Infraterra

Chapter 2

According to the giant clock built into the stone at the top of the Atrium, I had two hours until sunset--no, burnout was what they called it here, since there was no sun to set. No pink and gold colors, fluffy white clouds, just a dirt ceiling several hundred feet above my head. Burnout consisted of putting out the street lamps and dimming the electric lights wired across the ceiling. Infraterra contained an unholy amount of dark corners, despite the citizens’ attempts to brighten the city with all varieties of lanterns and bright colors.

    I limped through the crowded streets of Port Orleans, the southwest part of Infraterra. I plucked bits of wood from under the skin of my hands as I went, and I caught myself prodding at my side more than once. I wished I had a drink. I considered stopping in at Marcello’s to buy one, but decided against it. The consequences were coming, and I figured I ought to at least warn Ivan. I would hate for him to be injured on account of my carelessness. After all, I’d probably be dead if it wasn’t for him. So I bypassed Marcello’s and headed straight for the house where Ivan and I were currently renting a room.  

    Once I left the waterfront, there were considerably fewer people, partly because I was away from the marketplace, and partly because it was so close to burnout. Most of those still out and about were either merchants, beggars, or small groups campaigning for the upcoming election. The seventh councilman, Henry Baxton, was retiring after thirty-five years of service. Personally, I didn’t intend to stick around this godforsaken city long enough to care who was elected, but Ivan loved the politics. He had already attended sixteen campaign rallies. I swear, he could talk for hours and hours about who he thought should be elected and why. I did my best to tune him out.

I stopped by a bakery and bought two stale coffee cakes--they were selling at quarter price and I figured I could give one to Ivan in attempt to curb his disapproval of my most recent behavior. Luckily for me, my friend had an insatiate sweet tooth. I ripped the other cake into little pieces and sauntered through the narrow streets, watching shops close up for the day, more and more of the people receding back to their homes. I stopped and saluted the marketplace as I left.

I turned down an alley behind a row of shops that had already closed for the night, still poking at my bruised side. My clothes were still damp, and a chill had settle deep in my bones. A hot bath sounded like heaven right now, but the chances of that happening tonight were slim to none.

    I licked the last of the coffee cake from my fingers and looked up. I stopped. Ten feet from where I stood, a man with his face wrapped in cloth had a black-haired woman pinned to the wall, a knife to her throat.

    I mentally groaned. I wanted to turn and my heels and leave them be, but my feet remained firmly rooted. Ivan was going to kill me later.

    “Stop!” the man warned. “One more step and she breathes her last.” He turned his head slightly to see me better.

    I shrugged. “I don’t mind. I just think it’s rather thoughtless to kill somebody. especially a lady, with such a primitive weapon as a knife. It’s messy, don’t you think?” In my pocket, I slowly unfolded the handle of my pistol and snapped it into place. Stop now, I told myself. Don’t get involved. But I was already involved.

    The man narrowed him eyes beneath the cloth. “She needs to die.”

    “Oh, well then by all means, go right ahead. If you kill her though, I’ll have to kill you, and then one of your friends will probably come kill me, and then everyone will be killing everyone, and it’ll be one big mess. So, if you just leave her be, we can both go home and have a nice cup of coffee. Between the two, I think the coffee sound better, personally.”

The woman turned her head toward me and caught my eye. I was surprised to see that she didn’t seem afraid at all. If anything, she looked a mixture of annoyed, determined, and amused. I barely had time to process this before her fist thwacked into her attacker’s jaw. He stumbled back, his hand touching the spot she hit.