A City Called Smoke: The Territory 2 Read Online Free PDF Page A

consideration.
    “We’re supposed to believe that you’re going to save the Territory?” said the old man’s son, still twisting the wooden club around in his hand.
    Squid nodded.
    “Where is this weapon?”
    “Big Smoke,” Squid said.
    The club-wielding man scoffed. “Big Smoke is just a story. There’s nothing outside the fence, just wasteland.”
    “It has to be there,” Squid said, “because I have to find it.”
    The circle of people stared at him, unmoving. He could tell that no one believed him. How was a scrawny boy who happened to be wearing the uniform of a First Apprentice going to leave the Territory, travel east through ghoul-infested lands and find a fabled weapon hidden away in a city everyone believed to be as mythical as bunyips, unicorns and whales?
    “Look,” Lynn said. “I’m from the Inside. It’s true I don’t know what it’s like to live here and frankly I wouldn’t want to, but I’ve lost people close to me, so don’t think just because I grew up having baths whenever I wanted means I don’t know what it’s like to be scared and alone. I know just as much about that as any of you.
    “Squid isn’t an Insider. He’s from a dirt farm near Dust. How do you think he feels? Dust is gone, probably already overrun by the ghouls. At least you’re still here, and while you’re still here you’ve got a chance. When the ghouls come I’m sure the Insiders will open the gates and let you in. Until then, we survived the Battle of Dust so guess what? We’re it. We’re all that’s left of the Diggers and we’re going to try to save the Territory, including all of you. So, are you going to let us go or what?”
    Everyone, including Squid, stared at Lynn. Eventually, Hank, the old man, nodded.
    “S’all right,” he said to the crowd, raising his hand as if to ward them away. “Let ’em go. If they’re willing to go outside the fence looking for some way to stop the ghouls, we ain’t nobody to get in their way.”
    Slowly the crowd around them began to disperse. Eventually even the woman with the knife and Hank’s son went back to whatever they had been doing. It wasn’t until then that Lynn sheathed her sword.
    “Do you really think there’s something out there that can stop them?” Hank said as Lynn turned to walk away, Squid following behind her.
    Lynn turned back. “I don’t know,” she said. Then she looked at Squid. “But he believes it and I believe in him.”
    Hank nodded and Lynn and Squid continued on their way, though Squid could feel the eyes of the slums watching them more intently now. Looking back toward Hank, Squid caught sight of two figures standing in the shadows beneath a rusting metal facade overhanging the front of one of the huts. They seemed out of place; not dirty like the rest of the residents. One was short and wore a white shirt, dark pants and a round bowler-type hat. The other was tall, thick limbed and dressed in brown pants and a sleeveless vest. Squid realized he’d seen them before. They were the same two men who had been watching them before they walked out the Great Gate. Now here they were again. It was unnerving. He was about to tell Lynn, but she spoke first.
    “I don’t think it’s a good idea to tell anyone else about the prophecy,” she said.
    “Why?” Squid asked.
    “I just think it’s better if we don’t draw too much attention to ourselves.”
    “You’re the one who pulled out your sword.”
    Lynn looked at Squid. She looked like she was about to argue, but then she smiled and shook her head, chuckling. “Yeah,” she said. “I suppose I did, but let’s just try and keep from letting everyone know what we’re doing, okay? We don’t know who might be listening.”
    “Excuse me,” called a voice from behind them. Squid and Lynn both turned to see a hooded figure standing watching them. “I hear you’re looking to go to Big Smoke.”
    Lynn looked at Squid. “See,” she said. “This is what