A dozen teenagers stood with bats, hammers and knives in hand. Blocking the way into the Harrow Trainyard. They did not look particularly threatening, but Rick knew better than to just judge by the looks.
‘Okay, just play safe,’ Rick calmed himself down. He had hoped of getting into the dungeon without running into any gangs. But now that people were camping here, he had no other choice. Things could get complicated if the residents of the place did not want an outsider and refused to let him in.
“Friendly here,” Rick shouted, getting off Holmes some distance away. He was still more than five-hundred metres away and did not want to pick up a fight if he could avoid. I have already made too many of those.
“Why are you here? Go away” a shout rang out from the other side. It was the bulky boy standing in the middle.
‘They are scared,’ Rick realised. From what he could tell, the usual procedure these days was to attack first warn later.
He raked his brain for an appropriate response. He could not just say aloud that he wanted to give a try at clearing the dungeon, it would look suspicious that a random stranger even knew that there was a dungeon there. ‘They will be more on-guard if I do that.’
“I am a trader. Hoping to barter some things really. Like this ride here,” Rick shouted back gesturing with his arms like a showman. Patting Holmes, he disapparated the golem.
The sudden disappearance of the golem, he was sure, would be enough to grab their attention.
Rick looked on as he waited for a response. He saw the gang’s leader order something to one of his boys at the back and right after the junior ran back into the trainyard.
A couple of minutes later, the messenger returned panting and whispered something into the leader’s ears.
“You can come, but try anything funny and you will regret it,” the stocky guy standing in front said aloud.
“Fair enough,” Rick replied.
‘Pip, get inside the jacket,’ he told the bird napping on his head. She lazily got down and hid. Without missing a beat, he started walking in. He wasn’t worried about being able to escape if things took for the worse.
As he walked closer to the gate, Rick got his first good look at the gatekeepers. They were definitely not faring very well in this new world. Clothes rugged and armed with just everyday tools, he felt a pang of pity for the lot. Only the burly leader seemed to be faring a little better with a butcher knife on his left and handgun in his hand.
“Hey, careful with that please,” Rick smiled at the leader. He DID NOT want to die by a shot fired on accident.
“Follow me,” the leader said, putting the gun down. Turning around, he looked at the rest of the boys and barked. “Don’t do anything reckless while I am gone. Send Ivan to get me if something comes up.”
“Thank you,” Rick gave a courteous nod and followed the leader through the gates, a golem-core ready in one hand.
He was reminded back of the times when he used to come by the place. Rusting old railway-carts stacked over one another. The Harrow Trainyard was a large area covering the size of a football field!
“Mathew! Mathew, I have been looking for you. The kitchen-” a voice called, forcing Rick to stop and look around to see an older man jogging up to them, panting for breath “- oh you have company.”
“Good morning Mr. Hannigan,” the leader, whom Rick knew to be Mathew now, replied, losing his tough man voice. Gesturing to Rick he continued, “said he wants to sell things, so we are going to Julia’s.”
“Aah excellent, I will join you as well then,” the older man replied, pushing his square glasses up his crooked nose.
“Sure. Of course,” Mathew replied, nodding his head in agreement.
“Hello, young man. I am James Hannigan. Nice to meet you,” the older gentleman said extending his hand as the three started walking again.
The man had a lean physique with blonde hair brushed back and a receding hairline. His plain grey half-sleeved sweater and formal clothes reminded him of his driving instructor.
Rick gave a cursory smile at the new addition and replied the greetings, “Nice to meet you too. You can call me Rick.”
“Hahaha… Yes, yes. Nice to meet you, Rick,” Mr. Hannigan shook his hand firmly, with a genial smile. “I hope Matt and his boys didn’t give you a hard time. You see, the people that usually come by this place do not have very good… temperaments.”
Mathew looked behind at the mention of his name, his face dark in worry.
“No, not at all. They were just doing what they needed to do to keep the place safe, I am sure.”
