Arthur Elios Chapters 10-14

Chapter 10
The Search

Nearly two months had passed since Elios' new status; the training of the new boys and all those still wandering into the bunker had progressed quickly under the tutelage of Mita and the other more experienced boys. Elios had spent all of his time in the office rooms and was now ready with their plan to find more bunkers.

His searching and enquiring mind had opened many new doorways in the computer and he now had more information than he thought even existed; in the evenings he had held large classes in the common room after their meal; all the boys were now using the ancient's style of time and distance.

Elios had mastered the use of the computer and had managed to teach four young boys how to also use it; with all five of them working, they had soon found out about what new bunkers were still usable; it appeared that there were a total of 150 bunkers spread over the whole land mass but according to the wall map on the glass pain, there were only 21 that were still of any use.

It had taken Elios two days to work out how to tell the difference in the good and bad bunkers; it was when he started to play with the computer model that the map lit up with small lights; theirs was obviously the green light, then spread over the large glass map were 21 red lights; these he assumed were the ones that were still usable as the rest were not lit and nothing he could do would make them do so; he had set his sights on the red lit ones.

The closest one was, in the old measures; about 700 KLM's away; he didn't know what KLM was but the ancients had used it in all their measurements of distance so he just followed along; next he had, with the help of Elam, worked out how much fuel they would need and how long it would take to get that far; he had to make a lot of guesses as there were none of what the ancients called roads and the land would be very rough so he doubled the amount of fuel and provisions they would need.

Elam had agreed that they should take one Humvee, two of the smaller jeeps, and three of the quads; if and when they found another bunker then they could start to make plans to return some of the vehicles and take back more boys to ease the pressure now building up in the over populated bunker.

Elios worked out that with luck, they would be able to make it to the bunker and back in somewhere around ten days; he and Mita would drive the Humvee along with one other boy as a guard; the jeeps would have one driver and two guards and the quads would have an armed boy on each one as forward scouts; Mita would drive the Humvee and Elios would do the map reading and plan the way to go.

Elvan set about working out how much food and water they would need for their small group and soon it was all settled and the final thing to do was select which boys would go along with them; Elam and Elvan would stay to run the home bunker while the others went out to search.

It was decided that they would set out the next morning; each boy in the patrol would have one of the watches found in a store room and set to the new time so they would know how often to stop for meals; Elios went back to his office and sat down in front of his now familiar computer screen; he felt it was like an old friend and teacher; he had learnt so much but knew that there was so much more to learn from the ancient times.

Opening the window into the security system; Elios set about adjusting the status of the security readings while keeping one eye on the glass wall map; somehow, with the magic of the ancients; the red lights began to change to green as he clicked on each number on his own screen; all the 21 bunkers would now open to his card and access code; he leaned back with a pleased sigh as he surveyed his handiwork. 21 more bunkers would give them an almost endless supply of goods, even as their numbers would grow; it was still a lot bunkers to find and use.

The 21 green lights were spread all over the land mass and Elios knew it was going to be a long search to find them all but, if he took his time and followed the maps and plans correctly, they would be able to find most of them in the years to come; his only regret was that he didn't know how or what a GPS was; if he had one of those, according to the computer; he would be able to find them almost with his eyes shut; but, as is always the case with the ancients; all this was lost so he had to rely on what he had learnt so far.

That evening Elios stood after their meal and announced what they were going to do; immediately boys were volunteering for the adventure and it was then down to Mita and the other squad leaders to decide who would go on the journey. They had to select carefully as there was still the need for the home security to be set and maintained.

Mita was the one that had come up with the idea of setting out scouts in the valley; four quads would take two boys on each one and they would go to each end of the valley; the quads were hidden and the four boys at each end would keep a look out for Renegs or other boys coming into the valley.

Most days, while they spotted Renegs in the distance; it seemed that the marauders had heard the reputation of the valley as a death trap and stayed well away from it but the boys kept up their vigilance just in case.

It was also finally decided to cut down to only two quads for the scout team with Elios as there would need to be four of them left at the bunker for the guards use; at last they had decided on which boys would go with them; the two boys to do the scouting on the quads were judged by their ability with their weapons and their riding ability on the quads.

The two jeep drivers were to be the two best ones that had been trained by Elam; they also had to have good repair skills; all the guard boys were selected by their ability on the firing range and their exceptional eye sight.

The Humvee would carry most of the food and water as well as the extra ammunition and a little of the fuel; the jeeps would be the main fuel carriers as well as the small camping tents and cooking gear. The quads would carry their own fuel supplies as they could go longer distances on less fuel and they would also carry a little extra ammunition for all the boy's side arms.

Elios had spent a long time trying to work out how to keep everyone in contact with each other and for most things they would just use hand signals as long as they were in sight of each other; at last he came up with the idea of using small hand mirrors for when they were to far apart for hand or voice signals to be used; it was then he had to work out what those signals would be; it had to be simple as the boys would not have much time to learn them by morning.

Once the meeting had ended; Elios called all those going together in an empty room and began to go over the details; the signalling was easier to learn than he had first thought; as a back up to the mirrors they would use gun shots and at night they would use the lights on the vehicles; the signals were simple, one flash or toot or shot meant everything was safe; two of the same meant stop and wait; three meant immediate danger and the sender needed help fast.

They would take no extra clothing and would have to put up with dirty clothes until they got to the next bunker or returned back to this one; none of the boys worried about it as if they had too they were all quite happy to go naked if need be. Mita held Elios in his arms as they discussed everything with the other boys; they had become closer and closer as the time passed and at this stage Mita had no eyes for anyone else. Elios was also happy as, after he was well healed from his breeding night; Mita kept him well satisfied every night; he also had easily adjusted to being taking in the breeding position as he loved to look into Mita's eyes as the older teen filled him.

The next morning all the boys stood ready in the garage; the Humvee, the two jeeps and the two quads were sitting ready; they had all been checked over personally by Elam and refuelled to their fullest; everything had been packed and the boys were doing a final check on their personal weapons. Elios had a brown leather bag with the maps and pictures in it as well as the tools he needed for measurements and directions.

It had taken Elios three full days to work out how to use the little round compass and put the information to the map drawings; it had also been exciting as he found out new things about how the ancients had lived and used these marvels of their technology. Mita gave him a final hug and walked to the drivers door of the Humvee as Elios slipped into the front seat; their guard boy took a seat in the back; he was quite young, barely into his time of hair but his eyes were the sharpest of anyone in the bunker and his skill with a knife could not be bettered.

He was a quiet boy; his skin was a little darker than most boys and no one knew where he had come from; his hair was a strange tightly black curl so close to his head it seemed as though someone had painted it on; none of the boys had ever seen a boy like him before and he didn't remember where he had come from. He had been chased by Renegs and had just run for his life finally hiding in a deep crack in the ground until the Renegs had given up looking for him; he had wandered for days until he had stumbled, thirsty and almost starving; into the valley and been found by the guard boys.

He very rarely spoke and only to Elios when he had to; all the other boys knew was that his name was Usof; the only other strange thing about Usof was first seen when he was washing for the first time. He had no skin on his boyhood; none of the boys had ever seen anything like it and it had been a topic of conversation for quite a few days; much to the embarrassment of Usof who, of course, had never seen any boys with their boyhood covered in skin so he had smiled quietly and walked away.

Elios was his only close friend in the bunker as far as Usof was concerned; even though he didn't say much to the blonde boy he saw him as his friend and protector as it was Elios who had finally stopped all the boys from making jokes about the lack of skin on Usof's boyhood.

Elios had left instructions for the four boys he had trained on the computers to watch for his signal when they made it to the new bunker; he didn't know how it worked but the ancients must have had some sort of machine to make it so that one computer could still communicate to the other; they were indeed a magical race the old ones.

The five vehicles started up as Elam opened the large door to the outside. Mita put the Humvee into gear and they were off on their new adventure; they had decided to travel until midday; as it was now called, and then stop to check fuel and eat a small meal before going on until dark; they would take a track down to the sea and then follow it along for as far as they could and then turn inland when Elios told them too.

Each of them would take turns at what was now called night to guard their camp while the others slept; after a quick meal they would start again before the sun rose for a new day. Elios knew they would make good time and distance while on the sea front but as soon as they turned inland they would be slowed down by the many valleys and deep gullies.

By midday they were down on the sea shore for the stop. Elios took the boys to the water's edge to find some more of the sea food they had found last time; it took very little time before they had a lot of them which they put into a large box that had been filled with the ice that Elvan was so fond of making for their drinks; they had to empty half of the ice out to put the seafood in but the boys didn't worry to much as there were three more boxes of iced food still in the Humvee. Elios promised to show the new boys how to make the seafood ready for eating when they next stopped for the night.

Mid afternoon brought their first hold up; they had been travelling along the sea front at a good speed when Elios realised they were running out of sea front; to their right side the cliffs had risen higher than they would be able to climb with the vehicles and not much further along there was a large cliff face leading right to the edge of the sea where the small waves broke against it.

Elios could see the water would come up high and then go down again after a long time only to turn around and start all over again; he looked and saw that the water was on its way out; the high mark that they had been travelling above was now further from the waters edge; he had no idea how far the water would go back but was pretty sure it would go down a lot further yet; he told Mita to stop while he went to have a look.

As he got out of the Humvee, Elios heard Usof jump out as well and; with his weapon at the ready, took a position just behind Elios; the two boys moved closer to the large cliff and Elios watched the water as it hit against the face; with nervous steps he moved forward, Usof staying close behind him even though Elios was moving carefully into the water with one hand on the cliff face as he did so.

Elios found that as each small wave of water came he could give a little jump up and would not get to wet as he made his way further along the cliff; when the water got as far as his knees he felt he would be safe; they would have to wait for the water to go out a little more but he was sure they would get passed if they waited; he turned back and smiled at Usof and nodded his head to start back.

When they got back to the Humvee, Elios told Mita what he had thought and seen; they called all of the boys together, parked their vehicles and set up a small camp while they waited. Elios watched intently as the water receded further and further out until finally he could clearly see the sand around the cliff; with a nod of his head at the others, they started their vehicles and slowly moved through the now widening gap in front of the cliff; ahead of them stretched another open stretch of sand as far as the eye could see; the vehicles sped up again and were on their way once more.

As darkness closed in they looked for a place to camp for the night; they had to have time to refuel and have a meal as well as find a place that would offer good protection from any stray Renegs; even though they had seen no sight of anyone all day. It was Usof who spotted the small gully off to the side of the water front; it was like someone had cut a big slice with a very large knife but on inspection they saw there was only one way in and that it was deep enough to hide the vehicles and easy to guard. Mita called a halt inside the cutting.

Firstly all the drivers refilled their vehicles and checked that nothing was wrong with them after the long days driving while Usof took the first guard at the entrance. Elios got out some of the food along with the small round sea food that he knew the boys would get to like; he started to cook for them all.

Quickly the small camp was set up; they had enough of the tents to have two boys in each one and soon they were all sitting down to eat. Elios took a well filled plate over to Usof who was still on guard; the boy looked up and gave Elios a small smile of thanks. Usof thought to himself as Elios went back to his man that it was a pity Elios had been made a Bred Boy; he would really have liked to have spent time in the other boy's bed but even he knew that was not an option now that Elios had been bred.

There was a small empty place inside Usof; he knew something was missing in his life but could not remember what it was or how the feeling had come over him; everything before his escape from the wild Renegs had disappeared from his memory; all he could remember was staggering down the unknown valley and being found by the boys of the bunker. Usof went back to his watching as it grew darker and fell into total night as he heard the next boy come up behind him to take over the watch.

The second day went much the same as the first; although in the early morning they did see two small groups of Renegs far in the distance; as the two quads made their way towards the small groups, the hawsmen turned and galloped away into sand hills. After their midday meal the group drove on until mid afternoon when they saw spread across the shore a distance in front of them; a much larger group of Renegs. Mita immediately tooted twice to get the attention of the other boys.

Mita pulled the Humvee to a halt; they were still well out of the crossbow range of the Renegs but well within the range of their own weapons. As the other four vehicles pulled up beside the Humvee; Mita reached into the back and took out his large rifle; opening the small legs he rested it on the top of the motor cover and loaded a round into the breach; the other boys stood back and watched as Mita took careful aim at the far off group.

The loud boom echoed along the sea shore and the boys saw one of the Reneg completely thrown from his now bucking haws; the other Renegs stood stock still as the echo resounded along the shore; then, all their haws started to jump and buck as the full force of the loud sound hit them; while this was going on Mita had reloaded and fired again, hitting another Reneg with the same results; suddenly the shore was empty apart from the two dead Renegs and two more now on foot after their haws had thrown them and bolted away.

Mita quickly replaced his big rifle in the back of the Humvee and, along with the other boys; set off down the beach after the remaining two Renegs; the two boys on the quads got close to the Renegs first and, after threatening them with their own side arms; had the two men lying on the sand waiting for the other two vehicles to arrive.

The two quad riders had replaced their side arms with their rifles as soon as they got off the quads and were now standing over the two men in a threatening manner which brooked no arguments from the prostrate pair. Mita pulled up with the jeeps close behind; all the boys got out and walked over to the men who were now showing a little bit of fear at the strange looking boys with their unearthly weapons.

The two Renegs were both older; one was about 25 years and the older was about 35 years; like most Renegs they had scars over their bodies from fights and wars amongst themselves and others; while they were worried about their capture by these boys, they were not going to be scared of them; they were Renegs and feared no man or boy; although their position at the moment wasn't the best.

"How many of you are there around here?" asked Mita of the older Reneg.

"More than enough to skin you, breeder," came the sharp reply; the anger in the Renegs voice very apparent to the group of boys.

Before any of the boys could move; young Usof drew his side arm, walked over to the Reneg and shot him in the head with no hesitation and no further thought he turned towards the last one and pointed his pistol at the younger man; Usof's eyes were hard and unforgiving as he eyed the man.

With a very shaky voice the younger Reneg answered immediately.

"There was about three plus ten of us."

"Where are they camped?" asked Mita.

"Half a dei ride from here; back in the sand hills."

Mita turned his back and walked away as the sound of a second shot from Usof's side arm echoed again down the shore; the boys got back into their vehicles and drove off down the shore leaving the four bodies of their hated enemy where they lay; the animals of the night would eat well.

Again as darkness closed in; the boys found another camp site for the night but this time they set two guards instead of one; the nearness of Renegs was not to be taken lightly; they parked in another gully and checked their vehicles making them ready for the next day. Elios had told them they would need to head inland later in the morning to look for the new bunker.

Elios wasn't sure how much further they had to travel as the maps he had were from the old world before the change and he was only following the general directions he had; some of finding the bunker was going to have to be by guess work; even the shore line was different from the maps but at least it was in the right direction; he felt sure however, that they would come across some sign of the new bunker some time tomorrow; his compass said it was almost time to head into the rising sun, if he was right then it would be almost a straight line to the bunker.

As the morning dawned, the boys were up and ready. Mita set the two quads out front and each of the jeeps on either side of the Humvee then they set off down the long barren shore to find a way to head inland; it took half the morning before they came upon a place they could climb the sand hills and head inland to where Elios said they should start to look for the bunker.

By midday they had covered a lot of distance and now were finally in the area of the bunker according to the map. All Elios and the boys could see was a vast flatness at the end of which was a deep ravine; the quad riders set out to look all over the vast plain where it slowly rose until it was a steep hill.

Once they all stopped at the end of their search they could see no sign of any bunker or where one might be but Elios was adamant that they were in the right place; again they looked around and it was one of the riders that saw the strange round mounds down on the plain.

From the level of the plain they could not see them but now as they were higher up they could see the unusual symmetry of the six mounds below them. The mounds looked to be no more than natural bumps in the ground but on further investigation it looked out of place in the rest of the flatness and they were evenly placed which was not what nature would have done. Elios lead the way down to them for a closer look.

When they arrived at the closest one; Elios got down and looked more closely; the mound was as high as his waist; now that they were so close he wondered how they had missed them in the first place. He was now sure they were in the right area but where was the bunker entrance? Elios, along with some of the other boys; began to scrape away the sand from the mounds with the small shovels from the Humvee.

By the numbers on his watch, Elios saw that they had been digging for just over two hours but now he could see the results of their hard work; all the boys apart from the two set as guards, stood around the now cleared metal mound; around the outside was the normal ancient grey stone; in the centre was a large round metal plate with a thick crack down the middle; the metal was covered in the red dust that was familiar for this type of metal.

Elios tried to wedge his small shovel in the crack to pry it apart but all he got was a dull echo that told him the mound was hollow inside; he stood back and scratched his head in puzzlement; it was not like the ancients to make something that did not work in some way; he set his mind to thinking on the problem. Why they had made doors like this and that they could not be opened was another mystery to solve.

Elios, along with the other boys sat down on the edge of the metal mound and looked back at the small hill that they had just come from; even there, there was no sign of the large metal doorway he was used to seeing at the home bunker; somewhere around here was the bunker, he was sure of it; but for the life of him, he could not see where it was.

As it was getting late in the afternoon, Mita decided to have them make camp here close to the mound; they could start their search again in the morning when they were more refreshed and observant.

Elios sighed as he nodded his head in agreement he had so much wanted to find the bunker today but this new set up of ancient mounds was confusing him; he set about starting their evening meal as the other boys put up their four small tents; there would be double guards again tonight; at least the slightly extra height of the mound would give them a better vantage point to watch from.

The next morning all the boys were up early and; as they sat around eating their first meal of the day, they discussed what to do about looking for the bunker. Elios sat with his back resting on Mita's folded knees as he closed his eyes and tried to imagine what to look for; their home bunker was under a hill, that made him sure that somewhere along the hill in front of them was the doorway to the next bunker; but how to find it in all the sand that covered the hill and what were these mounds used for; Elios sat quietly and thought.

After their meal, Mita sent one of the jeeps along with four boys to drive as high as they could up the hill and to set up a watch post while the rest set about searching for the elusive bunker door; suddenly, Elios straightened up against Mita's knees; he looked at the others and a small smile came over his face.

"What is it?" asked Mita as he saw the boy move.

"I think I have a way to find the bunker; you weren't with us when Elam, Elvan and I found the other one; it was just a chance that we came across it; we were looking for a place to hide from the Renegs and found a vehicle full of goods and then we stumbled on a small cave that turned out to be an entrance into the main bunker. The ancients did everything very much the same so this one must have a special entrance as well; all we have to do is find it and I think I know a place to start."

"Where? It all looks the same to me," replied Mita.

"Over there in that deep gully; the other one was placed well away from the main door to hide it. I think that's what they did this time; all we have to do is look along the edge of the cliff and see if there's a small round hole that looks different from any other caves."

"That would mean we would have to go all the way back and then find a way down into the gully. If we find the hole then we would have come all the way back again; we could spend all day just to find the hole?"

