City of the Fallen - unedited

Chapter Thirty-One

"You literally just said that we should avoid getting arrested and you want to illegally board a ferry? You've got to be kidding me." I protest once again, but he ignores me still. He paces toward the dock, gripping the straps of his backpack in his hands.

"It's not illegal if you aren't caught. Besides, I've done this so many times, it's a piece of cake." He turns around to face me and walks backwards. "Just watch and learn, Juliet."

We get onto the dock via a staircase emerging out from the side of it, and there are people everywhere. I'm still not used to being around regular people-- living people. They have such a vibrance to their skin and life in their eyes. They don't sparkle like in the Afterworld, but it's refreshing to see. It revives my memory of being alive.

Once we approach the paying booth, we are blocked from passing by a large gate. Colton stops at the window and begins speaking to the worker in a different language-- Turkish. He has a good accent and sounds confident in his tone. He throws his hands up a few times and the worker almost looks nervous.

After a small moment of silence, the worker sighs and says something, and the gate opens. My eyes widen. How did he do that?

"What did you say to her?" I ask him. I don't want to sound too impressed, his ego doesn't need a boost.

He snatches an apple from his bag and takes a large bite from it. Does he just keep an entire pantry in his backpack? He pulls out something new every time he digs his hands in there.

"I told her that I took the ferry an hour ago and forgot something and that I'd quickly go ask one of the officers that wait outside the boat to get it for me and then leave."

"Well doesn't someone check your ticket when you get on?" I prompt.

"Nope, this isn't America. Nobody really cares here. Besides, you aren't even supposed to get through the gate without one, so everyone just assumes that if you're on the boat, you have a ticket." He responds. The apple that he grabs just a second ago is basically devoured already, and Colton throws the core off the dock and into the ocean.

Infuriated, by his careless action, I quickly catch up to him. "Just because you're dead doesn't mean you can litter, you know."

Colton shrugs. "Fish food" is all he says, and I roll my eyes. It has been two days with him here. Two. I'm already getting sick of him and sick of how fast he walks. We've been moving consistently this whole time and I don't think we'll ever get a break.

We move hastily, Coltan weaving in and out of groups of people, who watch us as we go past. I don't blame them. I can't tell what I look like, but Colton still has a ghostly element in the structure of his face; he is pale, unlike anyone here, and his eyes still have those bags underneath them. I assume I look the same. We look out of place here.

A line begins to form at the entrance of the ferry, which has just arrived. It's bigger up close, small windows lining the side of it and a large pointy bow, like the titanic. I haven't seen one of these in so long.