he picked himself up off the bench.
“How much farther?”
Charles glanced over his shoulder. “We’re about six blocks past the safe house, so we need to go left at the next street. Should be able to see the base by then.”
“And we’re supposed to find the abandoned storefront where Morgan will be waiting for us?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Why do you think it was abandoned?” Jacob asked. He took a few quick steps to catch up to Charles’s pace.
“You’ll see.”
Jacob pondered what Charles meant as they made their way onto the next cobblestone street and continued on a few blocks. There were a lot of people in the shopping district, carrying canvas bags and wheeling carts with handfuls of essential foods while they bickered and bartered.
“Are they safe here?” Jacob asked.
Charles nodded. “Should be. The breakaway point is just inside the base’s walls. If it’s not a clean break, there’s almost a city block between the base and the shopping district.”
Jacob flinched and wrinkled his nose when a terrible stench almost choked him. “What’s that smell? It’s awful.”
“You don’t want to know, kid.”
Jacob felt a little better about the explosives, but he’d also seen how bad things could go when someone made the wrong calculation. City walls could collapse, buildings could fall, and people would die.
“There it is,” Charles said. He pointed to a two-story building with a gray wooden façade. Charles led the way through a cluster of pedestrians, dodging foul-tempered men and women until they eventually reached the front door. It seemed to be nailed shut.
Jacob looked around and didn’t see any patrols. “Looks clear.” The base wall in the distance caught his eye, and his entire body shivered. “Charles …” The dead hung in masses from the walls. Several had been there long enough for scavengers to tear them apart, leaving bits and gore piled along the base of the wall. Clouds of fat flies crawled everywhere, and Jacob had his answer about the smell.
“I know.” Charles paused and looked at the man sitting near the door. When the huddled figure nodded, Charles pulled on the board hammered across the door, opening it with a quiet squeak.
Jacob grabbed the door after Charles slipped through. The gray paint warmed his fingers in the morning sun, and then they were inside. Jacob blinked, trying to make out shapes and people in the sudden darkness of the boarded-up shop, and trying to rid himself of that awful vision of the dead. He wondered about the Carrion Worms that would inevitably show up, but then he remembered the city sat on solid rock. The worms couldn’t burrow through stone.
“You made it.” Jacob recognized Morgan’s voice, but he couldn’t quite make out his face.
“Of course we did,” Charles said. “What are Steamsworn if not reliable?”
“Crazy, in my experience.”
“That too, that too,” Charles said as he rubbed his beard. “Your lookout is somewhat obvious outside. Are you not concerned about him bringing attention?”
“No,” Morgan said. “He’s disciplined and smells rancid. Most soldiers assume he’s a drunk.”
Charles nodded slowly. “Let’s not waste any more time. Where’s the tunnel?”
“Follow me,” Morgan said.
It took Jacob a few more seconds of shuffling his feet in the dim light before he could make out their surroundings. He gasped when he saw the small piles of shredded and discarded bindings. There had to be hundreds of them … thousands .
“This is the legacy Fel and the Butcher want to leave behind.” A man moved in the corner, slowly stepping into a sliver of dusty light. “We have to stop them.”
“Clark?” Jacob asked. He recognized the man who had greeted them at the tents when they first arrived at Dauschen. There was a rage boiling within Clark that Jacob could scarcely believe was there. The man was soft-spoken, and deliberate in everything Jacob had seen him do. Now he looked
“How much farther?”
Charles glanced over his shoulder. “We’re about six blocks past the safe house, so we need to go left at the next street. Should be able to see the base by then.”
“And we’re supposed to find the abandoned storefront where Morgan will be waiting for us?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Why do you think it was abandoned?” Jacob asked. He took a few quick steps to catch up to Charles’s pace.
“You’ll see.”
Jacob pondered what Charles meant as they made their way onto the next cobblestone street and continued on a few blocks. There were a lot of people in the shopping district, carrying canvas bags and wheeling carts with handfuls of essential foods while they bickered and bartered.
“Are they safe here?” Jacob asked.
Charles nodded. “Should be. The breakaway point is just inside the base’s walls. If it’s not a clean break, there’s almost a city block between the base and the shopping district.”
Jacob flinched and wrinkled his nose when a terrible stench almost choked him. “What’s that smell? It’s awful.”
“You don’t want to know, kid.”
Jacob felt a little better about the explosives, but he’d also seen how bad things could go when someone made the wrong calculation. City walls could collapse, buildings could fall, and people would die.
“There it is,” Charles said. He pointed to a two-story building with a gray wooden façade. Charles led the way through a cluster of pedestrians, dodging foul-tempered men and women until they eventually reached the front door. It seemed to be nailed shut.
Jacob looked around and didn’t see any patrols. “Looks clear.” The base wall in the distance caught his eye, and his entire body shivered. “Charles …” The dead hung in masses from the walls. Several had been there long enough for scavengers to tear them apart, leaving bits and gore piled along the base of the wall. Clouds of fat flies crawled everywhere, and Jacob had his answer about the smell.
“I know.” Charles paused and looked at the man sitting near the door. When the huddled figure nodded, Charles pulled on the board hammered across the door, opening it with a quiet squeak.
Jacob grabbed the door after Charles slipped through. The gray paint warmed his fingers in the morning sun, and then they were inside. Jacob blinked, trying to make out shapes and people in the sudden darkness of the boarded-up shop, and trying to rid himself of that awful vision of the dead. He wondered about the Carrion Worms that would inevitably show up, but then he remembered the city sat on solid rock. The worms couldn’t burrow through stone.
“You made it.” Jacob recognized Morgan’s voice, but he couldn’t quite make out his face.
“Of course we did,” Charles said. “What are Steamsworn if not reliable?”
“Crazy, in my experience.”
“That too, that too,” Charles said as he rubbed his beard. “Your lookout is somewhat obvious outside. Are you not concerned about him bringing attention?”
“No,” Morgan said. “He’s disciplined and smells rancid. Most soldiers assume he’s a drunk.”
Charles nodded slowly. “Let’s not waste any more time. Where’s the tunnel?”
“Follow me,” Morgan said.
It took Jacob a few more seconds of shuffling his feet in the dim light before he could make out their surroundings. He gasped when he saw the small piles of shredded and discarded bindings. There had to be hundreds of them … thousands .
“This is the legacy Fel and the Butcher want to leave behind.” A man moved in the corner, slowly stepping into a sliver of dusty light. “We have to stop them.”
“Clark?” Jacob asked. He recognized the man who had greeted them at the tents when they first arrived at Dauschen. There was a rage boiling within Clark that Jacob could scarcely believe was there. The man was soft-spoken, and deliberate in everything Jacob had seen him do. Now he looked
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