Chapter 57

“Oi, ya ready?”

“Huh? What…?” the man awoke from his slumber, yawning before he could respond. “Flin? What ya…? Time already?” He sat up from his patchwork bed and rubbed his wrinkly face.

“How’s ya sleep, Ol’ Keep?” The young man asked. Clean shaven and relatively well dressed, he wore a large brown overcoat on top of his patrol uniform.

“Was shit.” The old man smiled, brushing his beard with his hand. “Let me catch some more snores, will ya?”

“Catch more after, ain’t gettin’ paid to lay in bed.”

“Ol’ Keep’s gotta get his beauty sleep.” The old man stood and stretched, grabbing his own coat from the nearby stand. “Ya yunggins got it good, full of energy.” He bent his back until an audible crack could be heard. “No back pain, damn… I’m getting’ old.”

“No kiddin’,” Flin jested. “It’s takin’ more effort to wake ya every time.”

After gathering his equipment, Ol’ Keep yawned and stumbled out of his room. “Wake Glut yet?”

“Doin’ it now.” Flin knocked on the door adjacent to Ol’ Keep’s and waited, but there was no response.

“Shoot, where’s that respect for me? Ya knock for his room but just bust into mine.”

“I did knock on ya door.” Once a minute had passed, the young man shrugged before barging into the room. “Oi, Glut, get ready for patrol…”

Silence fell as Flin’s eyes met with the man’s, along with the sight of some woman hiding under the blanket. The woman quickly got up, revealing her naked body. She grabbed her clothing and swiftly put on the bare minimum before storming out of the room.

Ol’ Keep leaned against the door frame, chuckling as the woman left.

“Ya know this place ain’t a lover’s den.” Flin sighed and tossed Glut’s overcoat to the bed.

“Hey, she came to me. Ain’t no gentlemen gonna reject a lady at her time of need.”

“What a horndog.” chucked Ol’ Keep before he left.

“Get ready, it’s time to make the rounds.”

“Already?” Glut leaped from his bed, exposing every part of his body.

“For fuck sakes put on some clothes!”

“What? You ain’t got one?” Glut point at his crotch and laughed. “Jealous?”

“Get fuckin’ ready, we’re heading out in a few.” Flin turned around and exited the room, slamming the door closed behind him.

The patrol station consisted of three rooms all connected to a shared living space. Since it was the responsibility of the patrol crew to respond to any complaints and ensure the safety of their assigned areas, they were required to live locally at the hastily constructed stations.

In the shared room, Ol’ Keep sat down on one of the three chairs, pouring himself a cup of hot water to warm his hands.

“Want some?” The old man asked.

“I’m good.”

“Damn, it’s gettin’ cold again.” Ol’ Keep raised the cup to his face and breathed in as a steady stream of steam rose. “This ain’t good for my bones.”

“Gotta consider ourselves lucky, least we got heaters.” Flin inspected his standard issue submachine gun, pulling back the bolt multiple times to ensure that the mechanism did not jam. “How’s the radio? Did ya get it working?”

The old man sighed and took a sip from his cup.

“The mic is still busted, them wires all jumbled and cut. Other than that, everythin' else is fine.”

“Can’t ya fix it, ain't that what ya used to do?”

“Fix it?” Ol’ Keep scoffed. “Boy, that’s above my pay grade.”

“Ya know the tops ain’t gonna be happy bout us not reporting in.”

“Well, the tops can either raise my pay or kiss my ass!” The old man gulped down the remainder of his drink. “Besides, we got excuses. If they come knockin’, we tell’em we got a busted radio and ain’t know what’s wrong.”

“Diligent as always, ain’t ya?”

The old man shrugged.

“Ya get what ya paid for.”

Just then, Glut exited his room dressed in an outfit similar to Flin’s but poorly fitted and creased.

“Good-mornin' fellas!”

“Somebody’s yippidie,” said Ol’ Keep as he poured himself another cup of warm water.

“Glut, I told ya this ain’t a lover’s den.”

“Look,” Glut raised his hands in contest, “I never said nothin’ bout this being a ‘lover’s den’. I see this place as a refuge, ya know? A place where weary heart can get some relief. I think it’s pretty noble, what ya think Ol’ Keep?”

“I think ya gonna catch some crouch bitters if ya ain’t got some already.”

