Shea leaned against the wall in the alley, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She rubbed her eyes, then blinked a couple of times.

"Change of plans," she said.

"We're not getting out of the city?"

"No, of course we are. We just can't go through the gates." Shea approached the corner and glanced towards the gate, then the opposite direction. "Follow me."

Shea led them away from the city gate area, following one of the side streets. Wared quickly lost track of where they were as he was not familiar with that part of the city. They saw the occasional Protectorate patrol pass by but they paid them no attention. No-one else did either.

After sneaking through back streets for about twenty minutes, they found themselves in front of a worn wooden door at the end of a shaded alley. At some point, the color of the door had been blue but the paint had faded and flaked over the years, leaving a patchwork of paint and weathered wood. Shea knocked on the door, then waited. Almost immediately, Wared heard a click from the lock and the door swung open on creaky hinges, revealing a sparsely lit corridor within.

Wared hesitated when Shea stepped across the threshold. What is this place? He had absolutely no idea where they were and the prospect of entering an unknown house made him feel uneasy. At the same time, Shea obviously knew the place and had been let in without even a question. It raised numerous other questions about Shea and her relationship with the inhabitants of the building and what her business with them had been in the past. What role did they play in the dangerous game she was involved in? Who was she really?

When Shea noticed Wared remained outside, she stopped and faced him. "You coming?"

"What is this place?"

"It's someone I know. That's all you need to know. Hurry up, ok? We're better off away from the streets, don't you think?"

Wared sighed. She was right, of course. He stepped across the threshold. Shea gestured for him to follow and led him down a set of stairs to another door. She pressed a button on the side of the wall and the door slid open.

They stepped into a workshop lined with shelves, full of gadgets, wires and junk electronics. A rectangular table in the center of the room stacked with papers, more assorted discarded electronics and a few dirty dishes. On the far side, the a gray head was bent over underneath a bright lamp, seemingly oblivious of Wared and Shea's presence.

Shea gently closed the door behind them and stepped onto the floor. Wared hesitated on the raised platform by the door, not sure what to do or where to go.

"It's been a while," the figure on the far side of the table said before he was overwhelmed by a coughing fit. Shea motioned for Wared to follow her as she approached the figure. The man cleared his throat, reached for a glass with brown liquid and downed it in one go, then slammed the glass down on the table. He looked up at the approaching duo over the rim of his glasses. Shoulder-length gray hear flowed around his face while week-old stubble covered his face. Piercing yellow eyes that were slightly squinted flicked between the two of them, evaluating, probing.

"What do you need?" he asked as he pushed his glasses back up onto the top of his nose. "You usually only visit when you need something."

"Uncle—" Shea started, her head tilted a little.

The uncle raised a finger in the air. "Don't lie to me. When did you visit me last, hm?"

"I've been out of town," Shea said after a moments hesitation.

"Sure. Who's he?" the uncle said and pointed a wrench towards Wared.

"Uncle Arty, this is Wared," Shea said with a sigh. "Wared, this is my uncle Arty."

"Please to meet you," Wared said with a hesitant smile on his face.

Arty looked at Wared above the rims of his glasses and grunted. "What do you want?"

"Always so straight to the point?" Wared whispered to Shea, who promptly elbowed him in the stomach. Wared staggered backwards a couple of steps and let out a wheezing sound.

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"We need to find a way out of the city," Shea said and sat down on a stool next to Arty.

"The city gates are not far from here," Arty said as he returned his focus to a circuit board attached to his work station.

"Incognito."

Arty turned slowly and looked at Shea. A grin spread across his face. "Ah, I see," he said and wagged a finger in the air. "You have been naughty again."

Shea folder her arms across her chest. "It's important. It's life and death for Wared."

Wared felt a shiver run up his spine. Was she serious or just trying to coax the old man to be agreeable?

"It always is with you young'uns," Arty said with a dismissive wave.

"It's different this time," Shea said and leaned forward. She whispered something in Arty's ear. He froze, glanced at Wared then at Shea. A sigh escaped his lips as he put down his tools.

"Very well. Give me a few minutes to make the arrangements." Arty stood and disappeared into another room, shutting the door behind him.

"What did you say?" Wared said, still rubbing the spot on his stomach where Shea had jabbed him.

"Does it matter? The important thing is that he'll help us."

