The land immediately west of the Sunny Mountains seemed to consist of flat prairie land, mostly. It was dry and scrubby, but much of it seemed to have been given over to agriculture; the highways they followed ran through weedy fields, and there was evidence of a vast irrigation system here. The further west they traveled, the drier the land became, however, until at last they found themselves in what could only be described as a desert: a boulder-strewn, rocky landscape full of prickle bushes and cacti, which strongly resembled the American southwest. Stu had visited Arizona and the area around the Grand Canyon as a child, and this desert-land was reminiscent of that.
Did this world have some kind of equivalent to the Grand Canyon? The Sunny Mountains seemed roughly analogous to the Rocky Mountains, which made him think that the Grand Canyon might also have an analogue.
He asked Luna about it, but she had never heard of anything like the Grand Canyon. So, to pass the time in the glider, he told them all about his childhood visit there, and about all kinds of other wonders as well: the Great Wall of China, the Egyptian pyramids, Mount Everest, and so on, none of which existed in this world. Millie especially liked hearing his stories and was constantly pressing him for details.
He also told them stories about some of the historical figures of his world -- George Washington, Joan of Arc, Vlad the Impaler -- which they found intriguing, although they were all rather disturbed by his description of Vlad the Impaler, who apparently reminded them of a figure from their own history, called Mordrax of Mile: a murderous bandit who had lived about two hundred years ago in a country called Serra Hidalgo.
Unfortunately Stu wasn't exactly a history major and he eventually ran out of stories to tell about these historical figures. So he started telling them stories about fictional characters instead: King Arthur, Batman and Robin, He-Man, Luke Skywalker. He must have mixed things up, though, because by the time he had finished Lucky was under the impression that Batman was a real vigilante, that Gotham City was a real location on his Earth, and that King Arthur was America's currently-reigning king.
The roads on this side of the mountains were largely intact, and they made pretty good progress -- speeding over the highways during the day and camping out at night. The days were hot and the nights were cool, but never so cool as to be uncomfortable, and the sunsets were spectacular. It was nice country, and it might have been a nice place to live, before the outbreak.
There were zombies, of course, just like everywhere, but they were few and far between, mostly restricted to the small, spread-out towns that dotted the landscape. They were easily avoided.
One evening, while looking for a place to hunker down for the night, they found themselves on the outskirts of one of these small towns. Slowing down the glider, so as to maneuver around a pair of junk cars parked on the highway, Stu spotted some movement out of the corner of his eye.
There was a young man sitting on the ground just off the road, next to a tipped-over motorcycle. He appeared to be in some distress, and he waved at them as they went by, to get their attention.
Luna saw him, too, but she didn't stop.
"What are you doing?" Stu asked her, as she zoomed past the man. "He looked like he needed help."
"Maybe. Or maybe he's trying to lure us into a trap."
"Out here? In the middle of nowhere?"
"I'd rather not risk it." But after seeing the look on Stu's face, she sighed and turned the glider around. "All right, all right," she said. "But keep your weapons handy."
They drove back to the young man, who was still sitting next to the overturned motorcycle. His eyes lit up when he saw that they had returned. "I could use some help," he called out to them, climbing to his feet.
Luna parked the glider. Stu and Lucky got out of the vehicle and looked around for any signs of a trap, but the young man appeared to be alone, although he did have a holstered gun on his hip. Stu's Zombie Radar was quiet, and he couldn't smell anyone else in the vicinity, with his Sniffer skill, but his enhanced sense of smell was still imprecise and he didn't really trust it all that much.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
"What seems to be the problem?" Stu asked warily.
The man jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Bellback jumped out in front of me just as I was coming into town. I had to swerve to avoid it, and...well, as you can see, I took a bit of a tumble." Stu realized he was favoring his right leg; he must have injured it. "If you could help me get my bike back up..."
The man, who appeared to be in his early twenties, had a boyish face and was wearing a friendly, guileless expression. Looks could be deceiving, of course, especially in this zombie-haunted world, but Stu was inclined to believe him.
