“Wrong!” I chuckled and pointed at the nearest bench. “Here’s my first order as party leader: rest for the next two hours. Then we’ll go to intersection 17.”
“Why did you ask me, then?”
“To check how reasonable and cool-headed your judgment is.”
“And did you get your answer?”
“Yeah.”
“Happy now?”
“Well… Not exactly.”
“So be glad.”
I didn’t get her logic. Dropping the subject, I made sure we were in sight of the stationary ceiling dome and stretched out on the warm wall ledge with a blissful moan. Lying down felt so good...
“Don’t get too comfortable, happy goblin,” Yorka warned me from her spot nearby. “This is like the calm before the storm. You’ll come to understand it in a year or so.”
“I’m not getting too comfortable,” I replied, yawning. “And I’m not going to spend a year here.”
“What?”
“You heard me. This is the Outskirts — what is there to do here? We’re gonna earn some cash, fix our limbs, get some gear, and venture out into the big world.”
“Are you joking?”
“Nope. Take your time thinking on it. I won’t force you into anything, but I’d be glad to have you along. Now, get some sleep.”
“Easy for you to say!” Yorka protested. But she was fast asleep within a minute. I dozed off, too, fulfilling my promise to give my body some time to rest and recover.
My brain tried to fish something out from my emptied memory, but after a couple of failed attempts, it resentfully fell back into the black abyss.
* * *
We were ambushed on our way to the main hallway leading to intersection 17. The safety of CLUX-17 was behind us. Yorka started, ready to run back home, and pulled at me. I tensed my muscles to keep her from making such an obvious move on impulse.
Run straight back to the clux with only three of the six here?
It was just Johnny and the two girls.
Where were the other three guys?
That was pretty obvious. They were waiting behind us.
“Surprise, bitches!” Yesterday’s messenger yelled mockingly.
She spoke without permission, and earned a resounding slap in the face from Johnny, who was trying his best to look really tough. He even tried to suck in his gut, but to no avail.
“We got you!” The man-faced bitch howled from where she lay on the floor.
Johnny grunted and kicked her in the stomach, making her writhe even more.
“You scumbag!” Yorka spat with unexpected fury. “Fat, smelly scumbag! Scumbag!”
Well… I didn’t like the sight of this big guy kicking a groaning woman sprawled on the floor. No matter how vicious a bitch she was.
Yorka was unstoppable. She clenched her fist, hissing, baring her teeth, practically foaming at the mouth, pouring out all her long-standing hatred and resentment. I took a half step back, out of her line of sight, hooked my thumb into the waistband of my shorts and listened, a satisfied smile on my face. I wasn’t the only one — everyone around us was listening to Yorka. It was hard to ignore the heart-rending cry of a soul that had been tortured for so long.
“You scumbag! You dickhead! You fat, smelly piece of shit! Prick! I hope you die! Oh, you’re gonna die no matter what! Asshole!”
The pretty girl standing behind Johnny, the one who Yorka had accidentally knocked down, managed to keep a filthy semblance of an innocent expression on her face. Her eyes widened with surprise as she witnessed this outpouring of emotions from the one-handed goblin girl raging in the middle of the hallway. She looked like a respectable housewife standing on the porch of her own house, listening to drunkards making a racket on the other side of the fence. All she needed was curlers in her hair to complete the picture.
Johnny roared… Then fell silent when Yorka started assaulting his manhood with insults. My smile widened as I squinted at the ceiling, silently counting the seconds. I kept the gang in my sights, especially the big fat guy. He hadn’t said anything yet, but his face was slowly turning black with bad blood. His head looked like it was ready to explode at the slightest flick. Staring straight ahead, he swayed slightly, as if every word thrown at him by Yorka hit him like a small stone.
I waited patiently — not for Johnny to get even madder, but for Yorka to drain her mental abscesses, to release the inner darkness of her soul with this yelling. There’s nothing worse than someone keeping a burden of negative emotions to themselves. This suppressed negativity strangles you, and I wanted Yorka to be able to breathe deeply.
“You! Fucking! Asshole! Die, you cocksucker! Burn in hell!”
Johnny inhaled hoarsely and reached forward. His girlfriend clung to him, and let out a piercing shriek:
