They walked on, keeping their eyes on the vast plain of silent ash
around them.
* * * * *
The sun was setting. Hendricks made his way forward slowly, waving
Tasso and Klaus back. Klaus squatted down, resting his gun butt
against the ground.
Tasso found a concrete slab and sat down with a sigh. "It's good to
rest."
"Be quiet," Klaus said sharply.
Hendricks pushed up to the top of the rise ahead of them. The same
rise the Russian runner had come up, the day before. Hendricks dropped
down, stretching himself out, peering through his glasses at what lay
beyond.
Nothing was visible. Only ash and occasional trees. But there, not
more than fifty yards ahead, was the entrance of the forward command
bunker. The bunker from which he had come. Hendricks watched silently.
No motion. No sign of life. Nothing stirred.