Luna was a little more suspicious. "What's your name?" she asked him.
"Eldon," he answered. "You?"
"I'm Luna," she said. "This is Stu, and Lucky, and Millie."
The young man gave Millie a double-take, but did not remark on her unusual appearance. "Where you folks headed?" he asked. "Centennial? Rockfort? That's a hell of a nice glider you've got there. I've never seen one in such good condition. Not since the outbreak, anyway."
"It's not for sale," Luna said flatly.
He put his hands up innocently. "I wasn't offering. I'd prefer my bike, anyway. You think you could me help me out?"
"Why not?" Stu walked around the overturned bike and picked it up, setting it upright and kicking out the kickstand. It was a full-size motorcycle, and probably weighed somewhere between six hundred and eight hundred pounds, but this was only a moderate challenge for Stu; the hardest part was finding a good place to grip it. "There you go."
Eldon stared at him. "How the hell did you do that?"
"It was nothing," he said blandly. "How's the leg? Can you walk?"
He was still so surprised at how easily Stu had lifted the motorcycle that it took him a moment to answer. "Oh, yes. I hurt my foot when the bike skidded, but it wasn't too bad. It could've been a lot worse."
"We should get going," Luna said impatiently.
"Thanks for your help," Eldon said. "And good luck to you. I don't where you're going, but I'd avoid Rockfort if I were you, and Second Parish, too. The Desert King's been raiding all the settlements north of Route 106. We tried to bottle him up at Sunflare, but his Elites came out of the desert and flanked us." He shrugged again. "They had plasmas and chain gangs."
"Who's 'we'?" Lucky asked.
"The Pale Riders." He looked at them, surprised. "I thought you might have guessed. I'm a Rider -- a courier, actually. I was on my way to Delta."
"Delta?"
"A little town a few miles from here." He looked at them curiously. "I figured you folks were from out of town, but...haven't you heard about the Desert King? And all the fighting that's been going on lately?"
"We just crossed the mountains," Lucky said. "We're from Meku City. We're on our way to Lon Halos."
"Lon Halos?" He shook his head. "I'd turn back if I were you. There's nothing out here in Talife but war and zombies. We've got the Desert King to deal with up north, and he's bad enough, but the Dread is even worse, from what I've heard, and he's taken over the whole city."
Stu's ears pricked up. "The Dread?" This was the shadowy figure Virge and Wayman had mentioned, the one whose forces had been menacing Dr. Snowe. "You know about the Dread?"
"Well, I've never met him, but I've heard of him, of course. He's some kind of zombie -- a brainy, I think, although I don't know for sure. Like I said, he's pretty much conquered Lon Halos. He's got an army of his own."
This wasn't exactly encouraging. "We're looking for a man named Alistair Snowe. You ever heard of him?"
"Nope." He glanced at the setting sun, which was burning orange on the distant horizon. "If you're not in a hurry, maybe we can all sit down and share information. And a meal, too, if you're hungry. I have some rice and beans -- maybe not enough for all of you, but..."
Stu looked to Luna. "What do you think?"
"I don't like the idea of making camp so close to town."
"There's no zombies here, if that's what you're worried about," Eldon said, waving a hand at the settlement. "The Riders cleaned 'em out years ago. Trust me, I've driven through here a million times." He limped over to his bike, opened up a compartment, and removed a can of beans. "Relax."
Luna was still wary. "I don't trust him," she whispered to Stu.
"Why not?"
"He's too nice."
Stu had gotten that impression too -- since he had arrived in this zombie-world most of the people he had encountered had started off suspicious, hostile, or aggressive, including Lucky and Luna -- but he was inclined to give this guy the benefit of the doubt. Some people were just irrepressibly friendly and good-natured.
"I know. He could be a good source of information, though. We really don't know anything about what's going on out here, or in Lon Halos. We don't want to accidentally stumble into a battle or something like that."
"You're right," she said, after thinking it over for a moment. "Fine, then, let's have something to eat. If this guy tries anything funny, though..." And she made a slicing motion across her neck.