“What the hell was I thinking,” he thought, “deciding to come here?”

His head swam as his eyes darted between the heathen furnishings. He spotted his pack by the door, covered in sand and mud, a vivid reminder of the long journey that lay behind him, and of everything that had changed. The urge to grab it and leave, to disappear back into the desert, nearly overwhelmed him.

“Dammit!” he yelled.

He brought a leg back and kicked the pack with all of his strength. It sailed across the room, collided with the far wall, and rolled back away from it before falling still.

“I thought I was doing the right thing,” he said, looking up at the grassy roof. “What, was I supposed to turn them in...

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