Others

      When the danger was gone, so was instinct, along with the ease of perception. They were replaced by shock with a tinge of panic, the part of her, that the street had raised, desperately trying to take over her brain. Thoughts jumbled together, and Kiva sat frozen on the ground, clutching her wounded shoulder with her right hand. She rocked back and forth in a kind of prostration. “Ripper. The Mitra killer, Kenny the Ripper…didn’t kill us…we’re alive…gods, we should be grateful to you,” at that thought her gaze fell on her comrades, who were much more injured, than she was. It was enough to make her jump up, and, ignoring the pain in her side, she ran to Jim, whose leg was bleeding too much and still not relenting. Jim was sitting on the ground with his head tilted back, his nose broken beyond the slightest doubt, blood running down his lips to his neck. “Shit, shit, shit,” fear for his friend began to come in waves.       With an act of will, she gave that bad feeling a fighting shot. She had to strap her leg above the wound, she knew that. She remembered the sling, that hung from her left wrist in a loop, untied it and tied it around the wounded leg as tightly as she could. The blood began to flow more slowly. Jim opened his eyes: Jim opened his eyes: “Why of all people, why him, for fuck’s sake.”       He must have heard what Kiva had said aloud about seven minutes ago. She didn’t have anything to reply to him. Suddenly she noticed movement and turned, but without the sharpness and clarity of a while before. If she’d seen the killer there, she wouldn’t have been able to even run away.        But it was Josh, who had managed to get up and was staggering toward them, his hand pressed to his shattered face. His jaw had unnaturally moved to the side and was ajar. Kiva took a closer look and realized, that it was already starting to swell. Saliva, mixed with blood, was dripping from his lips. “We need to…go,” the guy said slurringly, spitting on the ground. He didn’t even spit, but pushed a clot of saliva out with his tongue. “We crossed…the wrong…person.” “I’ll say more, that man is the Mitra’s Murderer,” Kiva tossed to him, Josh’s cloudy eyes opening wider.       He felt dizzy, and this news didn’t add to the confidence in his legs. Jim wanted to stand up, but Kiva wouldn’t let him. “Don’t move yet, we have to get out of here, and you won’t be able to walk fast, so don’t waste your strength now just to get up.”       Jim didn’t protest much, obviously trying to figure out again, how it all had happened. Josh stared at his brother, dumbfounded, catching a real glimpse of him for the first time. He sat down next to him so he could ask: “Are you okay, brother?” “It’s like I fell off the roof,” he grinned grimly.       Kiva looked back. Al was still lying near the wall of the building.       Suddenly, out of those quick events, she remembered, that Kenny had slammed him against the stonework with his temple, or so it seemed to her. If it had seemed like events had unfolded at a moderate speed then, now… it was all blended into a disgusting mess, the underlying tone of which was a metallic taste of fear. And if she had turned the lying guy around and seen the impact marks on his temple, surely fear and panic would have taken over. But it hadn’t. The blows came more to the forehead. Al was breathing. “Thank you for not killing him, Kenny,” Kiva smiled without mirth. She began to slap friend lightly on the cheeks, nothing else coming to mind. But at times like this, even that was more helpful than inaction.        The fellow began to come to his senses. “We’ll have to help Jim walk, he won’t be able to move fast, and I don’t want to linger here another minute”, with a glance at Al’s face and making sure, he was indeed coming to his senses, she rushed back: “Josh, can you help Jim up and give him a shoulder?”       He nodded silently, his mouth heavy and sore, his head still spinning. He leaned over and took his brother’s hand and put it around his neck. Kiva helped Jim up. Al came over. “Josh, let me do it, I’m stronger on my feet than you are.”       He nodded silently again and gave way to Al. They all realized, that they had to leave as soon as possible, run away, like rats spotted by a big cat. The original purpose of their work was out of the question. Josh staggered, and it was only then when Kiva finally realized, that his jaw was broken. She helped him support himself. And all of them, this ragged convoy, moved away as fast as their injuries would allow.       The farther they got from the place, the more panic gave way to the realization, that they had indeed crossed the path of a man they were better off never seeing. The horror, that the Mitra’s killer out of whimsy might well find them now and have even more fun, was beginning to ring like a bell in head. For a brief moment, those words, “I guess I’ll see you again,” made the girl’s heart sink. For now, the thought caused a more than natural chill to run down her spine. “Pull yourself together, there’s no time for that now, we have to get to the basement and do the bandages first.” Jim’s bleeding had gotten less, which was good. Her own side hurt when she breathed in, but it was a pain she could live with. She glanced at Josh. His cheek was even more swollen, and his mouth was still open, but he was walking, almost unsteadily. Despite the wave of panic and realization driving them, they made a stop after half an hour of waddling through the night city. Kiva was against it: “Al, now is not the time to stop, just not now. We’re too close. We’ll get to the basement and rest there.”       