The Wasteland Soldier, Book 1, A Fractured World

Twenty One

"Let me help you," said Emil

Stone refused, convinced he would mend. He was strong enough to slip into Chett and kill Gozan and that was all that mattered. She told him his hip wound was infected. Her hands felt light on his bare skin. He shivered at her touch. The dark night was cold. The wind whistled through the ruined buildings. Her warm hands continued to press against his skin. No one touched him. No one held him. He gritted his teeth, became dizzy.

Tomas kept watch, patrolling, barely able to look at Stone. His anger was impossible to hide. He wanted answers. He wanted the truth. He stared across a pile of rubble at Chett, under whelmed by what he saw. He wasn't sure what he had expected but he had heard so much about the place. The first city, the only city - he had hoped for something more than crumbling walls and dirty looking buildings. He had sought a vision that would glitter and sparkle and dazzle in the sand, a sign of inspiration for all in Gallen, a sanctuary for the wanderers and the weary, a beacon, something more than this ramshackle sprawl. He felt nothing but disappointment and disinterest.

"Do you understand?" asked Stone.

He was standing behind him, his wounds healed. Emil was keeping her distance, allowing them time to talk.

"No," said Tomas.

"You can keep her safe," he said. "Once this is done."

The younger man turned to face Stone.

"I don't want it to be that way. We can go back to the original plan. It will work."

Stone shook his head.

"And then what? My whole life, Tomas," he said, nodding at the city. "I kept his name for this."

"And you can have a whole life after this," said Tomas. "Go back to the original plan."

Tomas punched him.

"I should put a few bolts in you," he said, brandishing his crossbow. "Get Emil to patch you up. Then shoot you again."

"Help me find the tunnel," said Stone. "Before dawn."

"We do this together," said Tomas.

"All three of us," said Emil.

"And we get out of this dump together," said Tomas.

"Okay," said Stone.

With the three of them searching, it still took a further hour until Tomas finally uncovered a flight of ancient steps, buried beneath the rubble, leading down into darkness. This was what they had first seen on the Map Maker's maps. They had known of the wandering man for many years, thought him a curiosity, nothing more, until they had heard the name Gozan, and learned that he lived, and then the Map Maker had become a man they desperately needed to hunt down. Stone snapped on his torch and they followed him underground. The air was stale and moist. The steps reached a landing. Stone fanned the torch over walls of dirty cracked tiles. Another flight led further down into a long room with a high, arched ceiling. Corridors ran off to his left but they were blocked with rubble. They realised they stood on the edge of a platform. A tunnel filled with two rusted lines of iron stretched into blackness.

"What is this place?" whispered Emil.

Tomas shook his head.

"I don't know."

Stone swept the torch around. He saw cracks in the walls and roof, dirt and grime, but no apparent threat.

He dropped down from the platform. His boots echoed on the iron lines. He angled the torch down and saw they were secured to heavy wooden beams. The lines were far apart, impossible to stand on both at the same time. He wondered what purpose they had served. He flashed his torch behind him and saw the tunnel had caved in. He swept his torch in the other direction, towards Chett.