Shanahan kept an eye out for any of the minions that might be looking for them. How many would think of the farm and descend on them?

Wyndham knocked on the door. Her eyes changed as she waited for someone to answer the door. They became blank, then alive, then blank again. She frowned at whatever information she had gathered.

“Whitehouse is moving around, looking for us,” said Wyndham. She gestured along their backtrail. “Without the stone from the Shaper, they seem to be having problems finding us.”

Shanahan knew it was practically impossible to track people at night unless you had some kind of advantage. He didn't see the locals with helicopters with IR any time soon.

“We don't have a lot of time,” said Wyndham. She knocked on the door again. “So far no one seems to have told Emil what's going on. If they do, things will change in a bad way for us.”

Shanahan agreed with the assessment. He had been lucky against the two weapons he had killed. He didn't want to deal with someone that had all their powers combined like Captain Planet.

The door opened a few inches. An older looking man with several facial scars looked out at them. One of his eyes didn't look in the same direction as the other. Maybe something had hit him in the face when he was younger.

Shanahan was tempted to do that right then.

“What do you want?,” said the farmer. He switched looking between his two visitors with either eye.

“I'm the Eye,” said Wyndham. The man recoiled so fast that he almost fell down. “We were wondering if we could borrow a wagon, or cart, if you have one.”

“I have a wagon,” said the old man. “It'll take me a bit to hitch the horses up.”

“We won't need your horses,” said Wyndham. “Could you show us the wagon. We'll let you get back to your bed afterwards.”

The old man came out. He wore a night shirt. He didn't bother with shoes as he led them around the house to where a barn barely held itself up in front of a small corral. A wagon big enough to hold two coffins sat there.

“Thank you,” said Wyndham. She handed him one of the gold coins that had been trapped in her sock. “We'll take it and keep moving on. Don't let anyone know about the coin until you can change it for a new wagon.”

“Thank you, lady,” said the old man.

Wyndham nodded as she climbed up on the bench. She released the brake as Shanahan took the two rods that went on either side of a horse in both hands. He started running away from the farm like he was pulling a rickshaw through some Asian street.

The farmer waved at them. He went back into his house and looked for a place to hide the gold coin. He would have to go into the city to get another wagon, but he could afford two with that much wealth.

Wyndham glanced behind her. She could feel the other weapons behind her. They would see the wagon soon enough. She and Shanahan would be fighting them to escape.

Shanahan focused on the road. They were giving up stealth for speed. They might be able to outrun most of the bad guys, but Whitehouse's Door was still a concern. As soon as he saw them, he would be able to zero in on them.

Too bad Wyndham hadn't done for him. That would have made some of their escape that much easier.

Why run across a mesa when you could pop from place to place like Sam Stevens?

The sun came up as Shanahan turned on the road leading down to the edge of the hex to cross over to the other side. Once they were across to the other side, they could find the Shaper they needed and head home.

“We have trouble!,” shouted Wyndham. “Stop the wagon!”

Shanahan slid to a stop and let the rods go. If they were fighting in the next few minutes, he would need his hands free.

“They're ahead of us,” said Wyndham. “I must have fallen asleep. What are we going to do now?”

“We're going to leave the wagon off the road, and see if we can spot them,” said Shanahan.

He grabbed the rods and pulled the wagon off the road. There was nothing to cover the wagon with to conceal it. They would have to leave it in place and hope no one figured out where it had came from.

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The farmer didn't need any more trouble for what they had done, and were about to do.

“Morehull is in the tower on the right,” said Wyndham. “Whitehouse is hopping around on this side of the bridge. He's not staying in one place long enough for me to get a fix on him.”

Shanahan looked down the road. It looked like the same bridge set up he had crossed to reach the tower. Two towers to block either end, bridge between the towers.

“Is there another way across the gap?,” asked Shanahan. “Do we need to use this bridge?”

“It's the fastest way to our destination,” said Wyndham. “We can follow the edge around and cross into the Wu Chi territory, and then cross back, or go back to the Brotherhood, and cross at that edge.”

Shanahan considered the delay in days they were considering. He doubted Wyndham's former boss would give them that much. Once he was back home, he would be able to use the Eye to track them down.

The Door would allow him to drop down on top of them with the Eye giving him targeting information on where they were. The rest depended on how badly he wanted to hurt them for what they had done.

