The Shore of Monsters by Nix David J

Author:Nix, David J. [Nix, David J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: David J. Nix
Published: 2013-11-07T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

“Fleet and I ranged far south this time. Farther than ever. We reached the ruins of the other great city. It was there, on both sides of the giant river just like old maps show. It’s hard to describe how big that river is. Unbelievable, really. I stared at it for an hour when I first came to it.”

The women of Haven, along with Thomas and me, were gathered around an evening meal in the main hall of the communal house. Constructed of massive timbers, the building predated the Fall by many years. Its array of rooms easily accommodated the seven residents of Haven. Thomas had waited until then to answer all the questions at once about his four-week journey south – and of course, how he found me.

“The other city is big, like the Dark City, and sits on top of several hills next to the huge river. As for the Others, they’re thick in the ruins, just like the other places I’ve been.”

I gathered by context that ‘Others’ meant the monsters. I also concluded that this wasn’t good news after watching the women deflate with that information.

“That’s not what we were hoping for,” said Patience glumly.

“Yes, I know. But there was a moment where I thought maybe …”

He paused, so Patience prodded.

“Yes?”

Thomas cleared his throat.

“Well. After leaving the city, I saw smoke. A tall, thin line. Like from a campfire, maybe. It was some distance away. North of the ruins. Night came, and I never saw it again. Although I watched the skies every day. It was probably a random fire, though. You know how broken glass sometimes sets fire to dry grass, especially in summer time.”

They all nodded at his conclusion, but I could tell that each of them held onto the scrap of information with renewed hope. Perhaps that’s why Thomas mentioned it in the first place – to infuse bad news with something positive, even if it didn’t mean anything.

“Fleet and I traveled through foothills all the way south to avoid contact with them as much as possible. On our return trip, we camped in the hills above the Dark City. That’s when I saw a boat in the harbor. It was a distant dot, but was definitely moving toward shore. My field glasses confirmed it.”

“Our boat?” I asked.

“Yes. Your boat. I left Fleet safely on an island in a stream, and walked into the ruins.” All the women gasped concern. Patience spoke for the group.

“Thomas! You know never to go into the Dark City. They are too many there.”

“I know, mother, I know,” he said, holding a palm to the woman to interrupt her lecture. “It was reckless and stupid of me. But I was curious. All of you have known so many people in your lives. But not me. I wanted to see if there really were more than a few other human beings in the world.”

They all nodded quietly, sympathetic toward his feelings of isolation. After a brief silence, he continued.

“Anyway, from a distance I spotted a group of women near the heart of the old city.

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