A/N: Shout out to my anonymous reviewer! A little more info coming this chapter. Thanks! :)
Chapter 29
Fiyero had wanted to call in the cavalry but Elphaba had stopped him. If the note found on Morel had been meant for the day they bodies were found, they were too late. They'd find an empty building and pulled troops away from protecting the Palace and those inside.
The building was huge though, so she suggested they take a small contingent of men that could split up and cover the whole building. Fiyero agreed that at least five men and perhaps a Falcon would be a good idea. The Falcon could be sent back to the Palace in case they needed backup.
"Together again, I see," Private Roth chuckled as they all mounted their horses. Elphaba smirked at the young man while Fiyero's attention was on Aziz, the stable hand.
"How's your mother doing?" He asked the young man.
"Much better sir. The doctor gave her some medicine and she's almost back to normal," Aziz smiled.
"Excellent to hear," Fiyero smiled back. They were then surprised by Boq, who poked his head in the stable.
"Boq, I thought you were keeping the Councilman safe along with Mopsi and Popsi," Elphaba immediately grew concerned.
"We brought him to see Mr. Aziz. His jaw is locking up again," Mopsi said as he and Popsi helped the Tin Man move into the stable. Lieutenant Zetti and Corporal Bock, who had not mounted their horses yet, quickly helped them get the Tin Man onto a nearby stool.
"I suspect we need to replace these joints. If I keep oiling them they'll fall apart eventually," Aziz said, as he went for his oil can, that was stored in a far corner of the stable.
"I would suggest that you see the blacksmith, Mr. Vados. He might have an idea," Fiyero said as the stable hand quickly returned to the Tin Man and oiled the joints at the corners of Boq's mouth.
"Miss Elphaba, where are you going?" Popsi asked.
"We must go to the corn exchange. The enemy may be there," she explained.
"Please be careful," Mopsi spoke up.
"We shall try. Can you do me a huge favor?" She wanted to know.
"Yes, what is it?" Mopsi asked.
"Please check on Private Schultz for me. I hope that he is doing better and have meant to check on him, but the recent events have not let me," the green woman admitted.
"We shall check on him," Popsi nodded.
"I will get Mr. Boq over to Mr. Vados," Aziz told them.
"Thank you gentlemen," Fiyero smiled before turning to the others, "off we go." With that the group rode their horses out of the stable, heading for the main gate. The two Munchkins watched them go, a bad feeling in the pits of their stomachs.
The group mostly rode silently through the city and toward the outskirts where the corn exchange and industrial districts were. The city itself had grown quiet again after the sniper incident. People stayed indoors as much as they could to avoid becoming a target. The troops had been patrolling the streets and it helped having them there for when people needed to get food or other supplies.
"It doesn't look like anyone has been around here in a long while," Zetti said, noting how dirty everything was near the abandoned buildings. Years of being left to rot had not been kind. Windows were broken, metal walls and doors were rusted, and the chutes that used to send corn from building to building had fallen apart or were full of holes.
"The average citizen has no reason to be here," Fiyero pointed out.
"Yeah, but we all know that things don't always stay that way once the industry has moved on," the Lieutenant said.
"Very true. Between urban explorers and the homeless, places like these can be better than sleeping outside," Elphaba agreed.
"This place gives me the heebie jeebies," Roth spoke up.
"I'm with the Private," Corporal Norris involuntarily shivered. Normally more stoic men, the eerie silence was making Fiyero nervous as well.
"Any noise we make is going to alert someone to our presence once we're inside the building," Corporal Bock pointed out.
"There was no way to approach the building without someone seeing us. Our cover is already blown, if anyone was here anyway," Sergeant Duncan said.
"Friend Baki, would you mind using your extraordinary sight to scan from the sky?" Fiyero asked the Falcon, who rested on his saddlebag.
"Of course Captain," the bird of prey took to the skies as the group, dismounted from their horses and tied them up to the nearest piece of broken equipment.
"Let's see if there is an easy way in," Elphaba suggested. They started walking around the building, looking for any doors that had been tampered with or if there was a hole in the wall. Baki returned to them, telling them that he hadn't seen anything. It was then that Zetti said,
"I've got footprints." They were right in front of one of the side doors on the building.
To Be Continued…