Primal Gambit

Chapter 18: The City Top

Shift was nearly impossible to reach. In a world dominated by technology, seeking out a man who refused to submit proved futile for anyone who was not committed. This is where Darwin exploited many of his underground contacts. Finding a driver was easy; finding a driver with Shift's reputation was a quest. One had to find the dives in which the talent often frequented. This was Darwin's approach to finding such a man. The activist leader scoured the city with no relent. The bar where he finally crossed a card dealing Shift sat on the roof of the city's tallest skyscraper.

Adjusting the gasmask that covered his face, Darwin leaned against the bar and read from a small journal he kept. On one of the latest pages he had scribbled down notes that would help him seek out the elusive driver. The last man he had met with lived in Muckmire, deep beneath the city floor, but he had worked with Shift in the past and knew how to seek him out amongst a crowd where everyone wore a mask.

"Always has burn marks and tape on his hands," he said. "There's a scar on his left forearm from an exhaust pipe and a tattoo on his right of some phrase in another language." Darwin had travelled through some of the most extensively treacherous territory for a mere two sentences. When he finally ascended to the city floor, he wondered if he was better off hiring an average driver.

A gust of smoke laid into the area and lingered. The exhaust from cigarette exhales did not create the cloud but rather a respiration of the city pipes. Darwin ordered an alcoholic insert and sat as the curvy bartender attached the IV to his mask. She was scantily clad, a bedazzled gasmask matching her torn tank top. The eager activist paid no mind, for he was already headed to the table by the time the escort had complimented his build.

Shift was holding two cards face-down on the table, grimacing toward the other players. His eyes were black holes. Not even Darwin, a man who oftentimes read another by their physical disposition, could decipher the hand the driver checked with. The dedicated activist lurked at a nearby table and observed the growing tensions that came with the flop.

"Ace, ten, two. How much luck ye' have in them cards, Shift?" The dealer wheezed as he looked to the driver – awaiting his wager.

Shift twisted a valve on the tube connected to his mask as Darwin watched tobacco smoke linger beneath the glass. The scarred man said nothing, drawing a hefty wager from his pile and tossing them forward with taped fingers.

Two men folded and the pot remained as the dealer flipped the turn. Darwin looked at the table and wondered if the jack of spades worked in Shift's favor. Both men checked as tensions rose. The river was laid at the end of the row, and a grimace overtook Shift's face. The other gambler rustled in his seat as he debated the next wager. His pile of chips had diminished as the card game ran its course – Shift slowly accumulating all his earnings.

The man sitting across from Shift placed his cards on the table and pushed his remaining chips to the pot. The driver exhaled, staring at the jack that had come with the river in hopes that it would change into something more advantageous. Darwin turned the valve as alcohol misted into his mask. The two gambling men stared each other down just before Shift called and pushed his mountain to the center. On top of the concrete jungle it was unjust to back down from a challenge. The men said nothing to each other.

"Well? Flip 'em, ladies." The dealer growled at the two men. They did as they were told and the folded gamblers grumbled and laughed at the close hands. The other man beat Shift's full house with a straight flush. A smile drew over the driver's face as he stood up from the table and bowed. The other men laughed and clapped as Shift excused himself, mumbling profanities in his native tongue.

"Maybe next time you'll learn your place, eh pal?" His opponent remarked. Shift turned and addressed him directly:

"And maybe next time you'll take a drive with me and we can settle what happened to your jaw the last time?" He grinned and turned for the bar, Darwin looked at the opposing gambler's mask then and noticed an asymmetry in his chin – his mask resting at an angle. He then followed the driver to the bar. Before the man could even order a drink, the activist leader interjected.