"No, we don't have to do that, we just take the Humvee up to the edge and then we use that long rope in the back and you can let me down over the edge; once I'm at the bottom I can walk along and look for the hole; if I find it, you can bring me back up with the rope again or park the Humvee close enough where I can climb up to the hole and see if I can get inside."

"That could be dangerous, what if Renegs come along while you are at the bottom on your own?"

"He won't be alone," came the voice of Usof, "I'm going down there with him; I promise I will protect him while he looks."

Mita could say nothing more; it was the only real way of searching the cliff without spending a whole day going all the way back; he nodded his agreement and they set about getting ready.

Elios took a small pack and filled it with the things he thought he might need to get into the bunker if he found the entrance hole; Usof put extra ammunition and some food into his pack and put his rifle over his shoulder so his hands would be free.

An hour later and they were set; the rope was just long enough to reach the base of the gully and was tied tightly to the Humvee. Mita had taken out his big rifle and set it up on the very edge of the cliff so he could see most of the gully floor in both directions. Elios slung his own rifle over his back like that of Usof and, grasping the rope tightly, began to work his way down; when he was half way he felt the rope move and looked up to see the smaller frame of Usof following behind him.

Elios finally made it to the bottom; his hands were a little chaffed and his breathing was coming in short pants as his feet hit the solid ground; he took his rifle from his back and looked up to watch as Usof came down to him; after both boys had rested they began to slowly walk along the face of the cliff. Elios was using his binoculars on every inch of the face while Usof was carefully scanning every nook or cranny that might hold danger for them both.

For an hour the two boys worked their way along the floor of the gully; it was slow going as Elios had to check every small cave or hole in the wall with his binoculars; above them they could hear one of the quads pacing them. Mita had decided to keep close in case they needed help and he didn't want to remove the rope until he was certain they were ok.

At midday the two boys stopped to take on a little food and water; it was hot work down in the gully and they were starting to feel the pressure; the sun was now beating down into the gully and it was now only on the other side of the gully that had any shade. Elios and Usof made their way over to the other side to rest and eat while above them the quad also came to a halt; Elios heard Mita's voice shout down to them with a hint of an echo.

"Are you ok, have you found anything yet?"

Elios looked up to where the voice had come from; Usof jumped in fright as Elios leapt to his feet and grabbed for his binoculars; quickly he began to scrutinise the cliff in front of them and then, with a loud yell of relief; he pointed to a small perfectly round hole high up on the cliff face so Usof could see it.

"That's it, it's got to be, we've found it, the back way in," Elios yelled with glee as Usof tried to see the small round hole.

Elios called up to Mita.

"Bring the rope over to here, I've found it; it's near the top so you will have to pull me up to it."

"Ok, wait while I go and get the Humvee and the rope, are you both ok there?" replied Mita.

"Yes, we can have some food while we wait."

Elios and Usof heard the louder roar of the quad as it sped off to retrieve the rope and Humvee. Elios was almost as excited as Usof at finding the next bunker; they could hardly eat or drink as they waited in anticipation of Mita's return. It was an hour before they heard the approaching Humvee; Elios jumped to his feet and kept watch on the high rim of the cliff.

A short time later and Mita stood at the very edge of the cliff; the rope rolled up and slung over his shoulder; Elios signalled him to move further along the rim until he saw that Mita was now directly above the small round hole. He signalled Mita to throw the rope over and secure it to the Humvee. Elios and Usof watched as the now secure rope snaked its way down the cliff and finally rested on the floor of the gully.

During the time they had been waiting; Elios had explained what his plan would be so that Usof would be able to tell Mita how to go about lifting Elios up to the hole, to make his climb easier. Usof stripped off his equipment and clothes until he stood naked before Elios who; even though he was a Bred Boy, could not help looking at Usof's skinless boyhood in fascination. Usof gave a soft sort of cough and brought Elios back to their situation; Elios blushed and smiled as he held the rope tight ready for Usof to begin his long climb to the top of the cliff.

Elios stood below watching as the sinewy arms and legs of Usof pulled him ever upward; it was unavoidable that Elios could see all of the younger boy's assets as he made swift work of the long climb. Elios almost felt sorry to see the small slender figure be pulled over the rim by the larger Mita. Next, Elios tied all of Usof's clothes and equipment onto the rope and watched as it was swiftly pulled up and moments later the rope dropped again and Elios time would start.

Looking up he saw Usof's small dark head poke over the rim. Quickly Elios looped the rope over his shoulders and fastened it around his chest then; giving Usof the agreed signal; he heard the sputter of a quad and he began to rise steadily and smoothly up the face of the cliff; he kept his eyes on Usof as he rose; as soon as he was level with the opening he called out loudly to Usof and rope stopped just opposite the hole but a little to the left.

Slowly and with a lot of care; Elios began to swing his body to the right until he could hold onto the rim of the opening; it looked exactly the same as the first one at their home bunker; he gripped the edge tightly and then called for Usof to let the rope slacken off enough for him to crawl inside and release the rope altogether.

Finally it had all been achieved; Elios released the rope and was now tucked into the tunnel; taking his pack off he felt around for the flashlight; switching it on he looked down the tube and began to crawl towards the darkness as he heard the rope being pulled out of the tunnel and back up the cliff.

This tunnel turned out to be longer than the first one they had discovered all that time ago but the end was just the same; this time he had the use of metal cutting tools from Elam's garage and he made short work of the metal screen; turning the small handle on the hatch, he pushed upward and opened the safety door turning his flashlight down and into the room below him.

Elios saw that he was not in the common room but at the entrance to the generator room; squirming around he lowered his legs over the side and, hanging by one hand he shone the flashlight down onto floor just below his feet and let go; bending his knees to take the slight impact, he came to stand up in the dark room; next he looked for the switch board and soon he had the power going and the lights on. Elios smiled in triumph, this time had been so much easier now they understood so much more of the ancient's secrets.

It took Elios only minutes to find his way to the garage and the entrance to the main door; this garage seemed a lot bigger than the one he had come from and he looked around before going to the door controls; lined up in the garage were not as many quads or jeeps, there were only two Humvee's but three APC's as well as a new vehicle that they did not have in the other bunker.

These vehicles were bigger; and then it clicked in his mind; these were the same vehicles they had first come across buried in the sand. Elios almost forgot why he was there as he looked at the new vehicles; from his old memories he could now see that they had fixed the problem of carrying large amount of goods or boys; all they had to do was spend the time to work out how to drive them.

Elios started as he remembered why he was down here; there would be plenty of time to look around once he had opened the main doors for his friends, Elios moved towards the main door.

Elios saw that this door was different from their own; it was wider and seemed a lot higher than the other one. Elios went to the control box and slid his card in the slot; next he punched in the same security numbers and immediately there was a deep groaning sound as the long closed door tried to open.

To Elios surprise, the door did not lift like the other one; instead it began to lower from above him; as it did so a fine rain of sand began to fall towards him; the more the door opened the more sand rained down. Elios jumped back before he was buried under the raining sand.

Finally the door came to rest on the sand covered floor of the garage; it now formed a long ramp up to the daylight although it was difficult to see it under the build up of sand.

Elios shouldered his pack and scrambled through the high piled sand until he was again standing outside; it was no wonder they could not find the door from above; all around him stretched the endless yellow sand; his friends were nowhere in sight; as agreed Elios lifted his rifle and fired a shot into the air; moments later he heard the replying shot from well behind him.

Elios dropped all his equipment apart from his rifle and started to climb up the sand hill behind him; eventually he made it to the top and saw in the distance the small group of his friends as they turned their vehicles towards the sound of his first shot.

Elios fired again and heard the response, he then waved his arms so they would see the movement and then waited as the vehicles sped up towards him.

Elios watched intently as the small group of vehicles tackled the steep climb up the sand hill to where he stood waiting; as the Humvee pulled up beside him, he jumped in and smiled at both Mita and Usof, then directed Mita to where the entrance was below them; the small convoy followed close behind until they were all parked out front of the sloping ramp that was the doorway.

The boys looked at the huge open door with awe; it was far bigger than the home bunker. There was still no sign of the security pad outside the door so for now it would have to be controlled only from the inside until they had time to search for it. Elios had a feeling they would have to dig through a lot of loose sand to find it; the small convoy drove into the new bunker and parked clear of the door while Elios went and closed it from the outside world.

All the boys got off their vehicles and could immediately feel the soft vibrations of the power units under their feet; all gave out a sigh as they realised they had found their first new bunker but this one looked to be far bigger than their old one; it was not going to be until Elios found his office room that they would realise just how big it was.

Leaving the vehicles; Elios led the boys in the direction he hoped would lead to the common room where they could sit and rest and then work out how they were going to search this new bunker. Mita had his arm over Elios shoulder and Usof followed close behind and he felt again the longing for Elios as he watched the newly cut hair with its thin braid bob up and down on Elios shoulder; it suddenly struck Usof how much he would have liked to be in Elios position as a bred boy just so he could always stay close to Elios.

It took a short while before they found the common room and were not surprised that it was at least twice the size of their other one; everything in this new bunker was bigger; they went to the nearest table and set about taking out some food for a small meal. Once all had eaten their fill, they set about planning how they should search; as would be expected, Elios came up with the best idea.

"We all need to find the office room; when we do I can send a message back and also look over the map of this bunker and find out what we have here," said Elios.

All the others agreed that seemed the best plan; as in the other bunker, everything could be found on Elios marvellous IBM machine that only Elios and four other boys had been able to work out how to use; this decided, the boys began the hunt for Elios office room. It turned out to be no mean feat as they walked and ran to look for the office; this bunker was so much bigger it took a lot longer to cover all the rooms and places in it.

Finally; after what seemed hours of searching; they all came back to the common room with the same answer; there seemed to be no office room, although one of the guard boys said he had been into a huge room that had a lot of strange things he had never seen before but it was called a COM CENT and not an office room. Elios mulled over what the boy had said but it made no sense to him either; he had not come across a COM CENT room before although the description of strange items in it did stir his imagination a little. Finally, after exhausting everything they had all seen, Elios decided to get the guard to show him the COM CENT room and so the group started after the guard boy as he led the way down one of the passages deeper into the bunker.

Everyone was still surprised at the sheer size of the new bunker; the passageways were wider and longer; the rooms were easily twice the size of the home bunker's rooms. The small group of boys continued on until they came to a large double glass door; through the glass they could all see the huge room beyond. Elios stood still and tried to take in the full size and scope of the room behind the door.

The far wall was one big opaque screen; in the centre of the room was another opaque screen but this one was lying on its side and looked like a huge table; around this table screen was row upon row of long tables and interspersed evenly along the length of each was an empty chair in front of which was another of the small screens.

Apart from the large screen table; the room was filled with the smaller narrow rows; Elios led the boys into the room and when he was part way inside he looked around again; it was then he saw the glassed off box above the rest of the room. It faced the room from above, it was; to Elios mind, the obvious place for the leader to be as he would be able to see the whole room from up in the box.

Elios led the way to the metal stairs and began to climb up to the glass box; if his intuition was right he would find all the main controls up there, and so it turned out to be. In the glass box was one large curved table; it had seven large screens mounted into the raised back, in front were four thick chairs and the flat surface was covered in buttons and blank lights; further back from the glass was a large wood desk; it was totally bare except for one single large screen and four coloured items he had seen before but did not know what they were; when he lifted them to his ear all he could hear was a dull buzzing sound from one end but total silence from the other end.

Elios sat at the curved table and looked for the familiar buttons he knew from the office of the home bunker; finally he found them and within minutes he had the table lit up with the small familiar lights; entering his code he saw the screen come alive and from the silent room below he saw all of the rows of screens on the tables light up as well; he had guessed right and found the main control room.

The huge table screen lit up and showed a strange and never before seen sight; there was a picture in fine black lines of a lot of funny shapes separated by wide blank spaces; thin red and blue lines ran over the main picture in a wavy pattern and small red lights blinked all over the insides of the black lines; only one of the patterns seemed slightly familiar to Elios sharp eyes but he was not sure; he would have to check further later on. For now he had to try to notify home bunker that they had arrived. Elios set to work to find his home bunker on the small screen picture before him while the rest of the boys stood in wonder at all the flashing coloured lights and the sound of humming from all the machines.

Elios tapped out the short message and waited for his answer. it was a short time later that he got his answer from the home bunker; he was overjoyed at seeing the letters come up on the screen for it confirmed he had been right and that all the bunkers were connected in some magical way through the computers; he passed on to the others what had happened and then they all left to find the cooking room and then find a place to wash and sleep. It had been a long and strenuous day for them all; Mita took Elios in his arms and held him close to his body where Elios could feel the lengthening and hardening manhood against his butt; tonight was going to make up for the long days without Mita firmly inside him.

***

On a hill top not far away from the now closed door sat three figures, the biggest was a teen of about 17 years old; his skin was almost black and on his cheeks were three horizontal scars on each side; these were the marks of the warrior; leaning against his thigh was a round wooden shield covered in tanned animal hide. Lying by his side on the sand was the metal tipped spear; the handle was a short wooden shaft and the metal blade was long and finely honed to a sharp point; the edges were also very sharp. He wore a white cloth garment that looked like a cylinder with two holes cut for his arms and one for his head, it was tied at the waist by a thick hide belt from which hung a long dangerous looking knife.

Just behind the warrior sat two boys, they were pale skinned; what was left of their hair was so pale it was almost white, their heads had been shaved clean apart from a small round spot of hair that was plaited into a thin tail; not only were they both bred boys; they were also double brothers, a rarity in this day and age; each was a mirror image of the other; where one used his right hand for most things, the other used his left. Both boys were also armed with light weight crossbows; their clothing was a small wrap around skirt of the same white cloth as the older boy, it was held tight to their slim waists by brown leather belts; they sat patiently waiting for their man to decide what to do next.

Modou had seen the far off cliff open like magic as though it was going to swallow up the world; he was a follower of the Ala belief and to his unknowing eyes it looked as though the ground had opened up to the underworld; a place to be feared by all the believers; what happened next surprised him utterly; from the far off darkness of the opening there appeared a small insect like figure; it raised its arms and from them came a flash of light and a sound the likes of which he had never heard. It was like a small thunder burst, not long afterwards came another answering thunder burst, it came from way down the valley below him and to his left; he had reached out his hand to calm his k'bine boys but they seemed fascinated rather than scared.

A short time later they all heard the strange droning sound of something approaching and, looking to their left they saw a large cloud of sand being raised into the air by something still hidden in its depths. Modou waited patiently as the dust cloud grew bigger and bigger until; by squinting his eyes tightly, he could just make out the faint images of five strange things if the dust. Two were small and seemed to carry a single boy; two were bigger and sat like square boxes, these carried more boys; finally there came another larger box, he could not see inside it but he had the impression that it had at least one more boy in it.

While Modou was a follower of Ala he did not always believe in the djins and the underworld stories that the elderly H'mins told the followers when they were young boys; but the sight of the strange boxes, the new boys and the strange and loud sounds coming from them; made him start to think about the old stories.

Under normal circumstances; Modou would not have been here alone in the sand wastes; he also would not have had the double brothers as k'bines, when he was a year younger he had been made a warrior; as a warrior and by the laws of the K'ran; he was entitled to have two female breeders and two male k'bines for when the females were impregnated and he was not allowed by law to sleep with them.

Modou had been promised a k'bine from one of the nearby friendly tribes but, when he went to take the boy he had found the camp of the tribe destroyed by haws barbarians; all the females had been taken and the elderly killed in horrible ways. Some of the young boys were also raped and killed but of his intended k'bine there was no sign; he had been taken by the barbarians. In a fury that he did know he had; Modou had taken his weapons and set out to chase and find his promised k'bine; even if it meant killing every barbarian he could find.

A full year had passed and there had been no sign of his promised one; finally, one hot and windless day, he had seen a cloud of dust on the horizon; knowing it could only come from barbarian haws, he quickly looked around for a place to hide and observe; while his anger was still hot he was not stupid or blinded by rage. Modou quickly saw a place to hide and watch the approaching riders; unfortunately the same hiding place was already occupied by two thin white haired boys; they were both hungry and very thirsty, the Renegs; as they knew them, had been trying to trap them for days; the boys were at the end of their strength and had only enough strength left to find this hiding place and hope they were missed by the riders far below; however, now there was a large strong looking black skinned teen crouching down looking at them.

The two boys began to shake in fear, clinging tightly to each other; this black skinned boy looked so fearsome; his weapons were well used and the scars on his cheeks made him look very dangerous but; to the boys surprise, the black skinned teen raised his finger to his lips in the universal gesture of silence; immediately the two boys relaxed and smiled faintly back at the young face.

Modou saw the double brothers relax and he also knelt down close to the covering rock; it was some time later before they all heard the thundering hooves of the haws and riders disappear into the distance. Modou took his skin bag of water and gave it to the boys; he then took some dried meat from a small skin bag at his waist and handed that to the boys, the gratitude in the mirror image faces brought a lifting of spirits to Modou's young face.

Modou was fascinated by the sameness of the double brothers; he had heard of this happening but it was so rare that most people thought it only an old tale; to actually see them was still a shock to Modou; his loins began to make the usual strained movements of his needs, he had had no company of any kind for the last year and now; looking at the double brothers; something deep inside him finally admitted that his promised k'bine was long dead or too far away for him to ever recover.

The sense of dishonour overwhelmed Modou for a short time but then one of the double brothers, sensing Modou's sorrow; laid a soft gentle hand on Modou's arm; to Modou it was like a sudden sharp pain and then; somewhere deep inside him; something broke and the tears began to fall from his eyes as the memory of his young promised boy hit him hard; the two brothers took a place each side of him and held him, they too were lonely and lost.

After the barbarians had long left the area, Modou had led the boys to a small cave; there he had started a small fire to keep the naked boys warm for the coming night; he told them to stay there while he went to hunt for something more to eat. It was almost dark before he returned with fresh meat; he had been lucky and killed three small rodents that had come out early to eat the tough grasses of the sand wastes.

Modou quickly skinned the three rodents and started them to cook, the two boys were dozing in each other's arms; their thin legs wrapped around each other and their slim butts stuck out in a fashion that brought Modou to instant hardness, his large dark rod pushing urgently against his long white Jaba. Modou could hardly keep himself in check; his rod begged for attention as it throbbed urgently but, Modou was not a barbarian; he would not just take a boy for the fun of it, it was forbidden by the K'ran.

Modou set about preparing the three skins for tanning; there would be enough that he could make two belts for the boys and with his large knife he sliced off a portion of his own Jaba to make a covering for the boys loins; at least then some of the temptation would be hidden from his yearning eyes; after he was finished, Modou went outside for the second thanking of Ala, facing the dying sun he sent his thoughts to Ala and then returned to the cave to finish cooking the rodents.