“Not everyone around here is as reasonable as you, I am sure,” Mr. Hannigan replied.
They took a sharp turn and kept walking. But to Rick, the change in the scene was obvious. The railway carts lined the pathway here as well, but every couple of carts, curtains could be found hanging where the exit door would have been. He also glanced upon the others in the group as on occasion people would pass by them or peek out the doors only to shrink back in a hurry as soon as they noticed the unfamiliar face.
‘They are all teens!’ Rick observed. Although there were exceptions like Mr. Hannigan, most of the members of the group seemed to be in their teens.
“Most of your people seem to be on the younger side,” Rick said.
“That’s true, but it would be a shame for anyone that underestimated them,” Hannigan replied curtly. “But many of us here must be around your age really. Even older.”
“Hey, I didn’t mean to come off in a wrong way,” Rick said raising his arms,” All I mean is that it must be hard to survive this far out of the city. Why not settle somewhere closer to the centre?”
“Aah! You must be new in town, there is this group occupying the central area. Hell, they even put up a sign outside reading 'Welcome to Celestial City',” Hannigan said with a sad smile on his face, only the sight twitching near his lips giving it away. With a chuckle, he added, “You have to pay taxes and stuff now and those things are hard to come by you know.”
Rick listened to the story intently. The last time he had been at the Settlement was more than a month back. Now the Celestial Devotee idiots had declared themselves a City?
“What a bunch of idiots!”
Hannigan let out an amused sigh hearing the remark and said, “Yeah!”
“I have been there once, but back then you could just walk in and out. No questions asked,” he said.
“Yeah! That was the case until like a month or two ago. But something happened and apparently, they had some tiff with some fellow they couldn’t find. After that, the place has become a nightmare.”
“What!” Rick could not believe his escape had caused Eira and the others to go to such extents.
“Yeah! Now anyone that once to go in has to pay up their stupid currency or make a trade of equal value to get in. If you want to stay you have to pay a fee. If you want to open a shop you have to pay a tax. They are basically running a dictatorship there.”
“So, did everyone leave?”
Hannigan shook his head in dismay, “Few decided to leave, but most stayed back. They do give benefits and access to resources and stuff to their people. The higher up in their Celestial Dogshit gang you are, the better you get treated.”
This threw Rick into contemplation. From what he could tell, the system was good enough for anyone that wanted to stick together with the Celestials. But it would exclude everyone else from the benefits.
‘It seems like a workable model. Fuck!’ he thought. He was hoping the Celestial Devotees would do something to enrage the masses and he could swoop in and take over. But he had to agree, this was a good way out. It was hard to maintain a society that was just in its inception. But with the method being used, it seemed it could succeed.
‘Is the place that Samira and Jay headed to similar?’ he wondered making a mental note to ask Samira about it later.
“Mr. Hannigan, if I say I have a business proposal which could help you get a place with the Celestial Devotees, what would your answer be?” Rick asked, probing as innocently as he could.
“I would be open to hearing what you have to say,” Mr. Hannigan replied in a matter of fact tone.
Right then, Mathew came to an abrupt stop before another one of the many rail-cart homes. “We are here,” Mathew said. He knocked at the metal frame and announced, “Hey Julie, its Matt… and Mr. Hannigan. The trading guy is with us.”
“Let’s continue our discussion later,” Hannigan said, adjusting his glasses again.
Rick looked around the place while the trio waited for the resident to come out or give them permission to step in.
After a minute or two, he heard the curtain draw.
“Hi-” Rick looked back.
A girl with short-cropped auburn hair appeared from behind, wearing a shirt and jeans.
“Hey, Matt. Mr. Hannigan, why is it so hard to find you.” she greeted the two acquaintances, before looking over them to introduce herself, “Hello, I am-”
A moment passed as the two started at each other.
“Hey Julia,” Rick greeted with an awkward smile.
