City of Steam (Blackburn Chronicles)

by Dominic K Alexander

  "It’s a small grey rodent with a long fluffy tail and big teeth." He replied "Now let's get out of here before we lose our opportunity." He grabbed an unnaturally long and strange looking rifle and slung it over his shoulder, then lifted the gurney and started to move back into the woods cautiously.

  "Sounds like a squirrel." Mac mumbled under her breath and followed.

  The forest was completely silent as they walked through it. The day before had shown Mac a forest full of life and movement. The trees had been alive and helpful and the earth moved with her instead of against her. Today was much different. The trees were still and the animals absent. The forest floor was ungiving and for lack of a better term, normal. The wind was still and a luminous shadow seemed to follow them. Mac's hair raised on the back of her neck the entire journey and she expected someone or something to step in for the attack.

  For several miles, they walked in silence. The hunter moved with precision breaking no fallen branches and crunching no leaves. For a man, at least 6’2” tall he was as silent as a ghost, but Mac still felt as if someone or something was following them.

  As Mac stepped through the forest leaves crunched and twigs snapped. Her slouched worn out body moved like a drunken sailor and she didn't care. Her thoughts were not of where they were, but of where she wanted to be. She wanted to be home in her warm comfy bed. She wanted to be holding a good book and relaxing, not trudging through a forest with someone who clearly wanted nothing to do with her.

  It's this stupid coins fault. She thought as she ran her hand over her pants pocket and felt the outline of the coin. The Hunter looked back slightly, then forward again, and kept moving.

  "Where are we going?" Mac asked.

  "To get help." The Hunter replied in a monotone voice.

  Mac couldn't help but be disgusted by him. Though he was what she normally found attractive in a man, tall, lean muscles, deep blue eyes, blond hair so bright it was like a yellow sun, and an English accent, he was also dirty, rude, and unhelpful. He spoke to her as if she was not worth his time; as if she angered him with her pure presence. She hated every quiet minute they spent together; and yet, something unseen pulled her to him. She wanted to be close and able to look upon him as he moved. She couldn't explain how she felt, or why she felt that way, but it was there and it nagged at her.

  The boy started to take short gasping breaths struggling to hold onto his life. He jerked back and forth wanting to escape his pain while bringing more with every movement. The loud cries of anguish escaped his lips and tears flowed from his eyes. Mac ran to his side letting him know someone was there to help, that someone would save him. The Hunter set the gurney down and looked around cautiously before helping.

  "Move." He said pushing Mac back and kneeling next to the boy.

  "Don't push me!" Mac yelled stepping forward to hit him. She froze in her tracks as a green glow rose around the boy and he calmed, closed his eyes, and passed back out as if nothing happened. The Hunter stood, lifted the gurney, and started to walk, looking carefully around as he went, and saying nothing.

  "What did you just do?" Mac asked looking from the boy to The Hunter and back again. "What...what are you?" The Hunter continued to walk away ignoring the question.

  "Stop!" Mac yelled.

  "Do you want your friend to live,” The Hunter snapped after stopping and looking back at Mac. His scruffy face was hard and intimidating and stared deep into Mac sending a chill up her spine. "or do you want to have a conversation about who I am, or more strange, who you are?"

  "I just..."

  "I have already sacrificed my hunt to save your life, am trying to save your friends life, and keep you safe from the nasty little beasts that will tear your pretty little face off in this cursed forest. Shall I continue having a nice conversation with you over a cup of tea or can I get you to safety before nightfall comes? Your friend has an infection I can't fix and he will not survive another night, but I leave his fate to you." He simply stood staring, waiting for her response.

  Mac opened her mouth several times before finally closing it. She then took her eyes off him in defeat and flung her arm towards the forest. The Hunter turned and started to move again in silence. Mac followed looking down and ignoring him as best as she could without accidentally walking into the back of him.

