When Valeria stepped through the door to the mill, the heat and roar of the furnaces hit her like a blow. The air reeked of sulfur and molten steel as near naked slaves fed coal and scrap metal into the blazing maws of the smelters. The cavernous interior was hellishly lit by molten metal and showers of sparks from the massive kettles suspended far above the floor.

Blinking in the glare, Valeria shielded her eyes until Kutter shoved her with the stock of his rifle. As they descended to the factory floor some slaves looked up as they passed, their faces hidden behind welding masks. Down on the floor the reek of unwashed bodies added to the stifling miasma of odors as they moved deeper into the mill and passed a pit covered by a dome of pipes and wire.

"We ain't seen a good fight in the Hole for months." Cutter sneered. "If you survive the yard maybe you can volunteer!" He laughed and again shoved her with his weapon. Soon Kutter directed Valeria up a short staircase, and then banged the butt of his rifle against a steel door.

"What the fuck!" Exclaimed a voice as the door opened to show a pock-marked old man in overseer coveralls with a rifle over his shoulder.

"We got fresh meat for the yard Everett." Kutter replied turning and shoving Valeria toward the door. "Move it bitch, I ain't got all day!" As soon as Valeria entered Kutter stepped back and kicked the door shut behind her.

"Fresh meat is right!" Everett said with leer. "You must be the freak I've been hearing about. Think you can do better than old Bill?" Valeria stared at him until Everett's sneer faltered and he looked away.

"Follow me." He growled as he turned and walked down a dim hallway. Valeria followed into a crude office furnished with junk. Everett led her through another door to a chain link tunnel suspended over the factory floor.

"Hey why don't you do me a favor and get yourself killed near the door so I don't have to go far to get your corpse." Everett laughed as he led Valeria through the twisting tunnel.

"There've been shots heard in the yard. I'm betting Wildmen have set up shop out there. Should be lots of fun for you scab."

Valeria remained silent but felt hope of finding Bill alive dwindling. One of the early signs of TDC was madness as the virus ravaged the victim's brain. The slavers would refer to such unfortunates as 'wildmen' and they would band together to pillage and kill before they degenerated completely into beasts. They were not as numerous as the Trogs, but their cunning and weapons made them deadly.

"This is it scab." Everett sneered as he stopped before a door with the word "Steelyard" crudely painted in red letters across it.

"You got three days to get ten ingots. After that we get another volunteer." Everett laughed as he turned and left Valeria alone in the darkness. She looked at the door and took a deep breath. The only weapon she had was her auto axe. The huge tool was made from scavenged truck parts and was used to cut wrecks apart. It could be a viciously effective weapon, but it was also slow and unwieldy. She had been given no supplies, so she was clearly expected to scavenge from the yard. Knowing waiting further was useless, Valeria seized the handle and pulled the door open.

Before her stretched an industrial wasteland of rusting boxcars under a pall of sulphurous smoke. A smokestack towered overhead, connected to the surrounding ruins by a web of pipes leaking plumes of fire. The roar of the flames added to the echoing groans of the mill as Valeria watched for movement. She didn't know where Wild Bill had gone, but suspected that by finding ingots she'd find him. Holding her axe before her, she cautiously advanced down the ramp toward a dim glow visible through the murk.

The glow proved to be a flickering emergency light set over a steel door. Valeria looked at the light astonished that there was power, then heard the sounds of claws scratching on steel. Turning she saw shadowy forms crawling along the tops of the freight cars, their eyes gleaming at her from the gloom.

Valeria whirled and drove her foot into the door, smashing it open halfway before it jammed. The growls of the Trogs were growing louder as she squeezed through the opening then wedged the door shut with her shoulder. It shook from an outside impact, than began to shudder from repeated assaults as Valeria desperately looked for anything to brace the door with. Set against the wall nearby was a set of battered steel lockers. With nothing else near, Valeria lunged from the door and hooked her fingers in a gap between the lockers and the wall. The door shuddered and opened a crack as she braced herself and heaved with all her strength. The steel cabinet came free with an explosive crack and Valeria flung it against the door. It crashed to the floor and Valeria drove her shoulder against it as misshapen hands flailed at her. Hurling herself against it a second time, she shoved the door closed with a boom.

