A City Called Smoke: The Territory 2 (6 page)

The bio-truck rumbled steadily along the road, its engine periodically spluttering with loud pops and groans, so much so that each time it coughed Squid was certain they wouldn’t make it any further. But they had been riding on the bio-truck for two days now, and despite the noises that would suggest otherwise, the truck hadn’t given out yet.

The truck towed three trailers along the dusty road: a tank for holding bio-fuel first and then two wooden trailers used for transporting animals. Squid and Lynn rode in the last of these. It was empty but for a scattering of hay over the floor, a few empty and broken wooden crates stacked in one corner and the single mattress and scratchy woollen blanket that Bishop had mentioned. There was also the smell of emus. When he’d first climbed aboard Squid had been relieved to get away from the overpowering smell of the slums, only to be confronted with the thick, pungent air within the trailer. The trailer had been used to bring a shipment of emus to Alice and the crew hadn’t had a chance to clean it. After two days the lingering smell was beginning to dissipate but Squid was still waking up with feathers in his mouth.

Lynn sat with her legs dangling out the sliding door on the side of the trailer. She had pulled it open to let some fresh air in and to gaze out at the darkening landscape passing them by. They had spent the majority of the last two days confined to the trailer. Because the three-man crew drove in shifts the bio-truck almost never had to stop. They’d pulled in to a small town late on the first day and got out to stretch their legs, but other than that they’d always been on the move, stuck with the hay, feathers and the smell of emu.

Squid didn’t mind being in the trailer too much. He was happy to sit and stare out the open door, counting the small scrubs and distant trees that passed or even just looking around at the walls inside. He liked the subtle patterns. He ran his fingers along the grains in the wood, following the lines and the way they sometimes swirled around dark circles as if avoiding them. The only problem was that most of the planks didn’t match those next to them. He had spent almost all of today trying to imagine how he could rearrange them all so they would fit better.

Lynn didn’t like being stuck inside though. Squid could tell. When she wasn’t sitting by the door, she was pacing the length of the trailer.

“I hate being cooped up inside this box,” Lynn said without turning from the open door.

The sun had just set and the enormous sky of the Central Territory was alight with streaks of orange, pink and purple. Once daytime’s grip on the world was completely gone the inside of the trailer would quickly turn dark, and there would be little left for them to do but try to sleep.

“It’s your turn to use the mattress tonight,” Squid said.

Lynn pulled her legs in from where they hung out into the open air and stood. She leaned her weight against the metal handle of the door, sliding it shut, the rusting wheels squeaking as they ran along the metal tracks. The door closed with a shudder and what little light remained vanished. The trailer dropped into the purple gloom of the last light they would have until morning.

“You know we can probably both fit if we squeeze up together,” Lynn said.

“It’s all right,” Squid said. “I don’t mind.”

“It just seems silly for one of us to be cold and uncomfortable every night.”

Lynn lifted the gray blanket and flicked it out so that it floated down to cover the mattress. She climbed under, lying over on one side of the small mattress and leaving space for Squid.

“Come on,” she said, lifting the blanket for him to join her.

Squid stared at her.

“What?” Lynn said.

Squid didn’t know what to say. Sharing a bed with Lynn didn’t seem right. The idea of it gave him a funny feeling inside, like a tightness in his stomach and an emptiness in his arms. He wouldn’t have minded if she was still Max, but ever since he found out she was a girl he wasn’t sure whether he should do things like that, not least because he had started feeling like he wanted to. He wondered whether he should tell her that. Not the part about wanting to lie down close to her – he didn’t think he would ever be able to tell her that – but tell her that things were different now that she was a girl. She wouldn’t like that, though. He knew she didn’t like it when people said anything about her being a girl.

Squid realized he’d been standing there thinking for much too long so he just said, “What?” as if he hadn’t heard but really just to fill up the empty air.

“I said what’s wrong?”

Squid felt for the key around his neck, rubbing the shape of it between his thumb and forefinger. “Nothing,” he said.

“Why are you doing that then?”

