The Lowly Gate's Guard

Ch. 17: Grace Period (1)

Avery had shown Dean around most of Waterloo Station. The place wasn't what he remembered. The shops had been fashioned into living quarters, each crammed with enough bunk beds for the massive group of people that were staying there. Dean was relieved the toilets and public showers still worked. As soon as he saw the shower, he grabbed some of Avery's supplies and hopped right in, washing away the multiple types of blood from his skin.

The place was packed full of people who had survived the Floods of Gate Monsters in London. He noticed something though, the people who were left were strong, as if the weak had been culled.

Dean saw two men standing in front of an escape door, as if they were stopping anyone from entering. Avery noticed him staring.

"We don't go in there." She said.

"Why?"

"Fox is in there, he doesn't come out much but we're not allowed to go in. Unless you want to fight his group."

Dean recognised the name; Fox was a strong and clever Hunter that ran quite a large group. Their name was 'Shaker', they had a high clear rate for mid-ranked Gates but there were rumours that they had a nasty habit of killing other groups within the Gate. It was hard to say if it was true or not, because no one was able to get evidence from inside the Gates. The Gate's were very dangerous places, one mistake could cost you your life.

The men stood vigilant, keeping watch by the door. The door was the only access into the rooms behind it, rooms that led to the back of the station.

Dean looked at the door for a moment, wondering what laid behind. Tabby purred in Avery's arms as she stroked her ear. Dean decided to ignore his curiosity and continued being led around the station by Avery.

...

In a nicely fashioned room that stood behind the two men. A lean built man sat on a sofa, pillows scattered all around him. His hair was dark blue, a bit of length to the top with short sides. He leaned back on the sofa, a big bone with meat was in his hand. He ripped off the flesh with his teeth as if he was an animal. The meat and bone wasn't something you'd find from an animal on Earth; it looked as if it came from quite a large Gate Monster. He was chewing loudly; the piece of flesh was tough and needed to be mashed by his teeth. The only pieces of clothing he wore were ripped jeans and combat boots. His exposed chest was covered in scars, there wasn't much skin left that didn't have any.

A couple of strong men stood in front of him, all of them waited for him to talk. They were big, but no match to the wild air of the man on the sofa. In the corner of the room, a middle-aged woman was tied up to a radiator, her palms were sore and red from the tight restraints, her mouth gagged.

"Report." The man on the sofa said, his mouth full of monster meat.

One of the men responded. He kept his posture straight as if he had plenty of practice, "Over four hundred people with Backers, Fox."

Fox smirked and swallowed the piece of flesh in his mouth. "Good man."

The men stood still, waiting for him to continue. He looked at them and snarled, "Well, go." He pointed the bone in his hand to the door. The men walked out of the room. They walked through a long hallway and exited through the door Dean was curious about not too long.

Fox sat up from the sofa. A smile creeped across his face. He took a bite of the meat and walked over to the tied-up woman, lifting her chin with his free hand. "A week until the Backer Selection and I'll be able to start. It's all thanks to you and your son." The woman rebelled and pulled out of his hand and placed her head away from him, closing her eyes. He quickly grabbed her face, keeping it steady with his grip.