  Hours passed and the forest darkened. The air began to smell of the rancid scent of sewer water, a faint glow began to show at the edge of the woods, and the unmistakeable sound of machinery echoed off the trees. The Hunter looked around more and more cautiously as he moved. Leaves crunched more with his steps and the forest became less quiet than it was when he moved earlier. He turned to Mac and held a finger to his mouth before continuing.

  As if his telling me to shut up earlier wasn't enough. She thought continuing to follow.

  They crept slowly to the edge of the woods making sure to be as quiet as possible. A wall bigger than any Mac had seen challenged them. It was at least 20 feet tall and spread as far as the eye could see. They were solid steel and covered in the forests overgrowth and a patina of rust. Several large armed metal guards much bigger than the one that attacked Mac paced the top of the wall stopping every couple of minutes to examine the forest edge.

  The Hunter peered down the wall searching for something and finally found it. He grabbed hold of Mac's arm and pulled her back into the forest with the boy.

  "You don't expect me to try and climb that wall, do you?" Mac asked wide eyed. "I could barely climb the rope in gym class."

  The Hunter tilted his head sideways looking at her with a confused expression before shaking his head and answering. "I am not going to let anything bad happen to you."

  "I don't believe you." All the secrecy and belittlement hit Mac at once and anger rushed through her. The trees swayed forward slightly and a gust of wind picked up through the forest. The sounds of forced air through metal tubes moved frantically across the city's wall. The hunter looked at her with an upturned smile.

  "My name is Devin," The Hunter said calmly "and I need you to calm down before those Controller Guards find us here and kill us. If I was going to do anything to hurt you, it would already be done. You need to trust me."

  Mac glared refusing to look away from him. Her body ached from hunger and lack of sleep. The injuries from fighting and the fire brought on an irritability she had never felt before. The forest fed on that anger darkening and moving slowly closer. She wanted to know where she was and why she was here. She wanted to know who Devin was and why he was being so secretive. She wasn’t going anywhere until she had the answers she was looking for. The answers she received were not at all the ones she was looking for.

  As Devin started to open his mouth a plethora of bullets riddled the ground around them. He let out a throaty laugh and began to run down the tree line with the boy bouncing up and down still unconscious on the gurney behind him. Mac didn't hesitate to follow, all anger washed away and was replaced with fear. The sound of the hand cannons dulled as they escaped.

  After several seconds passed Devin stopped giggling and slowed to look out of the forest and see if they were safe. The wall was clear of Controller Guards and there was no sign of other pursuers. He stepped into the clearing heading towards the great wall.

  Mac ran to catch up looking at him and noticing he had a large smile strewn across his face.

  "Was that fun for you?" Mac said annoyed.

  "Very much so, thank you." He replied.

  Mac was about to retort when she was hit in the face with the foul smell of raw sewage coming from a massive hole in the side of the wall. It was dilapidated and had not been well kept; cracks and wildlife made it their home and the grate that had once kept wildlife out was now broken in places large enough to fit a car through.

  "Please tell me we are not going to crawl through there." Mac said turning to throw up what little food had been in her stomach.

  "We are not going in there." Devin replied.

  "At
least something is going my way."

  "You two are going in there."

  "Not. Going. To happen." Mac said, pausing to gag between words. "And where are you while we are in there?"

  "I am not welcome in the city,” Devin said. "and will be off to finish my hunt."

  "No. I can't go in there alone.”

  "Then you can both sit here and die. I did my part in saving you; the rest is up to you."

  "I don't even know where I'm going."

  "Follow the sewer to its end. There you will find the underbelly of the city. It is where the cities unwanted patrons go to live, so don't talk to anyone hanging out in the streets. Make a right and look for a hanging glass jar. That's the apothecary. Ask for Kris and I am sure she will be able to help. Now, good luck." Devin lay the boy down, turned, and started to walk back into the forest.

  Mac started to protest then looked down at the boy and saw a white puss begin to seep through the green slime on his body. She instead looked one more time at Devin who disappeared into the forest, then down the dark and dangerous sewer tube. With a shake of her head she lifted one side of the gurney and pulled the boy behind her into the darkness.

