Sunscorched

by Jen Crane

  Nori’s gaze left Cooper’s face as they approached the buildings carved into the sides of the monstrous cavern. The structures were flanked by thick brown columns of ancient natural stalactites and stalagmites, and a few that appeared constructed. Thousands of straw-like mineral deposits loomed from the cavernous ceiling. The floor had been leveled and the ceiling illuminated. Big, square lights were affixed to the ceiling. How had she not noticed before? The lights gave off a distinct buzzing that bounced and echoed around her. She tried to ignore it, as the others appeared to do, but the constant, low-level buzz was maddening, like a gnat living just inside her ear.

  She stopped moving again, but Cooper didn’t jerk her hands this time. “You coming?”

  Nori nodded absently, still in awe of her surroundings. “Stinks down here,” she said.

  Cooper shrugged. “Welcome to Trogtown.”

  13

  A Deal is Struck

  “Cooper. My man.” A meaty hand clapped Nori’s captor on the back with such force he stumbled forward.

  “Hank.” Cooper nodded and grinned—a real grin that reached his eyes. “How’s business?”

  Hank’s wide mouth snapped shut and puckered into a frown. His eyes held, of all things, sadness. “We lost Kade’s handler a few days ago. Up and jumped into the gorge while everyone slept.” The big man closed his eyes, the blink lasting a moment too long.

  “They find him?” Cooper asked.

  “No.” Hank shook his head. “Sent a search party downstream, but there was no sign of him. Couldn’t have survived that drop, though.”

  “Light deprivation’s gettin’ more and more of ’em all the time,” Sarge said and spat on the ground near Nori’s feet. “Only the strong survive. Fundamental truth right there.”

  Cooper raised his eyebrows and quickly turned back to Hank. “That gonna affect odds next weekend?”

  “Prob’ly, once word gets out. Kade’s pretty torn up about it.” Hank caught Nori’s gaze and she watched his face as curiosity replaced regret. He cleared his throat and looked to Sarge and Cooper. “What can I do for you boys today?”

  Sarge stepped forward, grabbing Nori by the bicep and motioning up and down her body with a flourish. “Got a Grade-A, prime selection for your discriminatin’ survey.”

  Nori jerked from Sarge’s grasp, her spine straight but her stomach nauseous. “Ugh. Get off of me!” As she ground out the last sentence, she leaned back and kicked Sarge right between the legs. She knew she’d scored a goal as the light in his eyes died like a candle drowning in wax.

  A wicked smile pulled at the corners of her mouth, and she reveled in a brief, perfect moment of victory before her head snapped back. Blinking and dizzy, Nori touched her mouth with trembling fingers and pulled them back bloody. She looked up at Sarge in disbelief.

  “You hit me,” she said numbly, pain throbbing across her swelling lip. She turned to Cooper. “He hit me.”

  Cooper didn’t react. He stood unflinching, barely breathing, though she caught a barely-perceptible twitch in one eye.

  Sarge spat filthy names at Nori that she’d never heard before, but had a relatively good idea of their meaning. Rage like she’d never known built inside her, and when he threatened more than a backhanding, Nori launched herself at him. She could never beat him in a fight, and she knew it. But at that moment, she didn’t care. One good shot at his face would be worth another bloodied lip.

  Before she reached him, though, Big Hank grabbed her around the middle, spinning her around and putting himself between her and Sarge. “Yes, sir,” he said, holding her back with one hand and scrubbing at the scruff on his jaw with the other. “Fiery little thing. This one’ll do fine.”

  “How much?” Sarge snarled. “If it ain’t top dollar, I’d rather just get my money out of her hide.”

  Hank turned and shook his head at Nori, his nostrils flaring with irritation. “You’ve cost me more money, girl,” he said, his voice low. “Best be prepared to earn that back.”

  Nori opened her mouth to tell Big Hank where he could shove it, too, but caught sight of Cooper, who shook his head furiously and mouthed, “Shut. Up.”

  She turned her head to the side and heaved a breath, working hard to control herself. She wanted to scream, to kick them all in the balls like she had Sarge, but she didn’t say another word.

