1269_UgliesFreeBook

UGLIES 343
back. If we haven’t, the process will just start all over
again.”
They reached a Rusty city around daybreak, a cluster of
unremarkable buildings stranded on the sea of sand.
The desert had invaded over the centuries, dunes flowing
through the streets like water, but the buildings were in
better shape than other ruins Tally had seen. Sand wore
away the edges of things, but it didn’t tear them down as
hungrily as rain and vegetation.
Neither of them was tired yet, but they couldn’t travel
during the day; the desert offered no protection from the
sun, nor any concealment from the air. They camped in the
second floor of a low factory building that still had most of
its roof. Ancient machines, each as big as a hovercar, stood
silent around them.
“What was this place?” Tally asked.
“I think they made newspapers here,” David said.
“Like books, but you threw them away and got a new one
every day.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Not at all. And you thought we wasted trees in the
Smoke!”
Tally found a patch of sun shining through where the
roof had collapsed, and unfolded the hoverboards to
recharge. David pulled out two packets of EggSal.
“Will we make it out of the desert tonight?” she asked,