The sun came over the horizon, ever so slowly brightening the world, reflecting off the metal of the fort. Turrets whirred in their stations, along the ramparts, people stomped their feet against the cold.
JoAnne von Locke shivered, her arms crossing over her breasts. She stood alone, not knowing anyone on these ramparts, and not trusting to be near any of them. Sometimes they pushed people off the edge, just for kicks. She had seen a few Banes do it and laugh like hyenas when someone who couldn’t fly plummeted to their death in the gutter.
She couldn’t afford to sleep here. Once the sun cleared the horizon, she would be relieved, and she would go home to Cap au Diable, home to Alphonse and fall asleep for a little while in his arms. Alphonse could leave after that, but she knew better – most times, when she woke up after a couple of hours, he would still have his arms around her.
She went to the official paymaster Fortunata, who gave her a once over. “So you got married,” he said.
“Yes,” she said, too tired to argue, salute, or cover.
“Lemme see the ring?”
She held out her left hand. He looked at it carefully. “Nice, very nice. Don’t see many of those engagement-wedding combo rings any more.”
She shrugged, and got her money. “Congratulations,” he said, then looked beyond her and bawled, “NEXT!”
She left the queue and headed to the ferry. It seemed so far away as she trudged up the ramps, past the arbiters and other widows, the lines of people wanting to get out of Grandville. She kept her head down and an arbiter held a mace in front of her. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Home,” she said wearily.
“Got to pay a toll.”
She slumped her shoulders. She took out her small wallet. “How much?”
“A hundred, and I’ll make sure you get on the ferry.”
She grumbled, and pulled one of the new hundreds the paymaster had given her. The arbiter grinned, and let her go by, then announced through the walkie-talkie that no one was to stop her.
By the time she got to the ferry, it was well past nine. It would hit Cap eventually. Here, she also didn’t dare fall asleep, though she did often. She could be tossed overboard by a regular person who had it out for Arachnos, or even among her own groups. They usually slept in pairs, if you could even trust one person. She trusted no one.
Lurch is dead, she thought, and smiled tiredly. Her husband had seen to that. What a wonderful man he is. And he wants the rest on the list. The rest…
Her list was divided into two parts. Those who did something, and those who did nothing. There were only three more on the “something” part, and the “nothing” part had entire packs. Some in that section had died already, so it was whittled down to about 25. She stood at the railing, leaning hard on it, letting the sea spray her face to keep her awake. She heard heavy boots clomp behind her. She turned to see a crab, in blue and gray, standing just within reach of his claws, but far enough away from her to run. The legs were absolutely still on his back, meaning they weren’t on constantly like they are on other people.
You are safe.
She looked around. The voice didn’t come from this person. She looked closer at the face under the helmet – it was a skeletal jaw. She pointed to herself. “Are you talking to me?”
Yes. The crab turned sideways, to look out at the sea. You are safe with me. He stiffly pointed to a bench. Rest.
JoAnne remembered him – he had grabbed a spider’s hand to stop him from dragging her. She remembered getting brought to the infirmary, and didn’t know what had happened to him. His armor was scratched, scarred, and dented in many places, so he was no stranger to a fight. He didn’t even move as she went over to the bench and sat down. She tried to fight it off, but the last thing she saw was the huge spider standing absolutely still in the middle of the pathway.
Wake up, came a voice in her mind. She struggled out of sleep, and opened her eyes to see the blue spider standing there. She jerked back automatically, and the spider turned his back to her. He walked down the starboard side of the ferry and disappeared around the corner.
She got up and stretched, then looked around to see they were approaching Cap au Diable. Alphonse would be waiting there for her. She headed back to port, thinking, maybe I’d better make another list. The one who did something good.
Music: You Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth – Meatloaf.
Writing Prompt: 381 (1000 Writing Prompts) Imagine that you have a $100 bill in your wallet. You go to the grocery story and after making purchases you have spent exactly $100. When you look back in your wallet, there’s another $100. You spend it again. It comes back! Detail your first week with this ever-replentishing $100 bill. Yeah, I know it didn’t happen. Another time, perhaps.
Words: 878