  5.

  The sewer pipe twisted and turned several times, but was not very long, so Mac could avoid getting lost. Rodents scurried past her feet as she dragged the boy through the stream of human waste. As they neared the end of the pipe she set the gurney down in a dry area and stepped to the end looking out into the underbelly.

  The underbelly patrons lived in filth. Most of them aimlessly wandered the mud-covered streets wearing torn dirty rags. The sounds of moaning and screaming filled the air much like what Mac imagined a mad house would have been like. The buildings were constructed from nothing more than scrap metal held together with mud. Everything was old and falling apart. Even the poorest ghettos had nothing on the underbelly. She thought.

  As a fight broke out between two men, the patrons moved absentmindedly to watch the free entertainment. Mac took the opportunity of clear streets to find the apothecary. She looked around making sure nothing was going to take a bite out of a helpless victim, then left the boy where he was, and made a quick right as Devin had instructed. The area was absent of bright light and only the glow from stores and the occasional fire made it possible to see at all.

  Mac examined the objects which hung outside each building. One had a string of what looked like chicken bones and another had strips of ripped cloth. Next to a shop with several torn pieces of paper, Mac saw a small glass jar full of a soft glowing orange liquid. The building was much nicer than any of the others. It was made of metal like the others, but was supported with wood beams and everything was riveted together nicely. Before she could step inside, a toothless old man came staggering her way, arms held out, and looking as frail as a starving zombie. Mac shifted the curtain being used as a front door and moved quickly inside to avoid whatever the old man wanted from her.

  "I'll be right out." A woman’s voice called from behind a large metal wall which divided the building into two rooms. The walls were covered with jars full of colored liquids, dried plants, and even parts of animals, but smelled sweet and not rancid as she would have expected. Books were laid out nicely on shelves, and potted plants were scattered around the room. It was even more beautiful and well constructed inside than the outside.

  A tall woman with short black hair came out of the back with a burlap sack strewn over her shoulder. Mac noticed she had a strip of purple hair running through the black. It was a more brilliant purple color than she had ever seen before. She wore a pristine white Victorian style dress with a leather corset wrapped around her waist. It had small leather pouches and test tubes filled with colorful liquids strapped neatly over its surface. Mac couldn't help but notice how young, beautiful, and well kept she was, unlike the other people in the Underbelly. Her face seemed familiar in some way, but there was no way she could have known this person.

  As the woman looked up and noticed Mac she stopped in her tracks and dropped the sack to the floor. Her eyes narrowed and the once beautiful complexion became hard and dark.

  “How did you get here?” The woman said in an angry tone.

  “I’m sorry,” Mac said quickly. “there is a hurt boy and I was told to find Kris. Is that you?”

  “It is, but you have not answered my question. I want to know how YOU got here.”

  “We came through the sewers!" Mac said defensively. "Please, the boy needs your help. He has been severely burned and I'm not sure he will survive much longer.”

  “I don’t see any boy with you.” Kris said looking past Mac.

  “He’s still in the sewers.” Mac gestured back the way she had come.

  “You left a burned child in the sewers!” Kris yelled. “Ed, there is a boy that needs our aid.” A man well over six and a half feet tall stepped out of the back. His face was that of a fighter with a nose that had been broken several times and mended scars over his face and bald head. Mac couldn’t help but think he looked much like the Frankenstein from old movies; big, scary, and someone you ran from if they fixated their gaze on you.

  Ed looked at Mac, raised an eyebrow before turning to Kris and waiting for some sort of answer or instruction. Kris continued to stare at Mac with anger all but dripping from her; she then grabbed Ed by the arm and pulled the walking Pepsi machine past Mac and out of the building.

  “The idiot left a child in the sewers without anyone to watch after him.” Kris said on her way by. “We will be lucky if a kage rat didn’t take him as a snack.”

