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VII

THE

DARKLANDS

I saw eternity the other night

Like a great ring of pure and endless light,

All calht,

And round beneath it time in hours, days, years,

Driven by the spheres,

Like a vast shadow moved in which the world

And all her train were hurled

-HENRY VAUGHAN,

"The World"

Chapter FORTY-TWO

They reached the foot of thedown the eastern face of the mountain, was too steep for horses; in places it wasn’t a path at all A hundred meters above the station a portion of the mountain seemed to have been carved away; a pile of rubble lay below They were above a narrow box canyon, the station obscured to the north by a wall of rock A hot, dry as blowing They cli for another route as the minutes ticked away At last they found a way down-they had drifted off the path-anddescent

They approached the station fron of movement "You hear that?" Alicia said

Peter stopped to listen "I don’t hear anything"

"That’s because the fence is off"

The gate stood open That hen they saw a dark hu of the livery As theyapart into a swirling cloud

A jenny The cloud of flies scattered as they approached The ground around her was darkened with a stain of blood

Sara knelt beside the body The jenny was lying on her side, exposing the swollen curve of her belly, bloated with putrefying gas A long gash, alive with squirots, followed the line of her throat

"She’s been dead a couple of days, I’d say" Sara’s bruised face rinkled against the smell Her lower lip was split; her teeth were outlined with crusted blood One eye, her left, ollen with a huge, purple shiner "It looks like someone used a blade"

Peter turned to Caleb His eyes were open very wide, locked on the animal’s neck He’d pulled the neck of his jersey over the lower half of his face, a ainst the stench

"Like Zander’s jenny? The one in the field?"

Caleb nodded

"Peter-" Alicia was gesturing toward the fence A second dark shape on the ground

"Another jenny?"

"I don’t think so"

It was Rey Ramirez There wasn’t much left, just bones and charred flesh, which still exuded a faint sainst the fence, his stiffened fingers locked in the open spaces between the wires The exposed bones of his face

"That explains the fence," Michael said after a ht be ill "Heon like that"

The hatch was open: they descended into the station,see up the mountain Finn was nowhere to be seen Alicia led them to the back; the shelf that hid the escape hatch was still in place It was only when she opened the door and he saw the guns, still in their boxes, that Peter realized he’d feared they’d be gone Alicia pulled a crate free and opened it

Michael gave an ad They’re like brand-new"

"There’s lanced up at Peter "Think you can find the bunker on thosedown the stairs: Caleb

"So"

"How many?"

"Looks like just one"

Alicia quickly doled out weapons; they ascended into the yard Peter could see a single rider in the distance, pulling a boiling plume of dust Caleb passed the binoculars to Alicia

"I’ll be dah the gate and dismounted His arms and face were caked with dust "We better hurry" He paused to take a long drink from his canteen "There’s a party of at least six behind ht now"

"How do you knohere we’re going?" Peter asked

Hollis wiped his et I rode with your father, Peter"

The group had gathered in the control rooear as fast as they could, whatever they hoped to carry Food, water, weapons Peter had spread the maps over the central table for Hollis to exaeles Basin and Southern California

"According to Theo, the bunker was a two-day ride," Peter said

Hollis frowned, his brow furrowed as he studied the un to let his beard come in For a second, it felt to hi there

"I re the carts On foot, I’d say we could do it in two" He bent over the onio Pass The time I rode with your father, we followed this road, Route 62, north from the Eastern Road, Interstate 10 It’s quaked out in spots but on foot that should be no probleain he pointed-"in the town of Joshua Valley About twenty kilometers, but it could be as much as twenty-five Demo fortified an old fire station and laid in supplies there It’s tight, and there’s a working pump, so we can take water if we need it, which ill From Joshua it’s another thirty clicks east on the Twentynine Palhway, another ten due north across open country to the bunker A hell of a walk, but you could do it in another day"