"It's safe here for a minute, isn't it?" Craig panted, dizzy and breathless.
"There is no safe place here, Mr. Craig."
They continued their winding way through the growing darkness. For Craig it became a nightmare of stumbling over the endless piles of sharp stones. His mind spun sickeningly and he retched as he half ran along the path Cocteau set for them.
"Please, mister," breathed the voice of Phil behind him. "It isn't so far now."
Doggedness carried Craig onward long after awareness left him.
He became conscious suddenly, as though by an injection of stimulant. He found himself surrounded by a number of figures, including Cocteau and a white garbed man, evidently a doctor.
"You are quite safe now, Mr. Craig," said Cocteau warmly. "Welcome to the City of We."
"Where are we?"
"Deep in the old city, in a place where the radioactivity is negligible," the man answered as the doctor took his pulse. "This is Dr. Grant and these others are members of the Liberty party."