Purgatory

Chapter 13

Waking up the following morning proved difficult despite the six hours of sleep I had gotten.  Training was miserable, and we all were very sluggish apart from Cole.  He remained at his usual heightened pep as he yelled out commands.  Now that we were given a bit more freedom, every morning seemed to be slow and unwanted, and I always found myself grateful for meal time.

Another week passed before we were given another assignment.  Juels kept complaining about the lack of work.  “I need the credits!” she’d exclaim.  “I’m running out of things to do in my free time!”  I found myself feeling the same way as I looked at how low my credits had come.  We had all indulged in the finer recreational activities that cost us, and found that without credits we’d succumb to boringly walking about the potted forest or lazily gazing into the waterfall.

“We’ve got a long trek ahead of us,” Cole said as the lift ascended to the surface.  “We’ll take the tunnels to midtown to avoid as many crowds and busy streets as we can.  We’re looking for a Rogue spotted in the area.  The Rogue is potentially hostile, so don’t be afraid to protect yourself.  They want him alive, but understand situations can change.  Let’s just make sure we have a body to bring back.”

Our journey led us to a poverty stricken area of the city.  The buildings were rustic and made of brick, and I could tell at one point it was a quaint little street with town shops.  The shops were either abandoned and rundown, or their windows were heavily barred and secured.  It was practically a ghost town, save for the occasional brave soul walking on the side walk.  About two blocks down from where we emerged was the start of the glistening city scape, and it made this area look like an afterthought.

We headed down a hill towards an old style apartment complex.  It did not have the latest in security, and some of the windows were covered with pieces of scrap particle board.  We stood outside the doorway for a moment, and I felt my heart beat faster with excitement.

“Once we’re in, I want Juels to take Melia, Dan, Helena, and Curse up to the fourth floor,” Cole ordered, his eyes still fixed on the door.  “Look through each apartment as best you can without disrupting the patrons.  Subject is a Hispanic male and goes by the name of Alvaro.  He was last reported wearing common Purgatory wear.”  He looked back at us, his face masked from the darkened visor.  “Alright, let’s move.”

He ran to the door and pushed himself against it.  The wooden door shuddered slightly before his body began to seep through, and soon he manipulated himself in.  We followed his lead, one by one melding our way through the closed door.  It felt like pushing against a wall of wet clay where the harder you pushed through the more suction there was between me and the door.  Once released, I stumbled a couple of steps, Juels catching me and standing me upright with a laugh.

We walked up the wooden stairwell, careful of where we placed our weight so that the wood would not scrape against the nails that held it in place.  I followed Juels’ lead to the fourth floor, my footsteps matching hers precisely.  No one in the complex was suspecting, which made our infiltration a success so far.

The patrons of the apartments were aloof and solemn.  The first apartment we went through held a weary old woman and three very young children, likely her grandchildren.  They watched a small television with a low definition display of a peppy cartoon to keep them entertained while the woman tried to feed the youngest.  We were sure to check the two roomed apartment thoroughly before moving on to the next.

Most of the dwellings were mostly empty, with perhaps a dirty mattress as their only furnishing.  It was a sad and dirty place to live, but from the looks of the patrons, it was likely all they could afford.  Their clothing was second hand, and it was possible some of them could not afford the water bill and had to suffer in their filth.  There were others, however, that seemed better off, and their apartment was fitted with necessities and simple pleasures.