Wared sighed. More secrets. "Fine. How is he getting us out of the city?"

~~~

"You can't be serious!" "There's no way I'm going anywhere near that."

"You want to be captured by the Protectorate then?" Shea said and put her hands on her hips, squinting her eyes. "I know a shortcut to the nearest station, I'd be happy to turn you in myself."

Wared took a step back and held up his hands. "Ok, ok, I'm sorry. I just wasn't expecting our escape to involve anything related to sanitation," he said and gestured towards pair of large trucks full of garbage."

"I'm not sure what you were expecting but escaping tyrants usually isn't glamorous."

Wared sighed. From sewer tunnels to garbage trucks.

Shea grabbed his arm. "Come on, we don't have all day."

They walked over to a small office tucked away in a corner. Shea introduced them and gave them a reference from Arty which involved a string of code phrases. The office manager, a short, stocky man with balding hair, led them back out to the yard and the garbage trucks.

"You climb in on top. There's a small hatch by the front edge that's used for maintenance. Climb down the ladder. At the bottom, there's a small compartment that's open. Tuck yourself in, close the hatch and wait for the signal from the foreman at the plant." The man then turned around and walked back to his office.

"That's it?" Wared said. "What's the signal?"

"I suppose we'll find out. Come one, looks like they're eager to get going," Shea said and jumped up on the metal rungs welded into the side of the truck. Wared followed. Once on top, they easily found the hatch the foreman had talked about. It opened up to a tight compartment barely large enough to fit a grown man. A couple of dirty lights gave just enough illumination to make out the space below. It was dirty and it stunk. Shea dropped down into the hole without a word and disappeared into the semi-darkness below. Wared shook his head and sighed, then followed.

The space was as cramped as looked from above and more awkward. Wared hit his back on the wall behind them with each step down he took. By the time he reached the bottom, he was grateful it wasn't far to climb.

Shea waited for him at the bottom. The space they had to move around in wasn't much wider than shoulder-width. As soon as he stepped off the ladder, she motioned for him to move backwards. She then reached down and opened a hatch in the floor. Wared crouched and looked down into the space . It was a tight fit for one person.

"How are we going to fit in there?" Wared said, his eyes wide.

Shea crouched down and stuck her head down the hatch. A few seconds later, she looked up and examined Ward from head to toe. "We can make it work. It's all a matter of using space efficiently."

"Efficiently?"

"It's not like we have much of a choice anyway. You go first. Face the side wall."

Wared sighed and shrugged. "Ok, here goes." He slide through the opening feet first and wiggled the rest of his body through the opening. Moments later, he felt her feet brush the top of his back as she follow down through the hatch. It was a tight squeeze. He was thankful that neither of them were exceptionally large but even so, by the time Shea had fully descended into the space and pulled the hatch closed above them, they were packed tightly.

He felt a shiver run down his spine when she gently wrapped her arm around his torso. "I hope you don't mind," her voice came at barely a whisper, just inches from his year. "It's more comfortable this way." He tried to say something but ended up just clearing his throat and nodded. Up until that moment, Shea had just been the person he shared an intense adventure with. She was a young woman but he hadn't thought of her as such. As she held his mid-section, he couldn't help but notice the warmth of her touch through his clothing. He felt the faint exhale of her breath mere inches from his ear, almost matching his own. It was then he noticed his heart beating quicker in his chest and he felt sweat form on his head.

Wared took a deep breath as he noticed the warmth of Shea's body behind him. It seemed like ages ago since he felt the warmth of Kyra's body next to his and he blushed at the thought that he was somehow betraying Kyra and his feelings for her by being so close to Shea.

The truck roared to life moments later, distracting Wared from the strange feelings that were welling up inside. Shea cried out in surprise when the truck took off with a jerk and held on tighter to Wared as vibrations spread throughout the frame of the truck. It didn't take Wared long to realize that the road ahead was going to be long. It didn't seem like the driver cared he had a couple of extra passengers.

The ride seemed to take an eternity. Wared and Shea were tossed around inside their tight compartment, pushed against the metal walls of the compartment. The were squeezed together and knocked their heads together time and time again. Just as Wared was at the end of his rope and about to give up and climb out, the truck slowed down and eventually parked.

Shea groaned and sighed. "We made it," she croaked.

~~~