That night the two boys slept one on either side of Modou and wrapped in his strong young arms; it was the first time in forever that the brothers had felt safe; the fact that their bellies were full also helped. Modou had wrapped an arm around each boy and pulled them both close to his side, their body heat seemed to pour into his insides as they both closed their eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

For Modou, sleep was hard to come by; the two brothers were a constant reminder of how alone he had been for the last year and now the realisation that his promised k'bine was long lost left an empty place deep inside; many times during the night he would drift off to sleep only to awaken suddenly as one or other of the boys moved against him in their sleep. Modou's rigid manhood would not relax as the two boys warmth settled into Modou; his thoughts and feelings became so intense that finally his rod ejaculated its thick white cream onto his bare legs without being touched; his loud moan made the brothers start a little in their sleep but, even after that; Modou could not fully sleep, his mind filled with images of the two brothers lying under him as his k'bines.

Modou's thoughts turned to the two brothers; could this be a sign from Ala that these two were meant for him and not his long lost promised boy? Modou would have nothing to do but wait for more significant signs that he was to forget his promised and take these two brothers instead; it was a momentous decision that could not be hurried; for Ala to replace his promised with two brothers that were neither black; nor were they of the belief, had to be thought out carefully; if it was meant to be then Ala would send Modou a sign.

It had been a full cycle of the moon before the sign came; or, at least Modou thought it was a sign; they had been walking through a deep pass when Tam; the so called older brother (by less than a breath) had stopped to relieve himself; as he lifted his white cloth covering that Modou had made for him and his brother; he had glanced down, and there; in plain sight, were two light weight cross bows. They were weathered and needed new strings but it was so strange to see them abandoned in such an empty place as this.

Tam had turned away and relieved himself then called Modou to see what he had found. Modou along with Tem, the other brother; looked down at the two crossbows, it was the sign he had been waiting for; it was evident to his mind that they had been led here to find these weapons; two weapons that were able to be used by smaller boys. Modou nodded and let the brothers pick up the discarded weapons; he had some rodent sinew that he had treated and dried and rolled in his side bag along with the dried meat; it would make a new string for the crossbows; all he had to do now was find the wood needed for some bolts and the brothers would be suitably armed.

That night, as the three of them sat around a small fire while Modou fashioned new strings for the crossbows; the dark teen told them about his dream of waiting for a sign; he was sure that these weapons were the sign that the three of them were meant to be together; he asked the brothers if they would agree to be his k'bines.

It took a while for Modou to explain to the brothers what it meant to be the k'bine of a warrior like Modou; he would teach them what they would need to know to fight enemies and also the teachings of Ala so they would also be protected by him as well as Modou; after some deep thought, the brothers nodded their heads in unison and agreed to be Modou's k'bines.

That first night for the double brothers was filled with pain and also satisfaction; they had many times seen the size of Modou's thick black rod but; when it became rigid, it was huge; both boys had had their legs spread wide and their small holes had burnt like fire when the thick rod had entered them time and time again. By the time the sun had risen, Modou was totally exhausted; the two brothers were splayed out on their backs, their thin legs spread wide apart. Modou was satisfied as he saw the small amount of blood and his own juices trickle from each of the tight holes; he had bred them correctly and they had given up their inner blood for him; although tired and satiated; Modou took the time to wash the two boys clean and then pulled each of them into his tired arms, they all fell into a deep exhausted sleep. They would have to stay in this cavern for a few days until the boys could once again walk freely without pain.

For three days they stayed in the cave, Modou tending their still very sore holes with an oil from a container in his belt bag; slowly the pain left the boys; in the mean time they tried as hard as they could to satisfy their man with their small hands and mouths; although this was again very hard to do due to the size of the manly rod of Modou but they gave him great satisfaction each night and he was content with his two k'bines.

That night had been three moon cycles ago and, even though the brothers never tired of having Modou inside them; they still let out small grunts of pain every time he entered them; he was just so big and thick and while the boys loved to be filled and their small holes had slowly enlarged a little; it was still a very tight fit for them; now the three sat and watched the strange happenings below them.

The three boys were surprised to see the five boxes stop and then disappear into the depths of the dark hole in the cliff face; shortly after they disappeared the cliff sealed itself once again; the three boys waited patiently for the rest of the day but nothing more happened. Modou decided to find a place to sleep and then at sun rise they would look more closely at the place where the cliff had opened.

***

The next morning, Elios and the other boys decided to continue to investigate their new bunker. Elios went to one of the computers and found the plan of the bunker; what he saw amazed him; it was not only one level like the home bunker but, this bunker went down into the ground for six levels; each one held something different. As he went through the different levels he saw a small extra window open at the top of the screen; at last he saw what the six round mounds outside were for; each held some type of large weapon; it was shaped like a long cartridge and stood upright in the narrow hole but over each picture was a red cross; these he saw were called SILOS and the strange cartridges were called ICBM's but the window told him they were no longer there; they had been used and hence the red cross. Elios could not work out what they had been used for but they no longer existed; Elios continued to search the plans of the bunker.

There appeared to be no way down to the lower levels; search as they did, they could not find any metal steps going down. Elios returned to his computer and the maps; over an hour later he thought he had found the way down and so called all the boys back into the entrance garage. Elios led the boys to a far blank wall; it appeared to be only thick panels of metal; at each end was a small sign that said ELEVATOR-20 PERSONS in the middle of the wall was a sign that read ELEVATOR-FREIGHT ONLY, none of the boys knew what it meant; even Elios with all his new found knowledge, could not work out what an ELEVATOR was.

They searched further but found no indication as to the use of an ELEVATOR but on closer inspection they discovered small square boxes on the wall; each had two buttons, one with a pointed mark showing upwards and the lower button with the same symbol pointing downward.

Mita was the first to jab at the downward button and they saw a red light flash as they also heard a loud click from behind the metal wall but nothing more happened. Mita pressed the up button; there was a small pause and then they all heard a loud click and then a low deep humming sound began; there were a few squeaks and groans from behind the metal wall as something stopped; a short pause, and then a loud hissing sound like a snake and the huge metal wall began to move apart.

The boys watched with their mouths open as the sheer size of the doors revealed themselves; behind the doors were a set of gates that were made also of metal but looked more like a netting. Mita reached forward and pushed at the lattice work but nothing happened; he experimented a little further until, finally, he worked out that one gate went up and the other went down at the same time.

Inside the cavernous empty metal box; the boys felt very small and all moved a step closer to each other as Elios saw another small box with the six numbered buttons; he reached out and pressed the number 2 button as the number 1 was already lit; nothing happened and then a red flashing light lit up the box; it came from a small glass box at the end of the bigger one. Elios tried to work out the symbols, or as he now knew them; the letters and words on the red glass.

CLOSE ALL DOORS BEFORE DESCENT

The words kept flashing on and off as Elios tried to work out what they meant; the other boys huddled a little closer as Elios closed his eyes and tried to work out the meaning; with his own sudden flash of incite, Elios gestured for Mita to pull down the lattice door; he breathed a sigh of relief as soon as the doors clicked into place, the outer metal doors hissed shut; they then heard a low rumble from above them and; with a slight jolt, the ELEVATOR began to go down until the small lights in the number buttons flashed that they were at number two.

There was a small jolt and then the hissing sound of the outer doors opening; Mita pushed up the inner doors and the boys stepped gratefully out of the large box and into a room full of recognisable items.

Above Elios the ceiling was at least 10 metres away; around them stretched row after row of tall round cylinders; marked on the front of each one was the numbers 1 followed by five 0's, Elios smiled at the revelation; they had enough fuel here to supply them for the rest of their lives.

Elios took out a small black book he had picked up in the home bunker and; with a shaky hand wrote down the words and numbers for the ELEVATOR

Button 2�level 2--fuel

Satisfied; Elios ushered the boys back into the ELEVATOR and pushed the number 3 button after this time, Mita had closed the doors; the elevator went down another level; here they found the room filled with rows and rows of metal shelves that were stacked full of everything a person could want; clothing packed in tightly sealed plastic bags; washing items; rows and rows of boots, belts and small and large packs; sleeping bags and tents. Elios guessed that in this room alone there was enough gear to cloth every boy in the land; Elios took out his small book and filled in the list.

Button 3�level 3�clothes and stuff

The group moved back to the elevator and went down to level 4; here they found the food storage; again it was row upon row of shelving; every type of food the boys could think of and many they had never seen or knew existed, was stacked neatly on the wood bases and covered in the same plastic as the clothes; the wooden beds were then stacked on the shelves, Elios made his entry into the book.

Button 4�level 4�food

Back into the elevator they all went and down to the next level; here they found four neat rows of vehicles with a large workshop at the far end; between each row was a clear area marked out with yellow lines and arrows showing which way to go.

There were the familiar quads, jeeps, Humvees and more APC's but there were also new vehicles they had never seen before. One was a little smaller than an APC but had four large black tyres on each side instead of the heavy metal tracks; on the top was a round turret with two weapons that had many barrels on each one that went in a circle around a central solid metal rod; the next vehicle was the most dangerous looking one; there were six of them in a line.

These new vehicles looked dangerous and deadly just sitting in their place on the floor; they were made all of heavy looking metal and they moved along on wide heavy looking metal tracks like the APC's but the weapon sticking out the front was huge; it hung over the front end by some distance and the open mouth was big enough for a boy to put his whole arm down it. The boys stood in awe of the machine; its size and evident power were mind shattering; how to get inside was something Elios and the boys thought they would wait to find out about at a later time. Elios took out his book and made his entry.

Button 5�level 5�new vehicles

The next and last level was the weapons level; the racks of weapons seemed to disappear into the far reaches of the huge room; everything was here; from the small metal boxes of cartridges stacked onto the familiar wooden beds to the rows and rows of racks and shelves filled with weapons of every kind; again some of them the boys had not seen before. The boys decided it was going to take a long time to work out how to use everything down here, Elios dutifully filled in his small book.

Button 6�level 6�weapons

They returned to the elevator and went back up to number 1 level; here they sat and discussed what they had found; this, they eventually came to agree; had to be the most important bunker of them all; everything for any other bunker must have come from this one, so they named it the control bunker; the next important work was to get some vehicles ready for their return journey to home bunker.

After some discussion it was decided to use four new quads from the bunker as well as the original Humvee but Elios would drive it along with Usof to act as his guard; Mita would try and learn how to drive one of the big vehicles that was the same as the one Elios and the other two boys had found; they would fill this big one up with food and water along with what they needed to make camp at night as well as extra fuel.

Once everything had been planned and decided on; Mita selected two of the boys to go out and watch for any Renegs that might come along while the rest set to work on filling the first big vehicle with everything they would need for the return trip home. Mita along with one of the other boys set about loading the first big vehicle in line while two of the others went down on the elevator to get what was needed from each level.

Elios followed by Usof went back to the com cent office to make new maps from the information he had there; by the middle of the day most things had been done; it was as they were looking out the open door that one of the outer guards came running into the garage; his breathing was short and sweat was running down his young face as he pointed outside and tried to tell them in a breathless voice of what he and his friend had seen.

Mita motioned for the boy to catch his breath first and then tell them what he wanted too; the rest of the boys stood and waited for the guard to catch his breath; when he had done so he began to tell them what he and his friend had seen.

"Down on the valley, there's three people moving towards us; they're still a way off yet but one of them is really strange; the other two look just like us but the bigger one has skin like a dark night."

"What do you mean, a dark night?" asked Mita.

"His, his skin, well it's black."

Mita looked firstly at Elios and then the other boys; they all shrugged their shoulders; no one had ever heard of a black skin people before; the guard must have made a mistake and it was only an ordinary boy moving through a deep shadow; they all began to make jokes of the guard boy but he got a look of determination on his young face.

"Ok, you don't believe me then go look for yourself; I'm going back to my friend, at least he knows the truth."

The guard boy poked his tongue out at the others and returned outside to his friend; the others looked at each other, what did they have to lose? maybe the boy was just imagining it or maybe it was a joke on them but this was new territory and they couldn't be careless; the boys began to move towards the doorway; once outside they saw the folly of their jokes, for there; not too far away were three boys moving carefully towards them and one of them was as black as night; suddenly, from behind Elios and Mita; came a soft groan, turning around they were just in time to see Usof fall to his knees holding his head in his hands and shaking violently while he muttered out through pursed lips.

"No, no, no, no, no,"

Over and over again he muttered to himself until he suddenly burst into deep sobbing tears and let out a fear filled scream of anguish; in the distance the three boys stopped at the sound of the far off scream. The larger dark figure went down on one knee and held his shield up to cover his body as he pushed his spear forward; the two smaller boys quickly knelt just behind the bigger teen and brought their light weight crossbows up to their shoulders and aimed towards the group of boys standing in the open cliff face.

Elios quickly went to Usof's aid; he knelt beside him and wrapped his arms around the crying boy; slowly the sobs receded and Elios let Usof stand up; his young face was streaked with tears as he gulped for air. Slowly Usof looked at Elios and then turned around to look at the other boys; with a sad look on his tear streaked face he told them his story.

"It was a long time ago, fully one year; I was a promised boy of the belief of Ala; the night before my promised warrior was to come and take me our village was attacked by the men you know as Renegs; I was taken along with a number of young females and some other boys; during the night before the Renegs could take me I managed to escape into the darkness. I wandered for a long time but could not remember anything before the escape; now, seeing that warrior down there; it brought it all back, I think he is the warrior that I'm promised too, if it is him then his name is Modou."

Elios replied to Usof.

"Then it's going to be ok, he's come for you, you'll be with your; uhm, promised one."

"No, you don't understand; by the laws of the K'ran, our book of laws; he is only allowed two females for breeding and two k'bine for his pleasure; look at the two boys with him, their hair is shaved; they are his k'bines now; by the laws of the K'ran I must be killed by him because if I lay with another and become a k'bine of another warrior then he will be dishonoured."

A loud gasp went through all the boys at this new revelation, Mita then spoke up.

"There's no way I or any of the other boys will let him kill you; you're one of us now Usof, we protect our own as you've already seen with the Renegs."

"But he has to kill me, Mita; it's his honour at stake."

"He will not kill one of our friends; if he tries then he will die, not you; now let's go and meet this warrior of yours, there has to be a way to save you," replied Mita.

Usof could only nod his head in defeat; slowly he looked up into the sun and silently apologised to Ala for his lack of belief and would welcome his death at the hands of his promised one in an attempt to clean his body and mind for Ala. With dragging feet he began to follow the others as they made their way towards where his warrior still knelt with his weapons ready.

Modou watched as the small group of boys grew closer; with a sudden start and eyes widening in wonder, he spotted his promised boy; Usof, the boy was slightly behind another bred boy who was walking with confidence alongside a youth who was almost the same size as Modou; it was evident that the bred boy belonged to the older teen; Modou's eyes moved to his promised one and a sudden sadness hit him; he knew what had to be done now, it was the law of the K'ran. Usof would have to die by his hand; there was no other honourable way out of the situation.

Slowly Modou rose to his feet, his weapons at the ready; as far as he could see the group of boys carried no spears or other weapons only some strange looking black pipes with small boxes underneath. Modou felt confident he could hold his own against such a poorly armed group of boys; he also had his two k'bines armed and ready, they would account for two of the boys and the rest he could deal with, with his spear and blade. Modou waited a patient and wary look on his face as his enemies drew closer until they were only a short distance away; well within crossbow and spear range. Modou noticed that the group of boys were now pointing their funny looking black pipes at his group; he ignored them, they could do little damage from that distance.

Modou studied the group of boys especially their strange clothing; he now knew why he had not seen the two guards until one of them had jumped up and run into the cave; the colour of the clothes blended perfectly with the surrounding ground. Modou spoke first to the oldest teen, assuming he was the leader.

"I am Modou, warrior of Ala, follower of the K'ran; I see you have my promised one; by our laws he must now be killed by my hand as I have already taken two k'bines and can own no more than two. Usof, come; you know this must be done and it hurts me greatly as I have searched for you for more than two seasons; but now I am filled with these two k'bines and can take no more."

Mita spoke up.

"Usof is of our clan, he is one of us and we will not let you kill him for some unknown belief; you cannot win against us and we do not wish to harm you or your bred boys but we will not let you kill one of us without repayment in kind."

Modou saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye; with a quick glance he saw that the two guards had moved down from the hill top and were now lying on the ground pointing their black sticks at him and his k'bines; Modou ignored them as he answered the older teen.

"There is no choice; it must be done according to the laws of the K'ran; Usof knows this is true."

"There must be another way, we will not let you harm Usof; we are enemies only of the Renegs, not other Rovers or boys; you can walk away with your honour intact but Usof stays with us and will be protected by us."

Modou stayed silent for a long time as he thought over the words of the teen; suddenly a long forgotten thought came to him; it was a part of the law that he had forgotten and was very rarely used as it was very unusual for a promised boy not to be matched with his own warrior.

"There may be one way to save my honour and also save the one promised to me," said Modou.

"And that is?" queried Mita.

"I have to give him as a gift to another warrior who has to breed him and make him his k'bine; this is the only way; I see you already have a k'bine, does your law allow you to have more than one?"

"We have no law about bred boys; unlike your law we can have as many as we please as long as the boy agrees to being bred with us."

"Then; if you wish to save Usof; I will gift him to you for your k'bine; it will save my honour and his life, do you agree?"

Mita turned to look at Elios who had a small smile on his face; with a quick nod in reply, Elios agreed to have Usof as his second; he had deep inside always had a small feeling for the unusual boy but now it began to blossom as he looked at the younger teen again. Mita replied to Modou.

"I and my bred boy agree to take Usof as the second, if he also agrees to being bred to me."

"Then it is done, Usof; my promised boy, I gift you to… what name do you go by, leader of the boys?"

"My name is Mita but Elios; my first bred boy is our real leader and you have not asked for Usof's permission first."

"Usof knows his permission is not required for this; he also knows that it is the only way we can save his life; now let me do this again. Usof, my promised boy; I gift you to Mita as his k'bine for the fullness of your or his life; take your place behind him and bow to his will."

Usof, still with the traces of tears in his eyes; quickly knelt behind Mita; as he did so he felt the soft hand of Elios touch his shoulder; although he would now be second boy and not first as he would have been with Modou; he was content, no one had died and no honour had been lost nor blood spilt. Usof at last was content and looked forward to his breeding later that night which he knew would have to be overseen by Modou to make sure that the gift had been fulfilled.

"I accept your kind gift warrior and will breed Usof tonight; now let's go back to our bunker and eat. I know you must be hungry and thirsty, let us show you good food and rest with us; you're welcome to our home."

"Thank you Mita, my k'bine and I are hungry and thirsty; it's been a difficult search trying to find Usof; also I will have to watch the breeding, it is our law; I hope you will not mind but it is the needs of the gift of k'bine."

Mita smiled and looked at Elios before nodding, what could be the harm? They had at least saved Usof without bloodshed. Mita led the now larger group back to the bunker and through the open doors into the coolness of the garage; as they entered he heard the gasps of surprise from the three new boys and noticed that the double brothers were quick to close in beside Modou in fear. Modou, as a warrior could not show the fear he felt at entering the huge open space underground; were these just Djins disguised as boys to trap him in the underworld. Modou went onto the alert just in case it was a trick but the group of boys seemed at peace and were quite content to wander anywhere in the large cave with its many strange boxes; the air had a strange sharp smell he had not smelt before; he kept his eyes open and his mouth shut, he would know more by the time the dark took over the world.

