The trip to the tower was short and uneventful. The area they travelled through was quiet, devoid of human life, pristine snow making vision uncomfortable. Zoe adjusted her visor and checked on the others. Maddison had her sunglasses on, but Tyson had handed his to Boo.

Turning off the main road, Avi carefully made its way along long disused paths, sticking to the wider areas between trees. The area was still pleasant to be in, even though much of it was well overgrown, ponds choked with weeds and a few fallen trees getting in the way.

"No clear thoughts, just animals," Tyson said calmly.

"Hive mind?" Zoe asked, memories of spiders coming back.

"No," Tyson replied. "What I can hear is simple animal instincts, nothing more. Anyway, isn’t it too cold for spiders?”

“You can never be too careful,” Zoe replied, huffing at Tyson. “Let’s get in there and see what we can see.”

~

Zoe grunted as she heaved, Nix amplifying her strength, helping her pry open the stuck sliding doors to the visitors building. A shower of dust fell on her, making her grimace as she forced the doors wide enough to fit her suit through. After stepping through, she quickly removed her glove and shook the dust out of her hair. Replacing the glove, the small lights on her suit grew brighter, illuminating the building interior.

Commemorative art and historical notes lined the foyer walls, all depicting a wire frame tower with several levels and a similar tower, taller and wider, with an array of satellite dishes on top. A holo display sat dormant in the middle of the room, presumably having once shown a map of the area or a display of the tower. Rats nests sat in some corners of the building with small paths visible in the dust.

"We can retrofit this building if needed," Zoe said aloud, mostly to herself. "Seems to be just displays and info."

"Those rat nests are of unusual size," Maddison said, waving a sword towards the nearest one.

"You're right," Zoe replied as she sent an order to Avi to release drones to start scanning the area. She added to look for wildlife, especially for rats of unusual size.

"Let's get to the tower, I want to have a look at the dishes."

~

The group ascended the tower, stair after stair, they spiraled around the tower. As they neared the top, Zoe caught sight of the city proper. Unlit skyscrapers towered above other unlit buildings, all spread out over a large area. Zoe's visor zoomed in and she saw signs of fires and vandalism. The city looked like it had avoided most of the attacks from the war, but not the aftermath. Scanning through news articles from the war, Zoe found out why. The city had been hit with chemical weapons, forcing mass evacuations. Pictures from news drones showed many bodies, dressed in everyday work wear, cluttering streets, slumped over steering wheels. Zoe shuddered in horror, not sure if she really wanted to go into the city.

Her suit clunked heavily onto the last landing, a locked door blocking access to the communications array. A quick tug powered by Nix broke the bolt and chain holding the door closed, allowing them access.

They spread out and started checking wires for damage. Other than the occasional rat bite marks, all the cables leading from the dishes were good to be reused. Zoe, using Nix's batteries, powered up each dish individually, listening to the static for a moment before moving onto the next. As she neared the last of the dishes, ones facing the city, she caught a weak signal.

~ Boost the signal, clean it up, ~ she ordered Nix as she adjusted the dish slightly.

"What's up Zoe?" Boo asked, moving closer to where Zoe had started busying herself.

"Got a signal, cleaning it up."

~ Finished. Some parts were unrecoverable. Translated to English. ~

~ Play it. ~

"... months since last trans …. eks since I found th… supply, it's running low, almost out… yone is receiving, I'm holed up in bank tower. The couch is… is Klein signing off."

"Interesting," Zoe mused as the others watched her. "Sounds like someone, probably in the city, has a radio and is broadcasting his diary entries."

"He might know the city well enough to be a guide," Boo said. "Can you reply?"

"Trying now." Static filled Zoe's ears before she turned the volume down. "Klein, do you read? Over." She waited a few seconds before trying again. Shaking her head, she gave up, disconnecting herself from the dish. "He either turned his receiver off or ran out of battery. I'm going to get Avi to listen for another broadcast and if it intercepts one, we can jump in."

"Ok, what do we do after this then?" Maddison asked as she turned to face the city.

"Next on the list to scout is Weissenhofsiedlung."

Boo snickered at Zoe, correcting her pronunciation. Zoe waved a hand dismissively. "Weissenhof museum then."

"Another old building filled with old things?" Tyson drawled.

"Hey, cultural diversity and remembering the past and what not," Zoe replied. "Plus we want to make sure that we're not leaving stones unturned." Stepping to the edge of the building, she pointed out and down to a group of buildings. "Tyson, anyone over there?"

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Tilting his head as if listening for specific sounds, he nodded. "Yes. A small group, I think they're searching. I think." He rubbed his temples. "I never thought I'd have the issues with my Talent that I do now."

"You just need to git good scrub," Maddison said, goading her brother.

"At least your Talent doesn't rely on language," he snapped back at her.

Maddison's expression soured from playful to a glare in a heartbeat. Tyson sighed. "Sorry. The headaches of hearing other languages is strange and it grates on my nerves. Unless intentions are clear, reading has become a challenge."

Patting him on the shoulder, Maddison smiled warmly at him. "I know you didn't mean it. Now let's go look at old junk."

~

"This is a lot, I cannot accept," Ellis rumbled as several piles of warm clothing were handed to him.

