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Wisp could feel Nick’s irritation, so they traveled in silence. They took trains as far as they could go and then picked up a vehicle at the last train station to start the search. The warehouse was a short drive from there. It had been chosen because of the proximity for the ease of shipping. Now they’d need to find another one, if Young Joe was right about the damage.
He could smell the acrid stink of charred wood well before the burned building came into view. Nick parked the car, and they got out to inspect the damage. While Nick did a circuit of the ruined building, Wisp went into the woods. It was quiet around here, just birdsong and the rustle of rodents in the undergrowth. He pushed out his senses, but Nick was the only human being nearby. He found a solid old tree to lean against before pushing his senses out a little further.
He could feel the knot of people that made up Creamery and not far from them a smaller knot that would be the Green Rover station. A small town was forming between them. There were some individuals moving about in between. But further east was a spot of emotion. Someone was scared, and that was a good place to start.
He returned to Nick to update him. They shouldered their packs and headed into the woods.
“We’re still inside the Alliance,” Nick grumbled. “How far away is this person?”
“Not sure.”
“If we’re going to be hiking all day, we could have brought the car.”
Wisp stopped. He wasn’t going to argue. The woods here were too thick to drive through and going around might take even longer. Nick was in a mood, and no matter what he said, it was going to irritate him. “I can go alone.”
Nick glared at him.
“I know you don’t want to be here.”
“This better be worth it,” Nick said.
Wisp didn’t want to take responsibility for Peter’s possibly true divination. Although he trusted him, it still wasn’t something Wisp understood. He settled for just repeating his report. “There’s someone up ahead that is scared.”
“Great.” Nick gestured for him to lead as he unholstered a handgun.
Wisp settled his own weapons as he walked. If a person were afraid, there would be a reason, it was best to be prepared. The sensation got stronger as they traveled. He was getting a better sense of who it was. “I think it’s a kid.”
Nick grunted an acknowledgement.
As they started up a steep ridge, Wisp stopped to check the terrain. The person was stationary on the other side. He shifted course, so they would approach from the left. When they topped the ridge, he shifted again to use a thicket of trees as cover. Nick crouched next to him in the remains of last year’s weeds. Wisp pointed out their quarry. A teenage boy sat hunched at the base of a tree, panting.
Nick walked over to him holding out his canteen. “Hey. You okay?”
The boy jumped, eyeing him warily. “I...I..”
Then Wisp came out of the thicket, and the boy was too distracted to answer. “We’re here to help,” Wisp said.
The boy accepted Nick’s canteen eagerly taking a long drink. “I ran away,” he said.
“I’m Nick,” he said as he settled on the ground. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“Franz,” the boy said, offering a hand to shake.
Wisp sat next to him and offered the boy a sandwich. He took it with thanks but no show of surprise. That meant he was from somewhere that had good food stores and perhaps some sort of infrastructure. Why a place like that would need help was a mystery.
After three large bites of the sandwich Franz slowed down. He took another big drink of water. “Men came,” he said breathlessly.
Wisp dubbed him an innocent, naïve and too trusting. He ate their food and drank from a stranger’s canteen without a second thought. It had less to do with his age than his upbringing. This boy was used to being safe. It made Wisp think about the massacre at Riverbank. They had been setting up a small community until mercenaries with automatic weapons mowed them down. They had died trying to protect one another. Men, women and children, who had been kind to Wisp, had been left lying in pools of blood. It wasn’t something he wanted to see ever happen again. “They had weapons?” Wisp guessed.
“Aye. And they took all the girls.”
Nick’s anger had been growing, that bit of information pushed it up towards explosive. “How many?”
“Girls?”
“Men.”
“Um, I think three?”
“And how many of your people have weapons?” Nick asked.
“None,” Franz said with a firm head shake.
Wisp wasn’t surprised. He had an inkling why Peter called them helpless. “Will any fight?” he asked.
“Nay.”
“Why not?” Nick asked.
“It is not our way,” Franz said. “But they took Evi, and I will fight for her.”
Nick gave the kid a gentle smile. “I think you should probably leave that to us.”