“Rescue the town?” Cole had to make sure he heard correctly. “What, exactly, does the town need to be rescued from?”
The man behind the desk stood and cracked his back. He ran his calloused hand through his beard before extending it to Cole. “Name’s Shaw,” he said. “This here’s my partner in crime, Tess.” The woman next to Shaw nodded but declined to extend a hand, so Cole only shook the mans.
Cole turned to his friends. “I think you know us, at least, kind of.”
Shaw laughed. “Sorry,” he chortled. “We haven’t exactly extended the warmest of welcomes. Had to make sure you weren’t part of ‘em.”
“Part of what?” Zach asked. If he hadn’t butt in, Cole would have. He scratched his head, waiting for an answer.
“Part of the town that wants us dead. Which is actually most of the town, if you can believe that.” He spit on the floor.
“Up until about 30 minutes ago I didn’t even know you existed, how could I want you dead?” Cole added.
“You didn’t know someone was out there?” Shaw threw his head backward, as if it would somehow help Cole orient to what he meant by “out there.”
“Was I supposed to?” Cole asked.
“Well shoot, the town’s been monitoring us for a while.”
Root shuffled and spoke. “We saw you. Err… something. Someone. We saw someone in a place we didn’t recognize.”
Shaw just nodded. “‘Prolly.” Tess nodded along, silent, but still by his side.
“Look, this is fascinating,” Cole said. “But you mentioned something about saving the town. What was that all about?”
“Let me ask you, Cole. You seen anything strange around town recently?”
“Sorry, but you’ll have to be more specific. Everything has been strange lately.”
Tess stepped forward. “Perhaps dwindling assignments? Fewer shovelers? Gatherings for the elders?”
It was as if Tess was all-knowing. Cole’s memory spun back to when he was reassigned to level 1. Typically a place for a new shoveler, not someone with his experience. Even given the circumstances, that had been odd. And the lack of people in the assignments room with him caught him off guard at the time. There was, of course, the town hall where they got gassed and it wasn’t that Cole had forgotten about it, it was that he wasn’t sure what to make of it all. Tess seemed to have an answer that would tie it all together. At least, that’s what he hoped.
“I’m not even going to try and guess how you knew about all that stuff, I’m just going to ask what you can tell me about it.”
“Seems odd, right?” Shaw spoke, with one of his eyebrows angled aggressively on his face.
Cole and Root exchanged looks. “Yes,” they both said.
“What’s that got to do with us?” Zach asked.
“Good question,” Shaw said, circling in front of the desk. Cole only now realized the man was barefoot.
“The town is dying.” Tess said softly.
“Dying?” Cole asked.
Tess nodded her head. “It won’t be around much longer unless we do something. It is dying, and it will fail unless we succeed.”
“And what are you thinking to do about it?” Root asked.
“We’re going to save whoever we can, and leave.”
“And go where?”
Tess stepped forward. “We’re going to the outside.”
Welcome back, Kevin.