Chapter 59

“All right then little miss, ready to go?” Ol’ Keep turned and gestured to the child to follow, only to find that the girl still stared blankly off into the distance. “Miss’em already?” he voiced with a smirk. “They’ll join us later. Now, come on! My bone’s chillin’.” He holstered his gun to his back as he walked.

Anya followed, ensuring to remain a distance apart as she did not trust the man. Since he was her only guide out of this darkened cesspit, the child had no choice but to accompany him.

“Damn,” the old man grunted. “Maybe I shouldn’t have given’ Flin my coat, it’s pretty darn cold.” Chuckling, he briefly glanced back to the child.

Anya glared at him, not out of hatred but out of caution as if he was a beast found in the wild. Her hand gripped tightly around her gun strap underneath the oversized coat. As an additional precaution, she covertly extended her tail, poised to strike if the situation required it.

“Ain’t much of a talker, are ya?” Ol’ Keep continued on, facing forward as he scoured the path ahead with his flashlight.

Though the girl followed silently, her mind was filled with chatter.

What if this is another trap? She wondered. What if he’s with them? The growing discomfort began to leak onto her face. If I pull out my gun, would he hear me? What if I stabbed him with my tail? But what if he's able to stop it? Anya’s heart quickened along with her breath. Her mind was a mess, cluttered with doubt and anxiety. Will he get suspicious if I get closer? What if there are others around? Can I run away? Would he be able to catch me?

“Anna… was it?”

“Huh?” His voice snapped her out of the downward spiral.

“Aint’ that ya name?” He shot her a glance from the edge of his eye.

“U-umm… Y… y-yes!”

“Why do ya sound so unsure, little miss?”

“U-Uh… I… I-I” the child stuttered as she started to panic. The girl lowered her head while her thoughts scrambled.

Is he suspicious of me? Does he know what happened? Is he… is he one of them?

“Look…” the man sighed, “I ain’t tryin’ to rile ya up or nothin’, so ya ain’t gotta get like that.”

“S-sorry…” she muttered.

“What…? Ain’t nothin’ to be sorry for.”

“I-I…”

Ol’ Keep sighed again, “Ya been through hell’n back, bein’ on guard’s pretty normal if ya ask me. So there’s nothin’ to be sorry for.”

“Okay…” The girl nodded, unsure of what else to say. As her mind continued to ponder, she unknowingly walked closer to the man.

“So, where ya from?” Ol’ Keep suddenly questioned, having noticed the child’s approach.

“Huh…? Oh… um… not from here...”

“Well, no shit. Anyone can tell just by lookin’ at ya, pretty as a peach, stuck out like a sore thumb. I’m askin’ bout what settlement. One of the other cities or an outlyin’ town over yonder?”

“A town…” she replied meekly.

“Which one…?”

“...” The girl refrained from answering as she was unsure of his intentions. The thought of lying entered her mind for a brief moment before she dismissed it. As the child was not sure whether it would be believable.

“You ain’t gotta answer, it don’t matter to me anyway.” The old man paused and shrugged, “just tryin’ to start a conversation.”

Before long they’ve arrived at the steps of a single store, concrete and brick structure. A single rusted light fixture was positioned beside the door and provided just enough illumination to distinguish it from its surroundings. Unlike the shacks, the structure seemed soundly built with a rectangular design.

“Phew, bout time!” lauded Ol’ Keep as he rubbed his hands together for warmth. "Let’s get in quick-” The man quickly halted and redirected his flashlight. “Hey! Who the hell are ya?!”

Near the door, barely revealed by the outside light, was a figure sitting on the ground huddled in a fetal position. She shielded her eyes from the beam and quickly stood up. Even from a distance, it could be seen that her attire was ill-suited for the persistent cold.

“Ya better speak girl,” the old man demanded. “I ain’t got the patience to wait!”

“Sorry!” the skinny girl voiced. “I was just waitin’!”

The woman seemed to be in her early twenties with long brown hair. Her skin was pale, which further emphasized the filth that covered her legs. The slight bleeding at her knees suggested that she had fallen beforehand.

“Waitin’?! Waitin’ for what?”

“I… I had a deal with Glut…!”

“A deal with Glut…?” Ol’ Keep relaxed his weapon and approached, squinting to get a better look at the woman. “Hey… ain’t ya that girl from before?”

The woman seemed embarrassed, blushing as she nodded.

“Well, that’s ya business with him. It don’t concern me.” He pulled his key chain from his pocket and unlocked the outpost door.

“Please…!” The woman shivered, her voice becoming increasingly distressed. “I’ve been waitin’ here for soo long!”