Panting Valeria stood and backed away from the barricade. She had no idea how long it was going to hold, and took the chance to look at her refuge. Before her were silent turbines and giant pipes running from the floor to the ceiling. The air was thick with the smell of blood and three torn and mutilated bodies lay sprawled on the floor. All were wearing slave rags, and a wide bloodstain indicated that one of them had been dragged from the door. Valeria looked at the door and above her barricade saw a bloody hand print smeared on the steel. It appeared that the slaves had fled from inside the building and died as they reached the door. Valeria picked up her auto axe and advanced into the corridor. She didn't know what was waiting inside, but knew she couldn't go back.

The corridor turned and opened into a landing overlooking a chamber with rails along the floor and overturned ore cars scattered below. Valeria could see more bodies on the floor below and all was silent save for the sound of dripping water. She followed a steel staircase to the floor of what was once a loading bay for transporting cargo from the yard to the mill. As she reached the floor Valeria could see that it recently served as a common area with stained mattresses and empty containers scattered among the bodies. An auto axe lay nearby as well as an assortment of pipes and knives. Apparently the slaves had made a stand in this room except for the few who fled to the entrance.

The distant sound of gunfire made Valeria start. She looked up as more shots echoed from above. She had no reason to believe any armed intruders would be friendly, so she turned toward the only other exit, a maintenance corridor next to a blocked rail tunnel. As Valeria approached she saw something rise out of the shadows and stagger down the hall. Valeria sprinted after the fleeing figure who ran through a door at the end of the hall and tried to close it when she slammed it open with her shoulder. In the foul darkness Valeria could see a disease-scarred slave cowering in the back of a storage closet.

"You're not Billy!" The slave shrieked covering his head with his arms.

"I'm not going to hurt you!" Valeria shouted, startling the slave into silence. "What's your name?"

"Jon Jon."

"Who's Billy? And what happened here?"

"Billy's my brother. He didn't come back after they sent him for ingots and I volunteered the next time to look for him."

"How many slaves were here?"

"I don't know. Jake was the leader. He set this up, told everyone it was the perfect hiding place because the bosses would never come looking."

"Was a slave called Wild Bill here?" .

"No." Jon Jon replied shaking his head. "Jake said he was too dumb to stay in the yard and would tell the bosses where we were."

"Are there any other survivors?"

"I don't know." Jon Jon said, unable to meet Valeria's gaze. "I was…checking on Billy. He's sick and they wouldn't let me near him! They locked him up and wouldn't listen to me when I told them he needed my help…"

Suddenly Valeria heard a growl and whirled to face a huge Trog crawling toward her, it's blood-red eyes burning.

"Stay behind me!" Valeria shouted as she hit the starter on her axe. The trog crouched; it's muscles bunching under its greenish hide as it prepared to leap.

"Don't hurt Billy!" Jon Jon shrieked, and Valeria felt something smash the back of her head. Caught by surprise, Valeria crashed to the floor stunned.

"Billy, it's me…Jon Jon." Valeria heard as if from a great distance. She tried to get off the floor, when she felt a rush of movement as the trog leaped over her followed by a scream from Jon Jon. Her head-splitting with pain, Valeria grabbed her axe and staggered to her feet.

Rending and tearing sounds were coming from the closet as the Trog crouched with its back to her. Before she could move, it spun around, blood covering its fangs as it snarled. Valeria snarled in reply, the blades of her axe whirling as she readied for its charge. The trog growled, then leaped away down the hall. Startled, Valeria froze then screamed as bullets tore through her from behind.

"Damn, this one's still alive!" Someone shouted.

"Don't kill her!" Shouted a female voice. "We were supposed to bring back slaves. All the other assholes are dead and the trogs are coming!"

"The freak's as good as dead." Another voice snarled as Valeria was kicked in the side.

"Unless we bring back something, Raker's going to have us staked out for the trogs!"

"All right. We take the freak to Raker. Lights out princess!" At that moment the butt of a rifle smashed into the back of Valeria's head, and the world went black.

When Valeria slowly awoke she found herself being dragged up a steel stairway by two raiders. Looking down she could see the floor of the yard far below and realized they were climbing the main smokestack. Valeria closed her eyes, hoping to give her healing ability more time to work. Finally the raiders stopped as heavy footfalls approached them. Suddenly a hand seized her blood caked hair and yanked her head up. Valeria allowed her eyes to open slightly before rolling them up and pretending to faint.

