It had been a couple of hours since my rescue and my guest was still pressed tight into the corner, half soaked from been rained upon half frozen from fear and shock. I on the other hand was busy warming a tin of beans over my fire, I had since pulled a set of heavy blinds over the window, they were those big ceiling to floor ones that occupied buildings such as this, closing them would hide the glow of the fire, that and it was tucked way back in the fireplace. The smell must have got her attention as I heard her begin to shuffle toward me, she was also clearly thinking better than just to approach an armed stranger who had nothing to gain by keeping her alive. I looked over my shoulder and sure enough she was on her knees with her hands in front of her now in the centre of the room, I pulled my coat back over my weapon and nodded, within a moment she was knelt by my side, I simply pushed the tin of beans to her.
“Thank you” She croaked as I stuck a spoon in the tin for her to eat with, and eat she did almost as if she had not been fed in a while, gulping down each spoonful like it was her last. The tin didn’t last long as she wiped her mouth, I quietly observed, I have already pointed out that trusting anyone in this new world was a bad idea and so I was always aware of myself when I was around other normals, today was no different even if I had caused this situation in the first place “I can’t pay you, for any of this” her voice had softened now, the shock beginning to subside though the fear clearly ramping up as she undoubtedly knew what I knew about people, and right now was wondering why I was so quiet.
“You’re welcome, you can stay in the bedroom tonight, there’s no way in here now and the psychs will likely wonder off or fall off the balcony by morning” Was all I had, after all I had already figured she was no real threat and if she was going to try anything I was the one armed with a high voltage charge gun. The odds were oddly on my side tonight at least, and as the rain hit the glass behind the blinds it was obvious going out tonight was an worse idea than saving some random girl from a horde of mindless serial psychopaths, winter rain storms were violent and cold and could kill you as easily as anything else in our world.
“I … OK thank you” She whimpered, a moment and the door between us closed allowing me a sigh of relief in knowing I had done the right thing, I hoped I had, it wouldn’t been the first time I heard the screams of someone been torn apart by those things, I said they don’t eat you, not to begin with anyways, but everything they do before is just plain vicious, if you’re dead before they start eating you I can only assume it’s a good thing, the bigger mystery in our world is still what creates them, they aren’t dead after all and they can be killed with conventional weapons, granted it takes a lot to put them down with a hand gun, chances are a shot through the heart or the head will render them dead before they can do major damage to you, but it wont kill them outright, I’ve seen them take a full clip of automatic rifle ammo and keep coming, which is why I have the high voltage gun, each round is a high voltage charge that simply fries their motor functions, brain and everything else in between it also has an awesome knock back one round can send them eight or nine foot with no obstructions between the shot and the landing, having something between the two only helps in the long run.
It was colder now even with the fire as I hauled my blanket from my back pack and wrapped it around my shoulders, my eyes had barely moved from the flames which danced and flickered the crackling flames I had always found oddly soothing, something in this world that was for the most part consistent to me. I pulled my gun from its holster, pushed my pack to the side and settled my head against it spinning my gun then tucking it beside me so it was easy to grab if I needed it. It wasn’t easy but eventually I drifted off into some variance of sleep.
It was dark when I woke, not because I had enough sleep but the fact is I hardly ever properly slept these days, the creak of a door had stirred me and my hand already wrapped around my weapon “I wanted to say thank you, properly” came her voice which was accompanied by a mental growl from me as I rolled over she was stood in the doorway, slight light from moon outside cast her in a strange light she seemed even more scrawny than when I had pulled her from all that trouble in the day “I said it was fine, you should sleep while you can” I replied trying to force my reply to sound firm and as was usual with me it came off sounding frustrated and awkward, I never had been good at playing the forceful person. She stood still but it wasn’t hard to tell that she was considering moving toward me again, finally I sat “Can’t sleep?” I stated more a statement than a question but she nodded and I beckoned her forward “Fine, I guess I can share a little more time”
She sat back beside tucking her feet beneath her bottom, her hands resting in her lap, a strange placement oddly obedient as I watched her “You don’t seem the type to be surviving out there alone” I stated quietly, the point made that we needed to keep our voices down if we were going to talk, just incase her psych friends were still close by and decided to take another run at us. “I’m not, at least I haven’t been alone long, I was with a group when we were attacked, our handlers were … well they under estimated the pack that attacked us I guess, so much blood and chaos some of the girls managed to run, I fell into a drainage pipe I think but they chased me, I eventually managed to find this place and was going to go to the roof and hope that they wouldn’t follow, or I could hide, but …”
“Hiding doesn’t always work, especially if they have your scent” I shrugged in a simple matter of fact way “You saved my life, I owe that to you” She stated softly, another mental growl or frustration “I’m not looking for baggage, I travel alone and I have to move quickly, not really looking out for anyone else but me”
She wiped away a tear and again I heard myself groan mentally, I was rather good at showing my emotion only in my head, often that choice was the difference between life and death “You chose to save me though” she whimpered softly.
“It was the right thing to do” I replied calmly trying to at least maintain some level of control over the situation “You really should get some rest, we’ll figure the rest out in the morning” and with that I tried to turn over and quietly hoped she’d return to the bedroom. She never did when I woke later that morning she was sleeping on the floor where she’d been sat, her hair covered her face, but in the daylight she looked incredibly vulnerable.
I slid to my feet quietly as I moved to the back of the room now packing up the rest of my gear, moving back to my pack and carefully stowing things inside, wrapping up the blanket and adding that before finally picking up my trench coat. A guy in a trench coat Cliche I know, but it was long and kept me warm as well as dry which was the more the important thing. As I finished packing I heard movement behind me, she raised her head catching my line of sight from beneath the tangle of her hair “You’re leaving?”
“I have to make my delivery, they don’t pay so well if I’m late” I shrugged now diverting my eyes back to checking over my pack, finally I picked up my gun and holstered it. Tucking the holster back beneath my coat.
“You don’t talk much do you?” Her voice broke my non train of thought, the question itself caught me slightly as I looked to my pack then to the window then back to her “Talking only creates more problems, so no I don’t talk much, and you shouldn’t either or did you not learn enough last night?” my tone was sharp, actually sharper than I meant it to be because she instantly looked away but not before the hurt crossed her features.
“You shouldn’t remain here too long, especially seeing as I’m going out of that door” I said jerking my head in the direction of the one I’d barricaded the day before. She sobbed softly and again I caught myself groaning before turning to her “You should head for the outskirts, there’s usually people there or even the security forces they will help. You’ll be fine as long as you’re careful” With that I pulled my pack to my shoulder and made my way to the door, lifting the table one side at a time to ease it back, it took time but finally I had enough room to open the door beyond. I looked back to see the girl hadn’t moved simply sat on the floor knelt with her hands in her lap. I watched her just a moment longer before I opened the door and slipped out.
Devils Inc. 2023 