THE PLAN

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Mia, Charlotte and Natasha are sitting around the kitchen table in the bunker. They are all in their underwear. She gets a cup of coffee and goes to Mia. Shyla gives Mia a kiss and sits down next to her.

“So now is a good time to discuss our future” announces Shyla.

“Everything seems to be going great” says Charlotte. “We have plenty of supplies to last us years. Same with the water and electric power.”

“That is true” answers Shyla. “I was lucky enough to get this bunker build and fully supplied before everything went to Hell.”

“Yah, we got plenty of time before we have to worry” says Natasha. “I mean this is pretty fun what we have.”

“Yes, this past week has been relaxing. We really needed to unwind after that ordeal” says Shyla. “But we can’t just sit around all day in our underwear watching old movies and shows, playing games or” she grabs Mia’s hand and gives her a smile, “Other pleasurable pursuits.”

“I don’t know but why not?” asked Mia. “I mean this has been like one big slumber party and what better things do we have to do?”

“All slumber parties eventually end” answers Shyla. “Look we barely survived those hordes of mutants. What if we have other large mutant hordes or well-armed raiders attack us. We need numbers to give us security. You will notice that this bunker has room to accommodate more couples. I planned to recruit more but the war came too early and only us four got here.”

“I agree that more couples would have helped” says Charlotte. “Unfortunately, it’s a little too late to recruit online now that the internet is gone. Hell, even newspapers have quit circulating.”

“True” says Shyla. “Which is why we need to actually go out and find them.”

The three women jump up to their feet.

“Shyla are you serious” says Mia. “Its dangerous out there and besides it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

“I agree” says Shyla and get to her feet. “I think this is just something too important for us. I don’t expect any of you to do this. I will though go alone. I really feel strongly about this. I think God has been watching over us and will continue to do so.”

There was silence from the other girls. Mia grabs both of Shyla’s hands and holds them in hers.

“Hon you are never going anywhere without me” says Mia. “You’ll never get rid of me that easy.”

Charlotte and Natasha exchange a look and nod to each other.

“I think me and Natasha are also with you” says Charlotte. “We own our lives to you. We are all in on this crazy endeavor.”

Shyla smiles.

“Great” says Shyla. “I guess after breakfast we can go over my plan.”

THE RESCUE

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Shyla and her wife Mia had survived the apocalypse. Along with their best friends Charlotte and her wife Natasha, they made it to their fortified bunker on the outskirts of Elko, Nevada. Recently their friends had gone missing on a scavenging mission inside the abandoned town.

The two women approach the outskirts cautiously. Shyla carries her shotgun with her 9mm holstered at her hip. Mia has her twin .45s holstered at her hip.

“I hope they are alright” says Mia.

“I warned them to be careful” says Shyla. “I saw signs of mutants around the area lately.”

They pause at the outskirts as Shyla checks her shotgun. Mia pulls out her pistols to be ready. The two women look at each other and there is a passionate kiss.

“I love you” says Shyla.

“I love you too” says Mia.

They then move forward, wearily scanning the empty streets. The town was a crazy patchwork of stores that looked untouched while others were burned out or looted. After the war various raiders had come killing and looting the town. The survivors had fled and what their fate was is anybody’s guess.

Suddenly some figures ran across the street. The girls bring up their guns.

“I knew there were mutants here” says Shyla.

The war had seen the use of chemical and biological weapons. These weapons caused untold deaths. Many of the survivors were hideously scared and deformed. They now traveled in groups scavenging for food. Mutants had a hatred of anyone that wasn’t scared in the war. Some traders passing through had told of reports they were turning to cannibalism.

The mutants in the surrounding buildings started to make a noise. There was loud yelling. Pipes and clubs were being banged against other pipes or walls. The din of the noise was all around the two girls.

“There seem to be a lot of them” says Mia. “What should we do?”

Shyla gets a serious look and grips her shotgun. “We have to continue on” she says. “Those girls are our best friends. I love them and couldn’t live with myself if I just gave up without trying everything in my power to find them.”

Mia nodded her head with approval. Natasha was her friend since childhood. Charlotte was Shyla’s. The two had met at their wedding and fallen in love. A month later they were married and the four had been inseparable friends ever since.