"This is all you fucks brought me?" Raker demanded, his eyes bulging.

"All the slaves in that hideout were killed by a fucking big trog."

"You stupid fuckers!" Raker shouted, spittle flying from his lips. "I need those slaves to build my army!" He let go of Valeria's hair and screeched. "All you assholes can bring me is this freak and that dying fucker!"

"At least we got where the slaves were hiding before he died." A female raider blurted. Raker smashed his fist into her face then turned to the rest of the raiders, his eyes wild.

"All those slaves ripe for the taking, and you fucking idiots come back with nothing!"

Gunfire interrupted Raker's rant and his head snapped about to see where it was coming from. Overhead a bridge made of pipes stretched across the yard to a ruin almost lost in the murk. Muzzle flashes illuminated two wildmen cursing and firing down the ramp. Gunfire also erupted from below with a cry of "Trogs!" His rage forgotten, Raker turned to the two raiders holding Valeria.

"Put her with the other one! We got trogs to kill!" The raiders dragged Valeria behind a row of steel domes, tied her hands and left her in the inky darkness. As soon as she heard them leave she pushed herself up. The burning pain from her wounds had faded to a throbbing ache and Valeria turned to see whom she was imprisoned with.

Wild Bill was lying on his back with his hands bound. He had untreated gunshot wounds that smelled of rot and his eyes stared sightlessly. Valeria bowed her head then reached out with her bound hands and closed his eyes. Gunfire continued to echo around her as she looked up at the scaffolding far above her. Rage was seething within her as she raised her wrists to her mouth and began to chew the ropes.

Raker laughed maniacally as he fired at the trogs overwhelming the last of his guards on the stairway below. From this tower he could look down on his kingdom. With the ingots he had gathered, he would build weapons to conquer the Pitt. His eyes blazing with maniacal joy at his glorious vision he turned and started climbing the stairs. When he reached the level connected to the sky bridge he immediately noticed something was wrong. The two raiders he posted at the bridge were now sprawled with the stillness of death. Looking wildly about, Raker ran to the bridge and looked at the bodies. One had a broken neck, and the other's throat had been torn out.

Snarling, Raker frantically searched the shadows. Movement caught his eye and he looked down the bridge. He could clearly see the hunched forms of trogs scrabbling up the pipes toward him. Raker fired his rifle, then turned and began to climb the stairs to the top of the stack. His red vision of conquest fading, Raker climbed to the top where he kept his stash of ingots. There he would defend his treasure and rain death upon his enemies.

Almost gagging from exertion, Raker reached the top and froze, his eyes bulging in disbelief. The freak his followers had brought was standing in front of his ingots, her huge body covered with blood. Raker saw that her clawed hands were empty, and with a howl jerked his rifle up to fire. Moving with astonishing speed the mutant leaped forward as he pulled the trigger and seized him by the throat. Choking in her iron grip, he dropped his rifle and clawed at her hand as she lifted him over the rail.

"This is for Bill!" Was the last thing Raker heard as she released him to plummet to the yard far below.

Valeria put her hand to her stomach and looked at the blood covering it. She was wounded, but in her rage she barely felt it. The sounds of gunfire had ceased and only the moaning of the wind and the roars of the distant furnaces could be heard as Valeria picked up Raker's assault rifle. She could see movement on the stairs below as she pulled out the magazine and saw it was empty. She flung it away as the trogs swarmed up the stairs and with a shriek leaped into a whirlwind of fangs and teeth, swinging the rifle like a club.

Her eyes blazing with berserk fury, Valeria whirled and struck, splintering bones and shattering skulls in a red haze. In the confines of the stairway the trogs tore into each other trying to get to her, and many went screeching over the rail to plummet to the yard far below. Suddenly Valeria found herself on the next landing, a shattered rifle in her fists and the huge trog that used to be "Billy" facing her. Her scream matched its howl as they hurled themselves at each other.

Valeria went down under the trog, her hand covering its face and holding its gnashing jaws back as its claws tore at her. The trog kicked at her belly, attempting to disembowel her with its taloned feet. Valeria drove her boot into the trog's chest, flinging it away then leaping after it, driving her fists into its face. The trog flailed and clawed at her as she smashed it again and again until it went limp and Valeria clasped her fists for one last blow. In the moment before she struck, the trog hissed at her then gurgled through the red ruin of its mouth.

"Thaaank yoooou."