He shook his head and wanted to say something, but then he threw up. 'That’s hardly a good sign, ' the girl thought with horror. “Damn Ripper, my ears are ringing. Kiva, I need a break and I can go on, I just need to pull myself together.”       As she listened to Al’s words with growing dread, the girl realized, that the two blows of his head against the wall had more serious consequences, than a brief loss of consciousness and a bruise.       She remembered the force with which the man had squeezed her arm and neck. It was scary to think how hard he’d hit Al. She turned to look at brothers, both of them leaning against the wall of the house. She was somewhat relieved to see, that their eyes were sober and sane, and they were coming to their senses as quickly as they could in this situation. Going up against a man like Kenny the Ripper meant making a serious enemy, one whose skills as a killer were not to be doubted. And they had dared to try to thwart his intentions without knowing it. There was sweat on Josh’s forehead, and Jim was pale, but there was no doubt that they could go on. She turned to Al again with a pleading look in her eyes: “Come on, come on, focus, we have to get there before the shock wears off and the pain becomes unbearable.” He stared at the ground, breathing heavily and coughing. He looked up at the girl: “I know, Kiva,” as if he had read her thoughts. Taking air into his lungs, he straightened up. “Let’s go.”       Al walked over to Jim, put his arm around his neck again, and they continued on their way.       They made two more stops, before they could reach the shelter, where Matt and Will were waiting for them. An hour and a half had passed since the attack. The growing moon flickered in the sky and disappeared behind the clouds. In their previous state, they would have covered this distance in about thirty minutes. Somehow they got into the cellar and encountered the shocked and frightened looks of their younger comrades. Perhaps they did not want to believe that their friends, who were like family to them, could have been beaten up like that. Once in relative safety, Kiva rushed to her satchel, pulling out a clean cloth and a bottle of alcohol. Mett, with a dazed look, helped Jim sit down on the floor, and Will held Al up. The younger ones were confused and not at all sure what they should do now. Kiva walked over to Jim and examined his leg. The blood had almost stopped and was now slowly oozing out, but the limb below the improvised tourniquet was beginning to turn blue.       The girl carefully relaxed the tension of the sling, watching to see, if the blood flow would increase, but it was fine. An exhale of relief. “If the blood kept coming, I don’t think I’d know what to do next.” She wet one rag with alcohol and dressed the wound. She didn’t completely remove the tourniquet, but she didn’t tighten it that much again. Looked at the lad’s face. His nose was swollen and looking to the right, and it was already beginning to take on a deep blue color with a purple shimmer. “Can you fix nose yourself?” “I think so, better go and help Josh, he looks worse than I do.”       Kiva nodded gratefully, she didn’t want to hurt at all by ineptly touching his broken nose. Now it was Josh’s turn.       He sat up, groping his jaw, writhing painfully. The only thing that came to mind was to bandage his head so as to fix his jaw in its normal position and hold a cold stone to it. The cold made it feel better. Looking at the swollen cheek, it hurt inside because she didn’t know, how to ease the pain and help. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what else to do.”       But Josh raised his hand peacefully, showing that it was okay and he was feeling better. Next it was Al’s turn. The hardest part for her, because if she could dress the wound and fix the fracture, what to do about the internal injury? She didn’t really know. The street had not given such knowledge to her. She could only hope that the injury was not particularly serious.       Al had already wiped the blood from his forehead, the bruise swollen and his eyes became cloudy, and Will had brought him water in a flask. Kiva crouched beside him, a sense of confusion pressing in. Al looked at her, forced out a smile: “If I’d known who that fat fuck was afraid of, I never would have gotten involved in that shit. I should have stabbed him myself, but I’m pretty sure he’s already dead.” “Now I see why he didn’t want to talk, no one would have agreed,” the girl smiled bitterly. Then she asked: “How are you? Does your head hurt a lot?” “It would be better if the vomiting went away. Don’t worry, if you think about it, it’s my own fault, I lost my mind for a few moments and paid for it with my head,” he had the strength to laugh: “We survived the encounter with this killer, that’s good, not many independent gangs can boast of that. I’d call it a major achievement, but damn, the thought of it inspires more fear than pride.” “Oh, yes, you’ll be proud of that, when we see his figure again. I don’t ever want to see the Ripper face one more time,” Jim seconded, his nose already fixed and looking a little better.       