The Taupee Chronicles- Blight and it's Master's

Chapter Seven

Ava didn't manage to sleep for long. As soon as she arrived at Indra's, the old woman prodded her awake with her stick. She had told Ava she needed to leave before the morning got any lighter. She would be safer, leaving whilst the shadows still presided. Indra had then spent a good amount of time berating Ava for not dressing in the padding and clothes fast enough before deciding she would just dress Ava herself. Stone had nodded at Ava as she left and handed her a small backpack with some supplies. However, before she could say a proper goodbye, Indra had manhandled her out of the backdoor and into the alley behind her house.

"Get out of the neighbourhood before you look at the map. They won't expect you to have left." The woman urgently whispered before slamming the door in her face. Ava took a moment to process what she had been told, clearly still in a state of shock at the situation. She had walked as quickly as she could. However, with the padding making her look like an old woman, she couldn't be too quick. She didn't want to arouse suspicion from anyone who saw her. Ava passed a few familiar faces on her way out of the neighbourhood. None of them paid her any notice or seemed to recognise her at all. She even made it past a group of Elbonjhit guards without them even looking her way. Keeping to the shadows, she finally rounded the corner into Iron Grove.

Prior to the war, 400 years ago, Iron Grove was probably where much of the military munitions and other machinery were made and distributed from. No one was sure, but there was a little evidence in the rare documentation that survived that suggested this was so. As such, it seemed the buildings here were made to last. Many of the higher stories had crumbled to dust long ago. However, most of the foundations were made from natural stone and thick metal beams that barely seemed to weather or erode with the ages. Many of the living spaces here were built atop of these massive foundations, with the lower levels being used for bigger manufacturing operations. The buildings in most other places in Gar wouldn't have the capacity for this. Central would probably cope fine with this, but good luck to anyone from Gar trying to get a licence or lease to operate a business there.

Ava carried on shuffling through the streets, keeping her eye out for a quiet area where she could sit and look at the map. She also wanted to go through the supplies Stone had given her. The longer she walked, the busier the streets became. A few times, she nearly collided with other individuals as they scrambled to their various destinations. Ava spied a couple of markets on her way. She didn't think Stone would have given her any money, and she hoped he had thought to pack a bit of food for her. All the walking was making her famished. Finally, with the sun now shining high in the sky, she found some steps underneath a bridge that led to a river. She moved to the steps and made sure she sat a little under the bridge so that she could not be seen from the street. First, she thought she would take a look at the map Shay had given her. She took it from her pocket and smoothed it out on the steps.

The map had been hastily drawn on one of the café napkins. It was ripped in places where Shay had been a little overzealous with the pen. There was a small circle indicating Gar with a note stating she had to leave the city from the west. Away from the coast. Unfortunately for Ava, Iron Town was in the north. She would need to travel out and then skirt around the city to get to the start point of Shays map. There was a line travelling from each of the small X's on the map. Each small X appeared to be a different landmark she must find that led to the resistance base. The first of the Landmarks was the spire, directly west of Gar. Ava assumed this would be pretty easy to spot. Very few churches had survived the war, and the ones that had were usually renovated for different purposes. Making them difficult to pick out from the other old buildings around them. The fact that Shay had stated there was an angel statue within its ground meant Ava would have no problem in spotting this from a distance.

The landmarks she then had to find were Kilter Lake, the shack, Gorgon tree, Feller's ridge, and lastly, Glimmer caverns before moving on to the resistance base. After the Spire, most of the landmarks appeared to be in a north Easterly direction of the city. A little further inland then Gar but still not too far from the ocean which she was grateful for. The path seemed to follow not too far from the coastline. Ava moved onto the backpack that stone had given her, which was heavier than she expected. She was curious as to what he had given her. Opening it, the first thing she noticed was a full metal water canister. That would come in handy. She could fill it whenever she found safe drinking water without worrying about when she would next be able to drink. She pulled out a lightweight blanket, a hunting knife, and some tough rope. She knew she would need those, especially to forage if she needed to. Ava then removed a small set of binoculars, which appeared to have a night vision option, a pair of thick socks, and lastly, a large food container. The container currently had various bits of food, including jerky and biscuits, and she knew she would likely use the container to carry excess food if she needed to forage.