  “I’ll give you thirty-five,” Hank said, releasing Nori to cross thick arms over his chest.

  “Shoot.” Sarge laughed without humor. “I wouldn’t part with’er for less than eighty-five.”

  “Keep her,” Hank said, and stepped away. “She’s nothing but trouble. Not worth more than forty.”

  “Sixty-five.” Sarge extended a bony hand in Hank’s direction.

  He didn’t take it. “Fifty-five.”

  Sarge eyed Nori, his distaste sending one side of his lip toward his nose. “All right,” he sneered. “Fifty-five.”

  Cooper closed his eyes and released a pent-up breath. “What, ah, what are you gonna do with her?”

  “Pair her with Kade, I guess,” Hank said. “A little spunk’s a good thing with a bear like him.”

  Nori didn’t like the sound of that one bit.

  “I’ll let you two work out the details,” Cooper called and put a hand on Nori’s back, inching her from Sarge’s grasp.

  “Take her to the Pit,” Hank called. “Good a place to start as any.”

  When the two were out of range, Cooper spun Nori around to face him. He was once again the hard-nosed authoritarian Nori had glimpsed before, and she backed away from him, her back hitting the wall behind her.

  “That was so stupid.” He was seething mad, hands clenched at his sides. “Are you trying to get yourself killed? Do you want to make it out of here alive, or not? I told you Hank was your best shot at protection.”

  “Protection? What’s this ‘pairing’ with ‘Kade the bear?’” Nori snapped. “What kind of protection is that? I’d rather fend for myself in the tunnel.”

  “No.” Cooper grabbed her arm, but when she winced, relaxed just a little. “No, you wouldn’t. Trust me.”

  “Well, there’s the fundamental problem,” she said. “I don’t trust you. Why should I? Why should I go along with this whole plan? What makes you think selling me is an acceptable alternative to anything?”

  “Whether you trust me or not, I saved you.” His voice was low, serious. “Just like you saved me. Now we’re even.”

  Cooper had gotten so close to Nori their noses nearly touched. She hadn’t noticed before, but the center of his irises was a different color. She’d thought his eyes were an earthy green, but this close, the area just outside his pupil was a brilliant gold, like a ray of sun peeking past an eclipse.

  “What were you doing in that alley, anyway?”

  Nori’s question caught him off guard, and he nearly answered her. “I was— None of your business. Just concentrate on making this work. Keep your head down and your mouth shut. Can you do that?”

  She didn’t answer, but did let him lead her the rest of the way.

  Nori jerked in surprise when they passed through a set of double doors. “It’s a fighting pit,” she said.

  “It’s a fighting pit,” Cooper repeated gravely. “Come on. I’ll have to catch up to Sarge in a minute.”

  “But,” Nori stammered, “what do they do here?”

  Cooper cocked his head to the side. “Fight?”

  “For money?”

  He nodded.

  “Whose money?”

  “Gamblers’, Hank’s, the other owners’.”

  “But. You can’t own people,” Nori argued. “Slavery is illegal.”

  “Oh, honey,” Cooper’s voice dripped sarcasm. “Tell that to your new owner.”

  Nori stared at his face, blinking as seconds inched by.

  Cooper squirmed under her scrutiny. “It’s not like slavery slavery. More like indentured servitude.” Nori’s shocked gaze never left his face. “Okay,” he said.
“So we acquired something we knew Hank would find valuable. We sold it to him for a price. When you work off that money, and whatever Hank deems a fair return, he’ll let you go.”

  “Indentured—acquired—fair return,” Nori repeated, her brain-to-mouth synapses overheating and misfiring in her fury. “Are you people crazy?”

  “No,” Cooper said. “Just hard. It’s tough down here. You’re gonna have to adapt—and fast—if you want to make it past that sunscorch.”

  When Cooper peered down at her the sorrow in his gaze pissed Nori off. The look in his eyes said he found her so young, so naïve.

  She straightened and clamped her jaw shut. She was not soft. Not naïve. She couldn’t remember a single day she had lived without pain or discomfort, but she didn’t complain if she could help it. It would’ve been so easy over the years to lie down and quit, to allow herself to fall into the misery that called to her unceasingly. It would’ve been so nice to wallow in pity and curse the world that had cursed her.