The boys led their new friends deeper into the bunker until they came to the common room. Mita led Modou to an empty table and along with the warriors two bred boys as well as Elios and Usof sat down and began to talk. Modou first told them of his long search and how he had found his k'bine; next Usof told of his capture and escape and then being found by Elios and Mita.

It was not long before a large tray of hot food was placed on the table along with another dish of canned peaches; Modou looked at the food in wonder; he had never seen so much at the same time. A warrior's diet was sparse at the best of times, the small slices of gold fruit excited him; it was new and he did not know whether he should try them first or the large dish of hot meat and vegetables; his double brothers were just as confused and waited for their warrior to tell them what to do.

Mita gestured for Modou to begin eating when Elios and Usof started; Usof looked at the face of Modou and said.

"Try the fruit first; it is truly a gift from Ala."

Carefully; Modou picked up a slice of the golden fruit with his fingers; the juice ran down his fingers as he tentively put it in his mouth all the while watching that the others were also eating; he was still wary of them being Djins in disguise; as the peach slice hit his tongue for the first time, his eyes almost rolled back in his head at the sweet flavour; he heard a soft chuckle coming from Usof.

"Is it not truly a gift from Ala, Modou?"

Modou could only nod his head as he reached for another slice while he gestured for his two k'bines to eat their fill; with the sounds of eating there was no time for talk as Mita, Elios and Usof watched with fascination as they watched first the peaches and then the hot food begin to disappear into the three mouths.

Elios opened a plastic bottle of water and filled three glass tumblers with water for their guests; a short time later and there was no sign of food; the two bred boy's stomachs were distended and they were slumped against their warrior fully sated. Modou let out a loud burp of pleasure as his stomach was now filled for the first time in his long search.

Mita spoke to Modou as the warrior sat back on the chair and rubbed his full stomach.

"Would you like to wash? I see that your clothes also need cleaning; if you wish we can give you some of our clothes to wear while yours are being washed."

Modou lifted his head at the suggestion; it had been a long time since he had been truly clean and his Jaba was filthy from the long search, he asked Mita.

"But do you have water to spare; I would not want to cut your water supply by washing when it is so hard to find out here?"

"We have plenty; more than you could use in a life time; this place was made by the ancients; they were very good at finding and storing water and everything else you have seen; that's why we are here, our home bunker is three days away from here. We came to search for new ones and this is the first of many that we have found; over time we will find the others and then all the roving boys can have a safe home if they want it; that's how the first home bunker started. It was Elios and his two friends that found the first one and we have been trying to save new boys from the Renegs since then."

"It is truly a marvellous place, but who are these Renegs you speak of?"

"They are men that ride haws and will kill or rape any boys they find in the sands; they are our sworn enemies and we will kill any of them we find; for too long they have killed many boys and raided a lot of the breeding caves and villages that supply food for others. We are going to try and get enough trained boys to eventually attack their main camp so more boys and Rovers will be safe from them."

"Ah, now I understand; your Renegs are what we call, Barbarians. We have also had the same trouble from them; perhaps you will allow me to join you for a while. I am a long way from my own home and it would take a long time to return; especially as I have to move slower now that I have my k'bine to protect along the way."

Mita looked at Elios and Usof.

"What do you think Elios?"

"How can we refuse; we are here to help all free boys and Rovers and I can only see advantages to having a true warrior with us; there must be lots he can teach us. Modou, I would welcome you as my friends Elvan and Elam would do; Usof, what do you think?"

"I will soon be the k'bine of your man and a second brother to you; I can only agree that having a warrior of Modou's strength would be a help to us all, if it is his will."

Mita replied to Modou.

"There you go Modou; we welcome you; if you wish to return to your people at any time it will be with our help and friendship."

Modou rose from the table and gave his hand to Mita.

"On my honour as a warrior of Ala, I promise to stand by your side till death or age part us."

Mita shook the offered hand; even for the hardened boys it was a moment of mixed emotions; there was almost a tear in every eye as the two older teens shook hands.

"Now," said Mita, "Let's get you to the ablution room for washing. Elios can you get their clothes and put them in the machine for washing. I'll go down and find some clothes, Modou is about my size and the double brothers are about the same as you so the size should be ok."

Elios nodded and began to lead the three newcomers to the washing room where he waited as they shed their soiled white clothes. Modou had laid his weapons by the door and quickly shed his Jaba; he smiled as he heard a soft gasp from the bred boy Elios; looking down he realised his manhood had betrayed him once again; it was rising rapidly to its fullest extent as the boy Elios, watched in awe and fascination at the huge member; Modou turned fully around to face Elios.

"Is your man not as big?"

"Uhm… I… I thought he was and when he is with me he feels very big; but to tell you the truth, I don't think I could take all of you; your bred boys, must be very special and very lucky."

Elios stammered out as his eyes took in the hugeness of the black skinned teen; quickly he picked up their clothes and left the wash room to get them clean as he heard the two boys begin to wash Modou's body; how could the two small slim boys take such a big man inside them; to Elios mind it seemed that the boys would be killed by such a man weapon.

A short time later Mita walked into the washing room with the new fresh clothes for the new members; as he placed the clothes on a narrow shelf he looked up to see Modou holding one of the boys up in his arms and leaning back against the wall; the boys legs were wrapped tightly around the warriors waist as Modou plunged vigorously in and out of the smaller boy. Mita could not believe the size of the warrior's weapon as it withdrew and then fully plunged back into the small butt of the boy; his groans and grunts filling the wash room with excitement. Modou looked over his shoulder at Mita and smiled as he continued with his thrust.

"Are not my k'bine beautiful, they do enjoy being ridden well and the fine meal has made the three of us hot with desire."

As he finished speaking, Modou gave one more mighty thrust into the boy and grunted with pleasure as he filled his smaller k'bine with his hot juices. Tem, for his brother Tam had already been well serviced by their warrior before the leader of the new boys had arrived; clenched tightly to Modou's strong body with his legs as he felt himself filled with the hot juice; he felt that there would be more to come later when they went to sleep.

Mita left the wash room with an awed look on his face; he had seen and felt some big men when he was captured by the Reneg but this young warrior had them all beat in length and thickness; he could only wonder how the double brothers were able to take such a mighty weapon. Mita shook his head in wonder as he returned to where Elios and Usof waited for him in the common room; soon it would be time for him to breed Usof and the sights in the wash room had made him more than ready for the boy.

When the three new boys returned to the common room, they were fully dressed in the new clothes. Modou carried his shield and weapons with a relaxed ease; looking down at their feet, Mita suggested that Usof take them down to the clothes level and found some new boots for them; this they all agreed with and so Usof led the three to the elevator a showed them the way; as the elevator door closed and they were left alone, Mita looked at Elios.

"Do you really not mind me taking Usof tonight? I know it was only one of the ways to save him but I want you to be happy."

"I'm really happy; I know it will be good for us all but you will now have a lot of work to keep us both satisfied," Elios smiled a knowing smile as he laughed.

"Well I know I don't have the weapon like Modou but I will try my best to keep you both happy each night; come on, let's go to a sleep room while they are down below; I want to take you now so you will be full when I have to spend the night breeding Usof. I don't want you to feel left out and a full butt will keep your mind occupied," Mita laughed as he grabbed Elios and began to steer him towards the sleeping room.

Sometime later and they were back in the common room. Elios had a very happy and satisfied look on his young face as he moved unsteadily to a chair and sat gingerly down. Mita had proved better than Elios could remember; he had no doubts that Usof would be a very sore boy in the morning.

Modou was striding around the large room with his new boots as he tried to get used to the feeling of his feet being covered for the first time in his life; he liked the feel and could see the obvious advantage of such boots; no more dodging carefully around sharp stony areas and the softness on his soles was a wonder; as his new friends had told him; the ancients had many great and wonderful things in the old days.

Finally the long day had become too much for Modou's two boys and it was time for them to go sleep while Modou took care of the needs of Usof and saw that he was properly bred to his new man; he sent his double brothers off with the other k'bine, Elios to the sleeping room; even in there it was a marvel of pleasure. Mita then led him and Usof to another smaller room set out with only a single sleeping platform; quickly Mita stripped off all of Usof's clothes and lay him down on the bed; his light caramel skin shone with a thin film of sweat as he saw that Mita was not a small size; a thin film of oil was covering Mita's rigid rod as it neared Usof's unused hole. Modou looked on in interest as he saw that this boy Mita was not small at all; it would be a good match.

Even from their own sleeping room, the three bred boys heard the cry of Usof as Mita began to breed him with hard fast strokes of his manhood. Elios knew the feeling and also knew that by morning Usof would not be able to move to well; he would have to go and help him the next day; he looked at the other two boys and smiled as he saw that they too were remembering their first time. Slowly sleep took over and the three drifted off to sleep even though the sounds from the far off room could still be heard; none of the boys heard Modou enter the room and slip into the bed with his two k'bines. He woke Tam and rolled the boy over on top of him and entered him deeply as he sat on top of Modou's hardened rod; the breeding of Usof had excited him too much and he needed relief; when he finally drifted off to sleep he was still fully buried into his k'bine's small butt.

The next morning; Elios left the three sleeping forms and went to get some food ready; as he sat at a table with the trays of food waiting for the others to join him, he spread out his maps and checked the new way home. Shortly Mita joined him carrying Usof in his arms; the boy was still unsteady on his feet and was fully naked; he couldn't stand to have clothes on at the moment as his butt was still too sore; carefully Mita sat him down so he could eat. Elios leaned over and gave him a warm hug and welcomed his new brother. Mita was happy to see Elios accept his new brother with such warmth; tonight he would have to repay Elios with a good long breeding when they stopped for the night.

Not long after, Modou joined them along with his two boys; they both looked as though they had been well serviced that morning if the happy satisfied look on their young faces was any indication. Slowly the rest of the boys arrived and plans were explained to them all; only the addition of the three new boys had to be added and Mita suggested that Modou and his two boy's travelled with Elios in the Humvee while he took Usof with him in the big truck; the others would use the same vehicles they had been using before.

When he had to get into the Humvee; Modou had shown the first sign of fear but Elios soon put his fears to rest as he jumped in and smiled at the warrior. Modou got in beside Elios and his two boys were placed in the rear seats; one of the guard boys opened the doors and the small convoy drove outside; it was then that Elios realised that they had no way of closing the door; he tooted the horn and stopped the convoy as the last guard boy came out of the door scratching his head in confusion as to how to close the door.

Mita joined Elios and they looked at the long open ramp; finally Elios ran to the ramp and went inside; next there came a low rumble and Elios came sprinting out of the doorway breathing heavily as the ramp rose and sealed the bunker once again; Mita looked at Elios in wonder.

"I'll just have to go in the other way next time until we can dig out the control box when we come back," explained Elios.

Mita nodded his understanding and returned to his still running truck; he had found it difficult to drive; it had so many more movements to make it move forward but if he took it slowly he would work it out in time and then it would give them a good means of transporting anything in larger quantities. He climbed back behind the steering wheel and the convoy got started on their return journey; this time it would be through the long sands and not over the Oshun sand. Elios was sure they could find a faster way back than just following the long winding shore line.

Midday found the small convoy not as far along as Elios thought they would have been; although, in all fairness he realised that it was not any ones fault for the slow progress; it had taken Mita a lot longer to get used to the many extra gear shifts needed to get the large new heavy vehicle up to speed and; as often happened at the beginning; when Mita missed the change he would have to stop and start all over again or there would be a terrible grinding noise from underneath the vehicle. It all took extra time but by midday Mita had finally worked out how to use the gear shift and they were starting to make some little headway towards their old home base.

Elios checked his crude map again and made his new bearings; he turned them slightly more to the south and continued onward. There had been no sign of any Renegs for the whole morning but as the sun began to sink he saw in the far distance a cloud of sand rising and coming towards them; quickly he tooted the warning to the other vehicles and pulled over under a steep cliff face, the others forming a half circle around him.

Mita pulled the big vehicle into the middle as it had no armour and all their equipment was stored in it. Modou asked Elios how they would be able to defend against the barbarians approaching them with only the black pipes to hit them with; Elios just smiled and told him to wait and see.

Modou noticed Mita take a bigger and longer black pipe from his vehicle and open up what looked like two small legs underneath it; Mita then clambered up on top of his vehicle and lay down with the pipe held to his shoulder while he looked into another smaller pipe on the top.

The small group of boys waited patiently; to Modou's eyes they all seemed relaxed and not overly worried about the trouble approaching them. He took a tighter hold on his own weapons and prepared for battle; his two k'bines stood along side of him with their cross bows at the ready; fast approaching them were about twenty mounted barbarians. They had seen the small group and were yelling and whistling as they ran their haws into a gallop and charged across the darkening sands; an easy and tempting target was waiting for them, their leader had told them it would be easy pickings to while away the dark time with.

Suddenly Modou fell to his knees and his two boys threw themselves down flat on the sand with their heads trying to bury themselves to hide from the loud booming sound from behind them; with trepidation, Modou looked around and was just in time to see Mita readjusting his position as a small wisp of smoke came from the end of his black pipe.

Modou turned around and looked into the distance where the barbarians were; he could just make out a small lump lying on the sand and one of the haws running wildly away; the rest of the barbarians were still charging over the sand and seemed to take little notice that they had lost one of their number. Five times more Mita fired and five more bodies hit the sand but still they came on towards the group of boys.

The Renegs were now closer but still well out of cross bow range and still they came on yelling to raise their courage, then Modou saw why the boys were not worried about the larger group of attackers; the rest of the boys raised their own smaller pipes and the loud crashing sound of their weapons filled the valley around them. Modou watched in awe as barbarian after barbarian fell to the sand, none of them getting close enough to fire their own weapons.

Almost as suddenly as it had started, it finished; the quiet descended on the group of boys as they watched the few remnants of the Renegs try to escape but Mita had other ideas as he began to take aim again and; with careful movements he cut them down one by one until only a solitary Reneg was still standing although he had been tossed from his haws and was on foot.

Mita jumped down from his vantage point and sent the four quad boys out to bring the Reneg back, one way or another; he told them he wanted the Reneg for information if they could catch him alive. It took only a short time for them to surround the Reneg and force him to lie on the ground and have his hands bound; he was then led by a rope tied to one of the quads and taken back to the waiting group.

The Reneg was still young and had a bad gash on his head from being thrown from his galloping haws. Modou watched as his once promised boy; Usof, stood threateningly over the young man, a small black weapon in his hand. Modou had watched as he took it from a small pocket on his belt, this was a new and unseen weapon to Modou.

Mita along with Elios began to question the sole surviving Reneg; after some time they had all the information they could get; the area was ruled by a Reneg called Lion Claw; he held his place by being more vicious than any of the other men around him. Under his rule he had over ten times ten men and they had their own village three days haws ride from the valley they were now in.

Elios called the boys together and suggested they keep going; the ground was flat and seemed to be solid for a long way yet; they would keep going until they had to stop. Mita told the quad boys to keep a sharp lookout for any danger either from the rest of the Renegs or from bad country; they would move slower than before but they felt they had better get as far away as possible before they stopped for a rest.

The boys quickly got out some food and ate as Usof volunteered to take the prisoner away from the group; a short time later they all heard the softer sound of Usof's sidearm and he appeared a short time later and sat with Mita and Elios as though nothing had happened; the rest of the boys were by now used to Usof's hatred of the Renegs; or, barbarians as he called them.

The convoy continued onward; the valley stayed remarkably flat and firm as Elios tried to follow the red lines on the map; he had tried to work out what each colour meant on the ancient map but was at this stage still confused as some of the lines were in red; others were in blue and black; there was only one place on the map where the red line crossed over the blue one; Elios didn't know what it meant but he knew they were approaching the place.

They had tried driving closer to the steep cliffs but the larger vehicle; which was driven by Mita; kept sinking into the soft sand and so they had decided to drive in the middle of the wide valley where it seemed a lot firmer; this was to avoid wasting time digging or pulling Mita's vehicle out of the sand; it was at this time that Elios had noticed that if they followed the lines of red down the center of the valley then they stayed on firm sand.

By the middle of the afternoon; as the ancients called it; they came to where the two coloured lines met; where they met was a funny symbol that Elios had not seen before; it looked like two tables back to back, ] [ ; at first Elios was confused by the crossing of the lines and then, as they drew closer to the meeting of the lines he saw; and finally understood what they meant; before him was a very deep ravine and across the ravine from one side to the next was a flat wide platform made of the ancient stone.

The boys stopped their vehicles and stepped out to see the wonder before them; the wide stone platform stretched across the ravine in one piece; it curved upward slightly in the middle and had two stone fences on each side that went the full length of the platform. Elios moved closer to the edge and saw that the platform was held up by huge stone arms that stretched from each side of the ravine and met in the middle.

Elios and Mita walked carefully onto the platform and found it was solid; looking over the edge they could see far below them the bottom of the deep dry Ravine; it was strewn with rocks and boulders but up here the platform was free of debris; only small mounds of loose sand were piled in some places close to the edges.

The platform looked to be about 150 meters across; Elios decided to get one of the quad boys to slowly ride across with Elios on the back to see what was on the other side as the platform seemed to lead onto nothing as it met the other side. Taking his rifle with him; Elios got on the back of a quad and watched as they made their way slowly across; much to his surprise on the other side, he saw that the platform led into a sharp corner; moving around the corner slowly, Elios saw that the side of the high plateau that they had been on was now stretching below them in another steep cliff; however he could see where the side of the plateau had been carved out somehow and had a very flat base for the vehicles to travel in a spiral downwards onto another valley below them.

The flat area going down looked to be wide enough for at least four vehicles to travel side by side. Elios was not going to take a chance and decided they would stay one behind the other as they went down; most of the flat area was free of rocks and stones although there were some that had rolled off the sheer cliff face in places; he was sure they could either move them or go around them. Elios and the quad boy went back to Mita and reported what they had seen.

As a matter of safety; Mita made the vehicles travel across the platform one at a time; if anything happened then they would only lose one vehicle but much to their relief they all got across without even a groan from the stone platform. Elios led the convoy with his Humvee as they set about following the strange flat track going down the plateau; it was a nerve wracking drive as the flatness zigged and zagged its way down only the occassional screech of the large vehicles brakes could be heard over the softly rumbling vehicles.

Once they were at the bottom of the plateau the sands stretched out before them; again they stayed to the middle and; two hours later they climbed a low sand hill. As they crested the rise and looked down below them; Elios tooted his horn for them to stop; jumping from his Humvee he looked in astonishment at the valley below them; checking his map once again he smiled broadly as he recognised the valley; it was their home valley but they were looking from the far end where it went inland; a direction they had not been in before.