Mutants start pouring out of the buildings. Shyla and Mia blast away at the approaching horrors. Each blast of Shyla’s shotgun falls several of the mutants. Mia blasts away with her pistols and each shot takes a mutant down.

The mutants, though driven mad with their pain, still had a spark of self-preservation in them. The survivors turned and ran into the buildings to escape the accurate fire of the girls. Shyla and Mia were back-to-back covering the area a full 360 degrees.

“Well, that stopped them for a while” says Shyla.  “Come on, let’s get going”

The two girls start running down the street. They reload while on the run. Mutants from the rooftops toss bricks and stones at them. They manage to avoid them and occasionally pick off a careless mutant that exposes himself.

The girls continued and hit the main street. The mutants were working themselves into a frenzy. They started to once again charge the girls. Once again, a deadly hail of fire dropped the mutants. Only this time the maddened horde didn’t stop.

“Shyla” say Mia. “They don’t seem to be stopping”

Shyla looks around and notices the courthouse. She gestures at the courthouse to Mia.

“Get to the courthouse. It looks like a place we can hold them off” says Shyla.

The girls run to the courthouse steps and start to ascend. The mutants are getting closer. They turn and empty another volley into the approaching hordes. This seems to reawaken the self-preservation mode again and they back off. The girls run into the courthouse. Once inside they close the heavy ornate doors. Shyla finds a lock and manages to lock the doors.

Now briefly finding sanctuary, the two girls turn into each other and rest their foreheads against each other. They keep this position while recovering their strength and seemed to also draw strength from each other. They then straightened up and looked at each other.

“So now what?” asked Mia.

“I wasn’t expecting some many. If I knew we could have brought some more firepower” replied Shyla.

Shyla reaches into her pouch on her belt and pulls out some more shotgun shells.

“That’s the last for me. How about you?” asked Shyla.

Mia looks at the clips of her pistols.

“Not much I’m afraid” Mia replies.

Shyla pull out her 9mm and two clips from a pouch. She hands them over to Mia. Mia holsters her pistols and accepts the 9mm.

“You know those .45s look cool but you really should use 9mm. They have a greater magazine capacity which could come in handy like now” says Shyla.

Mia just kind of shrugs and checks to make sure the 9mm has a round in the chamber.

Suddenly there is the scream of a woman from down the hall. The two girls run down the hall. A mutant comes out of a doorway and swings an ax at Shyla. Shyla manages to evade the swing but falls to the floor. The mutant prepares to bring his ax down.

Mia manages to place a bullet in the mutant. He drops to the floor. Three other mutants come out into the hallway. She puts down all three with well placed shots. Sthe then grabs Shyla’s hand and helps her up.

“Thanks, I thought that mutant was going to cave my skull in” says Shyla. “What would I do without you?”

Mia just smiles and leans in to give Shyla a kiss. Another scream though brings both girls to look down the hall. They continue down the hall only a little more cautiously. The girls come to the entrance of the courtroom. They stop and grip their weapons more tightly.

“Ready?” asks Shyla.

“I was born ready” replies Mia.

Shyla kicks the door open. Inside the courtroom they see Charlotte and Natasha. They are before the bench bound with ropes around their hands and feet. Standing over them is a large and hideous mutant with a knife. Shyla blasts the mutant with her shotgun.

The girls run over to the bound women. They kneel and set their guns on the floor. They pull out their knives and cut the women free. They then help them to their feet. The freed women hug their rescuers. Then Charlotte and Natasha turn to each other and embrace and kiss passionately.

Shyla and Mia pick up their guns as they put their knives back in their sheaths.

“You don’t know how glad we are to see you” says Charlotte.

“I told you to be careful,” says Shyla. “What happened?”

Charlotte looks at the floor. “We were scavenging in the supermarket when they caught us. One minute everything was fine and the next they were all over the place. They quickly tied us up and carried us here” says Charlotte.

“They said they were going to eat us, yuck” says Natasha.

“I’m sorry” says Charlotte. “I know we put you in danger.”

Shyla lifts Charlotte’s head and stares her in the eye. She gives her a smile.

“The only important thing is you two are safe. You mean the world to us” say Shyla.

There is the sound of the front door to the courthouse being busted in.

“Sounds like they’re coming” says Mia.

“Definitely time to get the Hell out of here” replies Shyla.

