Jagged
The area was out of bounds, it was more than that, it was a death zone but Andrea no longer had a choice, she could hear the dogs barking behind her. There was no where else left to go. The fence metal was cold and rusted, chunks of paint cut into her fingers but she pulled herself up anyway, arm muscles straining and rubber soled rainbow sneakers slipping on the metal slats – she scrabbled upwards. Grabbing hold of the heavier, older metal grid that lay behind the fence she swung one leg up, a seam gave out in her clothing, something went pop in her groin. Panting she hauled so she was crouching on the top of the fence, she looked back at the ally way, a large black and caramel shape thundered around the corner, snarling and growling it spotted her, she froze for a moment, scare and tired, but the a blinding light seemed to sear her eyes.
The guards would have guns, she leaped snagging her coat of the barbbed wire, she was cut but if it had been razor wire things would have been much worse. She locked the pain down deep and ran. Bullets pinged on the metal fence. No one would notice a body this side of the fence and there was no one left to notice she was missing. Her soft soles made little thudding noises sending up little splashes as once again it rained on her.
A stitch ripped into her side, she felt she would split open, she needed to rest but she dared not. There was little light, the orange glow of the clouds was all she had, she had never seen it so dark. The buildings were husks, empty shells, she felt them drag at her, she should go inside one of them, fear meant she did not and the run became a jog which became a shambling walk. So very tired, she dragged herself through the streets thinking on all that had brought her to this place.
Tears stung her eyes but she was too wet and cold to waste the energy on crying, she heard a howl and shivered, had they followed her in here?
No one dared come here, no one ever returned, that was the one thing everyone agreed on, it was the place naughty children were threatened with. Looking around she saw the moss growing on the brick work, it had eradicated most of the graffiti, one bit still proclaimed HELL. Nodded at it she wondered on, drifts of sound scratched at her senses, were they really there just far off or was she imagining it?
This was outside of The Company, she was out of bounds, there were other companies – she knew that – that had been what started it all. Her dad had decided they would defect, he had tried but they had all ended up in the lock down forced to work out his contract. Now he was dead and she held the key they needed, it was in her brain, she could feel it if she thought about it, a strange greasy intruder. They had killed her sisters, they had had key too but the doctors hadn’t known how to extract them, Andrea was pretty sure they still didn’t know how to extract them.
The sounds were definitely getting louder. She should hide out until morning, she was so tired and hungry. There was a smell that accompanied the sound. It seemed to bypass her nose, her mouth watered, she really was very hungry. They were not brilliant at feeding you in lock down, especially when your father had upset them.
Her heart lurched painfully as a rat scuttled before her, she knew rats at least, they got everywhere. Her and her sisters used to hunt them for pocket money, no poison could kill them but elastic and metal did. There was good eating on the larger ones too, but she was too exhausted to hunt.
‘Well looky here!’
Andrea spun round, the man in front of her was huge, she turned to run but collided with another – a girl, broader than she was. The girl grabbed her and she struggled.
‘Hey, calm down!’ Andrea wasn’t going to calm to down, she wasn’t going to die easy – never!
‘She must be a Wall Jumper! Hey hunni we’re not going to hurt you.’ But Andrea wasn’t listening and wouldn’t have trusted the sentiment anyway – that is what they had told her family when they bundled them into the lock down.
Frantic instinct took over, she felt the arms holding her give and ran with energy she would pay for later.
‘The bitch bit me!’ she heard from behind her.
Thudding feet followed her, she tried to jodge but unlike The Company confines she didn’t know these streets. She rounded a corner and stopped with shock. Multicoloured tents were arranged on a grassy area, music and hubbub filled the air. More people than she had ever seen thronged about, they seemed to move in a strange dance of the many, it was beautiful.
‘Welcome to the Independents Miss!’ laughed the man she’d collided with, the girl she’d bitten was sulking at her.
‘I hope you’ve smuggled something good out because you are paying for my jabs!’ the girl pointed to the red welt, she’d raised blood on the other girl’s arm.
‘We’ll take you to the Ring Master, he’ll fill you in on how things work round here.’ Andrea let them lead her away, too tired now to really fear the strangeness of it all – was she really out of The Company’s reach? The Independents? She had heard rumours of them, they had no central governing system, no share holders and no regulated currency – her father had feared them, she knew she didn’t have that luxury.
Posted: Sunday, January 5th, 2014 @ 4:07 am
Categories: Flash Fiction, The Punks World.
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