“Then, ma’am, I suggest ya be waitin’ somewhere else.” Ol’ Keep walked inside, gesturing for the child to enter so he could close the door. “When Glut gets back, I’ll tell’em to go to ya. Don’t drag me into ya’ll’s dealin’s.”

After Anya’s hesitant entry, the man attempted to close the door only to be blocked by the woman’s arm.

“Please, ma pa’s starvin’! Glut promised me two meals worth of food!”

“Ma’am, this ain’t a soup kitchen. There are soup kitchens around. Please go to the soup kitchen.” Finally, he was able to overpower the young woman without hurting her and shut the door. However, that did not stop the desperate damsel as she continued to plead through the barrier.

“The soup kitchen don’t let ya take food back!” she shouted as she banged on the metal door. “And pa needs somethin’ solid! He can’t go on like this!”

“Again, ma’am, I can’t do nothin’ cause I ain’t know whether this is a scam or not. Ya gotta wait until Glut gets back.”

“We saw each other’s faces!” The woman’s voice cracked as the knocking intensified. “Pa hasn’t been eatin’ for a good long time now, he needs food!”

The man ignored the woman’s continued shouts and flicked a switch on the wall, this caused a single bulb in the center of the room to light up. Ol' Keep then moved to the table where he prepared to boil a kettle of water on the small, mobile stove.

“Ya know, there’s a seat right’ere if ya ever wanna sit.” He said to the child. Lifting his head, he noticed that the Anya stared at him. “What? Got somethin’ to say?”

Anya shook her head and sat down on one of the chairs surrounding the table, glancing back at the door ever so often.

“Look, little miss.” Ol’ Keep coughed, covering his mouth with the side of his fist. “I know this seems bad, but if I give any dang-darn hooligan who shows up beggin’ for food… well, there’ll be nothin’ left for nobody.”

Finally, the banging ceased and Ol’ Keep let out a sigh of relief. “So… hungry?”

Anya crinkled her brow in confusion as her eyes stared at the man. Moments later, loud grumbles originated from her stomach and she immediately turned away in embarrassment.

“I take that as a yes…” Ol’ Keep grabbed a foil container from one of the shelves and place it on the hotplate, replacing his kettle. It took only a few minutes before the meal was deemed ready and handed to the girl.

Carefully, Anya removed the metal lid revealing a soupy mixture of vegetables and mushrooms inside. The smell was a bit lacking, nothing compared the stews she had had before.

“Why…?” The child questioned.

“Why what?”

“Why did you give me food and not her…?”

“Well…” The old man scratched his head while he tended to his kettle. “Y'all's situation’s a little bit different. See, she’s one of them...” he paused, searching for the best term. “Slum dwellers… and you ain’t.”

“I don’t understand…” Anya picked up a utensil and swirled it within the mixture.

“See… every time I give out food, I have to fill out some paperwork.” The man continued, “little miss ain’t one of them, so I can give ya some food. Got rules and regulations I gotta follow. Them slum dwellers, they’re supposed to get in line for the soup kitchen.”

“But… couldn’t you have just written that you gave it to someone like me…?”

The water began to boil. It started with just small hums and before long, the room was filled with sporadic poping. Ol’ Keep removed the kettle and pour himself two cups of hot water.

“I could… but see, if I give’em some now… what’s to say they ain’t comin’ back later? And if they bring some friends along?” he pursed his lips and blew gently into his cup.

“She said her dad was starving.”

“Then why did the lady ask for two meals and not just one for her pa? Now, I ain’t sayin’ that she’s lyin’, we gotta wait until Glut gets back for that. But you shouldn’t trust nobody here… well, besides me that is. The people here tend to say things they ain’t mean to get things they ain’t have.”

Anya’s face soured, a bitterness festered within as she remembered the boy that had tricked her.

“Guessin’ ya know that first hand, ain’t ya?” The man took a tiny sip before placing the cup back onto the table. He then leaned in and slowly placed the other cup across the table. “Do ya know the kind of place this is, little miss…? This pit… it’s filled with nothin’ but the worst people can be… Criminals… freaks… hell, even those no-good lazy beggin' lowlives set up shop here.”

“Then…” Anya gulped, “what… what are you doing here…?”

“Hmph.” the man huffed, “because it’s my job.” He glanced at the wide-eyed child and noticed that she had not taken a single bite. “Should eat it while it’s hot, little miss.”

Anya’s eye shifted to the stew, then back to Ol’ Keep.

“What, ya think it’s poisoned or somethin’?” With his hand, he grabbed a chunk of the vegetable mixture and dropped it into his mouth. “See? Now ya better eat up before it gets cold.”

Hesitantly, the girl spooned a bite-sized portion of the stew and placed it within her mouth. She chewed slowly, the lackluster taste matched her expression.

“I’m guessin’ the little miss ain’t like it much.”