Shyla leads the girls to the door. She makes them stop as she cautiously steps into the hallway. Down the hall a group of mutants approached. They were led by a huge one that had a deformed head that reminded you of a giant potato. He also carried an AR-15. The leader raised it and fired at Shyla. She was able to duck back into the courtroom.

“Oh great. Mr. Potato Head is armed” says Shyla.

Mia pulls out grenade from her pouch.

“How about we give Mr. Potato Head a hot potato to play with” states Mia.

A big smile lights up Shyla’s face

“What would I do without you?” says Shyla.

Mia gives her a sly smile.

“It’s a good thing you’re so damn beautiful” say Mia. “The only reason I put up with you”

Mia pulls the pin on the grenade and quickly ducks into the hallway.

“Catch” Mia yells and duck back into the courtroom.

The grenade hits Mr. Potato Head in the chest and falls to the floor. Mr. Potato Head stares dully at it. His chemically addled brain struggles to process what happened. The grenade fuse is quicker and explodes. The blast blows up Mr. Potato Head and the mutants around him.

The girls run into the hallway and step over the remains of the mutants. Charlotte notices the axe lying on the floor and picks it up. They get to the busted front door.

“OK” says Shyla. “I think the best thing we can do is just run like Hell. Fight our way through them and get home. I don’t think there are many left.”

The other girls stood around looking a bit skeptical.

“I am open to any suggestions?” says Shyla.

Charlotte steps forward hefting the axe.

“Let’s do it” she says. “I’ve had it with this scum and any that get in my way are in a world of hurt”

Shyla smiles and puts out her knife and gives it to Natasha.

“Let’s go” says Shyla.

The girls run down the steps and into the street. As they start down more mutants come out of the buildings. Shyla blasts the first two with her shotgun. Mia empties her pistol into a few. Shyla turns the empty shotgun around and uses it as a club. Mia knocks out some with the empty pistol in her hand. Charlotte uses the axe to great effect. Natasha manages to stab one in the eye with her knife.

The mutants which are now just a few have enough. Demoralized from the heavy losses they conclude that these girls were not going to be the easy pushover they first thought. The survivors turn and flee.

The girls continue without any further incident. They make it to their bunker. Shyla punches in the code at the gate of the chain link fence that surrounds the bunker. They go to the bunker which looks small from the outside.

They enter though and go down the stairway to the lower level. Here it is much bigger underground. The living room area is spacious with brown carpeting. The walls have paintings on them and there are well stocked bookshelves along the wall. There are several recliners and couches and a big screen TV. There is also a fireplace

The girls go to the couch in front of the fireplace. Shyla goes there and gets a fire started. She turns around and Charlotte and Natasha are passionately kissing. They are oblivious to anything around them. Mia sits on the other side of the couch and waits for Shyla who comes over and sits next to her.

“We did it” says Mia. “Saved our friends and managed to get out alive.”

“Just barely” says Shyla. “If I knew there were so many mutants I would have brought along some heavier firepower. From now on we always go outside heavily armed and always together. This is never happening again.

Mia just nods and casually glance at Charlotte and Natasha. She turns back to look Shyla full in the eyes.

“You know I think those two have the right idea” Mia says with a mischievous smile.

“I’ve been thinking the same thing” says Shyla with her own smile.

Shyla leans down and starts passionately kissing Mia.

SHADOWRUN BURNING BRIGHT BY TOM DOWD

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Copyright 1994.

Kyle Teller is a mage and former FBI agent. He now works as a freelance investigator. He has been hired by Timothy Truman the CEO of the powerful entertainment megacorporation Truman Technologies. His son has gone missing and it is up to Kyle to find him. His investigation in Chicago soon leads to the presence of powerful insect spirits from another dimension. The spirits break out on a raid on their hive. The government quarantines the city to contain these powerful insect spirits. Kyle finds himself trapped in the containment zone. He searches for his ex-wife and daughter while mounting an assault on the main hive with a small tactical nuke. If they fail, then the government will drop a deadly pesticide on the city killing everyone.