“Doing what?”

“Playing with that stupid key of yours?”

Squid dropped his hands to his sides, forcing himself to let go of his mother’s key and act normal even though he wasn’t sure what normal was or how to act that way.

“Well, come on then,” Lynn said, sitting up on the mattress. “Out with it.”

Lynn stared at Squid in that way that meant she knew he was going to give in eventually and if she looked at him like this it would just happen faster.

“It’s just that,” Squid said, “you’re a girl now.”

He waited for Lynn to get annoyed and start telling him that just because she was a girl didn’t mean anything and she could do anything a boy could do and probably do it better besides, but she didn’t say any of that. She just sighed. He wasn’t sure what that meant.

“I’ve always been a girl, Squid,” Lynn said.

“I know, but –”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not weird or anything. We’ve been through a lot, you and me, we’re just friends. You don’t need to worry about sharing a bed.”

Squid took a moment. “Yeah,” he said. He felt something sink inside him, a heaviness that he’d never felt before. “We’re just friends.”

“Exactly,” Lynn said. “Now hurry up or it will be morning.”

Lynn lifted the blanket again and waited as Squid slid in underneath. Once he was lying on the mattress Lynn rolled onto her side, facing away from him. Her body was close to his. Squid felt her back press against his arm and her legs against his own. He wasn’t comfortable, there was a lump beneath the mattress pushing up into the small of his back, and he preferred to sleep on his side, but he didn’t move. He didn’t know whether it was because he didn’t want to risk making more body contact or less. Even through the leftover emu Squid could smell Lynn beside him. He swallowed against the lump in his throat.

“Good night, Squid,” Lynn said.

“Good night,” he replied, pleased that his voice didn’t squeak or break.

Squid lay there unmoving long after he could tell Lynn’s breath had slowed into the steady rhythm of sleep. Eventually, though, he too succumbed to the pull of tiredness.

Squid woke to feel Lynn’s hand on his shoulder, gently nudging him awake.

“Squid,” she said. “Did you hear that?”

“Huh?” Squid said.

“Shhhh,” Lynn whispered. “Listen.”

It was dark. Squid didn’t know how long he’d been asleep but it was clearly still hours before morning. He lay still, listening for what had startled Lynn. All he could hear was the drone of the bio-truck, the sound of the trailer rocking gently on its wheels and a sudden pop as the engine gave one of its now familiar sounds of protest.

“I don’t hear anything,” Squid whispered.

“Maybe it was nothing,” Lynn said, “but I could’ve sworn I heard footsteps.”

“Where?”

“On the roof.”

Even as Lynn said those words and Squid was about to say that he didn’t think it would be possible for anyone to be on the roof of a moving bio-truck, the sliding door on the side of the trailer creaked and opened slightly as if someone was pulling it from the outside.

Squid and Lynn both sat bolt upright. Lynn clambered up and grabbed her sword from where it sat on one of the upturned wooden crates nearby. She pulled it from its scabbard and stood watching the door. It creaked again, the wheels giving a squeal as it moved, stopping when it was open maybe two feet.

“Who’s there?” Lynn said. “Bishop?”

Nobody answered.

“Barra?” Lynn said. “Randal?”

Again there was no reply, no movement. Then, slowly, an upside down head appeared in the open gap, being lowered down from above. It was too dark to see much but it was clearly the head of a teenage boy, about the same age as them.

“What are you doing in there?” the upside down boy said.

“What are
we
doing in here?” Lynn said, aghast. “What in Ancestors’ sin are
you
doing on the roof?”

The head disappeared momentarily before the boy climbed down, swinging his legs around and dropping in through the open door. The boy was tall and thin. Squid could see that he was dark skinned and dark haired, one of the Nomad people. They would come through Dust occasionally and visit the market to trade but they never stayed for long. Uncle had said they never stayed anywhere long. When Squid had asked why, he said it was because they were all criminals and thieves, but he’d said that about everyone so Squid had never been entirely sure he was right. The Sisters at the schoolhouse said the Nomads didn’t believe in Glorious God the Redeemer, they just pretended to whenever they were questioned by the Holy Order, and that was why they moved around, to avoid being caught in their lies.

