The Twenty Five Percent Rayanna

The Truth

   I quickly creep around the corner of the building and lean back against the back wall. Taking a deep breath, I count to ten and then risk a quick look back. Everything seems okay. I don't see anything that would suggest Altair saw me. No Altair, no guards, nothing. But I can't take any chances, so I decide to sneak around the other side of the house. A quick look shows that the other side of the house seems normal as well. I slowly walk around the right side of the house, ducking down as I approach a window, and then standing back straight once I pass it. I stop at the corner of the building and chance a look. The two guards are still standing there, with their backs to me. How do I get past them without them seeing me? I duck back around the corner when I hear the front door opening.

"We just don't have that kind of provision!" says an angry male voice. There's a long pause and then he says, "Three hundred crates of food, one hundred and fifty barrels of water, and seventy-five crates of ammunition is a fair offer!" I risk taking another look around the side of the building. There I see Altair and a very large man arguing. This mystery man is as tall as he is round, and he is at least a head taller than Altair. His face is red with anger, which matches his already red hair.

"And only half the asking price." Says Altair. "Anyone

would jump at that kind of deal." He says balling his hands into fists. Thunder rumbles in the distance.

"Then feel free to give it to anyone else." The man says.

There's another pause and then, "tell me something, Orion. How much do you value the lives of your citizens?"

"Is that a threat?!" Orion explodes. His face is flushed, and he looks like he wants to hit Altair in the face.

"No, of course not. I wouldn't threaten you. Now, if you will excuse me, I have some business that requires my immediate attention." Altair says, turning and walking off.

"Wait! We aren't finished, yet." Orion says, grabbing a hold of Altair's arm.

Altair stops and turns around and both guards' step forward. He doesn't say anything but instead glares at Orion.

"Unhand him!" one of the guards demands.

"I will, as soon as he listens to what I am saying!" Orion says.

The other guard pokes him with the barrel of his gun. "Let him go."

"What, are you going to shoot me, here in the street? In broad daylight? How will you cover that one up, Altair?" Orion sneers.

"The price just doubled. You can either pay up or you can go elsewhere. The choice is yours. But whatever you choose, I suggest you let go of my arm. I would hate for an accident to happen." Altair says, calmly. The wind picks up, and a few stray leaves swirl into a loose circular pattern. He looks at the leaves and frowns but says nothing.

Orion lets go of Altair's arm. "I am not doing business with the likes of you!" he shouts before storming off. I duck back behind the building as he gets closer to my hiding place. I watch as he gets further away.

After a few moments, I hear Altair speak up. "Let's go. There are some things we need to take care of before going to the bunker."

"Both of us?" one of the guards asks.

"Yes," Altair says.

"What about the house?" the same guard asks.

"Don't worry about it. Everyone knows not to go inside. Besides, there isn't anything in there worth stealing. Come on. Let's go." The guards look confused, but do as they are told, and follow Altair.

I wait a few minutes and then risk another look around the corner of the building. I see Altair and the two guards disappearing into a building a few hundred feet away from me. I have to be quick. The wind is steadily picking up. There's a good chance I should just go to the bunker. No. You came this far, just go on and look for it. Hopefully no one sees me. They shouldn't, they should all be in the storm shelter by now. I sneak around to the front of the building to the front door. I jiggle the handle, not really expecting much, but to my surprise, I find the door opening in my hand. I open the door just enough to slip inside and then quietly shut it back. The room is dimly lit by the windows on either side of the building. Wow, what a small building. House. Altair called it a house. There is a bed in one corner with a dresser nearby. On the opposite side of the room is a fireplace. There are two wooden doors on the far back wall. A dark wood table sits in the middle of the room, surrounded by four matching chairs.

Papers are scattered all over the table as if Altair had just been looking at them. I quickly walk over to the table and start sifting through the papers. Unfortunately, they don't make much sense to me. Some kind of work orders or something. I move towards the two doors along the back wall. I open one to find a small bathroom. After a few minutes, I realize there is nothing important there. I shut the door back and then open the other door, it's a closet. Other than a few clothing items hanging up, there isn't anything in here. But to be safe, I push clothes from one side to the other, as I dig through the pockets. Nothing here. I walk over to the dresser and start rifling through the drawers, careful to put everything back in its place so I don't arouse any suspicions. Ugh! Nothing there either. Where would he hide the important documents like the town logs?

I walk to the bed and look under it, but nothing. Nothing under the mattress either. Wait a minute. I sit down on the bed and run my hand under the pillow and pull out a small black book. The town logs. Finally! I quickly flip through it and find dates, events, and Altair's small, neat handwriting scrawled all over each page. I read a paragraph, a couple of pages in. The second month of spring, the twenty-fifth day of the month. Raiders attacked the town, destroying almost everything. And to the side I see what I assume to be Altair's handwriting; our small army caught up to the raiders, killed them, and brought the supplies back to town. Well, that's not really worth hiding. I mean killing folks isn't good, but raiders are raiders.

There has to be something better than that, in here, for him to go through the trouble of hiding the book. I flip through a few more pages and am about to read it when I hear the doorknob rattling. Oh, no! What do I do? The penalty for stealing in most towns is to cut off your hand. It works to both stop the thief from stealing, and brand them so people know to watch that individual. Humiliation and pain? No, thanks. I briefly consider putting the book back in its hiding place but decide against it. There's no way he would ever suspect me. I'm new to town, what would my motive be? Besides, he didn't even see me outside of his house. It has valuable information in it, no way am I leaving it behind. At least I hope it has valuable information in it. What should I do? Take it. I shove the book into the waistband of my pants and run to the nearby window. The doorknob stops rattling and I can hear a male voice talking to someone. His voice is muted so I have no idea who he is or what he is saying. I quickly and quietly open the window, slip outside, and shut it back.

I flatten myself against the wall, near the window, and risk a quick look inside. The door opens up and then closes back. That's all I needed to know. I take off running, behind the house and don't stop until I have put ten buildings in between me and Altair. At least I think it's Altair. It has to be him; it is his house. I check to make sure no one is watching me, and then I pull the town log back out of my waistband. I open the book to the middle and start reading the page. The first month of summer, the twelfth day of the month. Summer crops are in season and the people are working hard to bring them in. Scrawled to the side of this, I see Altair's handwriting. The wind starts blowing the pages, I place a hand on them, to keep my place. Thunder booms, close to me and I jump, before continuing to read.

The town of Abbeville has delivered its tribute, two weeks late. I'm going to have to have to make sure they understand that this isn't acceptable. This is the third time, in a row, it has happened. Maybe if their town caught on fire, they would understand my point. I will have to send a couple of men over there, tomorrow.

So, there it is,exactly what I was looking for. This was the reason he hid the book. I closethe book and stick it in the back waistband of my jeans and then pull my shirtdown to cover it. Between this book and the exchange, I witnessed between himand Orion; I see that Altair is not a good guy. Is he the one that was doingthe raiding? I mean, I know he didn't raid his own town, but severalother towns have stories of repeated raiders. If they don't pay up, he destroystheir town? Is that the game he is playing? I can't be sure, but one thingI am sure of, is I need to find Wolfe and get me, him, and Lou out of here. Iwalk through town, my mind on the book and what I just read. Altair is theenemy. I wonder if this means that he is doing the raiding on those other towns.I really need to leave here as soon as possible. But a voice in the back of mymind starts nagging me. It's telling me that escaping Altair won't be that easy.