Olga opened her mouth to reply, but Gracie had already jogged away down the hill. Hawk followed her.
William stepped in their direction.
“Come on,” Artan said to Olga, pulling on their fiery friend’s arm. “Let’s at least get out of their line of sight.”
Gracie and Hawk a little way ahead of them, Olga said, “Are we sure we trust Gracie on this one?”
“Not sure, no,” Artan said.
“But what else do we have?” William added. “She’s led us true so far.”
“Like they did in Umbriel?”
“We can’t assume everyone’s going to screw us over like they did in Umbriel,” Artan said. “Here.” He stood close to William to allow him to slide the deer across to him. Moving off as if the heavy carcass weighed nothing, the boy, two years William’s junior and a skinny as a spear, ran down the hill after Hawk and Gracie.
“Come on,” William said, pulling Olga along with him before he gripped Jezebel with both hands. He might not have the skills to throw a spear, but he could still remove heads with his axe. “Let’s get back to the others.”
Chapter 2
The sun had finally set, and William sat next to Matilda as part of a larger semicircle around the fire in the wrecked house. Half of its roof had fallen in. Despite the buildings inside the city having fared better against entropy, Gracie had insisted they stay there. It kept them from entering the ruins before they were ready, and because it had a fireplace on the first floor, it kept them away from the diseased and allowed them to cook what they caught at the end of each day.
The deer William and Artan had carried hissed and spat over the flames. Outside, the cool breeze played the still city, whistling through the empty windows and rattling anything that hung loose. It toyed with the flames in the fireplace, turning their hypnotic sway erratic. A strong gust shot down the chimney. It squashed the flames, the fire vomiting a shower of sparks out onto the floor in front of them.
They’d been there long enough to build the fire, light it, and prepare the deer. Gracie had had plenty of time, but she hadn’t yet told the others about the vast community on the outskirts of the ruined city. She’d not mentioned the explosion. “Can people see the flames?” William said.
“Like who?” Max asked.
Gracie’s eyes narrowed slightly before she shook her head. “No. Because this building is on the outskirts of the city and opens up onto the plains, you can only see us from the north. And the night hides the smoke coming from the chimney.”
The silence swelled with anticipation, Gracie’s cue to continue. William looked from Artan, to Olga, and then to Hawk. Each of them fixed on Gracie, but she stared at the flames.
Max had the ointment they’d taken from Grandfather Jacks’ palace. He dabbed it on his burns on his left pec and thigh before handing it to Matilda. “You finish it.”
Red-faced, Hawk clenched his jaw and stared at the ground as the two passed the jar between them. He’d been too familiar with that ointment as a child, the slashes around his neck evidence of Grandfather Jacks’ brutal regime.
No need for a bandage now, Matilda upended the jar, tipping the rest of the ointment on what remained of the cut on her thigh. Both her and Max were almost fully healed, and they could have moved off a few days ago, but better to be sure. The flames cast deep shadows across her tense face, but she didn’t wince like she had when treating her wound previously. “Does it feel better?” William said.
Although Matilda smiled before she replied, Hawk took the empty pot from beside her and launched it into the city through the hole in the roof with a, “Yeargh!”
The group held their breath, the wind and the crackle from the fire the only sound until a gentle splash reported the pot’s landing.
“I’ve lived in my community my entire life,” Gracie said. “My dad runs the place.”
“What’s it called?” Matilda said.
“Dout.”
Olga muttered from the side of her mouth, “That’s encouraging.”
“It’s an underground community,” Gracie continued. “We can’t compete with the larger settlements around us, so we live an undercover existence.”
“Like snakes in the grass?” Olga said.
Gracie continued, “But anyway, you’ll all get to see it soon.” She leaned forwards, “So tell me, how did you all meet?”
William turned his palms to the sky. What about the settlement they saw earlier? What did she have to tell them about the ruined city they were about to go through? He opened his mouth to challenge her, but Matilda cut him off.
“William and I met at school when we were tiny.”
It took him back. Back to their first classroom. Back to their childhood when he dreamed of being a protector. When he looked forward to national service. He smiled. “And I noticed you from the very second I saw you.”
Matilda blushed. “No you didn’t. You called me names and pulled my hair.”
Clearing his throat and straightening a pretend tie, William said, “Those were my finest moves. You should consider yourself lucky to have experienced them.”
“Is that what you call it?” Matilda said.
“Well, I’m sorry.” William cleared his throat and dropped his gaze. “But what I wanted to say is if love at first sight is a thing, it hit me with both barrels the day I met you.”
“You were five,” Matilda said.
William shrugged. “It took me a while to work it out.”
Olga made retching noises and Matilda blushed.
“I met Max, William, and Matilda during national service in Edin,” Olga said.
“National service?” Gracie tilted her head to one side. “What’s that?”
Olga snorted an ironic laugh. “Something that seemed far more important than it was. None of that bullshit mattered after Edin fell.”
“How did Edin fall?” Gracie said.
“Hugh,” Olga said. When only the wind answered her, she added, “William and
