Free A City Called Smoke: The Territory 2 by Justin Woolley Page A

herself for falling asleep. She didn’t want to be caught off-guard.
    As she came fully awake Lynn saw Squid sitting over the other side of the trailer with the Nomad boy. She was going to call out but felt the tickle of an emu feather stuck to her lips. She blew it off and rubbed at her face. Where did these feathers keep coming from?
    “Squid,” she said, “what do you think you’re doing?”
    Squid was smart. In his own way he was probably the smartest person Lynn had ever met and she respected him for that, but he wasn’t always clever when it came to people. Who knew what he’d already told this boy?
    “Nothing,” Squid said, “just talking to Nim. Did you know the real reason Nomads move around is because it’s better for the land?”
    “The country provides for our mob,” Nim said, “and our mob cares for the country.”
    “I don’t think you should be talking to him, Squid,” Lynn said.
    “Why not?”
    Now that it was light Lynn could see Nim much better than she had the night before. His skin was brown, his face made up of sharp angles and tattooed with swirling lines and dots of white that ran down his neck and disappeared into the collar of his loose-fitting shirt. He looked at her with eyes that were even darker than his skin, brown circles that were almost black. Lynn found the stare from those eyes intense, and though she didn’t want to admit it, he was handsome.
    “I don’t know much about the Nomads –” Lynn began.
    “No,” Nim said, cutting her off. He didn’t seem angry but he was certainly defensive. “Not many of you Dwellers do.”
    “– but,” Lynn continued forcefully, “I’ve never heard of a Nomad traveling alone. That makes me suspicious. If not even the Nomads want you, why shouldn’t we be cautious?”
    Nim stood. “You don’t know anything about me,” he said. “I’m on a mission, same as you.”
    Lynn looked at Squid. Squid’s mouth slid over, scrunching up in the corner. His face reddened.
    “I didn’t tell him what we were doing,” Squid said, “just that we were on an important mission.”
    “What are you doing out here?” Lynn asked, ignoring Squid, determined to understand what Nim’s motivation was, what threat he might really pose to them.
    “Riding a bio-truck,” he replied.
    Lynn thinned her eyes at him. “You know that’s not what I mean. Last night you said you were looking for something.”
    It took Nim a moment to answer. “I’m looking for the Storm Man.”
    “The Storm Man?” Squid asked.
    “There’s a story,” Nim said, “passed down through my people, that one day a Storm Man will come, a spirit of the Dreaming, and he will walk across the land and bring a great rain that will wash away the ghouls forever. Before we can be accepted as adults everyone in my mob has to perform a task. I chose to find the Storm Man and destroy the ghouls.”
    “You’re looking for a way to fight the ghouls?” Squid asked.
    Nim nodded. Lynn saw recognition dawn on his face.
    “That’s what you’re doing, isn’t it?” Nim said. “You’re looking for a way to fight the ghouls too.”
    “No,” Lynn said, which might have been more convincing if Squid hadn’t said “Yes,” at exactly the same time.
    Squid’s face reddened once again under Lynn’s stare.
    “Well,” Squid said, “he’d already guessed.”
    Lynn raised an eyebrow at him and shook her head. It was good she’d never revealed the secret about her identity to Squid while they were at the Academy. She didn’t think it would have remained a secret very long.
    “If this task you’re supposed to do is something you choose, why did you choose to try and destroy the ghouls?” Lynn asked.
    “I’ve got my reasons,” Nim said. “What are yours?”
    “There’s a prophecy,” Squid said. “I’m supposed to find a weapon we can use against the ghouls.”
    “What weapon?”
    Squid shrugged. “I don’t know, but we’re going to Big Smoke to find it. You should