Rays of sunlight streamed through the narrow gap between the trash container and its cover. Kat’s eyes opened lazily and she stared in confusion at her murky surroundings. She was sitting in a pile of garbage. A jolt of panic rushed through her when she realized it was well past dawn. I slept through my watch alarm. I’ve missed work! The terrifying memories from the past night washed over her and she anxiously groped for her satchel. Its strap was still over her shoulder, the bag resting by her side. Kat opened the top and felt for its contents. Everything seemed to be there.
She attempted to stand but her back and ribs protested against her ambition. After rising only a few centimeters, she slowly, tentatively lowered herself back to the floor. She tried to stretch her back gingerly by pressing against the metal wall of the trash bin. When the stabbing pain diminished somewhat, she took a more cautious approach to standing.
The trash lid easily pushed open and the light that flooded in forced Kat to shield her eyes. The sun was high overhead. She looked down to her watch and discovered it was past noon. There was considerable foot traffic on the Strip although her new alley seemed deserted. Even her landlord was missing. Kat walked over to a heap of refuse inside the container and used it as a stepstool. It was far easier exiting the container than it had been to enter it.
After she slowly eased herself to the ground, Kat pressed her fingers to her ribs. They were extremely tender but she felt no protrusions or depressions along the bones. She fished out her second packet of pain pills and swallowed them dry. They’re going to knock me out again but I can’t make it through the day with this kind of pain. She moved to the end of the alley and looked down the Strip. Besides, I’m not far from where I’m going.
The trip to the Beggar’s Market took twenty minutes. Every heavy step sent a flood of pain through her side. She had considered stopping until the pills took effect but fear drove her forward. The line at the Beggar’s Market was short. It was a Tuesday and the market had already been open for many hours. Kat stared at the yellow-shirts at the gate as she clutched her satchel. They’ll search it.
She ducked around an alley corner and withdrew a pistol. Her hands moved automatically, depressing the magazine release. A rigid pack dropped from the magazine well into her waiting hand. A cursory inspection told her the remaining plastisteel pack amounted to at least a dozen more shots. Each trigger pull would shave off the topmost portion of the polymer/steel fiber pack and fire it down the barrels. As the fibers raced for the pistol’s opening, the mini-barrels would divide the charge into nine thin, needle-like flechette rounds that would shred any soft target. She reinserted the magazine and thumbed the safety before tucking the gun into her waistband near the small of her back. She repeated the process with the second pistol, this time concealing the weapon down the front of her pants. She pulled her oversized shirt over both and allowed it to hang limply. Taking a fortifying breath, she moved to the end of the line at the market’s entrance.
Before she knew it, Kat was at the front. A yellow-shirt gestured her forward and she stepped to him while holding out her satchel. She flipped the top open and quietly said, “There’s two large in there for you if that’s all you see and you let me in.”
The man leaned over her bag and reached inside to extract both coins. He regarded her with cold eyes. “What’s your purpose?”
“I’m just hawking it,” Kat lied. “I have another one at home and a vendor inside the market said he’d give me six large for it.” She tried to smile flirtatiously and implored him with soft, brown eyes. “Please? I need the money.”
“There’s blood all over it,” the guard commented.
“There’s blood all over Shantytown,” Kat retorted.
“How about I hold on to it and you bring the vendor here?” he suggested.
Kat forced herself to consider the offer for several seconds. “You promise you won’t take more than the two large?”
“Sure,” the guard replied with a smile. The man pocketed the coins and withdrew the knife. He admired it for an instant before wiping the blade on a soiled rag from his back pocket. Once clean, he tucked the knife between his belt and his trousers. He threw a casual thumb behind him and looked past Kat for the next person in line.
She stepped quickly around the guard and moved straight to Reynolds’ clinic.
“Kat!” the doctor exclaimed excitedly when she saw her but her expression quickly turned to concern. “What are you doing at the market? Shouldn’t you be working?”
Kat ignored the questions and entered the shack from the side door. She looked fearfully out the service window and then gestured for Reynolds to follow her to the back room.
“What’s this about?” Reynolds asked nervously once they were behind the curtained doorway.
“Maggie, I’m in trouble and I need help.” Kat moved painfully to Reynolds’ bed and eased herself to the mattress. “I’m in danger and if you help me, you’ll be in danger too. I need someplace safe to stay until I can figure out what I’m going to do.” She looked at the older woman and said, “You don’t have to help me. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Reynolds moved to sit beside Kat and patted her knee. “I’m done being scared, Kat. Tell me what’s wrong.”
Kat inhaled slowly, trying to think where to begin. “When I came home last night, there were three people in my alley. They’d killed Rat. Shot him with a pistol. Their leader was holding my carton… you know, the one I used to bring you herbs. He was saying strange stuff, like he knew about my trips out to the desert.”
