Free Champions of the Apocalypse by Michael G. Thomas

most of the people they took from my village. Women, children, animals, they killed the lot. They even burned my farm,” he said with passion.
    “I’m sorry to hear that,” said Synne as she thought back to her own town and family.
    “What did you have in mind?”
    “I’m not sure yet, I’ll think of something though. Just watch for my signal and don’t do anything to draw attention,” replied Synne reassuringly.
    There was much shouting and running about from the guards as they positioned themselves at key locations on the train. With a whistle from the engine and a great gush of steam, the train started to move slowly from the raised platform. As it moved Synne could feel the clacketing sound through the floor as they passed over the joined sections of the old iron tracks. They started to build up speed and in minutes were moving at a pace that could easily equal a galloping horse through the countryside. The depot and market faded away to be replaced with the open plains and its small number of hills.
    “Where are we going?” asked the man.
    Synne looked ahead and strained her eyes. The light was fading but she was certain she could make out the shape of mountains. She thought back to the map, their father had shown her and Ulric. At the thought of home, she felt a sick ache in her stomach. Her father was dead, her brother missing and the rest of her friends were probably scattered to slavers and traders throughout the land. She turned her attention back to her current situation and looked at the line of mountains.
    “Mountains, I think we might be heading for the North of the Wastelands, those look like the Black Mountains to me.”
    “The Wastelands? I thought that was contaminated, we’ve been told to never go near the place or we’ll get the sickness,” explained the man as a look of panic spread over his face.
    “Yeah, I’ve heard exactly the same thing about the place though something tells me I think we’ve been lied to.”
    Synne looked off to the guards, trying to find any possible chance for escape. Each of the men had a rough, weary look to them but they also looked fit and very dangerous. They were not near enough to keep a close on on Synne, but they all carried projectile weapons and she had no doubt, that excessive noise or attempts to escape would be dealt with swiftly.
    “I don’t know about you but everything I’ve heard from that place is bad. We had at least two scouting parties go missing when they went to the Wastelands. We assumed it was from the sickness. If they are taking us there, I doubt we’ll see home again. Stay alert, I’ve got a plan,” said Synne mysteriously.
    She strained her shoulder as she twisted around, looking for Jonas. About eight people further down she could see him, still shackled to his own cart and looking directly at her. Synne gave him a signal and Jonas responded with a nod. She turned back and looked about the cart. There were two other pairs of people in there with them and they were doing their best to avoid eye contact. It was hardly surprising, they had no reason to trust her and probably a few days ago, they were working on their farms or workshops, only to be dragged away by these men.
    Her attention was drawn to the metal strip running along the top of the cart that the ring and padlock were fitted to. She slid forward a few inches so she could get a better look. The strip was held in place by eight thick brass screws that were pushed into the old wood. She lifted her hand to the surface and checked each of them, they were all firm apart from the last one that wiggled just a little.
    “Ah, got you!” she whispered to herself as she proceeded to remove the bolt.
    The other screws where firm however and it required a full ten minutes of digging around in her clothing and inside the cart before she found a coin pushed inside her jacket. It was damaged but perfect for this most important of tasks. The carriage continued to rattle as they