  But she never had. She’d found a smile amid the misery for her parents. She’d muscled through the torment for herself; to work toward some kind of future, lonely and insignificant as it may be.

  Tough? Yeah, she had more tough in her pinkie toe than someone like Cooper would ever see. He only saw the surface, a scarred and lonely girl out of her depths, and equated her kindness with naïvity. No. Her hands clenched to fists. She would make it past the sunscorch and get back aboveground to her parents, no matter what.

  Unable to speak, Nori nodded and swallowed past the lump in her throat. She could do anything for a week. Even this.

  “Listen,” Cooper whispered, suddenly serious. “I have to get back to Sarge and the others. Hank’s rough around the edges, but he has a good heart. Keep your head down, do what he says, and you can make it down here until you find a way back home.”

  “Find a way… ” Nori trailed off as reality set in. “I don’t know how to get back home. You brought me what, twenty miles to this place on your bike? There were so many turns. I don’t—”

  “More like fifty,” Cooper said. “But your way home is not my problem. I paid my debt. I kept you out of Wallace’s hands and brought you to a safe place. What you do next is on you.”

  “But…” Nori’s eyes filled with tears as the weight of the world came to rest on her shoulders. “I can’t do it alone, Cooper.”

  “I’m sorry.” He closed his eyes before he whirled and left, heavy black boots stomping her heart as he stormed away.

  14

  Big Hank

  “Yep.” Big Hank yanked at the back of his faded jeans with both hands. The waistline wasn’t wide enough to fit over his considerable gut, but was too big for his narrow hips. The result was a constant flux, and Hank’s perpetual yet fruitless attempts at tugging them up. “That Sam Cooper’s one in a million.”

  “Sam?”

  “Aw, now. Don’t cry, darlin’. No sense in gettin’ mixed up with one like him. He doesn’t stay still for long.”

  “What?” Nori said, looking up at the big man in confusion. “I don’t— I’m not—”

  Hank’s shoulders were wide as a door frame. The sleeves of his t-shirt had been cut off, so she had a clear view of arms as big around as her waist. His cheeks were ruddy, like his temperature always ran at overheated, and his short, graying hair may once have been black. But Hank’s eyes were the thing Nori lingered on the longest. Despite the man’s imposing stature and what she’d seen of his gruff nature, his eyes were kind.

  “I’ll make sure you’re all right. Don’t worry.” He leaned toward her, towering over her. “You’re going to have to work, though. No free rides around here.”

  “I’m not staying long,” she said, lifting her chin.

  “Is that so?” While his eyes danced with amusement, there were faint traces of something else behind them. Something darker.

  “Mm. Hmm.” She couldn’t force actual words out, hard as she tried.

  “We’ll see,” was all he said.

  “Wh-what will I do?” Nori stammered. “While I’m here?”

  “You got any particular skills you’d like me to take into account?”

  She scoured her brain for an answer. What could she do that would be useful down here? She doubted they had much need of someone who excelled in the application of sunscreen. What use did she have in this gritty, dark world?

  “I can draw,” she said with a shrug. At Hanks snarl, she hastily added, “and I’m fast.” She pointed to her muscular thighs. “Strong legs.”

  He shook his head, his mouth retaining some of the snarl. “You’ll do, I guess. Just so happens I’m in need of a handler. No skills required you can’t learn. Come on. I’ll show you to your room.”

  Nori nodded and followed him past the blood-stained fighting ring and into the shadowed halls beyond.

  While the buildings and streets of Trogtown had been constructed from an enormous natural chamber, the area Hank led her toward was nothing more than a primitive tunnel carved into the earth. At the entrance of the dark hallway, a trickle of water slid down the wall, forming a slick layer of brown-green algae.

  Just inside the hallway, Hank motioned to a door on the right. “This is where you can find me.” He led her farther into the narrow hall and dug in his pocket to find a metal ring heavy with keys. “And this is where you’ll stay.” He took a single key from the ring and handed it to her. “Get settled in then go lookin’ for Kade. His room’s around the corner on the left, but I imagine he’ll be in the weight room. I’ll tell him to expect ya.”