“Did they hurt you, Kat?” Reynolds asked. “I can’t help but notice you’re favoring your left side.” She moved her hands to the bottom of Kat’s shirt.
Kat brushed the doctor’s help away. “They didn’t hurt me. I bruised some ribs at the mine but I’m fine. The man said that something called the Society was searching for me. That they wanted me dead.” She shivered at the memory. “Just when I thought they were going to shoot me, the crazy woman who lived across the trash wall distracted them.” She hugged herself as she recounted, “I had a knife in my satchel. I got it from someone who tried to mug me a couple days ago… I killed them, the people in my alley.” Kat hung her head. “I killed all three of them.”
Reynolds leaned back, doubt creeping into her expression. “Honey, are you sure? You killed three, armed men with just a knife?”
Kat closed her eyes and nodded. “I stabbed one. It was awful…”
Reynolds wrapped an arm around her friend and rubbed her back. “It’s okay, dear. You had to defend yourself.”
“Then,” Kat continued, “I… disarmed the other two and shot them both. One of them wasn’t quite dead and I shot him again.” Tears began to roll down her face and she shuddered. “He was still breathing, looking at me and I just... finished him.”
Reynolds hugged her gently and soothed, “It’s okay, Kat. I’m sure you did what you had to do, sweetie.” She rocked Kat slightly in comfort for several moments until her friend’s sobs faded. Finally, she withdrew her embrace and asked hesitantly, “Are you sure things really happened that way?”
Kat shifted her weight and pulled both guns from her waistband.
Reynolds’ mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. The doctor’s horror knocked Kat out of her daze and she quickly placed both weapons into her bag.
Reynolds inhaled sharply and her hand flew to her mouth. “Kat, this morning three people were looking for you. They were asking vendors if they’d seen you. They even had a picture of you on a handheld with the name Kallista Pendleton under it.”
Kat shot to her feet but winced at the pain that caught her. “Did you say anything?” She rushed to the curtain, pulling it slightly askew to look outside.
“No!” Reynolds replied. “I told them I’ve never seen you and that they were blocking my service window. Then I came back here and ground herbs until they were gone.” She stood from the bed and walked to Kat. “But Stew said they had been asking other vendors before me. They might even still be in the market.”
“What did they look like?”
“Strange clothes,” Reynolds recalled. “Two of them had on black and grey uniforms, kind of like corporate security. The third was a woman. She wore citizen’s clothes, a red top with black pants. She was creepy and clearly in charge. None of them seemed to be carrying guns but I guess they could’ve been hiding them.”
Kat let the curtain drop back into place and turned to Reynolds. “I don’t have anywhere else to go, Maggie. Can I stay here? At least until I’ve figured out my next move?”
Reynolds grasped Kat’s hand firmly. “You’re welcome to stay here. I promised I would help and that’s what I’m going to do.” She pursed her lips for a moment. “We’re going to have to bribe a guard to let you stay the night though.”
Kat looked to her wristwrap. Thank God I didn’t let them put a chip in me, she thought gratefully. “All I have left is thirty credits. I don’t get paid again until Friday and that’s if I could somehow even get to the mine.” Her heart lurched when she remembered Sadler. He doesn’t even know where I am! Will he ever? A new bout of tears made her brown eyes shimmer. It was becoming clear she was going to have to run. Run from the life she was building. Run from Sadler and Maggie.
“I’ve got coins stashed away,” Reynolds told her. “We’ll have enough and I’ll be sure to go through Stew. He’ll cut me a deal,” she wagered. “You wait here. Don’t leave this room.”
A minute later, Reynolds returned with clean rags and a bucket of water. “Clean yourself up, Kat. You’ve got dried blood on your face and you smell like you’ve slept in a sewer.” She went to a shelf and retrieved a small knife and her bar of soap to scrape off a handful of shavings. “I’ll take a look at those ribs later. Let me go find Stew and see how much your staying will cost us.”
Kat gave herself a sponge bath in Reynolds’ absence. Afterwards, she scrubbed at the worst stains on her pants before painfully lifting her shirt over her head and dunking it into the soapy water in the bucket. She wringed it out as best she could before pulling it back on. Her side ached cruelly but the pain wasn’t as sharp as before. She lifted her feet off the floor and gently laid back on the mattress. It felt like a bed of clouds. I’ll rest until Maggie gets back. Then, I’ll give her my wristwrap and we can figure out my options. She finally felt a little safer. She inhaled as deeply as she could and found the pain wasn’t nearly as bad now that she was prone. A slow, long exhale calmed her further and her eyelids began to droop.