They found the driver where the search map said there should have been a wall.
A shout came from the far observation point, then Kellan’s runner appeared at the corner with one arm raised. Eli went with the assigned partner along the checked approach. The gate had changed again during the hours of watching. A service recess now opened onto a sloping strip of gray stone, and a man in a torn driver’s coat lay just beyond its lip.
He was crawling toward ordinary pavement.
Eli knelt outside the moving edge and reached only when the man had enough of his body clear for an ordinary pull. His partner took the other arm. Together they brought him onto the street and away from the recess before it narrowed.
The man fought the first touch.
“Not back. Don’t take me back.”
“Street,” Eli said. “You’re on the street.”
The driver pressed both palms against the paving, feeling its rough surface. Then he tried to stand and nearly fell. Tessa’s medic reached them with the light frame and told him to sit until she checked him.
