Find Me a Gentle Place

The Loose Gutter

Ayona perched on the edge of the Old Dominion dispatch center and breathed in the night air. Yelling from some Chi-ya gang, car tires and horns, and the constant hum of Old Dominion machinery registered in her mind one after the other. It was a quiet night. 

This was where she had lost the masked man last night. And though it didn't make rational sense to start her search here - he was long gone - instinct drew her back. She began examining the corners of the broad roof, peering inside air-C vents, kicking up debris along the base of the firewalls, and drawing her gloved fingers along the ridged cupolas decorating each corner of the building. The third cupola was shattered in the wood siding. Ayona crouched at the hold and lit her hand torch. A ragged shape lurched out with a cry and swung at her head with a piece of wood.

"Kata" she swore, stumbling back and grabbing at the wood, "what are you doing, crazy man."

The man growled deep in his throat and jabbed at her. He was crouched at the entrance to his little hole. Behind him, in the flickering light, Ayona saw a pile of dirty blankets and stacked veggieCans.  Peaking over the edge of the blankets, the eyes of a small girl reflected her torch. 

"Don't fear, papa-bird, I'm not one to disturb a nest," Ayona backed away, "I'm just looking for a masked man who came this way last night. Very dangerous. He could come back."

The scavenger barked at her, but his eyes darted in the direction that Ayona had walked from. She turned to look, half expecting to see the masked man behind her. There was nothing there. When she turned to look at the scavenger, he was already back in his hole. 

Ayona walked back along the parapet. This was where she had up, chasing the masked man over the high roofs of Bungeon Town. 

That was it. 

She ran to the place she had climbed and leaned over the parapet. Below was the slanted, tiled roof of some annexed building. She vaulted over the parapet and slid down the slanted roof. At the bottom was a metal gutter. It looked sturdy, fixed to the concrete building with thick steel bolts, but in the heat of the chase, a part of her had noticed it clatter noisily when she landed. She knelt and tugged at the gutter. It was loose.