Chapter 10: Book 1: Chapter 6 (Part 1 of 3)

“Oh, and where are we going?” Shana asked.

“Well, I’ve performed a quick scan of the local dungeons, it’s a class perk, and our best bet is just outside the town of Ionia. That’s the direction we will be headed in at any rate,” I related.

“Ionia? That’s what, a hundred miles from Flint?” Shana queried.

“Not quite. A little under ninety,” I remarked.

“That will take a couple of hours, particularly if there have been any crashes blocking the roads,” she mused.

“Cars won’t work now, or so I’ve been told, and I certainly haven’t heard any passing since this all happened,” I contradicted her line of thought.

“Shit. Are you suggesting we walk to Ionia? That will take a week or more,” Shana groaned with dismay.

“I’m hoping to secure an alternative form of transportation. There is a bicycle shop a few blocks from here. If we act fast, we can grab some bikes before everybody else figures out the power and cars are dead for good. Barring any unexpected delays, we can cover ninety miles in a day, maybe a day and a half,” I told her.

“Okay, that’s actually a good idea. How are we going to pay without power for the card reader? Good bikes aren’t cheap, and I don’t carry that kind of cash on me. No offence but from the state of this threadbare couch you don’t either,” Shana frowned, and gave the orange two-seater a gentle kick for emphasis.

“You’re not wrong on that front,” I agreed, and glanced at my watch. It was almost seven in the evening. “That won’t be an issue. They closed at five and well, we’re pirates now. I wasn’t planning on paying.”

“You mean we’re breaking in?” She was a little shocked at the notion and covered her mouth with her hand.

It was a cute look on her, but I simply glanced to my side at the cooling body of Victor. Shana followed my gaze and then giggled nervously.

“I guess you do have bigger things to worry about,” she concurred.

“Yep. First things first, your attire while perfect for shaking down devilishly handsome tenants,” I started.

Shana stuck her tongue out at me in response. I couldn’t help but notice she had a silvery tongue stud.

“…Won’t be as helpful for breaking and entering or other nefarious physical activities,” I finished.

“Not a problem,” she said offhandedly. “I have my gym gear in the trunk of the Mercedes.”

“That will work. We will get those clothes first and then collect some of my meagre possessions before heading out. Put the bracers on. The Framework bods claimed there wouldn’t be any monsters in the towns for a few days, but desperate people do desperate things as Victor aptly demonstrated,” I commented.

 Shana nodded and picked up the brown leather arm braces. They were simple looking curved leather with laces down one side to tighten them once you put them on. There was a little decorative stitchwork around the edges in yellow thread. She rolled the sleeves of her blouse up and slipped the bracers on. I helped her with the laces which got us nice and close. What we were doing was mundane, but I detected a slight tremble as my fingers brushed against her skin just below her elbows. But now wasn’t the time for funny business.

“There, perfect. Do you have the keys to the boot?” I asked.

“Boot? What boots are you talking about?” Shana quizzed me, expressing her confusion.

“Sorry. Trans-Atlantic miscommunication. The trunk. Do you have the keys to the trunk? In England we call it the boot,” I explained.

“Oh, and um, no, Victor has the keys,” she gulped, and looked over at his body scrunching her face in distaste.

“Do you want to get them or shall I?” I asked her.

“You killed him, you should do it,” she stated.

“It is technically your car…” I weaselled.

Shana gave me a very nonplussed look.

“Okay,” I laughed. “I’ll get them this time. But if this really is an apocalypse you will have to work on your squeamishness.”

“I don’t think that’s something we should be joking about,” Shana sighed, as I made my way over to Victor and crouched by his body.

“Maybe not, but sometimes a bit of gallows humour is the only way to ward off creeping insanity,” I huffed distractedly, as I considered where to check first. “Do you know where he keeps the keys? I’d rather get this done as quickly as I can.”

“Now who’s squeamish?” Shana snarked at me.

