22
Steven had no way of accurately telling the time now. It left him feeling strangely helpless and out of step with everyone else, uncomfortably disconnected from the rest of the world. The largely downward slope here enabled him to make steady progress in the fading light and he forced himself to try and keep up a decent pace in spite of the toll it would inevitably take on his dehydrated body.
The residual glow of the sinking sun on the horizon gave way to the light from frequent untended fires all around. The dancing flames gave the arid landscape a distinctly alien appearance. Barren, devoid of almost all colour, it truly looked like nowhere on Earth now, reminiscent of photographs beamed back from robots on Mars. But it was the unending stillness which disturbed him more than anyth