Elios looked again at the map and realised that by following it on the way back they had cut off more than half the distance of their outward journey. Smiling happily, Elios ran back to Mita's vehicle and told him the good news and what it now meant to both bunkers; with his information relayed, Elios jumped back into his Humvee and drove down the hill and onto the valley floor; there he pushed his foot down and they began to speed towards the home bunker at top speed just as the sun was beginning to set ahead of them.

Just as the last rays of the sun began to disappear on the horizon they pulled to a stop outside the large door of home bunker; the boys inside had been told by the lookouts that they were arriving and everyone, except the guards; was outside waiting for them. Most of the boys were waving and laughing at the sight of the small convoy. Elam more than the others as he spied a new vehicle for him to play with.

The waiting boys stood aside as the convoy drove into the bunker and then followed as the doors were once again closed to secure their home. When the vehicles came to their final halt, there was a sudden hush as they saw for the first time; the tall muscular figure of Modou and his double brothers step from Elios Humvee; the sight of the big warrior caused the garage to become as silent as a tomb; he was now dressed in the same clothes as the other boys but the double brothers had wanted to stay in their short white wraps; their small round knot of hair told all the boys present that these rare double boys were the property of the big warrior.

Elios jumped from the Humvee and hugged his two friends as the rest of his convoy parked and left their vehicles to hug and slap each other on the back and; in some case, on the butt; their first adventure had been a success and they had so much new stuff to talk about. Elios introduced Modou and his bred boys to Elam and Elvan as they led everyone to the common room. Elvan ran ahead and started to call out to his kitchen boys to start making the best meal they could come up with as a celebration of the Rovers' return to their home bunker.

Modou's two boys stayed close by his side as they saw over 200 boys cram into the common room; the noise and laughter was strange to their ears as they had never seen so many boys in one place before; they looked to their warrior to keep them safe as they were the center of a lot of attention because the other boys had never seen double brothers before; both of them kept as close to Modou as they could.

Modou could only look in awe at the bunker and all the boys there; the food seemed to appear in an endless stream as the common room filled with more boys and the hum of conversation between eating was a continuous murmur. Elios along with Elam, Elvan and Mita had sat Modou down with them and began to answer all the questions their new friend fired at them about the bunker system and the many new artifacts they used.

It was very late by the time they had all had enough food and conversation. Elios led Modou and his two bred boys to one of the smaller sleeping rooms after showing them the washing room; they then left their new friends to settle in and went to their own rooms for some rest; the next day they would have to start to plan for taking some of the boys from home bunker to the new one. Elam was only concerned with the new large vehicle that Mita had driven back; they now had a way of moving a large number of boys in one easy lot instead of a lot of trips in smaller vehicles; he was also fascinated by the descriptions of the other big war vehicles Elios had told him about.

For the next two days they sat and planned; it was finally decided that Elvan would stay at home bunker as the leader and would organise any new boys that still seemed to hear the rumour and arrive in small groups to the new marvel for safety. Elam would go back with Elios, Mita and a collection of other older boys who would be taught by Mita to drive the new large vehicles; that way they could set up small convoys to carry equipment or food from the new bunker in larger quantities and bring back more boys to fill and work the new bunker.

Elios, Mita, Elam and Elvan had agreed that should Modou want to stay with them he would be the ideal person to help train their guards and other boys to be warriors; they were under no illusion that the time would come when they would have to go out and face large groups of Renegs but first they had to have enough boys and bunkers to be able to quickly and easily reinforce their warriors. Although they also agreed that the Renegs would have no way of fighting against their better weapons of the ancients; they still accepted that there would come a time when they might have losses.

With the new track to the bunker now open they could send as many as thirty boys in the big vehicle and as the trip was now a lot shorter by going over land instead of around the Oshun shore; the boys could each carry enough food in a back pack for the one day it would take.

The fuel for the vehicles had been noted by Elios and they found that the big vehicle used more than the smaller ones; it meant they did not have to carry much extra to make the journey in one faster run with only a short stop at midday to refill the fuel tank. Elios had seen the previous night that while all the boys were now dressed in the ancient clothes and all looked similar to each other; many of them had made small alterations in different ways to keep a little individuality to each boy or in some cases, to a group of boys; the hardest part of the uniform were the boots as there were many boys with smaller feet and the number of small sizes available was not great; they had finally worked out that if they wore two or three pairs of the foot coverings over each other; they could fill the boots enough to be able to use them.

On the third day a new convoy left home bunker; this time there were only two quads and the one Humvee as well as the big vehicle which they now knew to call a truck; in the back were thirty boys with their fire arms and a back pack with food and clothes and any personal items the boys wanted; they would be the first of the boys to inhabit the new bunker.

In the front of the truck sat Mita, Usof and Elam; in the Humvee was Elios along with Modou and his two boys; the quads now had two boys on each one and were a little way out front as a vanguard; by midday they were on the other side of the stone platform and had stopped to eat and refuel the big truck and other vehicles. Elam could not believe how quickly they progressed along the sands now that Elios understood more about the marks on the ancient map.

As the sun sank they came to the hill that held the new bunker; the large metal door could now been seen easily as the sand had been cleared when it opened last time but they still could not see the outside control box; they settled and made camp for the night so Elios could go back down the cliff and enter the old way; tomorrow they would have all thirty boys dig outside to find the control box that had to be there under the sand.

Elam was amazed at the size of the new door as it towered over his smaller frame; it was nearly twice the size of the door at home bunker but he could now understand that it would have to be bigger on account of the size of the new trucks and other vehicles still inside.

Next morning Mita took Elios to the same cliff edge and slowly lowered him down the rear entrance while the others waited patiently for the big door to be opened from the inside. Half an hour later and they heard and watched as the big door opened inwards to make a ramp and Elios came striding through with a smile on his face as the new boys watched in awe at the size of everything.

The small convoy drove into the cavernous garage; their echo's sounding deep into their new home. Elam jumped from the big truck and began to organise the transport; happily rubbing his hands together as he saw all the new vehicles to check out and looking forward to going down to the real garage below them.

It had been agreed by all that Modou; with his warrior training; would take over the duties of forming squads with the twenty guard boys while Elios and Mita took the rest and set them to their duties either in the kitchen, the bunk rooms; or beginning the search through the top level of the new bunker while Elios took his two boys through to the office and started them on cleaning and setting up their screens.

Mita had set some of his older boys to learning to drive the new trucks under the watchful eye of Elam while he checked over two more quads for the outer guards; the door ramp stayed open while the boys were outside but would be closed once darkness came. Elios worked out a plan for the boys to start to look for the outer control box in the morning after they had had a good night's rest; it was going to be a big job to find it in all the piled up sand at the front of the doorway.

The next morning, the real work began; after setting the guards the rest of the boys got to work to find the outer control box while those inside continued to search and evaluate all the new things in this large bunker; it was by now obvious to Elios that this was a main supply bunker for the surrounding area but the new larger office was more detailed than the last one; if Elios was to believe all he saw and learnt then this was one of the main control bunkers for the whole land.

The scope of what he saw stretched his wildest imaginings until he almost felt overloaded with information; to see and try to understand that there was really a very large and new world out there was giving Elios strange thoughts but the size of the maps on the table screen was just to real to be a trick.

That afternoon the boys found the control box outside; it had been well buried but now they had outer access and the guards could now be set without leaving the ramp open when the others were resting or working inside. Over the next two weeks the bunker came to life and the boys settled in to their respective places within the bunker. Mita sent two truck loads of supplies back to Elvan when they received a message from him over Elios computer system; the trucks returned with more new boys for the large bunker home until the home bunker was down to eighty boys which seemed to be the right number for that one.

Elios had renamed the new bunker as the supply bunker and he was now happy that they had 120 boys there; that seemed to be just the right number for the larger bunker to operate with. Mita suggested that Modou organise a group of guards to go out and find any boys that were Rovers and see if they wanted to come and fill out the numbers until they had enough to begin a new search. Elios had worked out that the next red lit bunker would be more than five days away; even if they were able to follow the red lines all the way on the map.

At the odd times that Elios went outside the bunker he was followed closely by Usof; the second bred boy still took his vow seriously about keeping Elios safe and he could often be seen sitting behind Elios as the other boy looked at the far off sand hills and valleys as he tried to work out where the red lines went on the barren sand.

Two months went by and the bunkers numbers had steadily increased as Modou's boys searched and found new Rover boys to join them; the supply bunker had now become a thriving hive of continuous activity day or night. Elios, Mita and Elam along with Modou; agreed it was time for the next search. Elam would stay as the head of the bunker and the others would take a small number of boys with them to start the search; as before Mita was in charge of the vehicles, Modou was in charge of security and Elios was responsible for getting them there.

This time the group had twenty guard boys who would also do other duties as they went; the convoy was made up of two quads, two Humvee's, two trucks with the extra food and fuel supplies as well as a place for the extra boys to ride and; at the tail end came one of the new eight wheel armoured APC like vehicles with the two strange weapons on the top. Mita had insisted on bringing it up from the storage level and had been playing with it outside the bunker for more than a week as he tried to learn how to operate it; he now felt confident enough to take one with them; this was going to be their real heavy duty protection.

Elios had finally worked out what the two strange marks meant on the map so that now; when he saw the ] [ marks he knew it was something called a BRIDGE and that it could be used to cross a deep ravine or river if there was any water in it. The direction he had chosen to the next bunker site was to the rising sun; or east, in the ancient's language; the red line was mainly straight until it came to the high mountains and then it seemed to turn and twist back on itself; Elios surmised that it meant they would be going up or down the mountains as the next red light was on the far side of the mountains and the two green lights were on the Oshun side.

The three leaders now had a good idea of what they might encounter as far as trying to find the third bunker and so stored as much equipment as they could to find it; the biggest discovery in the new bunker had been found by one of Elios office boys while he had been down in one of the levels looking around and trying to work out what a lot of the new things did; it had again been by total accident that the boy had stumbled on this new secret of the ancients.

He had been searching along a tall rack when he came across a new type of box. inside he saw a lot of thin wires and smaller boxes along with what he now knew were the cylinders called batteries; this all intrigued him so much he took out the little instruction book and sat down to read.

He was not missed at meal time as he had sat with his back against a tall rack in a far corner; he was to engrossed in the small book and what it was revealing to him to be bothered with eating; if what he thought the book was telling him was really true then this new discovery was going to change things for the better for all the boys.

It was well into the night before he became aware of his thin stomach growling; his need to go and see the leader boys was an urgent tug on his mind; taking hold of two of the smaller boxes and his book he ran to the elevator and set the button to the number 1 level; he ran into the common room just as Elios, Mita, Usof, Modou and his two boys were about to leave.

Yelling loudly to his leaders, the boy ran to them waving the book and boxes furiously to get their attention; seconds later he was standing in front of them breathlessly trying to explain what he had found. Mita calmed the boy down and then heard the deep rumbling from the boys stomach; with a smile he called out for one of the other boys still in the common room to find some food for the boy; next they all sat again as the boy calmed down and began to tell them of his wondrous discovery.

The small group listened intently as the boy described what he had found while searching the lower level; the group listened without a word as the realisation of what the boy had found could mean to their efforts when out searching the wilds for new bunkers, or for the outer guard boys who watched over the bunker.

The boy had emptied the two boxes onto the table as he ate; laying out the different pieces as he reread the small instruction book; the others looked on at the small pieces and could not see how it did what the book said it could; slowly and carefully the boy opened a small hole in the base of the black box; on the top of the box were two small buttons that could be turned around; in the middle of the two buttons was a very small green coloured screen that had numbers show up once the batteries were inserted and the first button had been turned to the On position.

The boy next took a long thin wire with a very thin small piece of metal on one end and at the other was a strange looking piece; it was thin metal and shaped in a semi curve; the wire ran from one side of it and it had another thin wire from which there was a thicker blob; at the other end of the first metal piece was a strange round blob that seemed to have no use until the boy showed them how it all fit together.

When he was finished they stood and looked at the strange item sitting on the boys head; with a smile the boy took the second black box and pushed the batteries into it and turned on the button; it now had a hissing sound coming from it; the boy for the first time spoke more or less at the thin metal wire near his mouth; suddenly, as clear as anything; his voice also came from the second box at the same time; he had found out how the ancients could talk over long distances with these small black boxes. Elios carefully followed what the boy had done and then ran from the common room and down the long passage; next he spoke into the small blob near his mouth and only moments later heard the boy talk back to him as clearly as if he was standing next to him. Elios ran back to the common room with elation showing on his young face; this new means to talk was going to change everything for them; no more tooting or calling out loudly.

Now that they had found a way to keep in contact while moving; the plans for the next mornings departure were put in action; it was going to be a long trip this time as Elios had estimated that there would be close to five days travel if everything went according to plan. Now they had a way of contacting the bunker they would be able to keep a daily update.

In the bunker, Elam had decided to stay and run it while the others were out searching; they had created a second convoy of one Humvee, two quads and three of the large trucks to go back to the home bunker and bring in more new boys; the drivers and guards had instruction to keep a look out for any new boys that wanted to join the newly formed bunker boys.

While Modou would have liked to go along with Elios he decided that for the time being he would stay and help Elam in the defence and guarding of the new bunker; that way Elam could concentrate on all the new vehicles that had been found; as well as helping with the training of the boys in fighting techniques as he knew them. His only problem was the ancient's technology; their rifles and side arms were still somewhat of a mystery to them but fortunately there were two other older boys that were well versed in their use and would take over from Mita as teachers.

The next morning Mita led the search convoy from the bunker and, under Elios direction; turned them eastward and towards the far off mountain range that could just barely been seen in the far distance. The vehicles followed a track that no one could see apart from Elios and his red lines on the map although the evident flatness of the valley did indicate that it was firm ground and easier to travel on than the sand hills surrounding them.

They travelled all day and the mountains seemed no closer; any expected Renegs were conspicuous by their absence as the convoy slowly ground its way forward to the next bunker; they had to make small detours and alterations to their course because of unmarked ravines or high unclimbable sand hills.

By the time the sun was sinking behind them and night was coming on; the convoy had covered only 200 Kms. of the expected 1500 that was the distance worked out by Elios; it looked as though it might well take more than five days if the mountains were also traversed by unknown ravines or rock falls.

That first night they found a small gully to camp in; although tired from their first day on the trip, Mita managed to satisfy both Elios and Usof that night as around them there were the noises of other boys filling their own needs; only the current guard boys had to wait until they were finished their duty; most knew that in the days to come they might very well be to tired for any games at night so made the most of it on their first night.

The camp was now bigger than any they had made before because of the extra guard boys; there was also a likelihood of picking up more new boys along the way. This new trip was going into unknown country and all their senses had to be keen and alert. Elios and Mita were well aware that the direction they were going was also bringing them all close to where they thought the main gang of Renegs were living; the new dangers could not be taken lightly.

Just as the new sun was rising the next morning, the convoy started out on the next leg of their journey; the use of the ancient's tinted eye coverings were a real boon for the drivers and guards as they drove fully into the rising sun; they had also been a find in the new bunker and all the boys thought it was fun to cover their eyes with these new toys; it was not until they used them while driving into the sun that they realised the true use of them; they could now see as though the sun was not even there, it was a great relief as far as their concern for their safety went.

As the convoy continued on into the rising sun; by mid morning, they saw in the distance their first sight of Renegs; it looked like a small group, perhaps scouts Mita thought; he pointed them out to Elios who quickly got onto the talking box and passed on the information to all the other boys to keep a sharp lookout from now on.

After the midday halt to refuel the vehicles and take a light meal, the boys talked about the appearance of the first Renegs; it was decided to keep a closer eye on the hill tops around them and to keep their fire arms close by and ready; the convoy resumed its journey just after the highest heat of the day had begun to recede a little and by nightfall on their second day Elios estimated they had now covered more than a third of the distance; at last the mountains were beginning to look just a fraction closer; all that remained for the next day was to cross a long wide flat stretch of ground that seemed to sparkle white and pink in the dying sun; none of the boys had ever seen anything like it before; they were now well out of any familiar lands they had previously known.

To the eyes of the boys it looked as though once they had crossed this new strange landscape, they would be at the mountains which in the dimming light looked a hazy blue in the distance; the only other sight the boys could see were what appeared to be a thin layer of white clouds hanging above the far off mountains.

Camp that night was inside a small circle of the vehicles; four guards were set this time as there was no natural cover on the flat expanse around them; the only advantage they held was that any attackers would be seen well before they got too close to the camp. One of the guards that had been trained in the use of the double guns was always in the eight wheeler ready with his new weapon in case of emergencies.

During the night there were a couple of false alarms as movements were seen outside the camp turned out to be only small animals out looking for their meal. Mita congratulated the young guard boys for their alertness; he felt that this trip they would need all the boys on their best behaviour; both Elios and Mita knew that by the end of the next day they could be very close to the main Reneg camp. The vague description they had got was that it was somewhere near the big hills; both boys hoped they would be able to avoid it for now although they both knew as did most of the other boys; that the time would come when they would have to find a way to attack the Renegs and finish them once and for all time if their lands were going to improve with the help of the ancient's many helpful artifacts.

The next morning, as the sun rose higher in the sky; the boys noticed that the ground under them was reflecting the sun back at them with much stronger power than it had ever done before; their mouths became very dry as they travelled onward and the strange white sand was lifted into the air and drifted into the vehicles; the water consumption increased rapidly as the boys needed to drink more and their bodies seemed to demand more moisture.

All the vehicles grew hotter the further they moved out onto the white surface that stretched into the far distance all around them; this was a new surface and, at the midday stop; Elios went to look closer at the ground around them; picking up a few grains of the sand he put it to his lips; the sudden bitter taste made him spit it out quickly but in the back of his mind there was something vaguely familiar about the taste of it. Elios sat in the limited shade of the truck and thought about the taste.

Like most discoveries so far, the answer came to Elios in a small flash of incite; they were not travelling on normal sand, they were now on a massive landscape of salt. Elios jumped up and told Mita what he thought it was and they sat and discussed the strange event. Previously none of the boys had ever given any thought to where the basic food flavouring of salt had come from; Elios and the others looked at the vast distant of salt around them and were awed that there could be so much; now they had their answer to a question that had never been asked. Elios sat and marvelled at how much he was learning since he had been sent out of the breeding caves more than a full year ago; in fact, it was now getting close to two years.

After the midday stop for fuel and water; they set out again for the now closer mountains; they were able to travel at speed on the flat hard surface under them and by dusk they were under the shadow of the mountains and had just left the salt lands; ahead of them were the towering mountains and as yet no sight of the way up them. Elios sat working on his map as he tried to work out a way to find the road up the mountains; it looked as though they would have to send out the quads in the morning to look for the start of the climb; they were also in very dangerous territory now and they would have to keep very alert for any Reneg activity.

