The Wastelands (Part II of the Runner Series)

Chapter 10

Snake's dark eyes narrow. "You lie." He looks to Luca. "The air machines flew here only a few weeks past and stole our kin."

"Impossible." The word slips out before I can stop it and I shake my head firmly. "We haven't sent any of our ships out since the Rebellion."

Snake lifts his spear, levelling it at my neck. I tense and force myself to remain calm, keeping my chin raised above the point.

"Take me to my friends." I tell him. "I can prove to you that you have no fight with us."

Something unseen passes over my head between Snake and Luca and the spear is lowered.

"Turn." Snake growls. "Walk."

I spin on my heel obediently and march, musing flippantly that Will's soldier lessons were good for something. I keep my shoulders back and my posture upright as the Wasters fall smoothly into position around me, their various weapons not giving an inch.

We stride quickly past the dunes, the Wasters setting a direct and purposeful path until we round a bend and are suddenly at the bank of the dried-out river. The ground opens in front of me, startlingly vast relative to the time I've spent shadowed and surrounded by dunes.

I crane my neck as we step across the cracked earth, my vision blurring in the sudden brightness. Gradually the scene swims into view and I am able to make out a group of Wasters standing in a semicircle near the centre of the river. I blink again, noticing the figures kneeling on the ground amongst the Wasters. I quicken my pace as my heart begins to thud heavily in my chest.

We draw up to the group and someone grips my arm, roughly pulling me towards the soldiers. I scan their faces, mentally counting as I search.

At the end of the line I find Will and my knees nearly collapse with relief. He is kneeling with the other soldiers on the ground, his hands behind his head and grimacing tightly. The cut on his temple is crusted with blood and sand but he appears otherwise unharmed.

I am shoved down onto the ground next to him and my palms scrape against the rough surface below us. Will twitches as he fights the reflex to catch me and I right myself, exchanging a look with him before sitting back on my knees and staring at the Wasters gathered around us.

Snake has receded into the crowd and a statuesque woman has taken centre-stage around our little audience, a thick staff adorned with an assortment of feathers clutched in her hand. Her hair is braided and coiled elaborately into individual ropes that drape over her shoulder and cascade down her back. Her squared features have been painted heavily, giving her narrow eyes the impression of glittering pinpoints set deep within a cave.

"You have made a grave error in trespassing on our territory, Miners." Her voice is deep and carries over the dried-out expanse of former river.

"As I have told you already, we did not come to fight." Will speaks calmly, matching the woman's steady tone.

"What you tell me matters not. There will never be trust between my people and yours. You will learn a hard lesson today." A couple of the Wasters behind her shift in place eagerly and I sense Will stiffening.

"Listen to me, you have taken our weapons and you have destroyed our ship. You have seen that we are not meant to attack you. My people are innocent of whatever fight you find yourselves in, we simply wish to negotiate peace." Will is unflinchingly reasonable but the woman's expression remains impassive.

"It is too late for such talks, Miner. Perhaps your Queen should have considered more carefully the repercussions of taking our people before sending such a pitiful force to apologize."