It
was just too fucking cold for a downpour like this. There should be
snow, big
puffy white flakes that muffled all sounds and reduced visibility to
a few dozen metres at best. Or at least a decent hailstorm that kept
people inside their crappy little houses. Instead she got soaked and
frozen simultaneously while the wind did its very best to rob her of
what little protection she had left. Stoically she pulled the hood
down over her face and hurried through another nameless back alley,
barely wide enough for her slender figure and the ubiquitous stench
of piss and rotting fast food that told her she was finally
approaching the inhabited part of the city. Not that she needed a
reminder. The sickly orange glow of low-cost street lights had warned
her half an hour ago. Now
it was already bright enough to make her uncomfortable.
With a
quick and, she hoped, halfway elegant movement she vaulted over a
low, half-eroded iron fence. Past the next corner it was already
crowded enough to rekindle her seething ire. What in the burning
hells did these people even do
out here in the middle of the night? Didn't they have somewhere else
to be? Anywhere?
She could understand shopping, of course, though she preferred
more... useful things, things you wouldn't find in a Burger King or
Nokia store. But there were more people outside
the damn buildings than inside, aimlessly strolling about, never
looking, probably not even caring where they actually went. Getting
in her
goddamn way! If they had even the slightest about who
she was or what she had done – was about to do – the street would
be blissfully vacant in about three seconds, tops.
Yet it
was better this way, she told herself once again. The safe, the
low-profile
way, even if it meant playing obedient little citizen more often than
not. She had known someone, hell, had been friends with someone who
had decided to go all-out-berserk in the middle of a crowded mall.
Had been one hell of a firework, she recalled, but the guy had lasted
a mere fifteen minutes or so before they put a dozen bullets through
his skull. In theory they had to formally arrest you, inform your
relatives, even bring you a lawyer if you wanted one. Reality was a
little more messy. The take-no-chances-shoot-on-sight kind of messy.
No real, living cop would risk getting their head fried from the
inside – according to mainstream media that would be well within
her abilities – for the sake of someone who'd get lifetime anyway.
It wasn't
fair, not at all, and that was exactly why a part of her desperately
wanted to rebel, why those stupid, ignorant little bastards without a
care in their lifes made her so fucking angry. Glumly she pushed
through another cluster of googly-eyed peasants, took the escalator
three steps at a time and hurried past the insultingly cheery
cristmas decorations. Inside the mall there was at least some room to
breathe. Gradually her pulse slowed. She had better keep her cool on
this one. Anger would not serve her tonight. She wasn't usually this
irritable. In fact, people hired her because she was smarter and more
reliable than the competition. And because she had survived long
enough to make a name for herself. Someone was bound to notice you if
you managed to stick around for more than a few months.
Which
was surprisingly easy if you knew how to plan.
And had at least some sort of backup for those inevitable situations
when things went downhill no matter how careful you were. That was
why she had chosen this place. It was secluded enough for a whispered
conversation, yet close enough to the crowded areas that the guy she
was about to meet would think twice about doing anything... obvious.
Not
that her contact was particularly fond of subtlety. So far he had
seized every conceivable opportunity to, consciuosly or not, act out
one tired gangster cliché after another. And, sure enough, there he
was, at least six feet tall but hunched over like some cartoon
villain from the sixties. As if that would fool anyone. Long brown
trenchcoat, expensive shoes, sunglasses.
Leaning against the wall, smoking, in a far too obvious attempt to
look relaxed. It took some real effort not to sigh and shake her head
in disgust. She honestly felt more like screaming.
He
straightened as soon as he saw her, which, despite the ridiculous
getup, reminded her that he was not only far stronger and in better
shape than her, but also a professional with a reputation of, well,
getting the job done. Any job.
“Took you
long enough.” He tossed his cigarette into the empty corridor.
“Thought you guys were in a hurry.”
She shrugged,
annoyed. “Took the long route. Too many patrols.”
“Heh. Ain't
that the truth. Fuckers are everywhere these days. Closing in on us
too. Not long till we gotta move again. Might just buy a goddamn
office building or something, in the civilized parts. Hide in plain
sight.”
“You do
know they spy on everyone 'round here, right?” She had weighed and
discarded the same idea over a dozen times now. Yes, if you legally
owned a building, they couldn't just round you up for loitering or
some other bureaucratic bullshit. But being
constantly surrounded
by people who'd shoot you on sight if they knew who you really were,
that was just asking for trouble. One slipup and they'd be right on
your doorstep. In the Rubble you could at least see them coming.
He pulled out
another cigarette. “We can't just hide in parks and ruins forever,
you know? If they really want to, they'll find ya.”
She shrugged
again. “They haven't so far. Anyway, you got it?”
A wide,
confident grin. “Sure. But I'm still gonna take twenty percent
extra. Express delivery and all.”
“Already
taken care of.” She slipped him the small, bulging envelope.
“Good.”
He lit the cigarette and turned to go.
“Hey, what
about -”
“Already in
your pocket, girl. See ya around.”
She searched
her coat pockets while the man disappeared through a maintenance
exit. Her left found a smooth, angular object. Whatever that was, it
was not a flash drive. She turned to follow him, then changed her
mind. If he'd intended to fuck with her, he could have just given her
an empty drive. Better to just get out of here and let Annie sort it
out.
On the way
back – at least the rain had stopped, though she was still soaked
to the bone and shivering – she couldn't help but wonder if the guy
had been right. People like him and her had lived in the abandoned
areas for as long as she could remember, long before she even knew of
their existence – before the world knew – but things were getting
more dicey by the day. Part of that, although she hated to admit it,
was the squatters' fault. At first, most downtowners had been more
than happy to get the homeless out of their streets and strip malls,
and no one had given a rat's ass about a few of them settling in
abandoned factories and warehouses. But some of these improvised
shelters had, over time, grown into bustling villages, each with
their own customs and rules. And one or two of these – she still
wasn't sure, which ones exactly – had turned quite a profit
supplying the upper class with less than legal goods and services.
It didn't
take the downtowners long to retaliate. There hadn't even been much
of a public debate. Laws were already in place, someone just needed
to enforce them. Most of the settlements had been torn down, hundreds
of squatters had been arrested, only to be released a few days later,
the rest had scattered. Since then the Rubble had been plagued by
more and more frequent – and increasingly brutal – police
patrols.
Most of her
people had kept their heads down, but there was always someone bitter
or deranged enough to retaliate, naturally drawing even more
attention and making everyone else's life just a little bit harder.
It was plain, at least to any level-headed person, that they would
not win this war. Most of their “abilities” were little more than
parlor tricks, and even the most powerful “casters” had yet to
invent a spell that could stop bullets. Of course it also didn't help
that every single one of them was technically a murderer. So they
kept hiding, just scraping by, along with everybody else who could or
would not assimilate into mainstream society.
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