The Inexplicables (The Clockwork Century 4)

“You think they’ll believe it?”

Houjin shrugged and resumed his trek up the underground version of Commercial Street. “Why not? Plenty of people hate Yaozu and want to kill him. Plenty of Chinese, even, because of how he helped Minnericht be so bad to them those first few years he was inside the wall. But we won’t have to worry about it … as long as we don’t get caught. ”

Twenty-three

Out in the city proper, Rector and Houjin struggled against the gloomy, curling, coiling air. Rector found that it gave him headaches if he stared too long, his eyes straining to catch every shape, every scrap of light or shadow that made it past the Blight. He grew tired from the stress of being so persistently alert. Then again, how long had it been since he’d had any sap? He’d count the days, if he could only remember them.

Houjin waved a hand in front of his own face. Behind his mask’s visor, his eyes crinkled into a frown. “It’s not always this bad,” he said.

“I know. It wasn’t this bad the other day. ”

“I’m not sure what makes the difference. Maybe it’s the temperature, or how much rain we’ve gotten—or haven’t gotten. Or maybe it’s related to the air currents. We know Blight behaves differently from plain old air. ”

“I really couldn’t tell you,” Rector muttered.

They stood on a street corner that wasn’t marked, but since Houjin seemed confident of his location, Rector didn’t worry about it. Not very much, anyway. He made a point to stick close, that was all—especially in the dismal not-daylight there in the too-quiet outer blocks. Sticking close was common sense, it wasn’t chicken.

Thoughtfully, Houjin said, “Maybe I should study it. ”

“Do it on your own time, buddy. Which way’s the tower again? I can’t see for shit. ”

“This way. ”

“I don’t see it. ”

Houjin’s voice took on the tone of someone who is trying, in a calculated fashion, to keep from yelling. “I know you can’t see it, but I know where it is. Trust me, and be quiet. ”

Rector didn’t like being told to be quiet, but he knew it was a good idea, so with a mighty harrumph he managed to keep his mouth shut for another five minutes. At no point during those five minutes did he grab for the back of Houjin’s jacket, strong though the temptation became.

When he feared he was falling behind, he said, “A guy could disappear in this stuff, and nobody’d ever find him,” assuming that Houjin would either stop walking or reply.

Softly, Houjin said, “That’s why people come here, as often as not. To disappear. ”

Rector hustled to catch up to the other boy’s voice as it trailed through the gas. “Like that nurse?”

Huey paused, and Rector came up beside him, trying not to wheeze, but glad for the brief break. “What? Miss Mercy? I don’t understand. ”

“You and Zeke said something about a train, and everybody disappearing. ”

“But all those other people didn’t disappear inside here. They just … disappeared. Except for her. She’s been trying to find them, trying to figure out what happened to everybody. ”

“Why?”

“Because there were rotters. Outside Seattle. ”

“Rotters on a train?”

Houjin’s words took on that tense, impatient quality again. “No, not rotters on a train. But rotters outside the city—all the way out in the Utah Territory, up in the mountains. Miss Mercy thinks they were made when an airship crashed down in Texas. ”

Rector had no idea how far away Texas was from Utah, or how far Utah was from Seattle. Quite a ways, he suspected, but he didn’t want to sound dumb, so he didn’t ask.

Houjin resumed walking. Rector kept pace this time, since the way was wide enough to accommodate them both. The streets were not clean, but they lacked the usual thick, wind-heaped detritus of the busier blocks, so the boys’ boots made less noise than their chatter as they crept up the hill.

“How does that work?” Rector asked. “How does an airship in Texas make rotters in Utah?” He was almost proud of himself for how un-dumb that sounded.

“The airship was carrying Blight concentrate for processing down in Mexico. It crashed right on top of people, and turned them. Just like that. Just like the sap does, if you use it too long…”

“Hey!”