Shanahan looked around. If he had a rock, he might be able to cause a distraction big enough for them to sneak on the bridge. The rest would depend on speed and if the guards could stop them.

He doubted they would be able to stand up to one of his normal punches unless they had some kind of heavy shielding.

If he could punch through a wall like the one around the weapons' city, he could turn a man into flying paste once they got together.

“Let's go down the path next to the bridge,” said Shanahan. “It's at ground level. We might be able to climb around and get under it to go across that way.”

“You want to climb around and climb under the bridge?,” asked Wyndham.

Shanahan nodded. He could carry her on his back as they crossed the bridge, but maybe they could climb around and use the superstructure to get around the forces blocking them.

“I'm not a very good climber,” said Wyndham.

“I can carry you if we had some way to lash ourselves together,” said Shanahan.

“I have the sword belt,” said Wyndham. “I don't think it will be good for that.”

“Rope,” said Shanahan.

He looked at the gap between the two hexes. How far was it? How far could he jump? Could the Fist and the Horse actually allow him to jump the chasm? What happened if he fell short?

Could he throw Wyndham across without killing her? That seemed more doable to him. Would she go for it?

“Can you find us a narrow place between the two sides?,” asked Shanahan.

“Yes,” asked Wyndham. “How narrow?”

“Fifty to one hundred yards,” said Shanahan.

“Hold on,” said Wyndham. Her eyes emptied out of her personality for a moment. She came back and pointed to the left. “There's a spot down there, next to a big cut.”

“Let's take a look,” said Shanahan.

She led the way away from the road to the bridge. She made sure to keep her profile down. The guards would be looking for her. She didn't want to point them to where they were because one of the men just happened to look her way.

Flashes of her talent helped in that regard as it told her when someone was looking her way, and where she could blend in without being seen.

Soon she pointed to the ditch that she had been talking about. It was out of sight of the ground troops, but anyone walking the tower on that side would be able to see them once they were close to the edge of the hex.

So far they seemed intent on keeping cover and trying to fool them that no one was waiting for them to try to cross the bridge.

Shanahan looked at the rising mesa on the other side of the gap. He didn't see a spot to land. If he did try to jump over, he would have to latch on with his hands and climb up to the top.

If he threw Wyndham, she would have to use her strength to do the same thing and he wasn't convinced she would be able to secure a grip, and climb up, after a flight through the air.

He considered his options as he looked at the blank wall. He could carry Wyndham up to the top. Then they just had to cross the hex and reach the Shaper. Could she keep a grip if he jumped over? Did he have the physical strength to jump that gap?

How strong was the Fist?

Could he carve a path with punches that would keep them moving to the top?

He walked to the edge. He looked down. How far would they fall if he didn't catch the other wall? He couldn't see the bottom.

They didn't have a lot of options and an unknown deadline. They had to keep moving unless they wanted to be taken in and talk to Grandview on equal terms. That might be a short talk depending on what he wanted.

“We're going to cross here,” Shanahan said. “I'm going to have to carry you. When we get to the top, we have to get away from here before we're spotted.”

“Are you sure about this?,” asked Wyndham.

“We fight our way across the bridge, go around, or cross right here and hope the Fist is strong enough to carry us,” said Shanahan. “I'm sure that I can reach the top if I can get a grip.”

“All right,” said Wyndham. “No one has spotted us yet, but Whitehouse is still popping in and out.”

“Probably collecting all clears,” said Shanahan.

Wyndham paused to think about that. She nodded in agreement. Her world didn't have mass produced radios or telephones. Unless someone was in the field who could communicate at a distance like members of the other factions, someone had to constantly check the watchers to see if they saw something.

Whitehouse was the only one who could do that without getting tired with the running around.

Shanahan bent down. She climbed on his back, wrapping her arms and legs around his torso. He shifted around to be sure of the balance. He felt his feet planting themselves and knew the Horse was helping his center of gravity.

He ran down the cut in the top of the mesa. He reached the end and jumped. He exploded across the gap. He hadn't expected that. The other wall rocketed toward him. He felt his feet rotate his body so he would land feet first. When he felt the impact, he bent his legs and waist and dug in with his hands.

He started up the wall as fast as he could secure grips. He reached the top and pulled himself over the edge.

Wyndham fell to the ground.

“I hope I never have to do that again,” she said.

Shanahan started walking.

“That way,” she said, pointing from where she lay on the ground.