Ash Princess (The Deviant Future #6) - Eve Langlais Page 0,9
peddler thinking he could make a trade, except it turned out his goods weren’t all that great after all.
Returning to Burton, Cam clipped a line from the reel on his belt to the tank. He chose a direction to walk away from the road amidst the trees, soon losing sight of his vehicle in the drifting ash. He kept his breathing steady, lest he panic at the lack of anything in this dead place.
Thirty paces and there was nothing to see. Just more ash, more stunted trees, and the skull of some strange creature long expired.
The other side of the tank was the same, minus the animal remains. His exploration accomplished nothing except to reinforce the fact that the deadness appeared constant in all directions.
Where did the ash come from? Fire produced ash, and yet he saw no signs of anything burning. Although it was warm. Much warmer than he expected given the stories of the snow and ice that once covered the mountain peaks. The chills in the valleys. He had a warm parka and blankets in the tank in case the temperature dropped. However, he doubted that would be the case here.
He returned to Burton and had to spend a moment longer than he liked in the cubicle while he activated a suction system to rid himself of as much of the poison ash as possible. Since there were no electronics, it required him hand cranking a fan that blew at him, dusting most of the ash from the suit. He swept it outside then blew again just because.
When he’d cleaned himself as best he could, he entered the main body of the vehicle. He kept the suit on but stripped out of the helmet and tucked the gloves into the belt at his waist. He’d be using them again soon.
With nothing to filter the air, he couldn’t help but notice a hint of something acrid to it. A taste of what lay outside. Nothing burned. He didn’t choke.
Yet.
He spent a moment perusing the old map he’d purchased from a vendor in Eden’s marketplace. Although map was being generous to the lines scribbled on a leathery hide, some marks indecipherable. But authentic the peddler swore when he sold it to Cam.
If it were accurate, then the road he followed would lead him into a town. Couldn’t miss it, as he’d drive right through it. He couldn’t be sure of the distance, but he found it a few hours later.
It was even eerier than the one abandoned in the Marshlands. It appeared wraithlike in the falling ash, everything a dull gray.
Suited up once more, Cam walked in and out of the abandoned homes, noticing the furniture still in place, the tables bare, the beds empty. The chairs sat waiting for someone to use them.
What he didn’t see? Bodies. Nothing but decaying remnants of household goods and no indication of what had happened to the inhabitants.
As he stepped from the last building, his imagination chose to act up. The swirling ash that blew at his face appeared like a mouth wide open to scream.
He flinched and hurried back to Burton. He rushed through the decontamination process and, soon as he could, started driving again, but not for long.
As night fell, visibility dropped to nothing, but of interest, the ash fall stopped, too. Fascinated, he halted the truck, suited up, and went outside. A chill he’d not felt in the day made him shiver, but he ignored the cold and glanced upward at the stars.
Why did the ash appear only by day and not at night?
He chose to drive a little while longer until he found an open spot. For security, he set up a simple set of warning bells tied by wire. If anything tripped them, they’d wake him.
He slept on a folded blanket. Not very well. He dreamed of his sister, screaming at Roark, hitting him and saying she had to go find her brother. Had to go find Cam.
Roark folded her in his arms and said, “He’s a grown man, and he’s made a choice.”
“The wrong one!” Casey yelled.
“Don’t worry. He’ll come back to you.”
The king had more faith than Cam. His dream moved, and now he was flying above a town surrounded by a bog, one with mud-wattled huts and dirt roads. There were people outside pointing to the sky, where tiny particles of ash floated.