Coleman, Christopher - The Gretel Series 04 - Anika Rising by Coleman Christopher

Author:Coleman, Christopher [Coleman, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Christopher Coleman
Published: 2018-03-26T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

ANIKA WAS NOW WITHIN a mile of the Urbanlands city limit, but she could smell her imminent arrival two miles earlier. And it wasn’t just the garbage and filth of the factories that was the indicator—she could smell that several miles back, as, she was told, could everyone who entered the Urbanlands—it was the people.

There were so many people.

She hadn’t fed since the young officer behind Pavel Delov’s cabin, but despite the time that had passed and the effort she had exerted, her hunger continued to stay at bay. It was a good sign, she knew, and one that suggested the voice at the warehouse was being truthful. Her craving was subsiding.

Anika hadn’t even considered using Randall for sustenance. Even if she had been in the throes of thirsting, the driver’s blood smelled rancid, diseased, and polluted with chemicals and alcohol. But more than that, she didn’t want him to be rendered useful in any way. She wanted his death to be as dreadful and unimportant as the life he seemed to have led.

Anika continued walking the shoulder until she arrived at an exit sign with a diagonal arrow pointing right, and the word “Urbanlands” beneath it. She followed the curve of the exit road for another half-mile until she was off the vast nothingness of the Interways and in a more municipal setting, with homes and businesses scattered about. In the distance was an array of lights fanning off into the distance.

She followed the lights, passing several deserted buildings that sat on the fringes of the exit, until eventually she came to a river and the abutment of an arch bridge. Anika saw a stairway and ascended it, and then began walking across the bridge on a walkway built for pedestrian crossings. The walkway struck Anika as luxurious, amazed that there was a population large enough to warrant its own special crossing just for strollers.

Anika reached the crown of the bridge when something in the distance, just to her right, caught her eye. She turned quickly and was instantly met by a large billboard that had been positioned atop an old warehouse. On the billboard was the painting of a sprawling gothic building and two young adults who both wore smiles of satisfaction. Next to the picture were the words “University of the Urbanlands. Learn to Live.”

Anika put a fist to her mouth, stifling any sounds of excitement that might erupt involuntarily. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. The billboard didn’t mean she was at her destination, not quite, but she was obviously getting close and was headed in the right direction.

Anika tallied the billboard as an omen and a triumph, and the fact that she had reached this far in her journey was an achievement. But from here she still didn’t know how to get to the campus or the surrounding housing complexes of the university. She would find it eventually, she assumed, but she would rather not spend the next day and a half wandering the streets like a vagrant.

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