“Train,” Aros answered, pointing in front of us, his arm raised almost to the line of the horizon.
I glanced up, taking in the tall, thin bridge that stepped all the way over the water, and then seemed to go on and on … even over the land. I had no idea what a train was, but if that was a train, then I would have actually preferred the bullsen barge. I could see gaps in the steel, like it had no proper space to walk across the bridge, only steel rods and steel bars and steel bolts. The gaps were massive, almost too big to jump over. I had always thought the sols were a little too obsessed with showing off their bravery for the gods, but this was something else entirely.
“That can’t be safe,” I muttered, just loud enough that the Abcurses might hear me. I didn’t want to be the wimpy one of the group, but I felt it needed to be said.
“Just you wait,” Aros promised, his lips curling into a smile that immediately sent my mind spinning.
He’s talking about the train, I had to remind myself.
His golden eyes momentarily darkened, since he had clearly heard that last thought, and I coloured, quickly turning my head away and pretending the moment never happened. The others didn’t react, so it was relatively easy. As we walked along the boardwalk, I worked on trying to muffle my inner dialogue. It had proven impossible to stop the thoughts before they formed, so I needed a new technique.
Five, four, three, two, one. I visualised the numbers, counting them out over and over again. It was something that Emmy used to make me do when I woke up from a nightmare. She’d say, ‘Count backwards from five, Will, and take a deep breath with each number. By the time you get to one, everything will be okay.’
Five, four, three, two, one.
Five, four, three, two, one.
Five, four, three, two—
The sol in front of me had stopped walking, and I smacked into him, bouncing backwards. I didn’t go far, though, because Yael had been walking right behind me. I blinked my eyes up, rubbing my face. Rome turned around, staring down at me. The others had stopped, and were similarly staring.
“What?” I demanded, looking back down at myself. I was still clothed.
“You were calling out to us,” Aros supplied.
I waved a hand in the air. “Just counting. Proceed.”
They didn’t proceed. Probably because I was ordering them to and they’d never taken orders from a dweller before. Whatever. I started walking on my own, heading toward the big, steel train. Someone fell into step beside me. I didn’t glance over, but then the back of my shirt pulled tight across my chest, and my forward motion halted. Four of the Abcurses passed me, which left one behind me, holding me back.
“Five,” I grumbled.
Siret chuckled, releasing my shirt, and we started walking again—this time at the back of the group. “It’s not that we don’t like watching you walk in front of us, Soldier—especially now that we can visualise you without clothing … but you have no idea where you’re going.”
I was about to open my mouth and declare that there was only one possible direction to walk in, when Coen suddenly changed direction, splitting from the main boardwalk and beginning to climb a steep set of stairs that seemed to lead to the steel train. I shut my mouth, then, and followed. Halfway up, I started panting, which was actually pretty surprising since I’d tackled almost five flights of the rickety wooden stairs that stepped up the side of the mountain.
The higher we climbed, the faster I fatigued. “Is the air harder to breathe up here?” I huffed out, not caring who answered.
“Yes,” was the reply shot back from what sounded like all five of them.
Well, okay then.
Finally, I could see the end of the staircase approaching; I dragged myself up the last few steps on hands and knees, collapsing onto the platform. My face felt hot and flushed, my breathing was ragged, and my hair was falling in messy curls around my bent head. This was it: the place where I finally met my end. Luckily, I seemed to have a penchant for nudity, because I was about to become a Jeffrey.
Heavy black boots stepped into my line-of-sight and I was picked up and placed on my feet by Rome. “You’re not going to die; just give your body a few clicks to adjust to the altitude.”
My wheezing did seem to be improving slightly, the stabbing pains in my lungs abating. “Why did they … build this damn thing … so freaking high, if the air is so bad up here?”
Rome nudged me forward, pushing me toward his brothers who were nearby, standing on some wooden planks beside a huge metal beast. Holy god monsters. What the hell was it? Was this the train? Because it looked like a metal monster and I was pretty certain that it was staring at me. I was pretty certain that it wanted to eat me. I was pretty certain—once again—that I was about to die.