Glut’s wide smirk quickly faded as hints of worry took its place. He immediately covered it with a scowl and responded in a mocking posh dialect.

“What a scandalous accusation ya have befallen onto those wonderful ladies. Ya better watch ya mouth, old man.”

“Yeah, kid…” Ol’ Keep muttered, “do ya’self a favor and get checked.”

“Enough.” Yelled Flin, “Let’s just get on with the patrol and get this over with, alright?”

For the next ten minutes, the members of the station prepared their equipment. Each member of the group was issued their own flashlight. Though not as bright as the ones given to the city guards, they functioned well enough in the dimly lit streets of the slums. As they finalized their gear, Glut and Ol’ Keep began to bicker over senseless topics before Flin shouted them back into their tasks. Once everyone was ready, the patrol went through the station and ensured that all appliances were off before they headed out to their predetermined route.

The first section of their patrol passed without much happening. Occasionally they would hear yelling as they passed some of the shacks, but most of the time, it was only silence that filled the chilly air.

“So…” Glut voiced, casually skimming the area with his flashlight. “Anybody else feelin’ like we ain’t doing much?”

“What ya mean?” said Ol’ Keep.

“Let’s say we find some ‘criminal activity,’ we expected to arrest’em, right?”

“That’s what we’re gettin’ paid for,” Flin replied.

“When’s the last time we found one just strollin’ down these streets?”

“Sounds like somebody wants some excitement.” Ol’ Keep slapped Glut on his back and knocked him forward a few steps. “Ya gonna be first to get dropped if a firefight starts, boy!”

“That ain’t my point.” Glut continued. “We’ve been patrollin’ the same route for weeks and haven’t seen shit. Now call me ill-brained, but there ain't’ no way that this place’s got nothin’ going on.”

“We can’t exactly start busting down folk’s doors if that’s what ya suggestin’.”

“I’m not saying we gotta, Flin, but we sure as hell ain’t doing much good right now!”

“Didn’t know that you got more in your head than spreadin’ legs. Ain’t ya full of surprises, boy.”

Hearing this, Glut turned his head and glowered at the old man.

“What I do in my free time ain’t got nothin’ to do with this!”

“Hey, just sayin’ that it ain’t givin’ me impressions that you had some sense of duty.”

Glut ignored Ol’ Keep’s comment and sped closer to Flin, who was at the head of the group.

“Look, Flin, I join the patrol cause I thought I’ll be doin’ somethin’ good, ya know? But this got me feelin’ like we just wastin’ time. Tell me why that out of the five patrol groups we got in these ghettos, ain’t a single one findin’ shit.”

Flin sighed, then continued on to search the area with his light.

“I get why ya frustrated, but this is our job and we got rules to follow. This place is already pretty broken as it is, startin’ wars and pissing people off ain’t gonna make it better. All we can do is follow our orders and hopefully, the tops will put more work into fixin’ all this.”

“Well, the hell are them tops waitin’ for?”

“The tops ain’t gonna fix shit, boy!” The old man shouted from behind. “Ya think they put us here to make sure everythin’s safe?” he laughed. “They put us here to remind the folks of this shithole who’s in charge. Ever thank why even when some bullshit’s going on, ain’t nobody making reports to us patrols? It’s cause any dweller with half a brain know we ain’t workin’ for them.”

“And you’re alright with all this, Ol’ Keep?!”

“Alright with it?” The atmosphere grew thick and Ol’ Keep’s demeanor quickly grew sour. “They gettin’ what they paid for.”

“The tops or these people?!” Glut growled.

Ol’ Keep remained silent as the tension within the group grew. It did not take long before he attempted to defuse the situation.

“I’ll tell ya what though.” Ol’ Keep uttered, then gathered his saliva and spat to the side of the dirt path. “If the tops get me new equipment and some extra coin in my pocket, I’ll clean this entire place right up. Fix up their houses and everthin-”

“Wait.” Suddenly, Flin stopped in the middle of the road.

“What?!” Glut shouted, readying his weapon. “What ya see?!” His eyes followed Flin’s flashlight into the distance where a small figure stood, covering her face with her arms. “Is that a…”

The three hastily rushed toward the child as their flashlights scoured the area.

“Hey, are ya alright?” Flin asked as his eyes shifted back and forth between the girl and her rifle. He then saw that her clothing was barely holding together with rips and tears in many places. She also seemed to be soaked with a mixture of blood and some other fluid, slightly shivering as her arms continued to block her face.

