Empire's End Read Online Free PDF Page A

long ago. Strange, when he
had existed for ages; as Death, every moment had been the same, and
time without meaning. A thousand years or a day, it had mattered
not to him. But now he marked hours, days, weeks. He rose with the
sun and would observe the changing of the seasons. He bore scars on
his hands and feet, and in his reflection he saw not a being frozen
in time but a man living his life.
    In his reflection, in the lizard’s eyes, he
saw torchlight, and spun to meet the young woman climbing out from
the sea of shadows that filled the quarry.
    She stopped short, gaped at his face. “Is it
you?” she asked, blue eyes shining. “Are you the angel?”
    He frowned and took a step toward her.
“I—”
    THWACK! An arrow planted itself in the tree
beside him. “ Don’t move! ” barked a man’s voice.
    Another man, old and frail, stepped out from
behind the girl with a bow pulled taut in trembling hands. “Do as
the boy says, friend.”
    “ Are you alone? ” A third voice
called.
    “Yes,” Adam replied.
    “ Are you Army? ”
    “No.”
    “How could you be out here by yourself?”
stammered the old man. “Better tell the truth before you get
hurt!”
    “It’s the angel,” the girl breathed. What did
she mean by that?
    Gravel crunched beneath boots as a man
approached, a man with a hard face, shirtless body slick with
sweat. He had a camouflage tee tied around his waist. Combat
fatigues. Maybe Adam would have been better off saying he was Army.
    The man saw Adam studying his clothing and
grinned. “They’re stolen,” he said. “We used to raid Army camps
back before the withdrawal. It’s a lot tougher finding something to
eat these days, I’m sure you know that—but at least we’re
warm.”
    The man extended his hand. “I’m Thackeray,”
he said. “You look like you’re an albino. Must be brutal for you
out here.”
    Adam nodded quickly, shaking the man’s hand.
“Stand down!” Thackeray shouted over his shoulder.
    “Come down into the crater. I don’t want our
torches visible up here too long.” Thackeray patted Adam’s back and
led him past the old man and girl; she looked woefully
disappointed.
     
    * * *
     
    “Must’ve taken a lot out of you to get here,”
Thackeray said. “How did you hear about us?”
    “I didn’t—I was just passing through.”
    “Now that I find hard to believe.” Thackeray
smiled. “I know the welcome wagon was a little rough, but you’re in
good hands now. Matter of fact, some people around here call me the
boss. Not a title I much care for, but it seems to stick.”
    He pointed toward the top of the quarry and
the darkness beyond. “Tons of rotters in the cities around here.
They tend not to wander off in our direction, though. If they ever
thought to come a-hunting, we might be in trouble. But for now all
we have to deal with is the occasional feral.”
    The camp at the bottom of the crater was
comprised mainly of Army tents. Small fires burned here and there,
but nothing that would attract attention topside. In fact, even as
he came down the slope of the quarry Adam hadn’t seen any light at
all; the fires were each concealed behind boulders.
    The people there were families of all ages,
and mother and child alike tensed when they saw Adam; but relaxed
when they saw Thackeray at his side.
    A large rodent turned on a spit in front of
Thackeray’s tent. “Hungry?” he asked. Adam shook his head.
    “It’s been overcast the past week,” Thackeray
remarked. “Guess it’s a lot harder for you when it isn’t.”
    “Yes.” Adam sat on a rock beside the fire.
Thackeray stabbed a fork into the rat. Blood ran, sizzling, into
the flames.
    “We always have to make sure they’re not
undead before we eat ‘em,” Thackeray said. “What have you been
living on?”
    “Uh... mostly berries.” Adam silently begged
for the questions to end. He tried to avoid badlanders, and had he
not been mesmerized by the lizards with their tiny bells he would
have