The warehouse had a street-facing entrance and Jake jumped down from his horse tying it up near a water trough. As he opened the door a bell rang and he stared at piles of what looked like inventions scattered around the place.
Jake saw many items some of which he recognized. There were telescopes, a model of an early prototype helicopter, blimp, hot air balloon, hang glider, and even what Jake recognized as a steam engine. Jake called out, “Anyone here?” There was a gruff voice that said, “Just a moment.” A short stalky man who looked like a dwarf came out and looked Jake over, “Welcome to Wiz's Boomstick, What can I do for you, mister?”
“Hi my name is Jake and I was told you can tell me where the city of glass is.”
"The city of glass is a place of wonders and dangers, young man," the merchant said, his eyes twinkling with curiosity and warning. "It is a place that keeps its secrets well. Many have sought it, but few have returned. If you truly wish to seek it out, you must be prepared for anything. I can sell you a map, but it is but it is a cursed place, I won't be going anywhere near there.”
“Sure,” Jake said, what would it cost me?” Wiz thought for a moment, “I sure could use a horse, I have to collect ore and mineral samples. I could collect materials for my craft much quicker.” Jake replied, “Well that I can help you with. I also know you created the shooting iron for Pete..” Wiz interrupted, “It's my policy to never make weapons for strangers, only folks I know well.” Jake responded, “That's understandable, but what I require is not weapons.” Jake pulled out a 9mm and 308 cartridges and handed them to Wiz. “Can you make me these?”
Shocked wiz took them and shot Jake a suspicious glare. In a low voice said, “How did you come by these? I have the plans but I haven't even produced a prototype yet. This is even better than what I came up with. The smaller one has a hollowed-out point. That would allow for more energy to be transferred to the intended target. This isn't my design, is it? And the material I do not recognize. How?”
Jake shook his head, “Let's just say there is no one else who has these, and if I told you where I got them you wouldn't believe me. I am not even sure how to explain it to you. I can give you ideas for inventions that you probably haven't dreamed of.” Wiz looked skeptical, “You would be surprised at what I have dreamed of.” With a large grin, Jake pulled out his pistol and said, “How about this?” Showing it to the dwarf. “That's an interesting design may I?” Jake Dropped the magazine and racked the slide to the rear ejecting the round from the chamber and handed his pistol to the dwarf. With the large eye, he took the pistol gingerly and eagerly looked it over working the slide back and forth.
Wiz said how does it work? Jack said see this is the magazine and that holds the cartridges. There is a spring here that feeds the cartridges to the firearm. When a bullet is fired a portion of the explosion pushes the slide back along with the firing mechanism, and another spring pushes the slide back forward loading another round for the following shot.” I can give you designs to make a firearm that will repeatedly shoot as long as there's available ammunition and as long as the trigger is held.”
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Wiz grinned widely and said, “That would change these from mere curiosities to terrors. With weapons like that, the weak could be as dangerous or even more dangerous than any high-level stooge of the state. The state would have to be even-handed with the people or fear their wrath.” Jake had a wide grin, “Exactly!”
Eventually, the time came to depart. The trail to the city of glass awaited, and he was ready to face whatever lay ahead.
As he left the oasis of Knox, Jake couldn't shake the feeling that something profound awaited him. The desert's endless sands stretched before him, concealing secrets and challenges that would test his strength and resolve.
He moved forward with a determined stride, a man on a mission, driven by a burning desire to uncover the truth and seek revenge. The desert's shifting sands would not deter him. The city of Glass was calling, and he would answer.
As Jake left the oasis following a dirt path He started to see cactus here and there. After traveling for a night he erected his tent to wait out the day. He said good night to a lonely cactus and shut his eyes to rest. Jake dreamed of Lily. They were sitting together by a fishing pond chatting and laughing. Jake kissed her and as he pulled back he was face to face with her burned corpse. Jake started awake. It was hot and he was sweating profusely. He stepped out of the tent and looked around the sun was low in the sky and the shadows of the two cactus grew long. Jake did a double-take. He could have sworn there was only one cactus standing there. He noticed too that it seemed closer than before. Feeling creep-ed out Jake packed up and left.
During the night he was walking along when he felt the ground tremble. He looked around for anything he could stand on but there was nothing but cactus around. Soon the earth around him started to crumble and Jake jumped back. A black form unearthed itself and a huge claw snapped at Jake. Jake ducked the claw and was crouched face-to-face with a giant scorpion. Jake ducked another claw and dived out of the way of a nasty stinger dripping with a dark fluid. The ground started shaking all around him. Jake pulled his pistol and fired shot after shot at the scorpion. The bullets bounced off the scorpion's thick exoskeleton. Jake knew he was in trouble.
Jake backpedaled and stowed his pistol. He summoned his rifle then fired again, and this time there was penetration. It was not enough however as he was soon surrounded by scorpions. He danced left and right avoiding the blows until finally his luck ran out. Jake downed one scorpion by shooting it in its dead black eye while jumping back from Two other snapping claws; however, in doing so he was slashed across the leg by a stinger he couldn't avoid. Pain radiated across his leg and he hit the dirt. His leg started to swell immediately as he rolled to avoid getting trampled. The scorpions briefly lost track of him as he remembered he had one more spare can of fuel in his ring, so he tossed the whole thing at the soon-to-be charging scorpions. He fired a fire bolt from his outstretched hand at the fuel while it was still in the air. Like a Molotov cocktail, the whole thing burst open spreading flame into the shocked faces of the scorpions. The scorpions screeched and attempted to burrow back into the ground. Jake was having none of it and he cast slow and froze them in place. The screeching died down and the smell of barbecue wafted up from the smoldering carapaces. Jake's head spun as kill notifications hit his vision. Blackness took him then.