There wasn’t enough time for you to think it through. You closed your eyes, held your breath, and pulled the trigger. The guy shouted in pain and stumbled forward, lunging towards you with an animal-like desperation that you had never seen before. His eyes were alight with a flaming passion; a passion you didn’t want to experience. You tried to step back to lean on Mordikai’s back for support, but he stepped forward at the same time, as if the two of you were dancing a poorly choreographed dance. The mud below your shoes was slick with your attacker’s blood and the next thing you knew, you lost your footing and fell to the ground. Time seemed to slow down as he stood over you. You couldn’t move or shout for help. All you could do was look into those burning, bloodshot eyes as you were completely at his mercy.
Thump…Thump…Thump
All you could hear was the pounding of your heart in your ears. You felt sick as everything moved in slow motion. The pounding blood felt like a hammer against the anvil that was your skull. You just wanted the pounding to stop. Remembering the knife that you stuck in your pocket, you threw your gun at the attacker. He stumbled back, giving you ample time to bring the knife out of your pocket. Thoughts began to disappear from your mind, the surrounding area melting from your vision as you focused on protecting yourself. Everything felt like sludge, as if time itself was beginning to disintegrate too. You lunged forward, knife in hand, as you plunged it into the body of your attacker. Mordikai’s voice flashed by as you remembered what he taught you,
“If you can’t get the neck, go for between the ribs. Chances are, you’ll hit something important.”
The knife sank into the attacker’s body and you couldn’t hear him screaming in agony. As suddenly as it happened, time began to resume. You stumbled back, dropping the knife as well. Your surroundings began to shift back into focus and you could hear the one who attacked you breathing heavily. There was almost a gurgling sound as he struggled. It was sickening. As quickly as the world came back into focus, it began to tilt and before you knew it, you were back on the ground again. Every part of your body was trembling. Killing a rabid dog was one thing, but another person? It was out of self-defense, sure, but could there have been another way? Something warm grabbed your shoulder and you jumped. Mordikai was looking down at you, blood staining the outside of his jacket.
“You hurt?” He asked, out of breath.
“I-I don’t think so?” Aside from the fact that your gut was churning, you didn’t seem to be injured.
“Heh, that’s good. Here,” holding your knife and gun, he smiled gently at you, “you dropped these. Woulda been bad if you didn’t have them with you, y’know.”
You put your gun back in its holster and slid the knife in your pocket before walking over to a chair to sit down again. Legs trembling still, you sat down and watched Mordikai look at the bodies. He had mentioned earlier that it’s common to search through the belongings of any bodies you find, regardless of their condition. As gross as it was, it was “simply custom” as he said.
Eventually, he walked back over to you, saying that there was nothing of interest. Mordikai offered you some towelettes to clean the blood off your hands. You graciously accepted. As you were making sure there was no blood on your hands or clothes, Mordikai began to talk again.
“It’s terrifying, isn’t it? Killing someone.”
You didn’t respond.
“I was in the same place as you when I was a couple years younger than you. I couldn’t stop puking for days.” He snorted, “At least you seem to be handling it better than I did. Listen, you did good, Jordan. I’m proud of you. We can start heading towards the traders when you’re ready, okay?”
You nodded, tossing the bloodied towelette on the ground at your feet. After sitting down and mulling over what you had done, you eventually decided that there was no point in dwelling on it. After all, you couldn’t bring anyone back to life. Both you and Mordikai began walking again. Mordikai looked over, and noting your agitation, broke the silence.
“You wanna hear about the Traders before we meet ‘em?”
Grateful for the opportunity to talk about something else, you agreed.
“Well, the Traders are a pair of twins known as Cynthia and Sydney. They’re good friends of mine. They’re practically identical twins as well, which can be interesting sometimes.” He scratched his head, searching for more to say.
“What kind of stuff do they trade?” you asked, genuinely curious.
“All sorts of stuff. They’re ‘officially authorized’ to handle trades between the City and the Slums. As a side business, they also trade with the Undercity as well. It’s basically the only way to get actual food and weapons down here, unless you actually want to trust people’s makeshift weapons.” He laughed sheepishly, as if he was recalling something. “As you could probably guess, they also sell some less-than-legal stuff, but hey, it’s a job. You’ll know ‘em when you see ‘em. They’ll be happy to meet you.”
“What are we going to do there?”
“You mean like what’s the plan to get to the Slums?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I was thinking we could probably hide in one of the carriages that passes through to the City. It goes through the Slums and it would probably drop you off in a place where you could easily get back to your home.”
“And what about you?” you asked, looking at him.
“Me?”
“Yeah, you.”
“I, uh, hadn’t thought that far ahead. I suppose while I’m close to the Surface, I could…maybe see my family.
“I bet they would like that.” You smiled.
Mordikai caught your eye, and for the first time, you saw a different type of smile on his face. It looked like one filled with nostalgia.
The two of you continued walking for a couple hours, occasionally stopping here and there. Overall, it was a smooth trip. You were finally looking at the blue sky again. It felt like it had been ages. You could see blues streaked with silver clouds, birds dotting the sky as they passed. The air was cleaner too and felt light in your chest. You had stopped noticing the rank smell of the Undercity, but now that you could smell the air above, it was heavenly. Mordikai looked even more awestruck. In a small voice filled with child-like wonder,
“It’s been over a decade since I’ve seen the sky…”
You couldn’t help but stifle a laugh at his face. He seemed less like the stern-faced guide and more like a young boy. He shook his head and motioned for you to stick close to him. Obediently, you followed behind him. Before you stood two women about ten years older than you. Mordikai wasn’t kidding when he mentioned that the Traders were identical twins. You couldn’t tell them apart even if you tried.
“Kai!” The one of the left shouted, embracing Mordikai in a tight embrace. “Oh, it’s been so long. You’ve grown so much!” She laughed, ruffling his hair.
“Kai?” you echoed, trying not to laugh. He shot you a look. The one on the right looked at you and beamed.
“You from the City?” She asked. You paused. Even their voices were identical.
“Y-Yeah…”
“I thought so. You don’t look like someone from the Undercity. I guess that means you’re here to get back to the City?”
You nodded, but before the Trader could say anything, the one who finally stopped hugging Mordikai spoke up.
“Cynth, we can’t do that." She whined, "We gotta find the dog first.”
“Shit, you’re right.” Cynthia paused before her eyes lit up like a light bulb.
“Hey! Could you guys find a dog for us?”
“A dog?” Both you and Mordikai echoed.
“Yeah, a client lost it and is refusing to do any business with us ‘til we find it.” The one you assumed was Sydney stated.
You and Mordikai looked at each other.
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