Talking calmed them somewhat, as if to confirm that nothing fatal had happened, that they were still alive. They could even joke, for that matter.       Kiva thought back to her wounds. She checked her side, luckily no broken ribs, but the bruise would take another five days before it started to go away. Her left arm ached piercingly. After she’d bandaged her shoulder, it felt better. Now they needed to think about how they were going to get back to Underground City, back home. “Al, we need to get out of town as soon as possible.” “I know, but we need at least a day to recover. Jim won’t be able to walk much longer. Let alone walk fast.” “You want to wait here? Sure you want to stay in the same town as Kenny!”       He looked at her tiredly, and they both knew, there was no choice. They’d been roughed up pretty badly, and in this condition they wouldn’t get far or woild get any worse. There was no other choice. For want of anything better, they went to bed. They lay in slumber, the pain keeping them awake. Josh was the worst of all, his jaw was hurting badly, and he had to take a sip of alcohol to ease the pain.       The girl didn’t worry about the bandages, she had a supply of cloth, and the others had similar bandages in their bags. Kiva lay awake for a while, thinking about what had happened. Suddenly she noticed that she had memorized some of the murderer’s movements. That they were now coming through more clearly than all the anxiety and worry. “Perhaps I can repeat them.” Next came the man’s face, his eyes. Reviewing it all now in her mind, she found them appealing and alluring. There was a cold gleam in them, an undeniable, overpowering power. But a restless slumber began to set in, and Kiva fell asleep.       Morning came slowly for them as the sun’s rays penetrated the cellar windows. She was awakened by this unusual and bright light. The events of the night had lost some of their color and intensity, but they hadn’t dissolved. Mett and Will were awake, tension frozen on their faces, talking quietly as Kiva stood up. She already had a few ideas for today. “Mett, you come with me, and you, Will, stay here with the others.”       The decision was obvious, because Ripper certainly hadn’t seen either of these two. Both of them looked at her uncertainly, she sighed heavily and began to explain: “I’m thinking of going to the market. Maybe we can get some ointment from the apothecary and some food. Mett will help me, and you, Will, you can handle this.”       She had no idea what he could or should, in her opinion, handle, but it was best to leave him with the guys, who seemed to be able to sleep normally.       The boys didn’t argue, sensing the situation wasn’t the best. Kiva threw on her cloak to hide the blood on her shirt and to look more like a simple traveler. She pulled it higher to hide the marks on her neck. The city was waking up, and though she knew in her mind, that no one would be following them now, she shuddered involuntarily at every rustle. They successfully reached the market, and there they found out, where the healer lived. They bought some ointment for their bruises. The healer mumbled, that a tincture of wormwood and celandine would relieve the swelling and reduce the pain. When they returned to the market, they both started to look for food. Mett stole some bread and even a few eggs. Kiva preferred not to steal, for she had no strength to run away if she failed, and she didn’t want to attract attention. Not at all. She bought a bag of apples, a small piece of cheese, thought some more, walked around and bought a bottle of wine. They didn’t want any trouble with those thugs, when they got back to the Underground City.       Without any incident, they returned to the basement with the others. Al and Jim were asleep, and Josh was awake, aching. He was talking to Willie, trying to keep his mouth shut, so it was mostly Will talking and Josh occasionally answering something. The boy, seeing someone seeping into the basement through the window, stood at attention, but was relieved when he ran up to his best friend. Kiva, making sure no one was following them, ducked after Mett through the window. While he showed Will the food they’d brought, Kiva pulled out a jar of ointment and walked over to Josh. He said in a low voice, still trying not to move his injured jaw. He was quite alert, and that was encouraging. “I’m starting to hate this town.” “I’m sure it’s a sincere feeling,” Kiva gently loosened the bandage securing his jaw and began to rub the ointment in: “Let it soak in, the healer said, and then we’ll bandage you up again.”       