Page 40 (1/2)
The Oil Plague
Tally and David left at sunset
Each of theether like a sandwich, the paired boards could carry twice ason the underside They packed everything useful they could find, along with the azines the Boss had saved Whatever happened, there would be no point in returning to the Smoke
Tally took the river down thebelow her like a ball and chain around both ankles At least she earing crash bracelets again
Their journey would follow a path very different froned to be easy to follow, and had included a helicopter ride with the rangers This one wouldn’t be as direct Overloaded as they were, Tally and David couldn’t e even short distances on foot
Every inch of the journey had to be over hoverable land and water, no matter how far it took theiving any cities a wide berth
Fortunately, David had made the journey to and from Tally’s city dozens of tilies in tow He knew the rivers and rails, the ruins and natural veins of ore, and dozens of escape routes he’d devised in case he was ever pursued by city authorities
"Ten days," he announced when they started "If we ride all night and stay low during the day"
"Sounds good," Tally said, but she wondered if that would be soon enough to save anyone froht of travel, they left the brook that led down to the bald-headed hill, and followed a dry creek bed through the white flowers It took theet through that?"
David pointed at dark shapes rising up fro into the distance "Those used to be towers, connected by steel cables"
"What for?"
"They carried electricity from a wind farm to one of the old cities"
Tally frowned "I didn’t know the Rusties used wind power"
"They weren’t all crazy Just ot to remember, we’retheir basic technologySoht idea"
The cables still lay buried in the desert, protected by the shifting sands and a near-total absence of rainfall In spots, they had broken or rusted through, so Tally and David had to ride carefully, eyes glued to the boards’ ap they couldn’t ju piece of cable David carried, then walk the boards along it, guiding thee before rolling it up again
Tally had never seen a real desert before She’d been taught in school that they were full of life, but this one was like the deserts she’d i into the distance, one after another Nothing moved but slow snakes of sand borne by the wind
She only knew the na desert on the continent "Is this the Mojave?"
David shook his head "This isn’t nearly that big, and it isn’t natural We’re standing where the white weed started"
Tally whistled The sand seeo forever "What a disaster"
"Once the undergroas gone, replaced by the orchids, there was nothing to hold the good soil down It bleay, and all that’s left is sand"
"Will it ever be anything but desert?"
"Sure, in a thousand years or so Maybe by then so back If we haven’t, the process will just start all over again"
They reached a Rusty city around daybreak, a cluster of unres stranded on the sea of sand
The desert had invaded over the centuries, dunes flowing through the streets like water, but the buildings were in better shape than other ruins Tally had seen Sand wore away the edges of things, but it didn’t tear theetation
Neither of the the day; the desert offered no protection from the sun, nor any concealment from the air They ca that still hadas a hovercar, stood silent around them
"What was this place?" Tally asked
"I think they made newspapers here," David said "Like books, but you threw theot a new one every day"
"You’re kidding"
"Not at all And you thought asted trees in the Sh where the roof had collapsed, and unfolded the hoverboards to recharge David pulled out two packets of EggSal
"Will weDavid coax their last few drops of bottled water into the purifiers
"No probleht"
She reo, the first tiear "Can you really pee in a purifier? And then drink it, I mean?"