“Just stay there,” Lynn said, holding her sword threateningly toward their visitor.

“I’m not gonna hurt you,” the boy said, holding his hands up. “I didn’t know anyone was here.”

“What do you want?” Lynn asked.

“Probably doing the same thing you are.”

“Oh,” Lynn said, “and what’s that?”

“Getting a ride east.”

“Why were you on the roof then?”

“I watched the trucks stop when they changed driver,” the boy said. “Just waited for dark and climbed on this one.”

“Well you’re not the same as us then,” Lynn said. “Because you’re a stowaway. We’re paying our way east.”

The boy eyed the inside of the trailer and sniffed. “You pay to ride in here?”

“Yes,” Lynn said, “because that’s the way it works. You pay the crew to ride on a bio-truck.”

“Well I don’t have any moolah, so this is what I’ve got to do.”

“So what if we tell the crew you’re here? They’ll throw you off next chance they get, might not even stop.”

“Probably I’ll just sneak on the next truck that comes along then, won’t I?”

“Maybe you should do that then, because we don’t want you here with us.”

Lynn and the boy stared at each other for a long time. Squid looked from one to the other. There was something passing between them but Squid didn’t know what it was. It was something like the way Uncle and Horse used to look at each other on the farm, two immovable objects staring each other down.

“Look,” the boy said, “I just need to ride east. I’ll sit over in the corner and won’t even talk to you. I’m no threat to you. I’m just looking for something.”

Lynn stared at the boy for a time. “This is what’s going to happen,” she eventually said. “You’re going to stay over in that corner. We should be stopping at the Red Plains bio-fuel plant the day after tomorrow. You get off then or I tell the crew you’re here and they throw you off anyway.”

“Probably fair,” the boy said. He walked over to the opposite corner of the trailer and sat down against the wooden wall.

Squid, from where he still sat on the small mattress, watched the shape of the boy in the darkness.

“What’s your name?” Squid said.

“Nim,” the boy answered. “My name’s Nim.”

Lynn jolted awake, startled by the fact she was even asleep at all. The trailer was filled with streamers of light that pierced in between the wooden planks of the walls, signalling that it was early morning outside. She was still sitting propped up against one of the wooden crates. She hadn’t returned to bed the night before, determined to stay up and keep watch on their intruder. She cursed herself for falling asleep. She didn’t want to be caught off-guard.

As she came fully awake Lynn saw Squid sitting over the other side of the trailer with the Nomad boy. She was going to call out but felt the tickle of an emu feather stuck to her lips. She blew it off and rubbed at her face. Where did these feathers keep coming from?

“Squid,” she said, “what do you think you’re doing?”

Squid was smart. In his own way he was probably the smartest person Lynn had ever met and she respected him for that, but he wasn’t always clever when it came to people. Who knew what he’d already told this boy?

“Nothing,” Squid said, “just talking to Nim. Did you know the real reason Nomads move around is because it’s better for the land?”

“The country provides for our mob,” Nim said, “and our mob cares for the country.”

“I don’t think you should be talking to him, Squid,” Lynn said.

“Why not?”

Now that it was light Lynn could see Nim much better than she had the night before. His skin was brown, his face made up of sharp angles and tattooed with swirling lines and dots of white that ran down his neck and disappeared into the collar of his loose-fitting shirt. He looked at her with eyes that were even darker than his skin, brown circles that were almost black. Lynn found the stare from those eyes intense, and though she didn’t want to admit it, he was handsome.

“I don’t know much about the Nomads –” Lynn began.

“No,” Nim said, cutting her off. He didn’t seem angry but he was certainly defensive. “Not many of you Dwellers do.”

“– but,” Lynn continued forcefully, “I’ve never heard of a Nomad traveling alone. That makes me suspicious. If not even the Nomads want you, why shouldn’t we be cautious?”