"Then accept for the children and the others in your family," Kally replied. "We have more than enough to go around and we're not expecting a huge drain on our supplies till next year. The Australian group shouldn't be here till after winter is over."

Ellis nodded and added the clothes to the trolley Kally had given him. Already on it was a small petrol generator, several compact solar mats, a large battery, a portable comms hub and several phones. Kally had brought Ellis to the warehouse, leading him up and down the aisles, taking things off shelves as she spotted them.

"The truck will be loaded with food and basic medical supplies, camping gear and various tools, but if you see something you think you need for the kids, please let me know."

Ellis found the warehouse bewildering. So much stuff had been crammed into the shelves and even stacked up more than three times higher than he was tall. After asking how the items got up there, Kally pointed to a small vehicle, calling it a forklift, and explained how it worked.

“I do not know what most of these items are,” he said to Kally. "I have no idea how useful they would be to the family."

"Okay, let me shop for you then." She patted his hand and dropped a box of colorful plates onto the trolley, followed closely by similarly colourful cups and cutlery. Ellis just stared at the items as Kally kept loading the trolley up.

~

"It was an architect museum," Zoe said as Avi rolled slowly towards the buildings. "At least, that's all I can find on it."

"I think the group is just looking for shelter," Tyson said. "Or, was, I think they're eating now."

Glancing at the time, Zoe noted that it was almost midday, which would make sense for the strangers to be eating. Zoe's eating pattern always went weird when changing time zones and she regularly had to force herself to eat. Retrieving a few ration bars from a small box, she handed them out before eating her own. "Okay, Boo, Maddison, can you go scout, see if they're hostile. We know there are roaming gangs from Stuttgart, we just don't know if this is one."

"On it," Boo replied as the pair hopped off Avi as the vehicle stopped for them.

"I'm launching a high altitude drone, going to scan while we sit here."

Maddison gave her a thumbs up as the pair made their way into the compound.

~

"I'll go first," Boo said, scooping up rocks and handing them to Maddison. "Make a noise over that way, distract them for a moment and I'll slip in."

Maddison took the rocks and went to where Boo indicated, finding a bush to hide behind. A whispered "go," came across her earpiece from Boo. Leaning back, Maddison watched the shadow arc and bounce off a couple of walls before landing in a pond. Launching the rock, it followed the path perfectly, making a couple of loud 'click's before splashing into the pond.

A few moments later a pair of teens exited the nearest door, looking around and spotting the moving water. Eyeing it, they returned inside to where Maddison could hear chatter.

Boo had heard the noises and slipped inside, finding a corner to lean into while she watched the group.

Minutes passed quietly as Boo watched the five hard looking teens chat while eating from cans and chewing on strips of meat. They had various, poorly looked after weapons on them, knives, a rudimentary bow and a few spears.

To Boo, they didn't talk about anything interesting at all, just about what they'd seen nearby that they could hunt and reminiscing about what they'd had before.

Satisfied that they weren’t going to be an issue for her group, Boo started to slowly assert control on her Talent. When she thought she had just enough control, she mentally shouted at Tyson.

Fuck! You bloody well scared me. Zoe is pissing herself laughing. What?

Let Maddison know to come in.

Done.

Maddison cleared her throat loudly as she stepped into the doorway opposite where Boo had entered. The five teens stood, drawing weapons and dropping food. Maddison smiled lopsidedly. “Honestly, if we wanted you dead, you would be already.” She waved a hand to where Boo was standing in the corner, now completely controlling her Talent. “Calm yourselves, we just want to talk.”

“They don’t understand English,” Boo said before clicking her tongue to get the teens attention as she swapped to German. “Hey, kids, settle down, we don’t want your food and stuff, we just want to chat.”

Zoe and Tyson, after hearing Maddison and Boo start talking, made their way towards the small group. The drone still mapped the compound for Zoe while they made their way across the short distance. They could hear Boo talking to the teens, the translator relaying what they were talking about for her.

As they entered, they found Boo sitting cross legged while Maddison was leaning against the door frame opposite. The teens had relaxed enough to continue eating, their weapons on the ground or in laps, clearly weary of the two women who had surprised them.

“Thank you Boo,” Zoe said in German as she crouched just inside the door. She looked over the teens, all scrawny, wearing barely more than rags. Tyson? Emotional state?

They’re weary and curious, but hungry enough to keep eating. Not overly hostile.

“We just have some questions,” Zoe said in German. “We’re new to this area and want to know more.”

“You really need to practice your German,” Boo muttered.

“What do you want?” the tallest of the teens demanded.

“We just want to know who runs the area and if they would likely be happy to share,” Zoe said directly to the one she was labelling the leader.

The teen snorted. “We share with no one. You’d be best moving along.”

Sighing and rubbing her eyes, Zoe stood, waving for the other three in her team to follow her out. “Keep an ear on them,” she told Tyson in English as they made their way back to Avi. Two of the teens followed to the doorway to watch as the group retreated.

Going back to the buggy, she turned around and leant against the bonnet, looking at the two in the doorway in the distance. “Okay, that’s a little of what I feared.”

The others gave her a few moments to herself to think. “I will have to tell Gregori, but I don’t know how to proceed.”