The ointment had a pungent odor that stung eyes. “You’re trying to poison me.”       There was amusement in his squinting eyes. Kiva laughed softly, feeling a timid sense of guilt and regret. “That should ease your suffering in this town. I’m going to go torture those who are sleeping.”       She rose and made her way to the figures, lying on the floor. Jim was asleep on his back with his wounded leg bent. Kiva examined the bandage. It wasn’t completely soaked in blood yet. “That’s good, then we can take the slingshot off,” she began to loosen the tension and remove the coiled rope carefully, trying not to wake the boy, but he woke up anyway. Kiva applied ointment to his nose, which had swollen even more overnight. Jim wrinkled nose, for it was closer to his eyes, which immediately began to tear. From beside came muffled squeezed voice: “See, she wants to finish us off.” “You’re too talkative for a man with a broken mouth, brother,” they all laughed.       The laughter was hearty. It gave them the kind of warmth they needed now. Al continued to sleep. “No wonder, his head took a hard hit, he needs sleep,” the girl thought as she applied the ointment to his forehead. The bruised area was swollen and slightly covered his eye. She didn’t think to apply the ointment to her side, she decided to leave it for others as she could deal with her own pain.       By the time Al woke up, they had decided to get a snack. Everyone was generally looking better. Josh’s feeding had been a problem, when Kiva realized he couldn’t suck the contents of an egg or chew a piece of bread on his own. The thought of chewing the food and putting it into Josh’s mouth came to mind. Many often did this, when the sick man could not eat. But when she met Josh’s gaze, she hesitated to suggest it. He pointed to the eggs with his hand. She caught his thought. The fellow held his chin gently as Kiva poured the contents of the egg into his ajar mouth. Yes, it was probably not straight up delicious, but it was the kind of thing he didn’t need to chew, thus disturbing his jaw. “I think we’ll head home tomorrow morning,” Al finally said.       He felt better than yesterday, the ringing was gone, and there was still a slight pain, so he tried not to turn his head sharply. Everyone agreed, everyone felt more alive and alert, and the desire to get home overcame the pain. They spent the rest of the day sitting in the basement, recovering mentally and physically.       No one talked about the killer, they had encountered the previous night, nor did they want to. That’s how they spent another day. In the morning, they moved on out of the city, passing the guards with no trouble. They were afraid to see a shadow following them through that unfortunate evening. But no one was coming for them. And as they moved along the road, they were able to relax a bit. Frequent forced stops lengthened their travel time, but no one was going to stop for the night, even when night fell. Everyone wanted to get home as soon as possible. It was well past midnight when they reached the downhill slope. They let themselves stand in front of it for a while, breathing in the fresh night air. It had a chill to it, and they couldn’t help but like it. Silently they walked downstairs, past the guards, ignoring their giggles and mocking questions, Al tossed them a bottle of wine.       They nearly smashed her, trying to catch her. The group walked away without turning around. When they reached the borders of their hometown, they stopped. Al, squinting at the bruise on his face, said: “We’d better lay low for a while and keep our heads down, just in case” “I’ve had enough trouble, we’re just lucky to be alive,” Jim agreed, apparently expressing the general consensus.       And they went their separate ways. Al went straight down the main street, Josh, supporting Jim, went left, and Kiva walked with Mett and Will for a while. After saying goodbye to them, she gave them some of the apples she had bought in Orwood. The fruit was much different in flavor from what they brought to the Underground City market.       “No one can be ironclad,” thought Kiva. The fatigue and strain of these few days was taking its toll. Her head was beginning to ache. She tiredly shaved her way to a familiar alley, there it was, the native fence. At some point her heart skipped a beat. It seemed to her that the splinter-trap was out of place, but this time it only seemed so. A ragged exhalation of relief escaped her chest. “It’s even scary to think what might be waiting for me out there,” the exhaustion kept piling up. The girl walked inside, looking around the courtyard. “Nothing has changed, nothing new, just an old house,” she stepped inside. It was empty as it always was. A mattress, a drawer, a table with a book in the center. The house brought comfort and a sense of security. Kiva didn’t resist it; she took off her torc and lay down tiredly on the mattress, intending to sleep until her head started to ache from too much sleep. She didn’t want to listen to the rustles and creaks; she didn’t care now. Finally, slowly but surely, she sank into a deep and long-awaited sleep.