-action revolver is a self-
loading design, allowing the operator to cock the hammer and rotate the cylinder
simultaneously, and then release the hammer with one trigger pull. Or if I choose,
I can thumb-cock this baby like an old single-action revolver. And I always know
how many bullets I have. With an auto, you have to count."
"Not if you have enough clips."
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"Outside, extra ammo isn't usually an option. A revolver is easy to operate. The
ammo in the chamber is clearly visible and never, ever misfires. If a shell jams,
you just keep pulling the trigger and rotate the cylinder to the next shell. If you
keep trying to blast away with an automatic, you have to stop, eject and remove
the dud by hand," she said as she replaced the blaster in her holster.
"Give me a good automatic any day," Rollins told her.
"To each his own. Like I said, the extra shots don't mean much in that kind of
situation. My pistol has a smooth trigger action, again adding to accuracy. And in
a pinch, I can fire a variety of bullet loads, even though this one's been chambered
to take a Smith & Wesson .38-caliber round. Try doing that with a 5.56 mm auto."
"You make it sound damn near perfect. Although that hand cannon is bulky and
takes much longer to reload compared to an automatic. Autoloaders help, but you
still lose seconds opening up the chamber, lining up the bullets and closing shop.
And we both know the velocity falls short of an autopistol. High muzzle velocity
will always provide the maximum penetration."
"Why, Mr. Rollins, perhaps you know more about guns than you're letting on."
Mildred said with a smile.
Rollins returned the grin. "Could be."
"What have you got stockpiled?" J.B. interrupted, an uncharacteristic twinge of
jealousy making him speak up.
"Not as much as I'd like. We did have more, but a lot of the good stuff has been
used previously. Mr. Morgan had more blasters and ammo on order from a baron
upstate who was open to trading, but they never arrived."
"Hope the stickies didn't end up attacking a convoy and getting the damn things."
"You and me both."
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Axler,_James_-_Deathlands_41_-_Freedom_Lost
Chapter Twenty-One
Downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was a morass of skyscrapers and [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl akte20.pev.pl
outside when the muties get restless. More often than not, people on the inside of
Freedom have no clue there's a problem outdoors, and that's the way we want to
keep it."
"How does the night shift break down?" J.B. asked as all of them stepped into
former mall loading dock that had been taken over with targets, tumbling mats
and exercise equipment. A few sealed wooden cases of weapons could be seen in
a corner, locked up in a fenced-in area. Some of Rollins's regular sec squad were
working out.
"If you work days, the shift is longer 'cause there's lower stress. Work nights, you
can go from eight to four in the morning, or from midnight to eight. There's some
overlap. That's on purpose since it falls at the same time we tend to have the most
problems. Stickie activity usually hits between midnight and 2:00 a.m., although
they've been known to come earlier and try again later."
Ryan leaned against a rack of barbells. "Okay, here's the way we're going to do
this," he said. "We'll all stay on the night shift with patrolling and training. I don't
give a rip for day duty if the action always comes after sunset. Give us a few days
to get acclimated, meet your men and we'll try playing school. J.B. here can talk
hardware. I'm on tactics with J.B. Jak over there might not look like much, but
he's the finest hand-to-hand fighter I've ever known. All of us have been involved
in close-combat fights with stickies before and survived, so it's not impossible.
Stickies might be scary to some, but they're also triple stupe. Usually you can
outsmart them."
"What's standard armament for your sec men?" J.B. asked.
"M-16 long blasters. M-16 A-2s to be exact."
"Chambered to take 5.56 mm rounds?"
"Right."
The M-16 was the traditional weapon of the smart sec man or hired mercies. The
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20...20-%20Freedom%20Lost%20(v1.0)%20[html].html (216 of 278) [12/28/2004 1:02:29 AM]
Axler,_James_-_Deathlands_41_-_Freedom_Lost
effective range of the now classic Army blaster was just under 350 yards. The
weapon could be fired in four modes: on single shot, semiauto, automatic or full
cycle. Capable of firing close to a thousand rounds of ammunition per minute,
keeping an M-16 on full cycle would empty a full 30-round magazine in under
two seconds.
"Got a few extras of the M-16 if you want them, but there's not much ammo.
We're lacking in that department. Haven't gotten a new supply in months."
"Which explains why the blaster-and-ammo store we went to earlier had been
closed," Ryan said.
"We had to confiscate his stores. The man was paid, of course."
"Of course."
"Been meaning to ask you, Dr. Wyeth why do you keep carrying around a target
pistol? We could fix you up with an autoblaster with no problem," Rollins
remarked.
Mildred hefted the ZKR 551 6-shot Czech revolver and sighted an imaginary
target as she replied, "I've always been a believer in staying with what you know,
and I know this revolver. Know how it feels, know how it shoots. I can draw, aim
and fire without even thinking and hit my target time and time again with this
blaster. Switch to something new, even with an increased bullet capacity, and by
the time I learn it as well as I know this gun, I'd probably be dead."
"I see. Very well, the "
Mildred wasn't finished. "I like simplicity. The double-action revolver is a self-
loading design, allowing the operator to cock the hammer and rotate the cylinder
simultaneously, and then release the hammer with one trigger pull. Or if I choose,
I can thumb-cock this baby like an old single-action revolver. And I always know
how many bullets I have. With an auto, you have to count."
"Not if you have enough clips."
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20...20-%20Freedom%20Lost%20(v1.0)%20[html].html (217 of 278) [12/28/2004 1:02:29 AM]
Axler,_James_-_Deathlands_41_-_Freedom_Lost
"Outside, extra ammo isn't usually an option. A revolver is easy to operate. The
ammo in the chamber is clearly visible and never, ever misfires. If a shell jams,
you just keep pulling the trigger and rotate the cylinder to the next shell. If you
keep trying to blast away with an automatic, you have to stop, eject and remove
the dud by hand," she said as she replaced the blaster in her holster.
"Give me a good automatic any day," Rollins told her.
"To each his own. Like I said, the extra shots don't mean much in that kind of
situation. My pistol has a smooth trigger action, again adding to accuracy. And in
a pinch, I can fire a variety of bullet loads, even though this one's been chambered
to take a Smith & Wesson .38-caliber round. Try doing that with a 5.56 mm auto."
"You make it sound damn near perfect. Although that hand cannon is bulky and
takes much longer to reload compared to an automatic. Autoloaders help, but you
still lose seconds opening up the chamber, lining up the bullets and closing shop.
And we both know the velocity falls short of an autopistol. High muzzle velocity
will always provide the maximum penetration."
"Why, Mr. Rollins, perhaps you know more about guns than you're letting on."
Mildred said with a smile.
Rollins returned the grin. "Could be."
"What have you got stockpiled?" J.B. interrupted, an uncharacteristic twinge of
jealousy making him speak up.
"Not as much as I'd like. We did have more, but a lot of the good stuff has been
used previously. Mr. Morgan had more blasters and ammo on order from a baron
upstate who was open to trading, but they never arrived."
"Hope the stickies didn't end up attacking a convoy and getting the damn things."
"You and me both."
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20...20-%20Freedom%20Lost%20(v1.0)%20[html].html (218 of 278) [12/28/2004 1:02:29 AM]
Axler,_James_-_Deathlands_41_-_Freedom_Lost
Chapter Twenty-One
Downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was a morass of skyscrapers and [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]