More than an hour passed the next morning before the boys found what they hoped was the way up and over the mountains in the hope of finding the next bunker; as yet they had had no trouble; any signs of Renegs being around were not apparent but the group knew better than to let their guard down; their lives always depended on their vigilance.

The two quads took up their position at the head of the convoy and about 100 metres ahead of the others; the valley floor was unnaturally flat and was bordered by very steep and straight rock sides; they looked to unnatural to be normal nature. The flat area wound its way ahead of them with only the occassional rock fall to break up the flatness.

It was another hour before the group noticed they were starting to slowly climb; the flat area which Elios called the roadway; was now narrowing until it rose only on one side of the steep edges; sometimes the road forward was partially blocked with fallen stones and rocks; at these times the convoy had to stop and all except the chosen guards; would start to clear a way through.

For the next three hours the convoy wound its way slowly up the steepening road. They were now well into the mountains and at times felt as though the tall sides were pressing in on them as they drove higher and higher. The air had cooled and the drivers of the quads were now starting to feel a little cold, especially their bare hands.

Elios tried to look forward to try and see the end of the climb but the road wound back on itself so often he had no view; slowly they climbed until at last in the distance Elios saw what he hoped was the top of the pass. There was still some way to go but now he could see hopefully; the end of the claustrophobic feeling he had had all the time.

Half an hour later and there was only a long steep climb to the top; about half way along the climb they could see another large rock fall; it had covered too much of the road for them to be able to go around it and they would have to stop and clear as much as they could. As the convoy slowed almost to a halt, there was a sudden loud yell from somewhere in the rock pile ahead of them; with startling swiftness, Elios saw the guard boy on the back of the leading Quad suddenly fly backwards off the quad; there was a crossbow bolt sticking out of his slim chest, when he hit the ground he didn't move.

The driver of the quad came to a speedy halt and dived off the seat and behind the quad; his rifle was in his hands as all the others found cover when the air was filled with crossbow bolts filling the space around them. Mita was the first to react to this sudden ambush threat; he pulled the big eight wheeler as far forward as he could and gave the order for the boy on the double guns to open fire at the rock slide in front of them from where the bolts were coming from.

The ambushers were hard to spot and it was difficult for the boys to pick out targets but the boy on the guns soon decided enough was enough and opened up in the general direction of the rock slide; the large brass cartridges tumbled out of a slot in the side of the vehicle as the multi barrels fired in a very loud hum that sounded like a million bees all flying together.

Rocks and debris flew high into the air as the bullets peppered the rock slide; some of the bullets were what the boys called, fire bullets they lit up the ground and air as they whizzed and bounced around. This display of firepower was new to the attackers; when they had first seen the strange boxes on wheels they didn't have the faintest idea of what they were; all they knew was that they did not belong in their territory and so they attacked.

When the first boy had been killed they thought it was going to be easy; when the bees started to hum around their heads and bodies they were not quite so sure. Suddenly cries and shouts erupted from the hiding points as the strange bees began to find targets amongst the Renegs; this as well began to bring worry to the attackers; they could see no bolts only large holes that appeared from nowhere and their fellow gang members fell like toppled trees.

The leader of the Renegs started to get worried about the loss of so many men so quickly; shouting over the humming sound, he called his men to charge and kill every boy on the flat stretch; the last bolts flew and then the Renegs rose as one and charged down the slope jumping rocks and boulders as they went; as the leader made it close to the funny four wheel thing they had first attacked he saw one dead boy and another hiding behind the thing; the boy didn't look as scared as he should in the face of a large group of charging Renegs.

The boy lifted the black pipe he was holding and pointed it at the leader just as the same man suddenly realised there was not much noise coming from behind him where his men should be; as he turned to look for his men he felt a stinging pain in his leg that knocked him back a step; before he could turn back to the boy he felt another pain in his shoulder, this one spun him around to face the boy again but it also sat him on his butt; the boy was still standing in front of him with a calm look of hate on his young face.

The leader tried to turn his head to look for the rest of his men but all he could see were lifeless bodies all over the rock slide and on the flat just behind him; with a look of surprise on his face, it finally dawned on the leader that he was alone; all four plus ten of his men were gone; what sort of weapons did these boys have that they could defeat such a force as he had led? He didn't hear the last shot fired; you never do hear the one that finishes your miserable life.

Elios and the others looked around at the devastation caused by the double gun backed up by the rifles of the boys; there was not a tear amongst the boys as they looked at the bodies lying on the rock slide; only the front driver of the quad was the first to move towards the boy on the ground. At least the boy had died instantly and did not have to linger like so often happened with a crossbow bolt; it had pierced his heart and he did not even feel anything as he was thrown backwards onto the ground; a small tear slipped from the drivers eyes as he looked down at the first boy he had seen die since joining the bunker boys.

Mita walked over to the boy and put a comforting arm over his shoulder; they would bury the boy here by the side of the road and leave a marker so that anyone coming after them would know he was there and had been a part of the expedition that found a new bunker; for the Renegs he gave orders that they were to be tossed over the side and left to rot in the sun down in the far off valley floor; the boys then got to work on clearing a way through the big slide.

Everybody except five guards, worked tirelessly on moving rocks and stones; by nightfall they had only gone about halfway and while they did not want to stay out in the open in such an exposed place, they had no other option; setting out guards they stopped to eat and rest; as the boys were so tired, Mita set the guards for only one hour each; they would need to be as rested as possible for the next days labour.

It was late the next day before the road was finally clear enough for the wider vehicles to pass the rock slide; they had noticed the previous night that it was a lot colder at night now that they were high up in the mountains. Mita decided to push on until dark in the hope they would be lower before they had to stop.

From the top of the pass, they could see far away below them; what appeared to be an unusual stretch of green but it was so far away they were not at first sure of what they saw. They only had two hours of driving before it was too dark to continue and again; they had come to another large slip, the convoy pulled to a stop and they set about getting ready for a meal and sleep; the temperature had not noticeably warmed and so they rolled up inside the vehicles in their sleeping bags after they had refuelled the vehicles and eaten; the next morning was going to be another repetition of the previous two days.

Midday found them once again on the slow descent; smaller slips were driven around whenever possible; others had to be cleared but, by late afternoon they could see below them, a small green valley; this alone caused a lot of speculation from the boys as they gathered for a midday meal; they had all heard about green valley's but none of the boys had ever seen one.

Through his binoculars; Elios could make out what he knew to be trees, not just one or two but lots of them; also the ground appeared to be marked out in even lines with dry dirt tracks between them; as they went lower; Elios was sure he could make out what he thought was a large wooden dwelling. As they came to the last stretch before the bottom of the now warmer road; Mita saw the road was again blocked by rocks but; looking closer, he saw that the blockage was more man made than any rock fall they had seen so far.

The rocks appeared to be more of a tall wall; there was no rubble mixed in with the rocks like a natural slip. These rocks had been carefully stacked for maximum strength; as the first quad pulled up short of the fall, a grown man with a crossbow stood up from behind the rocks; he was tall and well tanned by the sun but he also looked to be well fed; unlike like most Renegs; looking closer, Mita could see the faint outline of other men and boys hiding along the top of the rocks.

Mita called a halt just out of crossbow range; slowly he and Elios stepped out and began to walk towards the rock wall; when they were well within calling distance, Mita let Elios take over. The man had held up a hand in the universal stop motion; the boys waited for the man to speak first, it didn't take long for the fear and curiosity to take over the man's better judgement; he called out to the two boys standing patiently in the open; and, the man noticed; just out of effective range of their weapons.

"What do you boys want? Who are you and where do you come from in those boxes with wheels?"

"We've come from over the mountains; we are searching for a special place that the ancients made; we don't mean any harm as long as you're not Renegs," Elios replied to the questions.

"And if we are Renegs?"

"Then we would have to kill you, all we want is a way to pass down onto the plains and continue our search."

"Well boy, there's no way for you to kill us if we were Renegs but, as far as passing here, you can't; you have to go back, we don't like strange boys or Renegs here; this is our valley."

"We're not after your valley, we only want to pass through; if you let us pass we promise not to cause you any problems."

The man looked down at Elios; he saw that the smaller boy was a Bred Boy and he could not work out why this boy was doing all the talking; it should be his man that was doing the negotiating. Everything about the group in front of him was strange; the clothing, the like of which he had never seen; the odd looking pipes they all carried; the scary boxes that made growling noises, everything was like a man's worst nightmare; he and his group were not sure what they were looking at but, one thing for sure; these strangers were not Renegs; the commune had been fighting those thieves and killers for way too long not to be able to recognise them on sight and these boys were not them.

No if these boys were not Renegs, could their outlandish story be true? Unlikely, but then there was all the new and strange things they had; nothing had ever been seen like all the things they had; maybe they really were from the ancient times? The confusion seemed to run over his face as he looked down on the two boys along with a larger group standing back by the wheeled boxes.

Elios looked up at the man on top of the wall; while the wall looked solid enough to stop any man or haws; he was sure their eight wheel vehicle could drive through it enough to make a clear pass but; Elios didn't want to make enemies of these people but he did want to find the next bunker; there had to be a way for them to get through; Elios stepped back and began to try and think it through while the man watched from above.

Finally, after talking over his plan with Mita; Elios turned and walked back to the man but this time he walked well within the range of their weapons; he kept his hands well clear of his own weapons and went to stand directly below the man on the wall; if they didn't believe him he would be an easy target for their crossbows, it was a show of faith.

"We've come from the other side of the mountains, down on the sand wastes; some time ago two of my friends and I discovered a place long hidden by the ancients, we found out it was called a Bunker. After a lot of time we found out about others they had made, now we have two of them and are looking for a third one over on this side; we believe there are many others and we are trying to open them up for other boys to use as a home.

As you can see; the ancients had a lot of things we lost a long time ago; we now have more than four tens plus ten boys with us and more are coming to us for safety every day. All we want is to pass, we don't want to destroy any of your valley; in fact, if you let us pass we may be able to help you with protecting your valley and then trade with you for your goods if you have any for that purpose. We are not Renegs; in fact we hate them and destroy them at every chance; all we ask of you is to let us pass without causing you any losses or fighting."

"I don't see how you could hurt us? You have no weapons and you can't get past this wall; many Renegs have tried to beat us and always failed; that's why we guard this pass, it's the only way down into the valley. We have been here growing plants to eat for more yarn than I can remember; we have nearly ten plus ten folk here so your few boys stand no chance to win a fight with us; now why don't you turn around and go back to your own place?"

Elios looked up at the man sadly; it appeared that, if they wanted to move forward and find the next bunker, they would have to either fight or put on a demonstration that would either scare or convince the man that they could go through if they wanted to; Elios spoke up.

"Well you leave us no choice, if that's your final answer; we are sorry that you feel this way and cannot see the benefit we could be to your home and your boys."

Elios turned his back on the man and walked back to Mita; with a nod of his head Mita followed him back to the small convoy. Once there, Mita took his place in the driver's seat and Usof sat at the firing panel of the double guns. Elios went back to his Humvee and waited for the eight-wheeler to take up position at the front of the convoy. All the others stayed back from the front two vehicles; this was a show of force in the hope that the man blocking their way would see sense and let them through without further problems.

Mita drove close enough for the defenders to be within crossbow range; he sat there for a short time and then told Usof to fire at the rocks about half a man's height from the top; immediately the two guns hummed for a few seconds; chips of rock and small stones flew into the air as the echo of the guns ran down the quiet valley below them. For a few seconds nothing happened; it appeared the defenders were stunned by the sudden display of firepower but it didn't last; as if a signal had been given, the air was filled with crossbow bolts and small stones from hand slings.

The small ping sound of the missiles bouncing off the armour of the vehicle could be clearly heard by everyone; the sudden barrage stopped as the defenders saw that their weapons made no impact on the boxes; again the guns hummed and again chips and stones flew into the air then; when Usof had finished firing, Mita put the eight-wheeler into low gear and pushed his foot hard to the floor. The loud angry rumble of the motor rang throughout the valley as it began to gain speed and headed towards the center of the stone wall.

The loud crashing of metal on stone could be heard all over as the vehicle hit the wall and pushed through as well as climbed up over what had not been knocked down; behind the wall boys and men ran for their lives as the metal monster pushed through their best defences leaving them in the open; try as they might they couldn't penetrate the metal skin of the box thing.

Mita pulled to a halt and waited for the scattering folk to get to a safe distance; he then called Elios on their com units and the rest of the convoy rolled slowly forward until they were at the opening in the wall; with skill, Elios drove up and over what remained of the wall until he was behind Mita. Taking a chance, Elios stepped from his Humvee and; with his rifle in his hands, began to walk towards where the other group was now standing and watching. Elios raised his voice to reach the group.

"As you can see, we could have avoided this way had you been more helpful; we don't want to hurt you; in fact we want to help but we won't be stopped from finding the ancient's bunkers. They hold too many things that could help all of us defeat the Renegs and then we can live our lives in peace; we don't want to conquer you or make you slaves, we want you to be as free as you always were; but we will go looking for our bunker; it's up to you, you can be our friends and have the benefits of the ancient's knowledge or you can fight us and lose."

Elios waited as he saw the group of defenders gathered into a circle and started to discuss their limited options; it took some time as it seemed all of them were allowed to have their say; after half an hour, the original leader slowly walked forward; his head was down a little and a look of defeat was on his face as he came closer to Elios.

"We all agree, there's nothing we can do against you and your things; we will let you pass as long as you let us stay free, but now we have to rebuild our wall or the Renegs will be back and destroy our valley; we've all worked to hard over the yarn to let them have it, but it takes a long time to repair the wall; we are going to be an open target for them now."

"We can help you if you like; I can ask some of the boys to stay and guard the road for you while you rebuild, but we are coming back this way after we find the bunker; why not make a big gate here so you can close off the road but still be able to let our vehicles pass back and forth. There will be other vehicles some time in the future; this way you are still protected and we can train some of your boys to defend you with the ancient's weapons; we have plenty of them to spare and as long as we keep them from the Renegs then we will always be safe from them."

The man thought for a short time and then; with an almost helpless gesture of defeat, he nodded his head in acceptance of his situation; all he could hope for now was that the boy was telling the truth and they could stay free in their valley; his idea of a large gate did sound better than having to rebuild the wall each time one of their metal boxes came along.

At the acceptance of his position, the man appeared to lighten up a little; he then invited the new boys to stay for the rest of the afternoon and evening at their compound where they could talk more about the things the ancients had left behind. Elios sighed with relief; he really didn't want to hurt the people of this valley; they were only trying to live their very precarious lives without the danger of the Renegs murdering ways. Elios accepted the invitation and, leaving four boys to help guard the broken wall; he invited the man to travel with him in the Humvee.

The look on the man's face almost made Elios laugh but he kept his face turned towards the front of the Humvee so as not to embarrass the man too much; as the man got in Elios could feel him shaking with fear but the man was determined to brave the unknown; if these new boys could travel inside these boxes then he could; besides it would not look good to his own men and boys if he was afraid; no man could stay leader of the commune if he was scared or afraid of every new thing that came along.

The sound and smell of the Humvee took the man by surprise; it was not the fresh air of the open valley and clean fresh smell of the mountains, but a thick oily smell that constricted the lungs; the noise was like thunder as the motor drove the vehicle down the short road to the base of the mountains; the sight that greeted the convoy boys took their breath away; they had never seen anything like the view in front of them.

All around was the green like they had never seen before; trees and plants, and even the ground in most places was covered in so many different colours of green they could not take it all in at the same time; and the fresh smell of the place could be detected even in the confines of the vehicles. It was a heady mix of freshness and something that made their heads spin with the alien sights and sounds around them.

When they had at last pulled to a halt in the center of the commune; Mita told their boys to set up relief guards for the road block; he then went with Elios and the leader to the largest house in the commune; this was the meeting hall for all of the members of the valley community. There was a subdued bustle about the small commune, everything appeared to be made here and the valley residents seemed to be self sufficient.

The leader led the boys into the large meeting house to be presented to the rest of the committee that ran the valley; there were five of them, three older men in their thirties and two younger men in their late teens; these five men along with the leader were responsible for all that went on in the valley; each had his own area of concern and would report to the others at the end of each day's work; this way they kept order and allotted work for all the others.

Elios and his boys were amazed at what had been achieved in the green valley; it worked in a well oiled way that only a lot of time and hard work could have accomplished; they were also impressed with the happy looks on everyone's face as they went about their days work. Elios and the others were soon seated at a long table and within a short time there was fresh food being put on the table.

To the boys from the bunkers; the freshness of the food was a new sensation; they had been so used to the food of the bunkers that they didn't realise what they had been missing. The vegetables were the best they had ever eaten and the meat had flavours that left their mouths watering for more; they were told that everything was grown here in the valley; the only reason for their existence was a small stream of fresh clear water that ran from a large crack in the mountain side and down into the center of the valley.

From this stream they syphoned off water for the fields and the rest was left to flow naturally; it was because of the water that the Renegs wanted to take over the valley; the leaders explained that they thought there could be other streams but this one was too good to leave just to go searching for something that may not be there in the end.

The meeting hall slowly filled with boys and men as they gathered for their evening meal; the hum of conversation filled the room; Elios saw that many of the boys were Bred Boys and the obvious partnerships looked to be happy; they sat and talked far into the night as they exchanged stories and information. Elios learned that the end of the valley was also blocked off with a large rock wall. Fortunately it had a small gateway built into it so the people could go out into the wastes below them; it was also used to let any new boys into the commune but keep out the Renegs from the plains.

It appeared that those boys and men that were not bonded slept in one of three large halls; they were built from the trunks of small trees; the gaps in the walls filled with mud to stop any wind and sand from entering. The bred couples had their own small houses that were spread out in the trees, almost hidden from sight to give them some privacy; when a new boy was Bred he and his man were given a new house of their own to live in. Elios was impressed with the thought and leadership of the commune.

The next morning the boys rose to the fresh smell of more food; while eating he asked the leader if they knew of any bunkers although he described them as large caves with metal over the openings; much to his surprise, the leader told him of one strange cave about a days walk away; it was a huge cave that went back into the mountain and then ended in the blank metal wall; no one knew what it was and so had left it alone as something from the old days of the ancients; why the ancients had put a metal wall on a rock face they never considered; it was just there and that was that.

Elios asked if he could take a boy from the commune with them to show them the way; he promised to bring the boy back once they had looked at the cave. When asked how long they would be away, Elios told him they would be back before the afternoon sun had set as their vehicles could travel a lot faster than any man could walk; with a little reservation, the man finally agreed and called for a volunteer from the assembled boys; the leader was surprised at the reaction; ten boys jumped to their feet waving their arms and showing huge grins on their faces; the leader shook his head at the enthusiasm of some of his boys.

Turning to Elios he could only smile and shrug his shoulders at the reaction; Elios and his boys chuckled at the sight of so many boys wanting to experience the new things these boys from the wastes had with them; even the growling vehicles as they now knew them, could not scare them from a new adventure; it was the natural inquisitiveness of young boys taking over.