  “Thank you.” The words were a question more than a statement as she looked from the man to the door, her gaze sliding in the direction she’d come, to the way out.

  Big Hank’s eyes shot from kind to keen in a heartbeat. “You, ah, you think about boltin’, you should know me and my friends are excellent hunters. This is a business, you understand. I’ll not have defectors.” With a final nod, Hank turned and left, mumbling something about a gorge being the sole exception.

  Pocketing the key, Nori pushed open the metal door. The ominous creak when she swung it wide was a suitable soundtrack for what was inside. A thin mattress sank into a platform carved from the stone wall. The floor was that same gritty graphite color she found everywhere she turned. The floor, the walls, the ceiling. Cavern grunge was the backdrop of her new—temporary—life.

  A worn rug lay on the floor by the bed, its dingy saffron and ochre the only colors breaking up the monotony of gray. Even the dark wool blanket tucked neatly beneath the mattress slowly faded into the walls. Nori ran a palm across the fabric and hissed. It was as rough as it looked. She plopped onto the bed, regretting the move immediately as her tender derriere hit the stone shelf just under the mattress. Nori searched the room for signs of life, but found none. Either no one had occupied it in ages, or they’d been short-timers, too.

  So, the room was bleak and cold and filthy, she thought. So, the only souls she knew in the subterranean hell had both abandoned her. So, she had no idea what Hank would do with her or who the ominous Kade was. She could survive anything for a week or so.

  With a hand behind her head, she lay back on a stiff pillow and stared at the stone ceiling. Still for the first time in hours, or days, Nori’s thoughts ran to her parents. How was her mother taking the separation? Surely her dad knew she was safe. He understood her, had always seen her strength. Her parents would be all right. Her dad would hold her mom together, and she’d offer him strength, too. They had each other, and that was good.

  The boom of a fist on metal sent Nori straight up in bed. In the haze of sleep, she couldn’t put a finger on where she was. She blinked and took in her surroundings—the dingy room, the stiff wool blanket, the sore neck, and the sharp taste of blood on her busted lip. Awful memories fell into place like pieces of a grizzly puzzle. Parents gone. Alone. Narrow escape in the tunnel. Sleazeball bikers. Cooper. Big Hank, and the fighting pits, and Kade.

 
Kade. She was supposed to have found him, but fell asleep on the stone slab that was her new bed.

  “Wh-who is it?” she asked.

  “I am not in the mood today. Don’t test me. Be out here ready to go in three minutes.” The deep timbre of the man’s voice sent chills up her spine and her heart rate into overdrive.

  “Okay,” Nori squeaked, though she suspected he’d already stormed away.

  There was a small, broken mirror above a narrow chest. She risked a quick look at herself and jerked at the reflection. Her face and neck, even her hair, were covered in gray grime. She wiped her face with the tail of her shirt and hastily pulled her hair back with an elastic stashed in her pocket.

  Guttural grunts and the clang of weights hitting the floor echoed through the narrow hall, which reeked of mildew and stale sweat. Nori followed the sounds to the fighting pit she’d passed on her way in with Cooper. Weights and training equipment were strewn around the ring.

  When she emerged from the hall, she flinched as all eyes tore in her direction. Hardened, cruel eyes, most of them. After a few smirks and shrugged shoulders, the onlookers turned back to their tasks of annihilating punching bags and kicking sparring partners’ gloved hands.

  Nori snapped her jaws shut and stood tall, not wanting them to think her a gape-mouthed fool. With no idea where to find Kade, or what he even looked like, she eased into the room, touching weights and pretending to have some purpose. She hoped he wasn’t the barrel-chested mouth-breather in the corner who adjusted himself as he looked her up and down.

  “You my help?”

  The proximity of the voice sent Nori skittering back toward the hallway. All she could see was a man’s thick chest rising and falling as he bench-pressed a stack of weights.

  “You scared me,” she said.

  With a groan, the man replaced the bar and sat up, his dark eyes already squinting to size her up. “Name’s Kade,” he said and stood.