THE DEAD ZONE ~ Marhinki

.01

They called her Atomic. For they knew that she would be the death of them. She lived in the Dead Zone, resided there, killed beyond the fence. Some referred to her as heartless. And perhaps she was. And therefore nobody approached her, except those who were deemed just as dangerous.

Lasercorn, as he called himself, deemed by the people as completely insane. But the list just gets better, Jovenshire, a blind maniac. He swings wildly, seeming to not care who his blade connects with. Skullknight, deadly accurate from long range. FLitz, seemingly a pacifist, but if you get too close, expect a knife to be through your eye socket.

Yet it was Atomic that they feared. There seemed no end to her. She was deadly and cruel. And the Arcanes of the Dead Zone... they believed that she may actually belong.

~*~

The blinking light on her wrist kept her up. It was green, meaning the it was working. These devices are what the government use to keep them inside the Dead Zone. If the device was online and you managed to leave the Dead Zone, it would shoot a drug into your system. You got three minutes to return to the Dead Zone. If you return in time the antidote would given to you. And if you didn't, the drug would kill you. It was this fear of death that kept most of them contained, but she wasn't like the rest of them.

It was nighttime according to the shadows. They were darker than at day, but the sun doesn't shine in the Dead Zone, so figuring out the time of day was harder then you'd think. Arcanes tended to sleep whenever they were tired, so even if the sun was shining outside of the Dead Zone, someone would be sleeping.

She found herself at the gate, squinting past it into the real night, trying to get a look at the stars. Sometimes she wished she was out there, living in the real world, but she knew she couldn't. She doubted that she would have ended up here if she didn't deserve it, and well she did. She knew that, and so she owned it.

"Mari," A voice said. She turned to him, her eyes taking him in, but they lingered, not on his orange hair, but the blinking light around his neck. He was shackled like an animal, they all were, and it made her sick.

"Lasercorn," She replied, using the name he made for himself.

"Someone's asking for you." He turned away, and she followed him. Their footsteps the only sound on this silent road. They entered the rotting building they claimed as their own. Mari stepped carefully, avoiding the holes in the floor, and trying not to end up in the basement. Lasercorn lead her to a phone, that Joven(shire) was holding. It was their way of putting people on hold. She took the phone from him and held it to her ear with one hand, the other was busy trying to untangle Joven from the cord.

"I have a job for you," The crackly voice stated from the other end of the phone.

"Who?" Was all she responded. The voice on the other end paused, leaving Mari with only static for company.

"Meet me at the gate and I will explain everything," The voice responded.

"Of course," She stated. "I am assuming that you wish for me to head there now."

"Yes." And the line went dead. Mari placed the phone down gently, and shrugged on a jacket. She headed out the door, and Lasercorn followed her. He was muttering to himself, but Mari paid no attention. It was probably the voices that terrorized them, but it was nice to have him as backup. If she needed to scare anybody off, Lasercorn could do so quickly.

The man standing at the gate would have been attractive, in Mari's opinion. But he was way to nervous, too fidgety, and acted like he owned her every action. Which, was quite a turn off.

"Atomic?" The man questioned, she could hear the fear in his voice. She nodded and noticed how he jumped when Lasercorn stepped into view. "Oh, and you brought a friend." He made an unconvincing laugh. "Lovely."

"Get to the point," Mari growled. "Who do you want me to kill and how much are you paying?"

"5 grand?" The man jumped at her voice. Mari must have looked unimpressed, so he jumped in again. "7 grand?" Mari shrugged.

"I suppose it will do," She said. She was actually fine with 5 grand, but if he could raise it, she wanted him to. "And the victim?" The man motioned her towards the gate and she stepped forward, careful to avoid the sparking metal. He held up a picture of a man.

The man pictured had dark bags under his eyes, the beginning of a beard, and short brown hair. He looked worn down. He was frowning in the picture, but Mari could see the smile lines around his eyes. She wondered what he had done for someone to come to her wishing for his demise.

"His name is Matthew Sohinki, and I need him dead by morning."

The man pressed a key card to her wrist and the light blinked red, meaning it was disabled. With a boast from Lasercorn she climbed the fence, ignoring the electric shock.

"You have a two hours before it reengages-" Mari interrupting him.

"I know this deal, this isn't my first rodeo." The man gave her a curt nod, and retreated away from her. With one last glance at Lasercorn, Mari vanished into the night, hoping she could return home for dinner.