We followed the tracks of the APC through the city.
Alternatives didn't exist.
Half-way across the city, the tracks vanished into the sand-ridden streets.
Either the sandstorm or the wind had blown them away.
Hope burned with every sip of water.
We were down on one container.
Two liters for a group of five.
It wasn't looking good.
The mood in my team dampened.
Nathan was close to collapsing into a coma.
"What now, leader?"
I ignored the mockery in the soldier's tone. An emotional breakout would wipe out the already low morale of the group.
Couldn't risk it.
"You're right. The APC's gone. We pick your spot."
"And then?"
"We find an alternative. Getting cooked up on the street is no way to plan ahead."
One of the diggers groaned. He and his buddy had schlepped old Nathan around for the past hour.
These men reached the limits of their strength.
Another reason to rest someplace near and relax.
We traversed the rubble of yet another back alley and found a ruin with a lobby.
Near to the east side stood a few benches covered in dust, but free of rubble and mainly intact. I told the diggers to lay Nathan down and take a break.
They gladly accepted.
I waited till everyone was seated and eyed the nearby staircase.
Was this building free of hostiles?
I had to check and find out.
And I needed armament to be on the safe side.
"Soldier, give me your Dust Viper. I want to recon the area."
He produced the firearm from his holster but stopped in mid-motion.
My authoritarian voice only worked so much.
"Actually, I'm your superior."
"I understand. I just want to make sure we're alone in this building. I'll return your gun as soon as I've swept the levels."
He seemed to ponder my suggestion.
"You're a digger. I'm a soldier. By the Bulwark's rules, you are in no position to give me orders."
"But we're beyond the Bulwark's jurisdiction. The Lost Lands abide by no laws."
The diggers nodded, Ann-Lyze also.
This wasn't the moment to discuss chain of command.
Ann-Lyze patted her father's forehead dry and supported me.
"He saved all of us. Just give him the damn gun."
The soldier wavered, but something was holding him back. Maybe it was the armor on his body that kept his feeling of authority in place. Uniforms had always changed the characters of humans.
Wear something powerful, and you feel powerful.
The soldier came to his conclusion.
"I will check the upper floors myself. You can come with me."
A sigh-worthy moment. But I didn't trust the guy enough to go solo, so I agreed.
"You guys stay here and relax. We'll be back soon."
Ann-Lyze nodded.
"Good luck. And don't do something stupid."
"No guarantees."
She smiled, and it was the most heart-warming emotion of today. As long as people were able to grin in the face of adversary, there was hope for all of us.
"Let's go now," I said to the soldier.
We waved our group goodbye for now and walked up the stairs. Pushed our backs against the wall of the second floor and peeked inside the hall. Apart from the torn-apart walls, the rubble and the stench of dank concrete, the place looked forsaken. Still, we marched around the piles and cleared the perimeter. The soldier had his gun ready. One part of me thought about disarming the man. He was too rebellious to carry the only weapon in the team.
When he looked at my direction, I nodded.
Trying to keep everything smooth.
We checked the last corner of the hall and found nothing but trash forgotten by time.
This floor was a ghost dump.
"Okay, clear. Let's check the next."
We returned to the staircase, entered the third floor and repeated the same cautious maneuver. In the middle of the sweep, the soldier started a conversation.
"Why are you doing this?"
"What do you mean?"
"Playing the leader. You don't have the obligation, nor any incentive, to do so."
"Well, when our so-called superior left us in the tunnel, someone had to take charge."
"Is that behavior the reason why the committee discharged you from the soldier service?"
The guy clearly knew more than I had anticipated.
But with his helmet and full face shield on, I couldn't gauge his facial expression.
I said,
"The Bulwark seems to have problems with people taking initiative."
"The Bulwark is addicted to hierarchy. If you stand out like a nail, they hammer you back in."
"You're right about that."
We came to the end of the third floor and went back to the staircase.
The last floor awaited us.
The soldier kept talking.
"You know, people back at the cluster kept chattering about you."
"Yeah? I guess someone has to be the scapegoat in dire times."
"Oh no, they weren't badmouthing you. Quite the contrary. Almost everyone swooned about your heroic deeds."
"Tell me more. I really could use an ego boost right now."
I said it only half-jokingly.
With so much crap hitting me lately, I was looking for any sign of optimism.
"Well," the soldier continued, "they kept raving about your skyscraper sweep. Gossip says you took down eight Technoids single-handedly, even a heavy with a pulsar rifle."
"That's about right."
He whistled.
"That's unheard of. Technoids are superior to Bulwark's soldiers. Not to mention their impressive war technology."
"Guess I was just lucky."
"Luck and Technoid encounter don't combine. You either are strong enough to survive or you get taken down. There's no middle."
I threw him a look but he didn't react.
"We better watch out. This floor has no windows."
That was true. The wall-sized windows had been blown away. Fresh, sandy air streamed into the hall and brushed the dust from the concrete pillars. The sun burned the city's skyline into a golden taint. We advanced to a pillar and overwatched the city ruins.
The view was mesmerizing.
Skyscraper and houses scratched at the sizzling sky, the wind whistled through the concrete jungle and played its freaky melody.
"Welcome to the Lost Lands," the soldier said.
"It looks almost peaceful."
"All graveyards do."
In the far distance, I observed crimson smearing on the concrete plates of the ruinous buildings.
"Almighty machine god, praise be upon him."
"Merge with the machine."
"Rid yourself of sin. Take off your skin."
Yikes.
Either the Technoids had a sick sense of humor, or were simply sick.
I said,
"What do they want?"
"Technoids?"
"Yeah."
"Rejoice with the machine god, I guess."
"And then?"
"Create a new kind of humanity. They deeply believe that merging with the machines is the next step of godlike evolution."
"Evolution and religion? Mmm, last time I checked, these two didn't go together too well."
"I guess you have to believe to really understand it."
We just glanced at the ocean of bleached buildings laying in front of us.
The view was both chilling and astonishing. The ruined city carried a morbid atmosphere that got under your skin.
For better or worse.
My glance rotated around the skyline and stopped at a skewed skyscraper ruin.
Something blinked and caught my attention.
With eyes narrowed, I tried to identify the object on the tenth floor far away.
The sunlight was so bright, I faced difficulty spotting the details.
Something moved, but maybe it was the heat playing tricks on me.
My arm hairs erected, my stomach cringed.
"What's the matter?" the soldier said.
"I don't know...do you feel that?"
"Feel what?"
"Something's changed in the atmosphere."
"I don't feel a thing."
But I did.
Inside of me, the cells tingled.
The glow on the far away skyscraper increased.
I threw myself against the soldier and pushed him against the nearby concrete pillar. Just in time when the beam impacted the ground next to us.