“It’s doesn’t really… taste like anything…” Anya continued with another bite, at the very least it filled her stomach.

“Well, the stuff they give us ain’t much better neither.” Ol’ Keep picked up his cup and gulped down the warm liquid as the child ate. “So ya told me ya from an outlyin’ town, right?’

“Uh-huh.” She replied in between chewing.

“So, the hell ya doing at this city…? And where are ya parents…?”

Anya continued chewing, washing everything down with the warm water. Then she stared solemnly at the table in front of her.

“My parents…” she wavered.

“I see…” he quickly interjected. “Ain’t no more needs to be said, little miss.”

As she scooped up the remaining bits of food in the container, the old man voiced another question.

“So how’d ya get here?”

“I came here on foot… with a group.”

“Just taggin’ along?”

Anya shook her head.

“No… I was looking for something…” as the girl continued, she seemed more and more defeated. “A Silent Generator… but I couldn’t find it...”

“What a darn strange thing to be lookin’ for.” he leaned back and scratched his neck. “Well, they do say that this city has everythin’, but…”

“Do you know where I can find one?!”

“Hold on there, little miss. If ya lookin’ for silent, well, anythin’ worth a damn at least makes some noise. But if ya lookin’s for somethin’ quiet, then ya may actually find somethin’.”

“It needs to be silent!”

“Hmm,” the old man hummed, “And whys that?”

“I… I can’t tell you…”

“Even a little girl’s got her secrets, I suppose.” He poured himself another cup of water. “Sorry but I ain’t never heard of a generator that don’t make no noise.”

Disappointed, Anya drooped her shoulders.

“Wait!” She exclaimed. “This city has lights everywhere but I never hear the sound of the generator! So there must be one somewhere right?!”

Hearing how convinced the child was of her conclusion, Ol’ Keep started to chuckle.

“What? Why are you laughing?”

“I guess ya would think that given’ what ya see. Unfortunately, that ain’t how it works.” After the brief spasm of amusement, the man cleared his throat. “See, everythin’s connected to the grid through hidden wires. And all them wires connected to a central generator underground. That’s why you ain’t see it or hear it.”

“Just… one generator? My hometown was way smaller, darker, and louder but it needed two!”

“This generator’s a little bit different from ya typical one, it’s named.”

“Why does naming it make it special? Can’t you just name any one of them?” Anya tilted her head, pressing her index finger against her cheek.

“True, but unlike the other ones…” the old man leaned in and smiled, “it don’t need no input.”

“You mean…” Anya racked her brain, “you don’t have to feed it anything?”

“That’s one way to put it. It still needs maintenance and people to work on it though. Also, it kinda needs heat from deep underground, so that’s somethin' to consider as well.”

“So…” the child said, completely ignoring Ol’ Keep’s previous statements. “If I get one, I can make a city like this one?”

Baffled by the question, the man grimaces as the girl eagerly awaited for a response.

“Well, little miss, I guess if you could get one workin’...”

“Is… is it difficult…?”

“Oh bless ya heart, ‘difficult’ is an understatement. It’s darn impossible! Hence why you ain’t see any more Luminus’s sproutin' up.” Seeing as how the child’s expression grew ever more forlorn, the man continued with his words. “It ain’t necessary to have the name ones, just any tucked away generator will be pretty quiet if ya cover it properly.”

The girl’s eyes suddenly lit up.

“Wait, how do you know all this?” she asked.

“Know what? The city’s generator?”

Anya quickly nodded.

“I ain’t look it, but I use to work on the damned thing. Maintained it and kept it runnin’, got paid darn well too.”

“Then…” she muttered dubiously.

“Why am I here?” Ol’ Keep poured another cup of water, emptying the kettle. “Like I said, this is my job… now...”

“You don’t sound very happy.”

“Cause I ain’t!” the old man shouted with repressed anger. With one gulp, he finished his cup and slammed it on the table. “Pays like shit, cold as shit, and I gotta live in a slum with the shittest people in this city! I sure as hell ain’t happy!”

“S-sorry… I didn’t mean to…”

Ol’ Keep sighed, taking a moment to calm himself down. “Naw, nothin' to be sorry for. I shouldn't have blown up like that... Besides, it was my own dumb decisions that got me sacked.” He raised his hand and pointed it at one of the connected rooms.

“I bet ya tired, go rest in Flin’s room. The kid’s the cleanest out of all of us.” He said as he rubbed his forehead with his palm. “I gotta go take a piss outside.”

After apologizing once more, Anya got up and walked into the directed room. She knew she mentioned something she should not have, making the atmosphere intensely unpleasant. Slowly she closed the door behind her, momentarily sighting the old man hunched over on his seat.