Chapter 42
I awaken with a start in an unfamiliar cot.
Oh yeah, I’m at the council building, in the spare office. I should have set my hammock up outside, this cot is lumpy and awful.
Everyone is beginning to gather, the council is holding a big group breakfast today, with a powwow and rodeo tomorrow to celebrate our impending clear of portals and threats from the land.
Plate in hand I wander, greeting anyone who wishes to talk and listening to their concerns about particular areas. I’m marking them on the map as we go, and I’m going to visit as many as possible myself, to be sure with my enhanced senses that nothing is hiding.
I’m not part of an official pair, so I’m free to float around the line, in case of attack, portal find or difficulties. This could be fun, but it’s shaping up to be a lot of work.
Breakfast done, we’re set up along the 30 miles flat gravel road the marks the western edge of our grid. A fine collection of pickup trucks and ATVs litter the road, as this is part of the wide open plains we’re intending to traverse on wheels to save time. We’re not speeding along really, though at 10mph, it’s faster than being on foot.
hours later, nothing more than sporadic gunfire has sounded, and no reports of portals have been made.
A third of the distance needed has been covered, a full 20 miles, but now the rolling hills are turning into sharper badlands. Hard to traverse even on foot.
We’ve got more volunteers than needed today, everyone who wished to earn the title of tribal warrior insisted on coming along, so we send teams of 4 on horses to scout the coulees in advance, looking for anything that might trip up the teams.
Another hour passes before our first portal is sighted. Luck is still on my side, it’s barely a mile from where I am. Inside seems to be a huge cavern, making creepy noises, but with no visible occupant.
Best to be safe I think.