Chapter 181

James led him through the winding rows of makeshift shelters. They stopped at a smaller tent near the edge of camp. Unlike most of the sagging, weather-beaten structures around it, this one's canvas was taut and well-kept. A battered tarp hung over the entrance.

"This is it," James said, glancing over his shoulder. "Guy inside goes by Kasim. Used to work maintenance in the city before everything went to hell. If anyone can get you where you need to go without ending up full of lead, it's him."

Jacques raised an eyebrow as James pushed aside the flap and stepped inside. Ducking in after him, he found himself in a cramped space cluttered with tools—wrenches, screwdrivers, rolls of wiring piled on a low workbench. A thin man sat in a folding chair near the back, inspecting a small circuit board under a lightbulb dangling from above.

Kasim looked up as they entered. His eyes flicked between Jacques and James before he set the board down.