I sternly looked over my shoulder at her. This did the trick, and she dropped the attitude, her expression implying she accepted the non-verbal scolding.

“His right pocket I think,” she offered quietly.

I dipped my hand into the material of his right pocket and fished out the contents. I now had his wallet and a set of keys which helpfully were attached to a fob with the Mercedes-Benz, three-pointed star in a circle, logo on it. I threw the keys over to Shana who deftly caught them and sent Victor’s wallet to my inventory. I’d probably end up chucking it later but decided to hold on to it for now.

I retrieved my two ice scimitars from the table. I knew that dual-wielding wasn’t very practical in real combat but I didn’t have a shield, though. And if things did work like a game then who knows?

Shana opened the door and I stepped out ahead of her. The gantry was still empty and the car park devoid of any activity. This was a bit weird. I expected to see more people about by now. I could hear people yelling in the distance, but couldn’t make out the specifics, it was probably general panic. The plumes of smoke rose in the skyline but otherwise, it was eerily quiet.

“Come on, let’s do this quickly,” I suggested to Shana as she stepped onto the gantry beside me. She had her bow at the ready but hadn’t nocked an arrow.

We walked to the end of the metal gantry passing the other apartment units as we went. There was a bit of movement and noise coming from Mrs Pearson’s apartment next door to me, but I already knew she was home. There was nothing as we passed the windows to the other three apartments. I did peer inside quickly but without lights on inside, I couldn’t make much out.

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I didn’t want to delay so we pressed on and reached the stairwell that led to the ground floor and the car park. We rushed down, and I winced at the noisy metallic clanking we made as we descended. When I stepped off the final step and onto the tarmac, I was prompted with a fresh notification.

 The Framework has identified that this building Yewtree Apartment Block 4 belonged to Markham Filigree Holding Inc. A corporate entity that is no longer recognised under the Framework.

Grizelda Pearson as the longest surviving resident has been offered the opportunity to claim this property under the Framework and has chosen to do so.

As the only other recognised resident of Yewtree Apartment Block 4 currently on the property, your presence has contested Grizelda Pearson’s claim. By leaving, her seizure of this property is now uncontested and will complete in fifteen minutes.

You have until then to return to the property to continue contesting the claim by Grizelda Pearson. If you do not, the Framework will validate her ownership of the property and grant her all appropriate rights.

 This stopped me in my tracks and Shana bumped into my back. She walked around me and headed to the car shaking her head. This was unexpected but as I thought it through, I had no intention of returning, so it didn’t bother me. If I really was going to be living the life of a pirate, Flint would not be my base of operations. Therefore, the crazy old bat could have the complex.

Shana had opened the driver side door and had slipped in behind the wheel. After a few attempts at getting the Mercedes started, she banged the steering wheel angrily.

“No luck?” I asked her with an impish grin.

She rolled her eyes and got out of the car and went to the back. She opened the boot and pulled out a black carry all bag before slamming the boot door closed.

“Is there anything else in the car you think might be useful?” I said in a conciliatory tone. “Bullets for the revolver, maybe?”

“This is my stepfather’s car, so no. I have spare rounds in my car in Detroit, but that won’t help us,” she acknowledged.

“Fair enough,” I responded. “It is weird, though. I expected there to be more people about. Is this something the Framework has done, do you think?”

Shana sniggered which I thought was a strange reaction. Then she walked past me to the underside of the stairwell and pulled a flyer off the emergency escape directions and handed it to me.

The flyer was for the fifth annual Woodcroft Estates evening BBQ and fair taking place in Broome Park today.

That was where most people had been when this happened, at the Park. The mayor as well as a fair few of the local police department would be in attendance. Presumably, they were advising or enforcing people to remain at the park rather than run around aimlessly. I felt a bit stupid for forgetting about the event, but it was beneficial for us if it kept people out of the way.

