I didn’t tell my mother precisely what I had seen, mainly because the image of that woman with the staring eyes lying in that bed was not one I wanted to call to memory. Every time I thought about it an unpleasant shudder went down my spine, so I resolved to think about it as little as possible. I simply informed her as soon as I saw her again of my desire to leave the Hollow City at the earliest available opportunity. She seemed surprised at my sudden decision, but accepted it without prying as to what had caused it. She told me that as soon as we could get the car back in order we’d leave and find somewhere else to settle down.

Unfortunately, this left us in much the same position we had been before. We were still stuck in the middle of the desert and the tires for our vehicle were still in the hands of the Black Talon, a group we knew little about and from what little we knew seemed to be very dangerous. I didn’t have even the slightest clue what we might do to get them back. My mother didn’t have any idea either, so she suggested that we discuss the matter with Mr. Evanson. I agreed that this would probably be the best course of action, so after asking a few of the Red Crest members where he was, we managed to track down his room.

“Come on in, it’s open!” he yelled when we knocked on the door.

“Sorry to bother you,” my mother said as she opened the door, “but Aston and I need some help.”

“Well, you’ve come to the right place! I’m always happy to help with whatever I can! What is it you need?”

Mr Evanson was sitting on an office chair at a desk. He had a book open in front of him, which looked to be some kind of crime novel. It also looked to have a good bit of age on it. I supposed there must be a library somewhere in the city that held books from way back when it was constructed. This city was one big time capsule, and I was almost intrigued enough that I wished I could stick around and explore some more. Still, the memory of what Kyler had shown me haunted me, and I knew I had to get out of here no matter how much curiosity nagged at me.

“Mr. Evanson, Asher and I very much appreciate all the wonderful hospitality you’ve shown us, but we’ve decided that life in this city isn’t what we were meant for. We’d like to know what our options are for getting out of here without having to walk through the desert.”

“Well, I’m certainly sorry to hear that, but I understand that living here isn’t for everybody. Still, when it comes to getting across the desert the options are very limited. Let me think…” He leaned back and looked up towards the ceiling, scratching his chin and trying to think. He muttered words that I couldn’t hear to himself as he tried to think through what the list of possibilities might be. Then he pulled a calendar out of his desk, flipped through a few pages, then put it back. Finally, he turned back to us and fixed us with a look of deliberate neutrality, like a doctor about to give a bad diagnosis. “The way I see it you have three ways of doing this. One is to go on foot, which I know you’re not interested in. The second option involves the merchant.”

“The merchant? What merchant?” My mother asked.

“Every year a merchant comes through here and stocks us up on things we can’t make for ourselves, such as decent clothing. He’s a friendly guy and he has a pretty large vehicle, so I’m sure he’d be willing to take you two on his return trip.”

“That sounds good! How long until he shows up?” My mother asked.

“He won’t be back for another seven and a half months.” Mr. Evanson told her.

My mother shook her head. “That’s way too long. What’s the third option?”

“The third option is that we get the tires to your car back from the Black Talon and you drive that out of here.”

“How would we do that?” My mother asked.

“There’s only one way to get something you want from another group that’s unwilling to give it to you here in the Hollow City.” Mr. Evanson said, “And that’s by defeating them in a skylining competition.”

“Skylining? I’ve heard that word several times now, but I’m still not really sure how it works,” my mother admitted.

“It’s pretty simple really. If another group has something that we want, we can issue them a challenge and demand that they stake it on a race. Then, if we also have something that they want, they will accept on the grounds that we stake that thing in return. Our two five-man teams will then have a skylining race and the winner gets to keep the pot.”

“So this plan only works if you win the race, then. Do you think your team can outrace the Black Talon?” My mother asked.

“I think we’ve got a decent shot at it, although It’s never a sure thing. I won’t lie and tell you that the Black Talon skyliners are pushovers. Our boys have beat them before, though, and they can do it again.”

“Alright, then how do we get them to stake the tires?”

“That’s the easy part,” Mr. Evanson explained, “The Red Crest and the Black Talon have already been primed to race for a while. We’ve had various disagreements with each other, the politics of which I won’t bore you with, and I’m expecting them to issue us a challenge any day now. It should be easy to tack the return of your tires on to our terms, and if we win the Hollow City code will force them to give them back to you.”

“And they’ll follow the code?” my mother didn’t seem convinced

“The Black Talon may be rough around the edges, but nobody breaks the code. It’s the ultimate taboo around here. If we win they will comply with our demands, no doubt about it.”

“I guess I’ll take your word for it.” my mother conceded, “So if getting them to agree is the easy part, what’s the hard part?”

“Well, winning the race is, as I said, never a sure thing. There is one more little issue, however, that needs to be addressed.”

“And what’s that?”

“The code does not allow us to run on behalf of anyone who is not a part of our group. As long as you are unaffiliated with us, we aren’t allowed to add your tires to our terms” Mr. Evanson explained.

“What? Why not?”

“It’s a rule that was put in place in order to prevent groups with weaker teams cutting deals with other groups who have stronger teams to race on their behalf.” Mr. Evanson said, “The whole point of skylining is that the groups are supposed to represent themselves, and therefore it is illegal for us to run for anything that could be reasonably construed as a direct benefit to someone who isn’t in the Red Crest.”

“But then that’s a catch twenty-two!” my mother exclaimed in frustration. “To get what we need to leave the hollow city we have to join one of the squatter groups and stay here!”

“Now hold on a minute, it’s not that bad,” Mr. Evanson reassured her, “being part of a squatter group isn’t like being in a gang. You’re allowed to leave whenever you want. What we could do is this: You and your boy become officially recognized as members of the Red Crest, we add your tires to the terms of our next race with the Black Talon, and then if we win you can be on your merry way. The only thing you really risk here is that if we lose and you have to stay in the Hollow City for a while longer it will be difficult for you to join a different group.”

My mother considered this for a moment, and then looked over at me. I shrugged. What Mr. Evanson was proposing seemed like the best option available to us right now. Finally, my mother turned back to Mr. Evanson and slowly inclined her head.

“Alright, we’ll give it a try.”

“Excellent!” Mr. Evanson exclaimed. “I’ll arrange for the council to be made aware of your decision and in a couple of days we’ll make it all official. Welcome to the Red Crest you two!”

He got up and shook both of our hands as though he was meeting us for the first time all over again. A bright, contagious smile beamed on his face, and my mother’s trepidation seemed to vanish instantly. This really did seem to be a good deal. If we could get what we needed to repair the car with very little risk to ourselves, then what was there to be worried about? Still, after we had both thanked Mr. Evanson and walked out of his office I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had just signed my soul away. I thought through what Mr. Evanson had said, trying to figure out what the catch might be. Unless he was blatantly lying, however, I didn’t see any real downside to joining a group that we could walk away from whenever we wanted. I pushed my nagging doubts to the back of my mind and decided not to think about them further.