Descent into the Abyss

Chapter 25

Gossip buzzed through the air, circulating amongst the patrons of the bar; most of which the man in the back ignored, until her name popped up.

His interest perked, but the decibels dropped and a void of sound came into existence for all but the briefest moments. Worried glances spread like wildfire, but no eyes fell on him, and slowly the conversations and chatter began again. Tuning out as much as he could, he turned his ear to the duo at the bar, drinking away and speaking in low, hushed voices.

"He knows something," Blake decided, waiting for the opportunity to learn exactly what that 'something' was.

Minutes slowly ticked by, an anxious itch building in the back of his mind.

Before, he never got anxious. Not when he asked Jessica to marry him, or when he served out in that Godforsaken desert. Ever since that dream... Ever since those words...

The duo stood up, laughing at a shared joke as one stumbled against the bar and the other offered a helping hand. Together they laughed their way towards the exit, leaning against the wall next to it to catch their breath.

"Here, let me get that," Blake offered with a fake smile, stepping through the doorway and holding the door for the duo.

Exchanging glances, the duo laughed and staggered towards out the door and down the darkened street. Moonlight lit enough to see, but the occasional streetlight illuminated the surroundings in a greater degree. Blake followed close behind, his own laughter cutting in to cause the turn their heads in confusion.

"Eh? What ya on about?" The one on the right remarked, turning his head back.

Blake answered with the barrel of his pistol, aiming at the pupil of the man's eye a few inches away.

"Scream, shout, argue... Do anything and I pull the trigger." Blake whispered. "Now, what do you know about Rachel Ravenport?"

The other man suddenly went stiff and upright, stepping to the left, turning to swing a haymaker at Blake. The all too familiar flash and echoing blast filled his senses and blood splattered the dark building stone walls. Stepping away from the left handed swing, Blake fired once more into the left kneecap of the drunk.

A howling scream filled the air for a brief second before Blake shoved the barrel into the man's mouth. Broken teeth and blood dropped onto the pavement, the man's eyes full of fear and submission.

"What do you know about Rachel Ravenport?"

Mumbles replied, more blood and fragments falling before Blake removed the barrel slowly.

"There's a bar," he wheezed, tears streaming down his face. "About a dozen blocks up north. Called Hot Shots."

"What else? About her?"

The man nodded, spitting more blood from his mouth, "She works there as a waitress. Usually blonde but I've seen her with dark hair a couple times. Goes by Britney."

Blake nodded, memorizing the information before standing up and aiming at the man on the ground.

"Wait, I tol---"

A gunshot cut him off, spraying blood and brain matter across the payment. Holstering the pistol, Blake stepped away and began walking north, turning at the first side street as he heard commotion from behind him. Angry shouts could be heard from the direction of the bar, but every step north, they grew fainter.

Random strangers drifted through the dark, deserted streets, wandering into every direction of the night. Dealers and whores littered the fringes of the colony's night life, each a testament to its failed ideology.