Corpses. Nothing but corpses. That was all he could see in the Unwanted Zone and that was just what the Beak Things had not already consumed. He made it through though, days of hiding, of watching other poor fools ripped to shreds of trying to fight the desire to just run for it and best of all, Grunt still had the egg.

  That meant money, enough to buy better clothes, better gear, he was finally going to graduate from the bottom of the barrel to slightly higher up in the barrel. To most that might seem like little, but to a man that’s lived in the dirt and dredges for his entire life, it was something unbelievable.

  He had to stop himself though. His feelings were getting too close to hope and that was dangerous. Keep his attention on now, relax only when he finds somewhere to sell the egg. Now that the horrors of the Unwanted Zone were just behind him, he only had to find civilization.

  There were still roars and stomps not far behind where he currently stood, so he kept moving, even though the ex-slave didn’t actually even know where it was he found himself. Orange-brown cliffs and empty straits. No people, no beasts from what he could see either.

  Grunt wandered forward with cautious steps. His eyes trained on every corner, his ears perked for the slightest crunch of sand. For the first few minutes nothing. Then another few minutes, then some more. How could a place with seemingly such little danger harbour no population at all?

  When he turned his second corner into a wide open valley, he was given his answer. Ahead of him in the middle of the ground lay a pile of dead Skeletons. Oil leaked from them, each held long rusted weaponry. Dispensed amongst their number, there were also a few Beak Things, perhaps ones that had wandered too far from the Unwanted Zone. Odder than that though, was the fact that their bodies were smoking. They were all scorched and burnt. A long line indicated that whatever burnt them carried on for a short while after.

  A few months back, Grunt had heard of a large region named Venge, mostly abandoned just as the Unwanted Zone had been. This one was clearly equally dangerous for a different reason. According to the Reaver Bloodied that bragged about surviving the region, the only life that could be found were huge armies of broken Skeletons and the occasional Beak Thing. They weren’t even the real danger though.

  Grunt backed up, twisting his head to look for the planets above to guide him south. When he found them, he began sprinting in the direction he believed was south, but given how poorly he navigated the previous region he found himself in, confidence was not growing.

  Then, light struck him and the sound of sand turning to glass scraped his ears, like nails on a blade. He made the mistake of looking behind him, to see a blade from the heavens piercing the ground behind him and creeping ever closer.

  The terrified survivor kicked up the dust around him, scrabbling to run. As he zig zagged away the beam picked up speed, reaching ever closer. It was too wide for him to outrun sideways, so he tried to run diagonally, hoping that it would just stay in a straight line.

  His vision began to blur as the light grew closer and the noise grew louder. His thighs burned as the half starved man ripped out every strand of speed he could from his legs. Heat hitting his back, arm hairs singing. He let out a scream as he dived away towards a hill.

  The Greenlander closed his eyes and cradled the egg. He felt his body hit the rocky slope, jumping back into the air then falling again. Knocking into rocks and twigs and all manner of jagged surface. The heat still hit him, but the speed at which he tumbled gained him a little distance.

  Then, finally he stopped rolling and he wasn’t dead. Slowly the man opened his eyes and looked around. He managed to spot the last of the great beam dissipating. Whatever caused it now decided to rescind its advance. After staring up at the blast of sun that had just tried to kill him, Grunt suddenly remembered the egg that he held in his hands.

  He pulled the prize out in front of him, searching for cracks or any other kind of damage. There were so many sharp rocks, he feared that one may have gotten through his defense. Underneath? Fine. The top? Also fine. The sides? A small dent in one, so tiny it didn’t matter.

  That meant he could breathe a sigh of relief. Which ended up being a mistake, as it brought him back to his other reality. His entire body hurt. Aches, bruises and scratches covered his bare arms and he was sure some had pierced through his armour too.

  Grunt sat up, only for a sharp pain to pierce his hip. Resting the egg on his legs, the Greenlander reached around and felt the area that hurt. More sharp pain hit him and there was something else too, he felt a clear wound there too, a hole large enough to fit a finger in.

  He grunted. And pulled his hand away, revealing that it was covered in blood. Sometimes a deep wound wasn’t that bad, but he could risk it. Grunt placed the egg as gently as he could into the sand, then pulled the last of the bandages he had. He had managed to scavenge another roll in the Unwanted Zone.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  A few strips forced into the wound and the rest wrapped around to keep them in. It wasn’t the first time he had to treat a wound like that. It didn’t look like it punctured anything life threatening, but it would still slow him down for a while, also it was going to be quite painful.

  Finally, Grunt had a proper look around at where he had landed. There was water, a small lake with several more around it. They carried on around a few small mountainous cliffs. He spotted a group of Tech Hunters walking past one in the distance. There were also two groups of strange beasts he had never seen before fighting each other in another direction.

  Truly, he was in foreign territory now. Outside of the coast, the ex-slave couldn’t remember the last time he saw so much water. Though he had to imagine this stuff wasn’t fit for consumption, not that that had stopped him in the past.