  I seem to be good at making friends in this place. Mac thought. And what the hell is a kage rat. Mac turned and followed them out the door.

  As they made the short trip towards the sewer pipe, the bum that had come after Mac earlier now moved quickly to Kris and Ed. Seconds before he could touch either of them Ed swung out his fist with amazing speed and landed a crushing blow to the man’s nose. He fell hard on his side unmoving. Blood poured from his nose soiling the ground below him.

  Mac just watched; jaw hanging open at the sight.

  Within seconds they entered the sewers and Kris pulled a small vial from her vest shaking it slightly. The liquid began to glow a bright white light illuminating everything around them. As they came to the boy, Kris’ eyes widened at the sight of him and she looked around sporadically as if someone was about to attack. With no attack, she rounded on Mac grabbing her by what little bit of shirt remained.

  “Do you know what kind of danger you have brought here?” Kris spat. “No, of course you don’t. If you had half a brain you would have stayed exactly where you were instead of bring death to all of us.” She released Mac’s shirt and looked around again cautiously. “Ed, please get the boy back to the shop before we are seen.”

  Ed scooped up the boy into his arms coddling him like a mother would to her newborn baby boy. The boy’s arms hung limp swaying back and forth as they quickly walked back to the apothecary. Kris was silent while watching everyone around them as she went.

  “I am not sure why you are so mad at me.” Mac started to protest once they were finally in the safety of the shop.

  “You wouldn’t now would you!” Kris started to yell again. “Leaving a boy to die in the sewers and this girl doesn’t know why I would be mad at her.” Kris walked into the back room and Mac followed. Ed already laid the boy gently down on a wooden table and was running his massive hand over the boy’s head to comfort him even though he was still unconscious. The giant man had the look of concern only a parent could have for their child and ignored the ensuing argument behind him.

  “I didn’t even know where your shop was, so what did you expect me to do?” Mac yelled back.

  “I am not going to explain it” Kris yelled back as she pulled plants and bottles off the shelf mixing those together and then adding more “because you are obviously not intelligent enough to understand the dangers anyway. I mean, look at you, half dressed like a whore and wan
dering carelessly around the underbelly. Your madder than half the people down here.”

  “I didn’t ask for this-” Mac started.

  “I don’t really care about the excuses you have,” Kris shot back. “if you want my help you will follow my rules and only talk when I ask you a question. If you don’t like those rules, feel free to go get accosted by the gangs of thugs out there waiting for a simple girl like you.” Mac turned to head out of the shop and Ed’s massive hand gripped her shoulder solidly and pushed her firmly into a chair.

  “No.” Ed said simply, then turned back to the boy, and ran his hand back over his head. Mac sat quietly in the chair confused and angry to be a prisoner with no reason why. Ten minutes passed before anyone spoke a word.

  “What happened to him anyway?” Kris said a little calmer than she had been.

  “Oh, I can talk now?” Mac spat. Kris slammed a knife down into the table hard making Mac jump. “I found him by the bog burned and covered in filth.”

  “You were by the bog?” Kris asked, anger rising once again in her voice. “As stupid as you seem to be, you deserve to be crushed by one of those bog beasts.” Mac said nothing having already learned she would get nowhere arguing with the woman. “So you decided to bring him to the one place he is unwelcome. That seems like solid thinking on your part.”

  “I decided to bandage him with my clothing and try to find his home or shelter so both of us might have a chance at surviving.” Mac said. “By the time I came across his camp the boy was almost dead and I was too weak to continue due to lack of food or water. Though it didn’t matter since his camp was completely in flames. I passed out having almost fallen into one of the burning buildings. When I woke, a hunter had seen us and pulled me to safety. He is the one that kept the boy alive and brought us here.”

  “The camp was completely on fire?” Kris said calmly looking from her mixture to Ed, then to the mixture again “Were there any other survivors? Also, who was the hunter you mentioned?” The sound of concern in her voice was unmistakable.