Turncoat: Turncoat Trilogy Book 1

Chapter 3.1

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has voted and added this story to their reading lists, but hasn't left a comment. Normally I would have gotten around to thanking you all one by one but there have been so many of you and I have been bogged down by finals, so I thank each and every one of you. There are cookies and refreshments over there and without any further ado, ch3.1

“Vicki, I promise, this bridge is completely safe,” I said motioning to the mass of piping and metal side panels beneath my feet. I stood half away across it over a ten foot drop down into an alleyway. Vicki stood on the butcher’s roof, made of mostly the same materials, eyeing the bridge suspiciously. The sensor lights mounted on the bridges railings cast us in a gentle glow.

“That doesn’t look safe,” Vicki said.

“I built it myself,” I told her. “I walk across it every day, it’s perfectly safe.” To prove a point, I jumped on it. The entire structure rattled and shook but stayed in place.

Vicki took a step back. “That doesn’t make me feel any better about it. In fact, it makes me feel worse.”

I ran over and grabbed her hand, pulling her out onto the bridge. She struggled against me until I had her half way across. I released the pitiful grip I had on her wrist. She stumbled back a few steps, her arms pin wheeling as she regained her balance. “Come on, Vicki, it’s holding both of us.”

She looked up at me as she found her footing and scowled. “Why couldn’t you just live on one of the lower levels of the slum?” she asked.

“I wanted to stay dry,” I shrugged. “Come on, you’re already halfway across.”

“I actually think I’m closer to the butcher’s shop,” Vicki said looking back.

I let my shoulders slump and frowned. “Vicki, come on, there’s a ladder to the ground on the other side of my house. You can use that when you leave.”

“Wait, there’s a ladder!” Vicki called.

“Yeah,” I muttered. I motioned back to my home. “Are you coming or am I going alone?”

Vicki ran over to me and grabbed my arm. “I’m not losing you again,” she said. “Come on, I want to see what you’ve done since we last saw each other.”

I smiled and led her to my house. I pushed the door open and motioned her inside. “Make yourself at home,” I said.

Vicki entered the home and I closed the door behind me. I made a quick hand motion that should have tripped the lights but nothing happened. “It is rather dark in here, Tawny,” she said.

“Yeah, I know, stupid lights aren’t working again,” I muttered.

Vicki wrapped her arms around my neck and touched her forehead to my temple. “What kind of hacker can’t work her own lights?” she whispered in my ear.

“They were working this morning,” I responded. I made the hand signal again and the lights sputtered to life, gently illuminating the inside of the makeshift metal shack I called my home. The interior didn’t hold much, two rooms, a bed room and then everything else. A rather decrepit looking couch leaned up against the wall across from a pitiful excuse for a kitchen. That consisted of a rather archaic looking camping stove sitting on a metal counter and a few shelves welded to the walls holding my meager amount of food. Situated between the kitchen and couch was a makeshift table sat atop a gaudy rug. It had seemed like a good decoration at the time.

Vicki walked over to the couch and sat down on it. I checked my shelves as I watched her out of the corner of my eye. “Can I get you anything?” I asked.