  Now he had to decide where to go, originally he was heading for a secluded UC city he had heard about, but he definitely took a wrong turn somewhere. His best bet would probably be to ask the locals and Tech Hunters were known for not being outwardly hostile to most. He only hoped his armour wouldn’t set them off.

  After letting his breath catch up with him, Grunt stood to his feet, wincing at the new pain he found himself in to add to the rest. His arm that had recently become usable again took too much of a beating, so he kept it at his side, going back to holding the egg one handed.

  He limped after the group he just saw, hoping that they hadn’t gone too far, letting his legs slowly get back into the rhythm of a run, despite the pain. The survivor kept his eyes out, nervous about the beasts he had just seen. None seemed close to him, but he had no idea what other dangers were around these parts.

  When he did pass that set of cliffs, he got quite the surprise. The closest thing to paradise he had ever seen. The man’s eyes bulged as he stared at the land in front of him. Many small lakes, more than he had just seen. Not many creatures, but several visible patrols of Tech Hunters. Far off, on the far end of this valley-like opening there was a huge platform, with a city built on top of it. He had no idea where this was, it didn’t even seem like it was exactly hidden, but it was exactly what he needed.

  With small steps, the ex-slave walked to the hulking platform, passing a patrol on the way. It was the first time a group had simply given him a cautious glance, instead of drawing their swords. He couldn’t stop a small smile from spreading.

  At the base of the steps were a few of the strange beast corpses and a group of Tech Hunters sitting around, carving their hides and bandaging wounds. A few glanced up at Grunt as he passed. He heard one whistle.

  ‘Damn. That a Beak Thing egg? You don’t look like the beast huntin’ type.’ Grunt turned to look at the voice, hoping not to earn their ire.

  It was another Greenlander with red hair, standing with one leg on a creature’s corpse. He kicked it over and turned to Grunt, revealing his mechanical right arm. The jumpy ex-slave inched away.

  ‘I-I got lucky in the Unwanted Zone.’

  ‘Shit. You hear that lads? Lucky,’ he turned to the group and chuckled, then turned back walking up to the lucky man. ‘Luck ain’t gonna help you in the unwanted zone kid.’

  Grunt looked between the warrior and the stairs, his fight or flight starting to trigger. ‘Uh. I- Ah.’

  ‘Leave him alone Rusti. It’s impossible for a stranger to know that’s supposed to be a compliment.’ A pale Hive Prince sitting nearby called out, his arm being bandaged.

  ‘C-compliment?’

  The man called Rusti clicked his tongue, letting his mechanical arm rest on Grunts shoulder. ‘That’s Babylon, y’see. Hates when I have fun,’ he squeezed hard enough to cause Grunt to wince, but not so hard to cause any actual damage. ‘A Reaver looking brat walks in here with a Beak Thing egg, you think you just get to walk by me free of scrutiny?’

  At this point, he figured it would be best to be truthful. His armour was a giveaway, there was no way he could claim anything else. ‘I, uh. I was a Reaver slave. Got lucky, took out my master.’

  Rusti tutted, shaking his head, he poked his conversation partner’s nose with his free hand. ‘What did I say about luck? You escaped the Reavers, that’s all you kid.’

  This was all quite new to Grunt. He didn’t know how to react or what to say. He also didn’t understand if Rusti was being nice to him or not. His small hiver friend walked over and picked up the man’s mechanical arm.

  ‘I think he gets it.’ Rusti rolled his eyes and walked away, pulling out a carving nice and getting to work on the strange beasts. Grunt couldn’t help but be curious about the creatures. The Hive Prince followed his eyes. ‘You’re completely new around here, huh? Don’t recognise Gorrilos?’

  ‘Those are Gorillos? I heard some of the other slaves talking about them when they went south.’

  ‘Less threatening than Beak Things, but I still wouldn’t want to face a pack alone,’ Babylon looked back at the Greenlander then down at his blood and bruise covered body. ‘Looks like you’ve been through a lot. Flats Lagoon is about the safest place you’ll find around here. They won’t ask too many questions either, not like we’re up to much good ourselves.’

  Grunt nodded. He wouldn’t call Babylon friendly exactly, but his presence was almost calming somehow. Far shy from most folk he had run into. Even his pale skin and red tinted eyes added to that factor.

  The prince saw him hesitating and sighed. ‘I was born this way. Kicked out of my hive for being wrong. Surprise most people outside of the hive couldn’t care less.’

  ‘Shit. Didn’t mean to state… Are there more like you?’

  He shrugged, finally turning back to the rest of his squad. ‘I’d like to think so.’

  It looked as though that conversation was over. The first time the survivor had found it a shame. He looked up at the stairs and began his climb. A part of him still refused to believe that things might be looking up for him. Rest, recuperation and equipment, it was possible with the cats his quarry would give him.

  Now that he had come this far, he could finally start to think of what came next. He was going to get new equipment and plenty of rest, but what would he do after that? Revenge? Drink himself stupid? Or maybe, maybe now, he could actually do something good with his life. In any case, he could finally think about what he wanted to do, instead of what he had to. As he stared up at the gates, the sunlight glinting through its bars above him, Grunt smiled. It was a foreign feeling.