fallen | ✓

Chapter 28: "Adventure?"

Carmen's POV

One drop is all it took, then it started pouring again. I sat in the bar, one of my legs crossed over the other. I felt a presence behind me and glanced over my shoulder. "Carmen." The figure said. It took a moment. I took the voice into consideration.

"Riordan?" I tilted my head. "Nice mask." I grinned, turning forward again. He was wearing a ski mask and a black uniform. I didn't doubt he was in a faction. He turned me back around again. I took another swig from my flask, cocking a brow.

"I was here to tell you I can't fling with you anymore." He explained.

Oh, we were flinging?

I shrugged. "Alright," I said. He nodded and turned on his heel, running back outside. I rolled my eyes and faced forward, pushing myself off the chair and walking into the side room, into the rain for a split second before walking up a ramp, towards the fight pit. I needed some entertainment.

I walked in, surprised to see a crowd. Most often, it's dead in here. I walked over to the railing on the edge of the pit and sat, watching. A fight was already in play. A tanned, muscular man took a swing at the young CDF in front of him. The CDF caught his arm, flipping him on his back. I cringed.

A man standing in a tuxedo next to me laughed and pulled a wad of PWDs from his pocket, tossing them in. "For the CDF boy!" He hollered. I glanced at the money in the pit.

Damn.

The CDF straddled the man as the man kicked him off, causing the CDF to slide to the other side of the pit. The man then grabbed him, latching onto his shoulders, pinning him down. He then grabbed his arm, bending it slightly towards "the wrong way around".

The CDF struggled in vain, as he was not as strong. Then he tapped. The man got up and spat on him. "Pansy." He scowled, grabbing his shirt and vest, slipping it back on. The man in the tuxedo grumbled a curse. "Oh well.." The referee waved in the next two fighters. The tanned man walked out of the rink, giving me a glance, and sitting at the table behind me, leaning back in his chair. I glanced at the next two fighters. Both looked like they had no idea what the hell they were doing.

"Good fight, man." The CDF said, walking over to the tanned man. He nodded.

"You too." He said. His voice was low. It kind of surprised me. He shifted in his chair. "You gonna watch a few more fights?"

The CDF shrugged. "For a while." Then he walked into the seat behind me, slinging off his backpack onto the table. Then the other man glanced at me again.

"Can I sit on the ground with you?" He asked politely. I tilted my head.

"You talking to me?" I stared at him. He chuckled.

"You're the only one sitting on the floor." He grinned. I heard a fist collide with skin in the pit. I cringed again.

"Alright." I brushed it off, shrugging. He got up and sat next to me, watching the fight. I felt a tug on my hair behind me and turned around, staring at the CDF. He smirked forward, tinkering with his pistol. I rolled my eyes and brushed my long black hair over my shoulder so he couldn't touch it. I then turned forward again, seeing one of the fighters snap the other's arm. I covered my mouth, as the man sitting next to me yelled out in joy.

Men.

About an hour later, his friend left for duty, and so did the man in the tuxedo. "Got a name?" The tanned man asked me, giving me another glance.

"Carmen. You?" I looked back. He grinned.

"Connor." He said after a while. I nodded with a shrug. "Live here?" He nodded towards the small window, looking at the rest of Crane Town. I shook my head. I didn't really even live anywhere... I slept wherever I could. "Smart girl." He chuckled. "Do you ever go outside? To other places?"

"Sometimes.." I admitted. "I mostly just stay here.." I hesitated before saying, "Getting drunk off my ass, watching fights. Shit like that." My voice slurred slightly. The drink was going to my head. He chuckled.

"Yeah?" He raised a brow with a smirk. "Like sand sharks?" I scowled. He laughed, "I'll take that as a no. This might work out after all." He grinned. "Want to go piss them off?" I glanced at the fight. The fighter slammed the other's head into the ground. I looked back at Connor.

"Sure."

~~~

We walked side by side down the road towards their boat. I held my cutlass as he clutched his shotgun. "Got a faction?" He asked.

"No," I replied flatly. "Factions just control you, make you do random shit just to climb ranks." I shook my head. "Never."

He grinned again. "Smart girl." We kept walking for quite a while before we got to a stranded boat in the middle of the desert. Sandshark territory. "Just make sure you stay behind me. I can keep you safe." He informed me. "Let's go wait in the shade until my friends get here. I have no doubts that there will be sand sharks in there. We can't take them alone." I nodded, taking this in. This was probably a stupid idea, but what else did I have to do today? Twiddle my thumbs?

We sat in the shade for a while before a man with a black scarf and a man with a robotic arm walked up. They both looked at me, then Connor. He cleared his throat. "This is Carmen. Carmen this is Ed and Elijah. They'll be helping us." He informed me. I nodded. "Let's go." He said, getting up. I stood, tapping my cutlass on the ground. All four of us climbed up the tilted side of the boat, dropping on the deck and walking inside. When other voices became audible, we slowed and went quiet.

"What the fuck are you saying? This is a mission, not a Bail-Because-I'm-A-Pansy get-go!" One voice growled loudly. "Elijah. Ed. You find the second fuse box." Connor whispered. They nodded, going up a set of stairs. We went around the corner as Connor located their first fusebox on the wall. He pulled a pair of pliers from his pocket and started cutting wires. Then an alarm went off. I cussed under my breath, "Shit.." Then the footsteps started.

Why me?

The footsteps rounded the corner. "What the hell?" One voice said. My head shot up and Connor released the wires, standing in front of me, gripping his gun. One of the men ran forward, headbutting him with a groan. Conner fell forward. "Oh my God!" He yelled, clutching his forehead. The man kicked him in the stomach as I ran forward, slashing his bicep two inches deep.

He fell backward with a yelp, knocking over one of his guides. Another man with a mow-hawk ran forward kicking him down a small set of stairs. Then he looked at me, ramming me into the wall and grabbing my throat. I let out a choke, my knee flying in his scrotum. Unfortunately, the only thing I hit was his metal protector.

Smart ass.

He pressed his thumbs down and black started lining my vision. "Connor-!" I tried to choke, lashing out. He kept a firm grip and I slowly blacked out.

(Calm down I wrote this in one day. I'll update soon just chill. By the way, I'll be providing picture visuals soon so you can see what all the new characters look like thx for reading the new chap won't take long to be produced i promise ok