“Oh sorry.” Realizing that his light shunned directly into the child’s eyes, he immediately lowered his torch and kneeled on the ground. Slowly, the child relaxed her arms to reveal her unusually calm expression, given the situation.

Flin removed his coat and wrapped it around the girl while his two partners vigilantly checked their surroundings.

“Can ya tell me ya name?”

“...” The girl simply stared back, her gaze darting from one member of the patrol to the other.

“Don’t worry, we’ll keep ya safe. My name’s Flin,” the man then pointed to the two standing and scanning. “That’s Glut and there’s Ol’ Keep. We’re the local patrol in charge of this area.”

“...Local patrol…?” she questioned softly.

“Yeah, we work for the city. Now, can ya tell me ya name?”

“An…” She voiced hesitantly before she continued to speak. “Anna…”

“Alright Anna, can ya tell me what happened?”

The child’s head lowered as she spoke in a quiet mumble.

“I… I got lost…”

“Lost?!” Shouted Glut in bewilderment.

“Shush!” Flin then returned his attention to the child. “And what else happened?”

“...” The girl remained silent as she shook her head.

Seeing her demeanor, Flin stood up and decided that it was best not to probe further.

“Ol’ Keep,” he said. “Take her back to the station and get her warmed up. Glut, we’ll keep goin’ to see if there’re others.”

“Right.” The old man lowered his weapon and took off his overcoat. “Take it, ya gonna need this.”

Flin glanced at the coat, then back to the old man.

“Thought the cold ain’t good for ya bones.”

“Well, we ain’t too far from the station. It’s warmer inside than out anyways.”

“Thanks,” after accepting the old man’s offer, Flin kneeled down once more and spoke to the child.

“Follow him to the station, he’ll get ya sorted out. No need to worry, he’s a good man.” Flin equipped his gun and gestured for Glut to follow him. “Let’s go, there may be others.” The two quickly headed out, leave Ol’ Keep and the child behind. Flin opted to follow the predetermined path but paid heed to carefully check every intersection they had passed. The two did not mutter a word, yet the same thoughts occupied their minds.

“Hey,” voiced Glut, breaking the prolonged silence. “The hell ya think happened to her.”

“We’ll figure that out later, but right now we gotta make sure that there aren’t other like her out here.”

They shun their lights at every corner they came across, ensuring that nothing hid just out of sight.

“The way her clothes were ripped…” Glut lamented amongst their search. “They did that to a fuckin’ child…”

“That’s why we gotta make the rounds. As much as I want to believe, ain’t no way she’s the only one.”

They searched corner after corner and found nothing among the dilapidated constructs that the slum dwellers called home. Trash and broken trinkets littered the dirt ground, leaving a minefield of hazards that were carelessly scattered.

“Wait, what’s that?!” Glut then slowed down, concentrating on one particular spot on the ground. “That’s…”

Sitting atop the road were small drops of reddish brown that at first, did not seem out of place with all the litter. Next to them were a series of small tracks made within the dried earth, as if someone desperately clung on as they were dragged away. As they followed the trails with their beam of light, the small drips of dried blood soon became streaks, with entire patches of the ground dyed with the ominous color.

The two glanced at each other, nodding in acknowledgment as they proceeded onward. Neither of the men knew what laid ahead nor what to expect. For as far as they could remember, the worst disturbance they had encountered was a brawl between two intoxicated men.

“That… that smell…” Glut sniffed, “that smells like…”

“Yeah… I know…” Flin aimed his gun at the approaching corner with his finger readied on the trigger. A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead as the scent of iron grew ever more overbearing. He swallowed his saliva and took a deep breath, before quickly turning the corner in one motion.

“Flin…?” called Glut worryingly seeing the horrified expression on his partner’s face. With haste, he too turned the corner. “Wha…” Before even a second had passed, the man held his stomach and curled before hurling and vomiting the contents of his previous meal onto the ground.

Before them, soaked in a half-dried pool of blood, were the brutally ravaged bodies of two young children, stripped of their flesh and barely resembling the human form. What little remained of their skin was ripped into pieces, leaving only small fragments that still stuck to their broken skulls. The smell was horrid, a sharp mixture of metal and an unnatural, invasive stink. But what stood out the most, was the carcasses were completely emptied of any organs.