The is the second book that Dowd did and very much the better of his two contributions to the series. This is the first that stars a mage or one who can use magic in the awakened world of the future. It is the first that really gives us a sense in this series of what magic is capable of. He does a lot of astral projection and creates these familiar spirits to help him. Dowd did a game book for the series called Bug City. Basically, it was the book that gave players the mechanics and scenarios to play in a Chicago taken over by these interdimensional insects spirts. It was canon for the Shadowrun universe, and he did a tie in novel. A fun book that starts out as a detective novel. Then turns into some kind of corporate/government conspiracy. Finally ends as a post-apocalyptic type of book. One of my favorites of the series.

SHADOWRUN NOSFERATU BY CARL SARGENT & MARC GASCOIGNE

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Copyright 1994

The elf mage Serrin Shamander is in New York doing some research and saves the mayor from being assassinated. He becomes a celebrity and decides to go to Europe to escape the spotlight. Only in Germany someone tries to kidnap him. He goes to Seattle and hires an old ork friend Tom to be his bodyguard. His rich friend in Britain hires a decker named Michael to also help. A message from a young street kid named Kristen in Cape Town points to a worldwide conspiracy. Someone is kidnapping elf and human mages. Soon they find that there is a powerful and ancient elf vampire or Nosferatu behind the kidnappings. The Nosferatu has a plan to produce a drug to make all humans and other metahumans that aren’t elves complacent. They have to assemble a force to attack his lair in Germany.

This is the second of the three books that these two authors did for the series. They use a character that was from their first book. Once again, I enjoyed their writing. They seem to have a strong ability to assemble a strong cast of likable and diverse characters of different backgrounds. They fight an ancient and powerful evil. We get to see the Germany and South Africa of this future fictional universe. Now called Azania, South Africa is a loose confederation of states and still stratified by race. Now those of mixed-race are the lowest in society. Berlin is an anarchic free city where anything goes. The book also has an ending with some powerful organization that is secretive and above the law. They also sort of tell the main character this and rub his nose in the fact they are beyond his retribution. An enjoyable book in the series.

SHADOWRUN FADE TO BLACK BY NYX SMITH

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Copyright 1994.

Rico lives in the Newark of 2055. It is an urban crime infested hellhole. Crime, violence and poverty rule with brutal gangs controlling pieces of the city. (Sounds like nothing has changed in the future.) Rico has been hired to break out a scientist being held against his will. A challenging job that will give a hefty payout for him and his team. The snatch goes off without any complications or loss of life. Only the guy they snatched doesn’t want to go to the corporation that hired them He wants to go somewhere else. Rico being a man of honor will not force him back. What follows are them breaking out the man’s wife from the corporation. The wife trying to kill him and revealing he really isn’t who he is. Corporate intrigue and their security teams out to get Rico. Being an honorable man has a high price to pay in the world of 2055.

This is the second book from Nyx Smith. Like his first book I enjoyed reading it. It had interesting characters and plenty of action. I did find some of the twists to be a bit hard to believe. In fact, it did get a bit convoluted. There were also some subplots that seemed to go nowhere. Still, it kept my interest which is something I find important for a book to do. While not my favorite writer in this series, Nyx can still deliver a good book.

SHADOWRUN LONE WOLF BY NIGEL FINDLEY

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Copyright 1994.

Rick Larson is an undercover cop for the private policing firm Lone Star that handles the contract for Seattle. He has managed to infiltrate The Cutters a notorious street gang. One day he recognizes a corporate official with some Tir based corporation that is working with The Cutters. Soon his cover is blown, and he barely escapes a Cutter team sent to kill him. An extraction operation by Lone Star ends with him almost getting killed by a Lone Star tactical squad. Lone Star has been compromised and someone high up wants him dead. On the run from both the Cutters and his corporate employer he turns to Argent a Shadowrunner fixer. They manage to find a conspiracy to produce a magical biological weapon that a high executive in Lone Star is working with an elf corporation located in the Tir.

This is the third Shadowrun book that Findley has written. Like the others is has a very crime noir feel to it. Findley is my favorite author for this series. His stories are always very interesting and filled with characters that bring the story to life. Rick Larson is a perfect lone wolf type of cop. He is dedicated and a bit idealistic about the work he does. This idealism starts to shatter when exposed to the truths of the world. He hates Shadowrunner but finds in Argent someone who shares his sense of honor while his employers are corrupt to the core. When reading this series if you get a Nigel Findley book you know you are getting a quality book.