The Caste - On Hold, major edits and title change.

Chapter Ten

Corvus made good time on his journey to Belle Isle. He avoided the area between Troy and Royal Oak where Camlin killed the two bounty hunters. Instead, he took the path between Warren and Sterling Heights bringing him closer to the lake. He stopped into a slum area nestled along the shore of St Claire Lake to find a place to sleep for the night.

As he arrived into the slum, the live screen buzzed to life, and the familiar face of the female Compubot that announced the countdown to curfew smiled at the poor folk.

"You have one and a half hours before curfew. Please make your way to your area before curfew." Her voice was pleasant despite being robotic and metallic in tone.

Corvus walked into the gates of the slum area, he noticed wanted posters with his face on them hanging every five feet along the alleyway. Any surface that could take a poster; sides of buildings, light posts, street signs, and chain link fences, had a poster plastered to it. Corvus pulled his hood around his face, hoping no one would notice he was the man in the picture.

As he walked through the alley, people greeted him, showing no signs that they recognized him from the posters. That or they just didn't care to bring the Caste's Enforcers into their area.

"Fifteen minutes until curfew, please make sure you are inside your area gates. The Enforcers will be around to make sure you are in your designated areas in ten minutes." The Compubot's voice rang out from the live screen.

Corvus resisted the urge to run. Stay calm; don't draw any more attention to yourself... He scouted the alleyway looking for a dumpster that had someone sleeping in it to hide behind. He found a dumpster that contained a woman and her three small children inside sleeping and crawled behind it.

As the Enforcers approached the dumpster, he could feel his heart leap out of his chest, beating loud enough to wake the dead. Corvus lay close to the ground, resting his face against his arms. He hoped his dark clothing would keep him from their view. He held his breath as the Enforcers scanned the women and her children. They hadn't sensed his presence by some miracle. He let out a sigh as he gasped for breath.

Corvus crawled out from behind the dumpster as he watched the Enforcers leave the slum area. He found a spot by a fire that no one had claimed to lie down for the night. Corvus had forgotten to grab his bedroll when he left the dome and lying down in the snow was not pleasant. He rolled up into a ball, trying to stay warm.

As he drifted off to sleep, he felt a tap on his shoulder. "Boy, you don't need to be sleeping on the snow. Are you crazy? We all are gonna be waking up and finding you stuck to the ground deader than a door nail." Her voice was pleasant but thick with an uneducated air.

Corvus sat up quickly, afraid she would recognize him from his wanted poster. He peered at her through his hood. "I don't have a blanket or anything to lie on. I don't have a choice. Thank you for your concern though."

"You aren't from around these parts of the slum, are ya? Here, boy, you can have my extra blanket to sleep on for the night." The old woman smiled as she handed him the blanket.

"Thank you, Ma'am." Corvus spread the blanket out on the ground.

"Do them cyborg know where you are supposed to be? I don't want them coming up around here tossing up the place, now. What is your name? I don't think you want me to call you boy the whole time you are sharing my fire."

"My name is Simon. Don't worry, Ma'am, I have permission to travel. I had to go up north to Cheboygan to visit my sick grandmother." Corvus hated lying, but he had no choice. The less the kind old woman knew, the safer she would be. Camlin had programmed that scenario into all of their records. If the Enforcers showed up to the slums, his words wouldn't technically be a lie.