“What’s to the left of the tall tower?” Milly said.
Tye shifted his gaze and jumped back. “A snake hole.” Uruks stood guard beside a large tunnel entrance. “We should go around.”
“Around? Skip our first signs of the gone world?” Milly said.
“I’m guessing those things have tunnels throughout the town. We go down there and we’re done,” Tye said.
“I disagree. We can’t run at the first sign of a threat, we’ll never get anywhere,” Milly said.
In a rare departure from his usual unwavering support, Peter said, “Tye might be right.”
Milly huffed and stormed off.
“Don’t go far. They might be up here in the hills,” Peter said. She ignored him and continued on into the trees.
She’d only been gone a few minutes when she called back to them. “Come see this.”
Tye led the fellowship back into the trees and they found Milly standing by a pile of bones. Kudzu and weeds covered the skeletons, intertwining through the eye sockets of skulls and twisting through ribcages.
“Are they human?” Jerome asked.
“Sure are. Those skulls and femurs are unmistakable,” Tye said.
“They look like they’ve been here for a long time,” Vera said.
Behind the pile and slightly raised was the remnants of a stone house covered in dead vegetation. The roof had caved in, three of the four walls had tumbled to the ground, and the fourth was half gone and only still standing because of the brick fireplace on that side.
Robin whimpered. Tye saw she couldn’t go any further. Blood leaked through her makeshift bandages and beads of sweat ran down her forehead. She looked pale, her eye sockets black and red.
“Let’s make camp here for the night. Peter, search the area while Vera and Robin unpack and get settled. No fire tonight,” Tye said. Sighs and grunts. “Get used to it.”
Everyone went about their business except Milly, who’d been given no orders. “Take a walk with me,” Tye said.
They headed back the way they had come and Tye continued his examination of the valley. The sun fell behind them and it was difficult to see what was happening on the valley floor.
“We need to post a watch,” Tye said.
She nodded.
Tye was surprised at her patience. He knew what she wanted to do, but she wanted him to suggest it. “See that in the center of town? Don’t know how I missed it before.” He handed her the binoculars. “What do you make of that?”
A church, clean, white, and untouched by time stood in the center of town. Atop its steeple a broken cross formed a T. It cast a long shadow as the sun fell. Milly handed the binoculars back to Tye, and he examined the town again. No weeds peeked through the church’s steps, no paint peeled from its clapboard walls. Two dark wooden doors stood open, but there were no people.
“Looks like a trap,” Tye said.
“Virals could do that? Keep things clean and trim the hedges?” Milly said. “If it’s a trap, it wasn’t set by those beasts.”
She had a point. “You and I should reconnoiter the town. No one else. You have the gun and I have my bolas, but Peter…”
“You’re right. They can stay here and rest and you and I will go. Much safer that way.”
“Peter will never go for it,” Tye said.
“He will because I’ll make him,” Milly said.
Tye lifted an eyebrow. “How about I talk to him? Tell him I need him to protect camp. Imply you can’t handle it on your own.” Tye smirked.
Her eyes blazed, but she nodded.
When they rejoined the group, Vera, Jerome and Robin huddled around Peter.
“What did you find?” Tye asked.
Peter held out his prize, confusion and elation fighting for control of his face.
“An axe,” Tye said. He took it, wiped off dirt, and caressed the composite fiberglass handle. The head was rusted, but it was still usable.
“What is this?” Peter took the axe back and stroked the handle and rubber grip.
“Like plastic,” Tye said. “And you can fix that blade up on a stone. When we have time and the right place, I’ll show you.”
Plastic meant magic of the old world to them. Milly took the axe from Peter and caressed the handle and ran her finger over the blade.
“Check this out,” Vera said. She pulled dead grass away from a stone.
Chiseled into the side of the rock was the likeness of a turtle, its neck extended and pointing toward the valley. The symbol was crude, nothing more than an oval with hash marks down the center, four stick legs and a stick tail, and a neck and head that looked like a sock. Tye couldn’t tell how old the markings were, but the turtle’s neck definitely pointed toward town. The pristine church filled his mind. The sun had cooked him, and hunger gnawed at his stomach and growled like an angry dog.
Milly stared at the symbol, and traced the lines with her finger.
“Have you seen that before?” Peter asked.
“No.”
Tye thought she answered a little too fast, and too defensively.
“It’s nothing. Vera, help me find firewood.” Milly stalked off into the trees.
Everyone else helped make camp, except Tye. He stared at the turtle. Was the neck pointing directly at the church? How could it be there when everything else had wasted away? When Vera and Robin were settled in for the night, he’d find out.
Chapter Nine
Year 2066, Central Mexico
As soon as darkness fell, Milly and Tye followed the ancient road down to the remains of the village. They stayed in the tree break as much as possible and saw no fires or any signs of Uruks. A warm breeze rustled the dried grass, and the creatures of the night sang their shrill symphony.
