Then, finally, he looked north. Again, there was smoke, a particularly dense cloud billowing upward along the lake. He could barely make out the demarcation line, and wondered how far north it was. They'd been told Belmont Avenue, and he hoped that was true, as it would place Beth's apartment and Natalie's school out of the containment area. But the helicopters seemed farther away than that; the rangefinder on the binoculars was estimating fourteen kilometers, which seemed too far.

Without a map there was no way to tell, so Kyle and Seeks-the-Moon began walking northward.

To make the best time, and to avoid getting ambushed by someone who might want to relieve them of their weaponry, Kyle and Seeks-the-Moon headed north along Interstate 90/94. It meant they were more exposed, more vulnerable, than if traveling one of the main streets, but it also put them less at risk. Kyle hoped that with the advantage of Seeks-the-Moon's always active astral senses, they would have advance warning of anything coming.

As they headed down to the highway via the Lake Street exit ramp, a battered delivery truck sped past them, the older ork male in the passenger seat keeping his eye, and the barrel of his shotgun, trained on them. The truck didn't slow, but continued north, weaving once to avoid the burned wreck of a bus in the passing lane.

They saw only one other car, a Toyota Elite speeding south on the other side of the highway. When its driver saw them, he slowed down and screamed out "What are you fraggin' nuts!" before zooming away again.

The city was quiet around them as the roadbed rose slowly from below street level near the old Loop, to above street level a distance beyond Hubbard's Cave. At that point, Kyle and Moon could see more smoke and some obvious fires that still raged uncontrolled. They ducked once into cover as a swarm of insect spirits, dragonflies, appeared over the rooftops, and then quickly banked away down toward the streets. It was like the sudden passage of a heavy dark cloud that blocked the sun and deafened the ears with the whirring of giant wings. Kyle thought again about casting a spell that would make the two of them invisible, then decided against it since they didn't yet know how the creatures perceived. It might not do any good.

Once, a possibly stray bullet kicked up dirt near them, but they could see no sign of a gunman. They kept walking, but Kyle readied the formula for a spell that he could cast quickly that ought to-he hoped-slow a bullet down, if not stop it completely.

The two walked mostly in silence, each one lost in his own thoughts. Approaching the Ashland exit they passed the remains of a minivan that had apparently struck the guard rail and turned on its side before bursting into flames. There were six people inside. Four of them children. They'd obviously been dead for some days.

At Ashland, Kyle and Seeks-the-Moon left the highway and took that street north, gradually starting to see more signs of life. They passed people clustered in doorways, who eyed them with concern or fear. They passed a bar that seemed open, music with a heavy synthetic beat leaking through the boarded windows. They also began to see more cars, but there were still very few of them. Then they came upon a large parking lot filled with scores of torn-open wood and fiberglass cases-food and supplies apparently dropped there by the government within the last few days. There were four bodies lying on the ground as well, lined up in a row alongside an Eagle Security patrol car. A young black officer sat atop the car, shotgun in hand.

Kyle waved to him, and considered approaching, but then thought better of it when he spotted two other bodies a short distance away. One was an older woman, the other a young troll boy. Both had been killed by shotgun blasts. Kyle also saw boxes of food stuffed into the back of the patrol car. The patrolman eyed them warily and they continued walking.

Near Oakdale, a huge, blackened beetle with hints of red on its carapace sat watching them from a storefront. Mucus and bits of flesh dripped from its mandibles as its odd head pivoted slowly to follow them. Kyle nodded to Seeks-the-Moon, and they both dropped their masking just for a moment. The beetle reacted as they'd hoped, moving further back into the shattered interior.

A few blocks later, just north of Belmont, Moon noticed a car following them some distance behind. Kyle glanced back and saw it too: a large tan car with old tires roped to it was pacing them five blocks behind. He and Moon moved out of the streets and began to hug closer to the storefronts.

A block later, the car accelerated, drawing closer. When it was only a short distance away, a young man in dark leathers leaned out the shattered window, waving a heavy revolver at them.

"This is Rager turf!" he howled. One of his eyes was covered over by dark-stained gauze. "Rager turf!"

"We're just passing through," Kyle called back. "On our way to somewhere else."

The car stopped, and all the doors opened. Seven men in torn denim and leathers piled out, each carrying a rifle or submachine gun. Four of them also carried bats. Kyle looked at Seeks-the-Moon, who was watching them impassively.

"I don't think you heard me," the first ganger said as he walked up. "This is our turf, Rager land. Nobody just passes through."

"Look," Kyle told him, moving his arm slightly so the high-velocity Ares combat gun was clearly visible. "We're not looking for trouble. We're just gonna keep walking and then we're gone. No hassle. No trouble."

The first ganger smiled, and a couple of the others laughed. Kyle was amazed at their bravado. He also knew that up close neither he nor Moon would seem threatening. Kyle was trying to appear calm and capable, as well as armed and armored. Seeks-the-Moon seemed the more calm, and almost slightly amused.

Tribute, chummer," said one of the others. 'Taxes, you I know. You live here, you pass through here, you pay us. You don't have nothing to pay, we take you instead. We can always find some use." A couple of them sniggered.

Kyle sighed, and started to reply, but Seeks-the-Moon cut him off. "You have a lot of confidence in your magician," he I laid loudly.

The group stopped laughing and looked at him. Two of them glanced nervously across the street.

"He's a whelp," the spirit continued. "Barely able to count. Already he sweats, trying to decide how to kill us quickly without taking you to boot."

Kyle looked off in the same direction as the gangers, but saw nothing. Seeks-the-Moon glanced at him. "Their magician is nothing more than a bug," he told Kyle. "We should treat him as such."

Kyle nodded. "All right." And he dropped his masking again, believing Seeks-the-Moon was doing the same.

Immediately, there was commotion from an abandoned lot that looked like it had been used for parking. A lone figure, a girl wearing the same colors as the gangers, darted from behind a pile of garbage and dashed away beyond some buildings.

The gangers were distracted by this, and Kyle quickly added to their confusion. A globe of gray-green energy sprang up around him and Seeks-the-Moon as he released the energy for the barrier spell he'd prepared earlier. Then, he raised his own weapon.

All seven gangers took an involuntary step back. Kyle smiled. "Now," he said "I think it's time you took off."

The first ganger was angry. "Nobody tells us what to-" A protoplasmic mass of dark purple suddenly covered his head, and he staggered backward and fell to his knees. Kyle shifted his eyes toward Seeks-the-Moon just in time to see the last vestiges of the spell's energy dissipate from the spirit's hands. He knew it was Moon-the spell was one he'd designed himself.