The Grid Runner

Chapter Four

Eventually Zan found himself around the mid-level slums, in a run-down area they called Moss Town. It was a small area, made up of a few streets and decaying buildings, situated on the roof of a giant, colossal skyscraper that stretched all the way down to The City.

He wandered aimlessly in the low light, the world beyond little more than glinting metals and dull shapes. The sky was completely black. No stars showed. Even though Zan knew that the sky was a domed roof, and stars were a series of connected bulbs, they were all he had never known. The world as he knew it was gone. He passed several couples and families, all with bewildered, frightened expressions. Somewhere nearby a screaming child called out for its mother. Smoke billowed from a building, where a construction crane had toppled into it. Zan kept going, his mind numb, as if he was walking through a dream.

All around him the city was falling apart, but his whole world had already ended. Despite the warm air, a chill ran through him and he hugged himself. His instincts were to ask his da what they needed to do. Now without him, Zan had nothing left.

He came to a large square where dozens of people were huddled together. An Eclipse Guard stood on a platform and spoke to them all, raising his arms and attempting to calm them.

"The Mayor is currently fixing the Grid," the Guard called out, his voice enhanced through speakers in his helmet. "There is no need to be alarmed. It is best that you remain indoors; it should not be long until the machines are back up. There is no need to panic."

Zan shuddered and moved away from the Guard, not wanting anything to do with them or the Mayor.

Making his way up a muddy incline, he came to a stop at the edge and looked over the small town. In the distance he saw a small park, which consisted of little more than a leafless tree and rotting carousel. There he saw a group of kids, with Marcin near the centre of them. Zan perked up and made his way down to them.

"Zan," Marcin said, sounding surprised. "Didn't expect to find you down these ways."

Priya poked her head out beside a large boy, her eyes widening. Zan found himself smiling when he saw her, that familiar sense of calm creeping through him.

"Oh, big bro," Gosaline said, running up and wrapping her arms around Zan. "I was so scared. I'm so glad you're okay."

Zan patted her long hair. "I'm fine. It's alright."

Gosaline wiped her eyes and looked up at him. "Oh, but it's not fine, is it? Everything's broken."

Marcin pulled her closer to him, curling an arm over her. "We're all a little freaked out." He nodded to the others with him. "You know these guys? Wes and Priya you know. That's Dallos, Edrund, Keithan and San over there."

The tallest of them, Dallos, was a beefy boy with a large jaw and an indifferent air about him. "I've seen him around," he said coolly.

Beside him was Keithan, a quiet boy, tall and lanky. He must have been a new member of Marcin's gang as Zan had never seen him before.

"You live up in the Pipelands," the boy called Edrund said. He was shorter and younger than Zan, maybe around sixteen or seventeen, with round shoulders and messy brown hair. "You're the mechanic's son, right?"

"This here," Marcin said, gesturing, "is Zan the Grid Runner."

The girl called San scoffed, but she was smiling. "And what does that mean?"

"It means that no one knows the Grid as well as him," Marcin said, his tone hardening defensively. "Zan can move through this city like smoke. We're lucky he found us."