Page 26 of Dustwalker

“You can see it from my residence,” he said.

“But not smellit.” She stood up and faced Ronin.

“When it’s trimmed, you can.”

She wasn’t entirely sure what he meant, but she didn’t bother asking. Warming up and getting dry. That had to be her focus. The last thing she needed was to get sick because she was staring at grass during a storm.

They continued along the street with the green landscape remaining to their left as the path curved right. Up ahead were morelights, brighter and somehow cleaner than the orangey-yellow ones here. It was a familiar glow, even in the fading evening light. She saw it every night from her shack on the other side of the wall.

Ronin led her around another bend in the road, which opened into a wide, long stretch lined with buildings on both sides. These weren’t pieced-together, rickety little shelters like the humans lived in. They wererealbuildings, made of bricks and wood and concrete, with intact glass windows and doors actually attached to their frames by hinges.

This was unlike anything she’d ever seen. Not even the buildings in the market could compare to the immaculate splendor of the bot district.

Had it truly been this way everywhere, before the world fell apart? Had even the ruins she normally scavenged looked like this once? It seemed impossible, but the proof was here, right before her eyes.

Still, something was wrong. Everything was too perfect, too clean, too quiet. Things existed here, but nothinglived.

The buildings reminded her of the bots. Well-maintained and varied, no two quite the same, but all similar, nonetheless.

She glanced at Ronin. Maybe not allbots…

He lifted an arm and pointed down a street branching to the left before turning to follow it. “Not much farther.”

Compared to the main road, it was dark and narrow. The streetlamps, spaced further apart, only ran down the right side of the road. On the opposite side, trees stood in silent vigil as far as she could see.

Strangely, it still seemed inviting. Seemed natural.

Lara was so preoccupied in gazing at the greenery across the street that she almost bumped into Ronin when he stopped. Shaking off her confusion, she looked around. Up ahead, the street ended, meeting with a road running east to west. Beyond that loomed another portion of the wall.

“This way.” Ronin stepped through a gate between a wall of bushes.

She followed him, staring up at the house on the other side. It was a huge, its upper floors bathed in the gentle glow of the nearest lamp. As though the second story wasn’t enough, there was a third-floor window wedged under the peak of the roof.

Her shack allowed a couple feet of clearance for her head. How much space did this place have? How much did a person need?

For that matter, how much did a bot need?

Ronin went up the steps to the front door, where he fishedsomething out of his pocket. He fiddled with the handle before swinging the door open. Without a word, he went inside.

Lara mounted the steps, freezing at the top. The impenetrable darkness beyond the doorway was not welcoming.

“This is it,” he said from within. It sounded like he set his pack on the floor. “You coming in?”

“I can’t see.”

“You can’t. Just a moment.” His boots thumped across the floor. There was a soft click.

Lara turned away from the glaring light, shielding her eyes with her arm. When her vision finally adjusted, she looked inside, mouth agape.

The lights on the ceiling filled the place with bright, pure white, putting her little lantern to utter shame. She entered slowly. This first room was big enough to fit her shack three times over within its pristine white walls. On the left, a set of stairs led to the next level, and straight ahead was an opening into another room. Ronin’s pack leaned against the wall to the right. Even the floor shone. It appeared to be made of wooden boards, but she’d never seen wood so smooth and shiny.

Ronin walked past her and closed the door, locking it. Lara’s eyes flicked to the rifle slung on his back, its barrel pointing down at the floor. The weapon didn’t scare her anymore. It really should have, but for some reason, it put her at ease.

Lara approached the door after he moved away, tugged on the handle, and tapped on its surface. Solid and secure.

She’d only walked a mile, but she had entered an entirely different world.

Ronin gestured to the stairs. “There are bedrooms upstairs, if you’d like to select one.”