Nim stood. “You don’t know anything about me,” he said. “I’m on a mission, same as you.”

Lynn looked at Squid. Squid’s mouth slid over, scrunching up in the corner. His face reddened.

“I didn’t tell him what we were doing,” Squid said, “just that we were on an important mission.”

“What are you doing out here?” Lynn asked, ignoring Squid, determined to understand what Nim’s motivation was, what threat he might really pose to them.

“Riding a bio-truck,” he replied.

Lynn thinned her eyes at him. “You know that’s not what I mean. Last night you said you were looking for something.”

It took Nim a moment to answer. “I’m looking for the Storm Man.”

“The Storm Man?” Squid asked.

“There’s a story,” Nim said, “passed down through my people, that one day a Storm Man will come, a spirit of the Dreaming, and he will walk across the land and bring a great rain that will wash away the ghouls forever. Before we can be accepted as adults everyone in my mob has to perform a task. I chose to find the Storm Man and destroy the ghouls.”

“You’re looking for a way to fight the ghouls?” Squid asked.

Nim nodded. Lynn saw recognition dawn on his face.

“That’s what you’re doing, isn’t it?” Nim said. “You’re looking for a way to fight the ghouls too.”

“No,” Lynn said, which might have been more convincing if Squid hadn’t said “Yes,” at exactly the same time.

Squid’s face reddened once again under Lynn’s stare.

“Well,” Squid said, “he’d already guessed.”

Lynn raised an eyebrow at him and shook her head. It was good she’d never revealed the secret about her identity to Squid while they were at the Academy. She didn’t think it would have remained a secret very long.

“If this task you’re supposed to do is something you choose, why did you choose to try and destroy the ghouls?” Lynn asked.

“I’ve got my reasons,” Nim said. “What are yours?”

“There’s a prophecy,” Squid said. “I’m supposed to find a weapon we can use against the ghouls.”

“What weapon?”

Squid shrugged. “I don’t know, but we’re going to Big Smoke to find it. You should come with us.”

“No,” Lynn said without needing to give it a second thought.

“Lynn,” Squid said, “maybe we could help each other.”

“We don’t need his help, Squid.”

Once again it had come down to her having to be cautious enough for the both of them.

“Probably you could use my help,” Nim interjected.

“Oh,” Lynn said, feigning surprise, “and why is that?”

“You’re Dwellers,” the Nomad boy said. “You can only steal rides on bio-trucks so far.”

“I told you, we paid our way.”

“Still,” Nim continued, “sooner or later you’re gonna have to make it on your own.”

“Yeah, so?” Lynn said. “We can handle it.”

“Do you know how to find water in the desert?” Nim asked. “Do you know which plants you can eat and which you can boil to help heal cuts? Do you know how to catch a kowari?”

Lynn didn’t say anything.

“What’s a kowari?” Squid asked.

“A desert mouse,” Nim said. “Good tucker if you can catch one. You’ve never traveled in the desert, have you? Not proper traveled, where you have to rely on the land to provide for you.”

“We’re going to carry food and water with us,” Lynn said, feeling defensive. Of course she knew they would need food and water. How stupid did this boy think she was?

“That won’t last you very long,” Nim said. “Plus, where will you get more food and water once you’re past the fence? There aren’t any towns for you to stop at and pick up supplies.”

Lynn stared at him. His dark eyes appraised her.

“I don’t know about the Storm Man,” Squid said, “but we are going to find a way to destroy the ghouls. If you help us through the desert you can come with us to Big Smoke.”

Lynn didn’t like this but she knew Squid was right. She really didn’t know how to survive in the desert alone, and had thought they’d just figure it out, or perhaps she hadn’t really thought about it at all. In fact, she wasn’t sure they’d make it to the fence, let alone beyond it. She wasn’t even sure there was any point trying.

Nim looked from Squid to Lynn. “All right,” Nim said. “We help each other.”

“Are you sure about this, Squid?” Lynn said.

Squid smiled. “I’ve never eaten a mouse before.”

Lynn couldn’t do anything but sigh.