Walk Through Thorns

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

It had been a good idea to wear a hoodie that night. I had decided to ride out to the mines, but hadn't anticipated the drop off in temperature after the rainstorm.

It was a few days after Greta had caught me up on her research. I would have gone sooner, but Auntie was on day shifts. She had never stopped me from exploring at night before, but I didn't want her asking questions. Not about where I was going, or what I was thinking.

I had underestimated how far of a ride it was to get to there. My legs were burning already at the halfway point. A bit of discomfort wasn't going to stop me though. There were bad people in this town. If I was going to expose them I was going to have to push myself.

I wanted a nice raised area where I could get a layout for the mines. One of the roads near the highway offered a good vantage.

From up the concrete embankment I could see the mines were massive. The area had all been leveled flat with loose gravel. Huge warehouse buildings dotted the landscape, gathering rust. The complex might have been bigger than Lively.

Under the moonlight, the acid leeched lakes shone unnatural colors. Buildings shone spotlights onto the ground around them where massive vehicles roamed. The scale was mind blowing, the cars looked like toys by comparison.

Underneath it all, there was a labyrinth. What role did it play in all of this?

ENCO trucks were everywhere. They had owned the mines all along—the Light of the Archtree had pushed to get them shutdown, but then let them reopen a decade later. Was ENCO part of the good guys or the bad guys?

A transport truck caught my attention. Big black letters on the side spelled out SNO. The paint on this truck was still fresh, making it stand out amongst the rust spotted ENCO vehicles.

It left the mine, headed for the highway. I spotted it again when it took the on ramp and passed me. It was headed towards Lively. That seemed strange. Shipments went east through sudbury so they could take sixty-nine south. There was no reason to head towards Lively. With Creighton mine shut down, there wasn't anywhere to deliver to in that direction.

But these people didn't care about laws did they? Turning in place, I kicked my bike forward and down the incline.

Biking back to Lively worked up a sweat. When I slowed down in town to catch my breath, the moisture leeched the heat out of me. I grumbled to myself, but kept riding. I needed to see if the transport truck had gone to Creighton, shivering or not.

Creighton was eerily quiet. That's how abandoned towns should be, I suppose. Everything here was overgrown. Even the one road that still led into town had tree branches creeping past the pavement boundary. I had to ride in the center of the road to avoid catching a branch to the face.

I was beginning to worry that I was being simply paranoid. The truck could have just been going somewhere out west for a legitimate reason. I didn't have any real reason to think it went to Creighton.

Then I spotted light between the trees ahead, and I knew my instincts had been right.

As I got closer I could hear the truck's engine idling. The rumble carried through the trees. Then I picked out something else driving around. It had a loud engine and beeped everytime it reversed. Maybe a forklift? I couldn't see it past the trees surrounding the lot.

I abandoned my bike at the road side so I could get closer on foot. The trees would be good cover to get a look, but I'd have to be quiet. As I crept forwards I became glad that I'd taken the black hoodie. Still, I had to be careful. With my paleness, I'd stand out like a beacon if the moonlight was on me at all.