Free The Cyber Chronicles Book II: Death Zone by T C Southwell

strength and letting the poultice do
its work, then fell asleep beside her at dusk.
    Tassin
crawling over him to reach the pool woke Sabre, and he sat up,
rubbing his eyes. "You're awake."
    She scooped up
handfuls of water and gulped it down, too intent on slaking her
thirst to pay him any attention. He watched her with a smile.
"You've been unconscious for quite a while. I lost track of the
number of days. We're out of the Death Zone. We made it to the
other side. Purr stayed behind."
    Sabre let her
drink until he calculated that she had had enough, then pulled her
away. "Enough now, take it easy. You'll get sick if you drink too
much. Take a break, the water's not going anywhere. You can have
more in a few minutes. Give your stomach a chance to get used to it
again. You're still thirsty because you haven't absorbed it yet,
and bloating yourself won't help."
     
     
    Tassin gazed
longingly at the water, then, knowing that he was right, tore her
eyes from it. To distract herself, she studied him. Considering
that he had carried her all the way across the desert, he showed
surprisingly few ill effects. Lines of fatigue bracketed his mouth,
he was a little thinner, and his lips were cracked and scabbed. He
had washed, shaved, and shorn his hair again, making the white
lines that ran through it almost invisible.
    Realising that
she was staring at him, she looked away and fingered the bandage on
her leg. "What is this?"
    "The bite from
the rock snake caused an infection. Although the poison was left
behind, you were still very sick. That dressing is making it
better."
    Tassin rubbed
her face, surprised to find it clean. "How long did you carry me,
without water?"
    "Six nights
and half a day."
    "I did not
think it was possible for a man to go that long without water,
especially carrying a burden."
    He smiled.
"It's not. I'm a not a man."
    "You look like
one to me."
    "Looks can be
deceiving."
    Tassin sighed
and turned to gaze across the golden grass at the dense green wall
of vegetation beyond it. She was not in the mood to argue with him
now.
    "So much for
paradise. I would not call a jungle paradise."
    "No. But
perhaps there's something better beyond it."
    She slumped,
dejected. "I am so tired of walking. I don't think I can walk
another step."
    "Not right
now, but you'll feel better once you're stronger and your leg's
healed. There's plenty of game in the jungle. I'll soon have you
fattened up and fit again."
    Tassin forced
a wan smile, unconvinced.
    They rested by
the pool until the afternoon, by which time she had slaked her
thirst. Then they moved upstream into the shade of a tree, where
the stream ran more strongly. Sabre built a fire and left to hunt
in the forest, admonishing her to climb the tree if anything nasty
came along. Since the forest was less than a kilometre away, she
would be within scanner range.
    Sabre returned
before dark, carrying a buck and an armload of fruit. The animal's
throat had been slit, and she wondered if he had used the cyber to
catch it. He dumped his load, and she selected a bright orange
fruit while he gathered more firewood and cleaned the buck. Her
appetite returned, sparked by the succulent fruit, and they feasted
on roast meat, after which she fell into a sated sleep.
     
     
    Gearn gave a
crow of triumph and turned to look back at the shimmering Death
Zone barrier, now behind him.
    "It
worked!"
    Murdor gazed
around, scratching his head. "You sure yer didn't just turn us
around?" he asked. He had watched the wizard's efforts for days
now, and had developed a healthy scorn for the bungling mage.
    "Of course I
am sure!" Gearn retorted. "I know when my magic has worked." He
turned to the panting wolf. "Find the trail, if there is one. We
have to catch up."
    Gearn gathered
up his precious potions and packed them into the saddlebags, then
they waited for the wolf to return. Murdor sat in the shade of the
tent the mage had conjured for him and wished he was back in Arlin,
supping ale in a