It turned out that Chasity's detour wasn't really on the way at all. It started out that way, but it almost ended up as a dead end, for all of us. Back in the junktown, she'd learned that there was a small settlement out that way that was on the edge of the ruins of what used to be Peoria. Chasity had family there that she hadn't seen since she was a little girl, and she never knew if she'd make it out this way again.
You could see the ruins from a lot farther out than you could see the little settlement where Chasity's kin lived. It was mostly loose rubble and decaying bits of road in the near distance, but on the horizon you could make out the remnants of taller buildings, near what would have been the heart of the city, before the War. We'd mostly stayed out of the ruined cities on our travels before now, because she said they tended to be havens for the worst sorts. Didn't really seem like any good reason to change policy now.
We traded speculation about the city as we approached, when suddenly we topped a small rise, and the little settlement of Leah spread out below us. It was a sight, I'll tell you now. Rather than the rusty remnants and concrete most wasteland towns were made of, this place had actually been built up, and there were small subsistence farms scattered through the town. It was about the prettiest little place I'd seen since well before the world died.
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