“Alright then. The reason I stopped suddenly when I stepped off the steps was that I got a notification that only Mrs Pearson and I were in the building. The fair in Broome Park explains where most of the other residents are,” I started.

“Two of the ground floor units were vacant, thanks to my stepfather,” Shana admitted, filling me in.

“That too. What it doesn’t explain is where the hell Reg is. He’s the super for all four apartment blocks and he ought to be in his unit, which is round the back of this block. Reg is the very definition of a Jobsworth and he clocks off at five religiously. You’d need a friggin’ earthquake to get him out of his apartment once he’s off the clock. I think we should check out his place.”

“Lead on fearless commander,” Shana needled with a mock salute.

As much as I was enjoying our banter it occurred to me that I needed to know how effective this whole soul bond was. In the heat of the moment, I might need Shana to obey an order without question as I may not have the time to explain myself. Now was as good a time as any to test it out, and I had a good idea how.

“I will, but first change into your gym clothes, here in the parking lot where everyone can see,” I commanded.

As with most of the other changes the world had undergone, once I thought about it, I instinctively knew what inflection to use in my voice to convey this was an order and I would brook no quibbling on her part.

“Yes, Torin,” Shana said instantly,

She shrugged herself out of her high-heels and unzipped the skirt at the waist. She shimmied her hips and the skirt slipped down her long legs. Next, she unbuttoned the blouse, pulled it off and dropped it by the skirt. Then unexpectedly her right arm crooked behind her back and she unhooked her bra letting it fall into the pile of clothes. She was standing in front of me in nothing but a pair of white panties and the brown leather bracers on her forearms.

My eyes zeroed in on her unclad breasts. They were as spectacular as I had suspected, firm and well-rounded. She had large nipples that were pert, dark areola and I ached to give them a tweak. Tragically, my order had been to get changed, and she wasted little time digging through the black carry-all and donning a black sports bra with matching black gym leggings and trainers. The outfit was figure-hugging, so it wasn’t a complete letdown.

“Wait a minute. Did you just use the bond to make me undress in front of you, you perv,” Shana sputtered.

“Yes, but in my defence, I didn’t specifically order you to show me your boobs. You did that on your lonesome,” I teased.

“Ass,” was her response, but I could tell the heat had already left her voice and there was a hint of a smile at my joke.

“That’s, Captain Ass, thank you very much. Okay, pack your clothes away, or better yet put them in your inventory and we’ll check out the super’s place,”

“Fine,” she said, touching the clothes and bag on the ground and they disappeared. “But you might want to think about your own wardrobe. The He-Man look might be sexy but you kind of stand out with the blue body markings and black eyes.”

Shana had a point. I had forgotten about my altered appearance.

“Noted. We’ll clear my apartment and then check out the super’s place before raiding the bike shop,” I said, updating the plan.

We headed back up the steel steps and back to my apartment.

Ten minutes later and I had changed clothes. Something I had just learned was that my Frost element harmonisation kept me cool despite the ambient air temperature being in the high twenties centigrade. I had to translate that as in the eighties for Shana. The bond meant she was similarly cooled. This wasn’t something to be sniffed at, with any luck we would both soon be rocking armour and not sweating to death while wearing it would be helpful.

For now, this meant I was wearing a long sleeve shirt that I usually only broke out during the winter months and was back in a pair of blue-washed jeans. I donned a pair of sunglasses to hide my eyes and Shana wrapped a bandana around my ears, Spock in the Voyage Home, style.

I looked like a wannabe gangster douche, but that was better than something obviously not human right now. We filled our inventories with what little food and useful items I had. One torch, a handful of AA batteries and a couple of candles as well as spare clothes. I took one last look around the place trying to think of anything I might be forgetting. It felt like I was leaving a hotel room and not a home, which was just as well. I really doubted I would ever be back.

I put my hand on the door handle with what I thought would be one last look at Victor when Quixbix piped up.

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