Chapter 257: Hollowreach.

"Oh crap!" Lee cursed after the rift closed behind him.For a split moment the trauma from the time he spent in Ashland resurfaced seeing the endless fields of gray around him. There wasn’t even a stalk of grass, to not speak of trees, but the ground wasn’t as powdery, and there were countless rocks of different sizes littered around.

The air was similarly dry, but there were dark clouds above his head, creating the illusion of approaching night. Frequent lighting discharges indicated a storm was brewing, but not a droplet had fallen yet, and Lee wasn’t sure he wanted to experience a heavy rain in this place.

Glancing around, he realized that despite his spatial treasures being filled with supplies, he was unlikely to last three months in this place. He could starve for a week or two if needed, but the potential lack of water source was scary.

On the other hand, if there was a rain a couple of times a month, he would probably survive if he could find a way to gather rainwater. For that, though, he probably needed to get to a human settlement first.

Before picking a random direction to go, Lee began to create a pile of rocks, marking the spot he had to return in ninety days. For now he had no clue how he would find the place, but at least he had to make sure there was a chance.

Lee was almost done when a familiar, but long forgotten sound caught his attention. Besides the wind whistling past his ears, he hadn’t heard anything since his arrival but this ...

Whooooooo!

The distant sound was much closer the second time, and glancing to his left, Lee couldn’t believe his eyes. From far in the distance, probably a couple of miles away, he saw a tiny black speck approaching. A steady stream of white smoke puffed up from it, drifting away in the wind.

Lee pinched himself, but he was so used to pain he barely noticed the action. Then he got a better idea – he quickly climbed the rock pile he just created to have a better look.

’No way!’

Lee was thrilled at the sight.

Initially his mood had dropped to the lowest possible fearing he’ll have another Ashland experience, but the rapidly approaching train clearly indicated he had landed in a civilized world!

Earlier he didn’t notice the tracks – maybe a hundred, a hundred fifty yards away. With the wind blowing constantly, sand had drifted over them, nearly burying the rails. One had to know what to look for to spot them at all.

Now when Lee saw the train, he almost felt like home. Obviously he wasn’t back on Earth – it didn’t have any place that looked like this. Besides, Simone was an expert, and knew Lee had to go to Hollowreach. Be as it may, seeing the train, to Lee the place didn’t look that hollow anymore.

’When was the last time I tried to catch a train?’ Lee laughed to himself, and dashed towards the tracks. The train was rapidly approaching, but he had this challenge in mind to test whether he was quick enough to jump on it in while it was on the move.

Whooooooo! Whooooooo!

’Don’t you worry! I’m ready!’ Lee happily thought, when the train engineer blow the whistle again.

Clearly this was only a steam train – the civilization wasn’t as developed as the one Lee had once known. Still, he was full of expectations. He wasn’t much of a historian, but he looked forward to see the first motorcycles, cars, or maybe even planes. If this world followed a path that was anything like Earth’s, it was about to experience an exciting couple of centuries.

Whooooooo! Whooooooo!

’What the fuck is wrong with you?’ Lee cursed to himself.

While he did want to ride a train, the idea of constant train whistle hurting his ears spoiled the mood. No wonder overlord Seris enjoyed to live in the middle of nowhere. This was annoying.

’Wait!’ Lee froze.

Less than a hundred yards away, right on the tracks, there was something, or rather – someone. It was surely a person, maybe only a dead body, but if the train was to hit it, there would surely be nothing left of it!

’Fuck!’ Lee cursed, and dashed towards the train that was at most two hundred yards away.

Seeing he wasn’t going to make it, Lee threw the caution to the wind, literally. He was already using wind element, but now he added fire. Utilizing two elements at the same time, his speed exploded as he dashed over the rails, pulling the motionless body along. It turned out to not be that heavy, and Lee managed to get off the rails before the train hit them.

The train rushed by behind him, but Lee didn’t manage to throw a look its way, stumbling on a rock, and rolling to the ground. He was dirty, his eyes were watering and he was coughing from the sand that got in his nose and mouth, but so was the person he just saved.

Fortunately, Lee hadn’t lost his other senses yet, and by touch realized that the fragile body in his arms belonged to a female. He awkwardly let her go, and sat up, and wiping his face with his sleeve.

"Are you alright?" He asked. The earlier sprint stirred up a turmoil in his Dantian, and now he could barely breathe from the pain.

She was still coughing when he spoke, but then froze and looked back at Lee with dark blue eyes, almost black. They were swollen and red from crying, and it was obvious she had suffered for some time. Unexpectedly, instead of thanking her savior, she jumped at him like a wild cat and began to hammer Lee’s head with both fists at the same time.

"Bastard! Idiot! Who told you to save me!" She screamed, "I want to die! Die! You hear me!"

Her attack was so sudden, Lee didn’t manage to dodge the first hit. She was either swinging a rock or something like it, and it struck his forehead hard enough to break the skin. Blood was now pouring down his face, obstructing vision, but Lee didn’t need to see to be able to grab her and throw away.

"What a bad luck!" He mumbled under his nose, "From one crazy bitch to another!"

The woman kept cursing him, but apparently realized she couldn’t overpower him, so didn’t attack again. Nevertheless, Lee was annoyed with the welcome the Hollowreach world had given him. Ugly scenery, bad air, and a screaming lunatic. It was almost as if it couldn’t get any worse.