Elios pointed to one boy in the smiling crowd and gestured for him to join them at the table; after introducing himself as Mika; the boy sat down with the others and listened to what was wanted from him; he knew the large cave well as he had stayed in it when he came looking for the commune; he told Elios that the metal wall had once had some type of painting on it but it was now mostly faded and very hard to see; the cave went back into the mountain for quite a distance and when you got to the metal wall, the light from outside was very dim.

When asked how big the cave was; Mika tried to describe it but he had no real gauge of the size to compare with; from what Elios and the others could understand, the cave mouth was very large and oval in shape with a flat stone floor; it sounded much like the other bunkers and the boys were hopeful of finishing the quest that same day but; what the cave or bunker held was an unknown to them; there had been no description on Elios computer back at home bunker on what could be in the new one; the boys made to get ready for the next short leg of their journey.

The leader set out a new work order for the boys and men staying behind; the day would be filled with designing and making a large gateway up on the pass. Elios would leave six of his boys behind to act as guards for the working crew; the new palisade would be entirely of tree trunks and anchored to the wall of the mountain; it would then allow any of Elios or other vehicles to pass through; but be big and strong enough to keep out any Renegs that wanted to try and attack the commune as they had in the past.

With exact directions the boys made the opening to the bunker in only an hour and a half; their first sight of the cave convinced them they had found the opening to their new bunker. It was way bigger than they expected; it was a wonder that it had not been used by the Renegs as a home base; the convoy had no trouble driving right into the bunker and up to the metal wall; with the use of their vehicle lights; they saw what to them was an obvious doorway into the bunker itself.

Elios got out of his Humvee along with the boy Mika and walked to the doorway; looking around he soon found the control panel; it was covered in years of grime and almost unrecognisable but he soon wiped it clean with his shirt and proceeded to swipe his card and enter the code numbers; for a minute or two there was no response; then, deep under the floor he heard a low whine start up; his activation of the panel had somehow caused the power plant to activate and soon he heard the door start to lift up into the high ceiling above them; the boy Mika; jumped in surprise as he saw the metal wall begin to move; it was then his boyish inquisitiveness took over and he waited with Elios as the hole got bigger and bigger until the whole wall had disappeared into the roof; ahead of them was a long dark tunnel.

Using the lights from the vehicles; Elios stepped fearlessly into the tunnel and looked around for the panel he knew would be there; with a flick of the many switches on the panel; the tunnel began to light up as the power went into the glass tubes in the ceiling high above them; this bunker was even bigger than the last one. Elios tried to remember the words that were under the picture on the outside of the door.

The faded picture had been of a large bird; the colours were faded and hard to make out but the bird looked like one that would hunt for prey; the words under it were very hard to read and in some places total gone but Elios worked out that they read, US G VE MENT R PO ITO Y NO E T Y, none of the words made any sense but he knew that it was the bunker they were looking for.

The passage ahead of them went on for a long distance; it was clean and dry and had no dust or dirt in it; they left their vehicles parked at the entrance and, leaving two guards just in case they had visitors; the rest of the boys began the long slow walk down the long passage.

It was about 10 metres wide and the ceiling was also about 10 metres high; as they walked along they came to a side passage leading to the right; the sign above said US TREASURY it meant nothing to the boys so they kept moving; they would look at it later, the next side passage led off on the left; the sign read HISTORICAL LIBRARY this also meant nothing to the boys and so they continued to move on; the next passage was the one Elios had been looking for; ADMIN CONTROL this is what Elios wanted; turning down the passage he led the group down it until they came to a familiar glass door; using his card and code he led the boys into the control room and switched on the nearest computer.

For the next ten minutes Elios worked at the computer, he never noticed the awed look on the young boy Mika's face as the boy's head snapped left and right at all the ancient artifacts surrounding him; he was surprised that these boys looked as though it was all normal; to his eyes it was a magical place; he tried to watch what the boy Elios was doing but the boy's hands and fingers moved to fast for him to understand what was going on.

Elios looked for and found the details of the bunker system; it was even larger than any of the others but it did not seem to have the weapons rooms of the home bunkers; most of what he saw was almost meaningless to him. There were the usual common rooms with kitchen sleeping rooms and wash rooms; they were all on this level but all the others were down under the mountain on lower levels; each item had a different level and were very large areas. Elios printed a copy of the levels and then closed the computer; he would investigate them further after they took the boy Mika back to the valley.

Elios got up and they all returned once again to their vehicles; after leaving and closing the door again they returned to the valley. The reception was a little muted by the valley boys until they saw that Mika was safe and happy; he was soon in the middle of a throng of other boys retelling his adventure into the ancient's cave system and all the wondrous things he had seen there. Mika was an instant hero and he loved it; for the first time in his life he was the center of attention.

That evening Elios and the committee members sat and discussed what was to be done next. Elios passed on their plan to return to their bunker the next morning; they would leave eight boys to help defend the valley until they returned but would take ten of the valley boys with them to be trained in the ancient weapons. When they returned to investigate the new bunker more thoroughly; they would bring extra weapons for the rest of the valley along with the boys to train them all.

The committee agreed willingly to the plan and promised they would have the new gateway ready for them; once all the items had been finished with, they were given the same space again to sleep as well as another big feast of fresh meat and vegetables; with their bellies full, they went off to sleep. The next morning would see the start of their return home.

The convoy had left the pass behind; now that they did not have to stop and clear a passage through the rock falls, the trip was faster. Elios estimated they would be back home in two days; in the back of the truck; the new boys from the valley were perpetually trying to hang outside the back of the truck to watch the new lands pass by; after a short time; when all they saw was the endless wastes of arid sand; they settled down to the long trip, it was not long before the boredom of the travelling set in and they began to doze off in a light sleep; only the occasional bump or shudder of the truck waking them from time to time.

That night; while they were camped out; some of Elios boys began to describe to the new boys, what the weapons were and how to hold them; what to do to check if they were ready to fire and how to aim them, but the valley boys were too tired from the long day of travel and found it hard to take in everything they were being told; finally it was too much and they began to curl up and fall asleep.

The next day was much the same; the convoy moved forward at a reasonable pace and by nightfall they were only a few hours away from the home bunker. Elios decided to call another halt for the night; it had been a long trip and everyone was tired; it would not be good to travel during the night only to have an accident because they were too tired to be alert. The camp that night was subdued and everyone was glad to just curl up and go to sleep except the guards; it would only be a few hours to go in the morning and they could all rest properly; the valley boys were beginning to see that travelling in these ancient vehicles was not all fun and games; they were the first ones to fall asleep.

Mid morning of the next day found the convoy approaching the mouth of the bunker; the first thing Elios and the other boys noticed was the two Humvee's parked outside the open door; they were from the lower level and each had a single weapon mounted on the roof; they were parked one each side of the doorway. Further up the sand hill were four small stone walls evenly spaced just below the top of the ridge; two boys could be seen in each small pocket. Elam had created a new sentry system while they were gone.

From one of the Humvee's a boy stood up and waved at the returning convoy; Elios tooted the horn on his Humvee and continued to drive straight into the bunker followed by the rest of the convoy. Elam stood in the center of the garage waiting for his friends to return. Elios noticed that there were a lot more boys around than when they had left; he would have to ask Elam about them.

As the rumble of the engines died, Elios and the others got out and stretched their aching bodies; it had been a long drive and they were all ready for a soft bed and hot water shower as well as some private time with Mita. Usof and Elios had been too busy to have time with their man but, even as tired as they were; they were not going to miss out tonight.

The valley boys were soon paired off with some of the convoy boys and taken to the washing rooms; they would then be given a big meal and a place to sleep. Elios, Usof, Mita and Elam went to the common room to discuss the trip to the new bunker. It was four hours later before they had caught up on all the news and innovations that Elam had instituted; he now had boys in training to drive the other trucks; two of which were already carrying boys back from the home bunker. Along with two more drivers who were good in the Humvee's with the single weapon on the roof for escorts as well as the two outside guarding the door during the day. At night all the outer guards came inside as there was no way for any Renegs to enter in the dark.

At last it was all over; all the information had been exchanged, the valley boys were clean and well fed and were now settling down on the new soft beds. Elios and Usof were in the shower helping Mita to wash; although there was not a lot of washing going on. Their need for each other was too great and Mita's desire for both his Bred Boys knew no limits; by the time they went to their room to rest; both boys were well filled and slightly unsteady on their feet but they were happy. Mita had treated both of them equally and both boys felt full and well bred.

Over the next week or two there would have to be a lot of plans made for the search of the new bunker, the training of the valley boys as well as sorting out new equipment to be taken back to the people in the valley when they returned. Elios snuggled back into Mita's stomach; his man's large rod buried deeply inside him. Usof was curled up facing Elios; their smaller rods pressing against each other as their lips gently touched; it seemed only seconds before all three were asleep; Mita still buried deeply into his number one boy.

First light found all the boys standing outside the wide open doors; Elam was instructing one of the newly taught boys how to drive the large armoured vehicle with the huge weapon from the garage below ground. The new vehicle had not been easy to understand and Elam had spent long days with three other boys, trying to work out how it moved and operated; they now knew it was called a Tank from the instruction manual.

As the tank slowly manoeuvred from the depths of the elevator; Elios could plainly see the small scrapes on the paintwork; it was obvious that they had not been too successful in missing other vehicles in the lower garage, or the walls for that matter; even the elevator had paint marks on its walls.

With a loud revving of its huge motors; the tank slowly moved towards the open door; Elios could see the head of the driver poking through a small hatch at the front; he was the only boy that could be seen. The loud clanking sound of the tracks filled the top garage as the heavy smell of fuel filled the air; slowly the tank moved forward into the open air; the sound echoed down the still morning air of the empty valley.

As the group of boys watched in awe at the huge armoured tank; a small hatch opened on the top of the turret, as they now knew it was called; another boys head appeared and then his upper torso; with a big smile he waved down at the group of watching boys; the smile on his face was priceless.

Elios and the others walked around the tank inspecting the paint damage; here and there were thin narrow scratches in the metal where it had hit something just as hard as its armour and left a shallow gouge in the metal. Elam could only shake his head but the end result of long days of learning had been achieved; he had the first of the heavy weapons out of the bunker; all they had to do now was learn how to fully operate it.

As the boys returned to the common room to make plans, they heard the loud blast of sound of the tank moving out again; its deep throbbing motors were picking up and the clank of the tracks became softened as it drove out onto the sands of the valley; once at a table, Elam began to fill in all that had not been passed on the night before.

"We have 300 boys here now; some have come in from the wastes on their own and a lot more have come from the home bunker; the word seems to have spread really fast, they're coming in from everywhere; we've had no trouble from any Renegs but the scouts have seen a few watching the valley from far away. In another three weeks we'll have enough drivers for all the vehicles and everyone here has been doing training on all types of weapons."

Elam looked at the other three boys as he paused; when he saw they had taken in all he had said he continued.

"Elios; the boys you trained for those computer things have been able to keep in touch with home bunker; it's been easy to ask what they need from here and send it to them on the trucks; the trucks then come back with new boys so the numbers are growing fast; now tell me everything that happened on your search."

Elios again related their adventure but this time filling in all the small details; when he finished Elam looked thoughtfully at the ceiling as he digested all he had heard.

"It looks as though we will have to stop using the quads as scout units, it's too dangerous; losing one boy is one too many; let's keep the quad boys for bunker security, they can operate out of the bunkers as mobile guards. I think for longer trips and supply runs we should use the jeeps or Humvee's."

The other three boys nodded their agreement; Elam was in charge of all transport so they were willing to let him set it up as he thought fit.

"How is Elvan getting on back at home bunker?" Elios asked.

"He's good, Modou has gone back there with his two boys; he's taken over the instruction of the boys for fighting, he said they will soon have some specially trained boys as a scouting group; now what's in the new bunker? Are there any new weapons systems?"

"We haven't had a good look in there yet but I didn't see anything like what we have here; the biggest thing is the people in the valley; we have to do something to make them safe from attack. They're growing all sorts of fresh food and most of the boys and men seem to really enjoy doing just that; I don't think they like to fight too much. The boys that came back with us will help them to defend the valley when they are trained properly."

"How difficult is the track over the mountains?"

"It's not too bad but I think it needs some more clearing to make it easier for our trucks to move along it. I think we should take more boys back with us and clear as much as we can this time before going on to search the bunker; if the word gets out about our bunkers to other boys they might also come in and help us; sooner or later we will have to track down the main village of the Renegs and settle it for once and all but, for now I don't think we are strong enough."

Elam nodded his head at Elios summation of the situation; it was well known that the Renegs had been around for many years and their numbers were very large; until the boys had settled and formed good fighting units, they would have to try and avoid the hated Renegs. Now that they had the use and understanding of the ancient's weapons and tools they had a very distinct advantage; not knowing the true numbers of the Renegs could be dangerous; they would have to wait.

While they had been catching up on the news; Elam had put one of the small com devices on the table in front of them; suddenly it gave out a hiss and the young voice of the boy in the tank could be heard.

"Elam, we've had a run in the tank; this thing is fast even over really rough sand; we're about ready to try and fire the big gun; do you want to come and see?"

Elam picked up the com unit and replied.

"Yes, but wait a little bit, we'll come up and watch; did you check everything in the manual about the gun?"

"Yes, we've got it worked out according to the manual but these cartridges or shells; are damn heavy but the firing system is all ready to go."

"Ok we're on our way; did you pick out a target to fire at?"

"Yes we are aiming at a big rock down the valley; I've set the aiming system like the manual said but the rock seems a long way away; even one of our small weapons wouldn't reach it, are you sure the manual is right?"

"We can only follow what it says; how far is the rock from you now?"

"The aiming system says it is 3 km's from here; how far is 3 km's?"

Elam looked at Elios; he was the best at working out the new distance system from the ancients. Elam watched as Elios got out his small book and writing tool; moments later, Elios looked up with surprise on his young face.

"That's about as far as you can walk in 30 minutes in the new scale; that's a long way; is he sure the aiming system is right?"

"It must be; if he said he followed the manual then it must be right but it does seem a long way to be able to fire a weapon; let's go and watch what happens; it must be a mistake in the manual."

The four boys quickly got up and went outside; to their left and in the middle of the valley sat the threatening appearance of the painted tank; even though it was only 1 km away it was still difficult to see as its paint blended in with the surrounding sands and rocks. Elam spoke into his small com unit again and the group of boys watched and waited. Suddenly; from the end of the long cannon came a long spurt of flame and smoke; the resounding crash of the firing echoed hollowly around the valley as the sound wave swept over the sands.

Without realising it; the group of boys looked hopefully to the right; what they saw made them stiffen with amazement. Further away than they thought possible; a large cloud of sand was floating in the air; the shot had been so fast they had missed it landing and now only saw the end result; when the sand cleared, they could see nothing of the large rock that had been the chosen target; all they could see was the remnants of a smoking hole in the sand; as they looked back at their new weapon, they saw it was still rocking slightly on its tracks from the firing. Elam got onto his com unit quickly.

"Don't fire any more, we have to go and see what's been done; that thing is really deadly."

Elam turned to the other three boys.

"If we can train the other boys to use these tanks; we might have our answer to the bigger numbers of Renegs; these tanks are awesome. I'll have to bring up all the other transports from below so we can get boys trained on them; when are you going back to the new bunker?"

"I think two weeks; the valley boys have to be trained in weapons before we can go back; also we have to work out new ways to keep our convoys safe from attack. The Renegs will know all about us by now, they've seen what we can do so we will have to make new ways to fight them. I'm going to go back to the computers and see what I can find out about the ancient's way of fighting; we can then pass it on to Modou and the other teachers but these new tanks are going to give us a big edge when it comes to a fight; with the other eight wheelers with their fast firing weapons it should be great."

Elam nodded agreement at Elios' ideas; they had plenty of time and so it was better to use it to get everything ready for when the big day came that they could go in search of the Renegs main village. All the boys returned to the common room; the sight they had just witnessed had to be discussed in full; the power of the new tanks was a definite advantage to them now.

Two weeks had been a little short of the true time needed to train any new boys; it was closer to three weeks before Elios decided it was time to return to the newly found valley and bunker. The new return convoy was now made up of two armed Humvee's; two eight wheeler carriers and four trucks filled with boys and supplies as well as extra arms for the boys and men in the valley; they had trained the original valley boys in the ancient's weapons and they would pass on their knowledge to the others once they got home.

The return trip to the valley was made a little easier as they now had over a hundred boys with them in the trucks; the clearing of the old road was faster and more efficient and, three days after leaving the supply bunker they rolled up to the now mostly completed gateway into the valley.

The boys left behind to help guard the rebuilding could be seen higher up the side of the mountain keeping watch on the surrounding country side; as the convoy came up to the gate there were loud yells of greeting and cheers from the guard boys; the deep rumble of the heavier transport echoed throughout the valley below.

An hour later and everyone had had time to greet old friends and make new ones; the valley was now a hive of laughing boys and smiling men as the trucks were unloaded and the new items were distributed to the original valley owners. That evening the small village was a rowdy place as they all celebrated the return of the boys.

The next morning; after a long discussion about the new weapons and how they could be used to defend the community; Elios called out for the others to get ready to move onto the new bunker; now they had a solid direction to travel too, it would not take as long; the trucks were soon filled with boys and their weapons and the convoy left the security of the valley to reopen the new bunker.

Midmorning found the convoy parked outside the now open door of bunker#26; the eight wheelers were positioned to protect the entrance from any attacks that might come from out on the wastes or higher up in the mountains; the trucks entered the large passage and parked off to one side to allow the Humvee's to go further inside; they then turned around to face the entrance and parked off to the right hand side.

The group that followed Elios further into the passage numbered about twenty; he thought it would need that many just to look around the large facility; next he led them to the office room; there he again fired up one of his favourite computers and went back into the part about the lay out of the bunker and what he would need to open all the sealed areas.

The codes for each underground room were different to the one he had for the doorways; carefully he wrote them down in his now familiar book and began to look for the doorways; the first was the closest one down the short passage on the right; the one marked US TREASURY.

Going to the door pad; Elios entered the new access code; suddenly he heard the deep rumble that he knew meant that an elevator was rising up to meet them. It was only a short time later when the big doors drew back and showed a large empty elevator; it was not as big as the transport elevator back at the supply bunker but was still a lot larger than any personnel elevator he had so far seen. Even with all the boys crowded into the large space, there was still room too spare.

Elios pushed the single button and they began to descend into the depths of the mountain; a full minute later and they came to a halt; the doors slowly hissed open and the boys were met with another long passage; this one however had a number of metal barred gates along the side walls.

Stopping at the first gate, Elios looked into the room; all he could see was another room; it was empty apart from another of the ancient's strange transports although this one was quite small and stood against one wall which was made of shining metal. The floor was of what they now knew was called, concrete; from the machine ran a thick black cable to an attachment on the wall; it was square and had two arms of metal poking out of the front; there was only space on the machine to stand and the top was open and only about the same height as a short man.

