There were murmurs of “where are we” and “what’s happening” and “how do we get back” among the sea of humanity that moved up the hillscape towards, God Knows Where. Bill Stronarck and Conrad Reyes scrambled at the head of the exodus following the oddly tall man, their flesh now at a full itch from the downpour.
“This way,” said the tall man, “We will take refuge in the caves,”
“Caves?” Bill asked, “Do you not have buildings here?”
“Buildings? Yes,” the man was matter-of-fact, “But not for us. Not for the Surrogates,”
“Surrogates what?” this from Reyes.
“You have many questions for such short people,” said the man, “all will be answered in time. We must get to the caves out of the rain. The rain is not friendly to the short types!”
Bill and Conrad shared perplexed looks, but followed the rest of the journey in silence, with hundreds in tow.
“Please,” the tall one said, “Enter the cave,” he smiled and nodded, “It is safe.”
“Is it big enough for everyone?”
“Of course, Varresh is below”
“Varresh?”
“The city!”