Elios punched in the code for the gate and went in to look at the rest of the room; all the walls were bare except for the back wall, there it had a large metal door; easily higher than a man and wide enough for three boys to walk through side by side; on the front of the door was a large wheel and two small pads, one on each side of the wheel. Elios checked his note book and then, one after the other; punched in the code numbers.

When the last number was entered, he heard the distinct loud click of the inner locks release; again checking the book he then asked one of the bigger boys to turn the large wheel; much to their surprise the wheel spun easily and then; with a hard pull on the door, it silently and smoothly swung open; as the door swung open, Elios showed surprise and a little disappointment.

Elios looked again at the now open room; it also was lined in the shiny metal but all he could see inside was row upon row of the wud platforms; each stacked two high and filling the whole room; each platform was covered in the now familiar plastic cover that the ancients favoured so much for everything they made; through the clear plastic cover, Elios could see nothing but small packets of paper all tightly bound together.

The only empty space in the room was close to the door where there was room for five or six boys to stand; taking out his combat knife, Elios carefully slit one of the plastic covers nearby; with a little tugging he finally removed one of the small packets of paper. Elios carefully turned it over in his hands; it didn't seem like much and he had no idea why the ancients would protect small bundles of paper in such a manner.

Elios broke open the tightly compressed packet; inside was nothing more than a lot of small oblong pieces of white paper with green writing and pictures on them. Elios carefully read the words and numbers on the small piece of paper; first was a funny S sign with a line drawn through it and the words that spelt out DOLLARS and the number for 100 there was the small drawing of a man's head in the center of the paper and a lot of funny unfamiliar designs all over the rest as well as a mixture of numbers and letters in small print in one corner.

Elios turned the piece of paper over and looked at the other side; it was different and a little plainer but Elios could still not make out what it was used for; he was going to count the number of paper pieces but looked at the packet in his hand; finally he decided it must have been something the ancients needed but for the life of him he could not see any reason to protect it in such a way.

Elios dropped the bundle on the floor and, along with the other boys; left the first room, a little disappointment showing on his face; why would the ancients think a bundle of paper would be so valuable that it had to be stored with such security; he shrugged his shoulders and returned to the passage, they still had a lot of other rooms to check; he hoped they were not all filled with useless paper packets.

The next room revealed another room full of paper as did the next three rooms. Elios was beginning to feel a little disappointed in this bunker; it was the sixth door that revealed a change; this room was protected just the same as the others but the contents were far different; as Elios looked inside he again could see no reason for all the security.

This room was even bigger than the last five; it was stacked wall to wall and floor to ceiling with small blocks of yellow metal; they looked much like the small red blocks the ancients used to build walls and houses with but these were metal; he reached out a hand to lift one, it didn't move; he then used both hands and was shocked when he almost dropped the block of metal as he felt the weight of it in his small hands.

Was this a secret metal? Elios had no idea what would the ancients make with it; was it special armour for their weapons? Elios couldn't hold it any longer so he dropped it on the floor; it made a dull thud as it hit; taking out his combat knife again he knelt down and tried to cut the metal block; to his surprise it seemed very soft; he cut a thin shaving from the block and looked closely at it; his young face screwed up in thought while the other boys laughingly tried to lift more blocks than each other; only one of the larger and stronger boys could lift three of the blocks; this feat brought a few riballed remarks about how he got so strong.

Elios inspected the thin shaving; again it was one of those ancient secrets and again he could see no reason for the security just to store yellow metal blocks; the ancients sure had some funny ways. Elios called the boys and they went through the rest of the rooms; all the remaining nine rooms held the same stacks of yellow blocks.

At the end of the passage, Elios could only shrug his shoulders at the strangeness of the ancients and turned to leave the place; there was nothing down here for them, he would have to go onto the next passage. Leading the way Elios took the boys back to the surface; exiting the lift he went down to the left hand passage marked HISTORICAL LIBRARY.

Taking the now familiar elevator down; the group of boys got one of the biggest surprises so far; as the doors hissed open they were met with the sight of one of the biggest rooms they had ever seen; down the center of the room was a long row of small metal tables; in the centre of the table was a strange raised triangle of metal and on each side was a plastic covered thick chair; the air smelled slightly musty but was free of any dust.

To each side of the tables was the biggest surprise; for stretching the whole length and breadth of the room were tall shelves filled with plastic covered blocks that Elios knew were called books. Their booted feet echoed throughout the room it was so large; going to one of the plastic covered chairs, Elios poked it with his finger; unlike the chairs in the common rooms, these ones were soft and there was a faint odour of animal skin when you got close to them; he then felt the chair turn a little under his hand; with childish glee he pushed the chair harder only to jump back and laugh as he watched it run across the floor on small wheels; it spun around until it finally came to a rest against one of the tall metal shelves with a soft clunk sound.

Elios looked up at the tall shelves with awe; each one was marked with the name of the type of books on it; they were about half a metre wide and went on for a good fifty metres until it met the end of the wall; it was as tall as three boys standing on each others shoulders and was marked off with another shelf each about three hands high; on these shelves were neatly stacked row after row of books, each in its own plastic cover.

Elios looked down the length of the room it must have been at least 200 metres long; this must be all of the ancient's knowledge. Elios didn't think he could live long enough to be able to read every book in this room; something in the center of the room caught his wandering eye. It was a small metal stand set all by itself; it had a thick glass top and, as he got closer to it he could see a large piece of old paper laid out inside; it was a little worn and looked very, very old; he spelled out the thick black letters on the top; it was a funny writing he hadn't seen before.

CONSTITUTION of THE UNITED STATES of AMERICA

Elios could not decipher all the small writing underneath as it was faded and too hard to read; there were also many words he had never seen before; he knew though, that the paper must have been something special to the ancients to be kept in its own protective glass box.

Elios turned and looked at the other boys; four of them had left the group and were beginning to wander along the rows of shelves; tracing as they went, with their fingers on the backs of the books; a look at their young faces showed they were enthralled with what was under their hands.

Elios called all the boys back to the middle of the room; he was ready to go and look for something more useful to their needs; one of the four boys looked at Elios; finally he asked Elios a question that had been burning in his head ever since he had walked into the huge room.

"Elios; can we learn to read all these books?"

Elios looked at the expectant faces of the four boys; he could see in their young faces a certain yearning for something hidden in the books; it suddenly hit him that while they had been so busy travelling and teaching the boys to use weapons; most of them did not get the extra learning that the first boys had had when they had found the first bunker.

Elios looked at the four again but this time he had a new understanding of what had to be done for those who wanted it.

"Of course you can learn to read them; but why? Why do you need to read them?"

"We don't know, it's; well it's just what we want to do; can we learn to read, do you know how to do it?"

"Yes; I can read most of the simple things. I learnt from the computer although some words make no sense at all but I can teach you if you really want too."

"Yes please; when? Can you teach us now? We really want to look into these book things."

"Not now; we have to look at the other rooms first and it takes a lot longer than you think to learn all the words. I'll have to look in one of the computers to see if it can teach you; they have everything else in them so they must have learning things as well."

The boys looked disappointed that they could not start straight away but Elios was the leader and they would have to wait until he could show them what to do; The excitement of what was hidden in all these new book things was almost overpowering; they could hardly contain their excitement but did as they were asked and followed their leader out of the room and back to the elevator.

The next and last passage led to something called the MUSEUM of NATURAL HISTORY this meant nothing at all to Elios but it was becoming evident that this was a special place for the ancients; although it held nothing of real value to their survival in the harsh and barren world they now knew. After the last floor was seen Elios knew he would have to spend some hours on one of the computers to find something for the boys to learn from; it was one more thing to do before he could get some rest for the night.

The last elevator went into the mountain like both the ones before but this one went deeper and; when the doors hissed open; all the boys just stood and stared; right in front of their eyes was the biggest animal they had ever seen; it was all made from old white bones. Its head was a massive piece of solid bone with big sharp teeth that were bigger than any boys hand; the body was long and ended in the long tail; it had only two big thick legs to stand on and two funny small arms but the sheer size of the bone animal projected fear in the boys; slowly they stepped forward into the huge room.

Looking around the boys saw that a great many more smaller passages led off the first one; each had a large sign with a name on it; the rest of the first room was filled with more bone animals of all shapes and sizes; some even looked as though they could fly as big as they were; this was a room of magical animals; there was nothing of this size in the real world and the boys began to think that it was some fantasy room of the ancients.

Again Elios was disappointed in what they had found; there was nothing really here to help in their preparations to fight the Renegs; as far as he could work out, this whole bunker system was made for some type of learning or just plain storage area. Elios shook his head, the ancients sure had funny ways, he thought to himself.

At last they returned to the main passage; it had taken them the best part of the day to search the rooms and they were hungry and tired. The guards outside had been brought back inside and the main doors closed by Mita. In the common room a meal was being made ready as the searchers walked in. Elios went to the table where Mita and Usof sat waiting for him. Elios began to tell them about their search.

Just as he finished his report, one of the boys put a large tray of hot food on the table and left them to talk and eat; the hubbub in the room was only occasionally quietened when a mouth was begin filled with the hot food but the new finds were quickly being discussed by all the boys; most were disappointed about not finding new and bigger weapons or transports but a small number of boys were showing real enthusiasm about some of the finds.

On this level of the bunker were all the rooms needed for living and all the things for their immediate survival. Elios suggested that they stay for a few weeks and then look for the next bunker; they could leave a number of boys here to guard it and for those who wanted to investigate the strangeness of the ancients; it would give him time to have the boys that wanted to learn to read, to be taught; if he could find a teaching program on the computer.

The discussions went on long into the night; some boys excited by the new discovery, others more interested in moving on to find a bunker that had more valuable items for their survival. Mita called a halt to the late night chatter and told all the boys it was best to rest for now and tomorrow they could begin to get ready for the next search; for now it was time to rest and thoroughly search every room and passage in the bunker.

When he arose next morning; Elios went straight to the main control room and switched on the main computer; for the next four hours, Elios searched through the massive amount of information stored in the machine; by midday he had found the programs he wanted; it had been a real challenge to his limited knowledge but with persistence he had finally tracked down what he needed.

The program was called EDUCATION and there were pages and pages of listings for what was available; he had, had to go back and forth to work out what most of the words meant; such as, Grade Level, Alphabet, Mathematics, Writing, Reading, Grammar and many others but at last he now had the programs he needed for the boys that wanted to learn.

Elios returned to the common room and looked for the four boys that wanted to learn to read; he was surprised when he found out that the number had now increased to ten; after a short meal he took the boys back to the control room and sat them each at a separate monitor; he then spent the best part of two hours showing the boys what to do and how to find the programs they would need; no sooner had the boys worked out what was needed, they became engrossed in the screens before them.

As Elios was about to leave them alone to learn; one of the boys called out for him. Elios went over to the boy and looked over his shoulder as the boy pointed to a small figure on the screen.

It was at the bottom of the open alphabet page; it looked like a small dish on its side; it had three small wavy lines coming from the middle of it.

"What's this do, Elios?"

"I don't know, I haven't noticed it before."

Elios took the small round plastic disc called a mouse and laying the arrow point on the small dish as he had done many times before; he clicked the side button, immediately the sound of a man's voice came from somewhere in the screen.

"Click on the first letter of the alphabet and follow the sound for the correct pronunciation."

Both boys almost jumped out of their skin as the voice seemed to be talking directly too them; with a shaky hand, Elios clicked on the large A on the screen; the voice then said the sound of the letter; the boy beside Elios repeated the sound and then went on to the next letter as he excitedly called for the other boys to do the same; soon the room was filled with mechanical voices leading those of the younger boys as they repeated their letters; Elios left the increasing noisy room and went back to where Mita and Usof waited in the common room; it would be some time before the boys would want to leave their new toys.

For the rest of the day the small group of ten boys was not seen again except when they all ran in to find something to eat and then disappear again; the next morning found them still sitting at the screens; some were bleary eyed but still listened to the computer voices; others had their heads on their arms and were asleep in their chairs; not one of them had left the new toys; the computers were now reading out full sentences and the boys were following with their fingers on the screen as the words were said.

Mita called out for the boys to stop; they all needed a good rest or they would learn and remember nothing; with a few moans and groans, the boys finally gave in; helping to wake and half carry those that had fallen asleep; they all groggily went to find a bed; it was only six hours later and they were all back at their computer screens. Elios and Mita could only shake their heads and go about their own business; that of finding the next bunker.

Going up to the head office above the learning boys; Elios closed the door to keep the sound out and switched on the computer. Carefully searching he found the line he wanted to make contact with the boys he had left behind in home bunker and supply bunker; having determined which would be the next bunker; Elios set about asking for the supplies that would be needed and any extra boys that wanted to travel with them; the next bunker was a long way away; it could take them over two weeks to get there if they could follow any of the old roads and did not fall into trouble along the way.

Ten days passed before they had all the supplies they would need; the convoy would be larger than any others had been and this worried Elios as there had been a number of sightings of Renegs gangs riding out on the wastes; their many dust clouds could be seen by the guards outside; not one of the gangs came too close but they could still see that the boys were there. Sometimes it was not uncommon to see two or three groups of the Renegs sitting far out on top of the cliffs watching the boys below but as yet they had made no attempt to come closer. Mita was a little worried about the number of them.

Elam reported that he now had enough older boys that could drive all of the heavy trucks and tanks; they had been practicing out in the valley and all vehicles could now be fully manned and operated. Elios suggested that he start to make up patrols and begin the search for the Renegs main village on that side of the mountains but that the boys should be very careful about making contact with any of the Reneg gangs. Elam agreed and said he would give them instructions to look and not attack; if they were attacked they had to try to escape before they stopped to fight.

Next Elios set about making up the convoy for the next search; there would be two eight wheelers that they now knew were called Strykers these were well armoured and had speed and strength; the boys had come to love them for their security although they were very hot to stay inside of when moving.

Next came four Humvee's; three jeeps; four trucks and one of the large fuel tankers. There would also be thirty boys as guards and drivers; this was going to be a long search and they would need the numbers for safety and to cover more ground. Elios made lists of food, weapons, ammunition and all the other things he thought they might need; all of these would have to be carried to them from the supply bunker over the pass of the mountains; this time they would have every boy equipped with a communication set; these little tools had now become a very important part of the guards gear and, for the long distance travel they would keep everyone in contact.

In Mita's Stryker there would be a very strong com set so they could talk to the supply bunker from a long distance away in case they needed anything extra as they moved; the preparations for the next search had become a very time consuming act. Elios began to realise how much work would be needed each time they went on a search this big; he saved all the lists on the computer so he would not have to work so hard next time.

On the tenth day of preparing; Elios was told that the final vehicle, the tanker; had just arrived; they were now ready to leave for the next bunker. The ten boys who had decided they wanted to stay in the third bunker and investigate the book room; were now well on their way to being excellent readers and all of them could now write with a reasonable ability; the other boys gave these ten the nick name of 'worms' as they liked to stay deep in the bunker and had no real interest in going outside just like a worm liked to stay under the ground all the time.

At last they were ready for the next search. Elios looked again at the map on the large glass table in the control room; the place he had marked out was called; Salt Lake City in ancient times but now he wondered if any of it still stood. By the old map it looked as though it had once been quite large; the bunker was positioned some distance away from where the Salt Lake City was said to be but he thought he might go for a look at the old place if they had time.

After a good nights sleep for all the searchers; the next morning was shattered by the sound of fourteen vehicles warming up; the shouts and yells as the thirty three boys found their places in the convoy until at last they were ready. Elios looked back from his place in the seat of his Humvee; with him were three of the boys fully armed and watching alertly; behind Elios was the first of the Stryker the other would be driven by Mita and would be the last vehicle in the convoy so their rear was protected.

The jeeps were spread along the side of the convoy and would take up patrol positions when they were out on the wastes; the trucks and the tanker would stay in the center so they could be properly protected. From the door of the bunker, the light guard left behind watched as the convoy sent up a plume of dust as it drove away from them; some of the remaining boys looked a little sad at not going on this new adventure but they all knew that someone had to stay and protect each new bunker as it was found.

For the rest of the first day; Elios watched as they were shadowed by Renegs who stayed well out of range; or so they thought. Elios and Mita had decided that they would ignore the Renegs as long as they came no closer; for their first night they found a very secure and safe gully to stay in; if any Renegs tried to attack them they could only come in from the narrow entrance and would be easily seen and dealt with.

For another day they travelled in the direction laid out on the map in Elios Humvee; as they began to leave the flatness of the sand wastes; the country became rougher and harder to travel. As they moved, Elios found he was having to make adjustments to their directions; their direction became a large zigzag as they found more and more ravines and high hills in their path. On their third morning; Elios took out his map and studied it with all his might; there was no relationship nowadays to any of the original roads of the ancient's maps; everything had changed and it was more difficult to find a way through the rough ground.

Elios could now see that they had a long and hard trip ahead of them; his first estimate of ten days looked more likely to be fifteen or twenty; he had no worries about their supplies as they had always taken more than enough with them on every search. If the convoy needed to travel for twenty days they still had a little to spare to find the bunker; only the food and water would run a little short but the boys were well used to going long periods without either in emergencies.

Elios set in the new headings for the morning or until they came to another barrier; their cover guard of Renegs still kept well out of their way but tagged along watching the procession as it wound its way through the rough terrain; it looked as though they were not going to attack and were only watching to see what the boys were going to do; the convoy guards kept a close watch on the far off gangs.

Just as they were about to stop for the night of the third day; the convoy came to the edge of a low escarpment; below then stretched a large sand waste that went on for as far as they could see; it was unbroken except for the occassional small rise and jumble of rocks. Both Elios and Mita looked out at the barrenness of the way ahead; they would have to make a plan for the defences each night when they stopped.

It was Usof that came up with the ideal plan for their protection; they had all the equipment for night travel so he suggested they travel mainly at night and rested part of the day when they had good vision to spy out any Renegs; during the night the Renegs would be handicapped by the darkness but the convoy had both its lights and the special glasses that their own drivers could wear to see in the night.

The plan sounded good to both Elios and Mita so they decided to stay where they were for this night and then start the new plan the next day; they would travel only half the day and then stop to rest; as the sun sank in the evening they would start to travel again; while the land was flat and featureless and the Renegs would be able to follow; the extra speed of the vehicles would put a long distance between them and would make it safer when they stopped. Elios maps showed the vast sand wastes went on for a great distance so he had no need to worry for at least three days before they would come to some bad country again.

That night they put on extra speed and soon lost any sight of the following Renegs; the wastes were flat and safe to put the speed up to high and the convoy sped off into the darkness; the following Renegs had no chance of keeping up the pace and quickly fell behind; their decision had paid off; they were at last alone and on their way to another new find. What lay ahead of them they didn't know but, any new adventure was always exciting and the boys had no doubt they would have a lot of excitement in the future.

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