Chapter 20: 23. Angelidis

Ajax looks around the area they’ve just landed in. Both he and Shaula are completely naked, but this area is an empty alleyway. To either side of the alley are tall buildings reaching eight stories high. Shaula carefully listens for the sound of heartbeats. However, this building seems to be abandoned. There is nobody living inside. It was why it was the perfect spot.

There seem to be the smaller heartbeats of animals running around and sleeping in there though. A lot of them.

“These buildings… look kinda shitty, don’t you think?”

“The surface is really ugly looking. Infested as well, probably why it's abandoned.” These buildings look like they are extremely run down to Ajax. He can guess that they probably aren’t structurally sound anymore either. The floor of the alleyway itself looks ugly. There are cracks, stains and overflowing trash cans ahead of them.

“You smell that?” Shaula can smell an assortment of bad odors in this pathway. Their upgraded sense of smell gives them advantages, but also exposes a lot more filth. The two of them walk through the alleyway barefoot. There is no moon up above and no streetlights here so they can’t use their sight to check what’s in front of them.

There are glass bottles on the ground and rotting food spilling out from the trash cans. They make sure to avoid stepping anything too gross. Who knows if they are immune to bacteria and diseases of this world as well.

Although, they did just wade through a solid wall, so they might be overthinking things. They reach the edge of the alleyway and step onto an empty road, lit by dim streetlamps. They continue walking through this new road surrounded by more abandoned buildings. After walking a minute or two down the road, they find buildings with a few residents. The buildings still seem ugly and rundown though.

Ajax and Shaula decide to watch the windows of these buildings carefully for now. They want to make sure they aren’t seen so they avoid walking near the streetlamps as well. They walk up the road while making sure that nobody in these buildings notices them. This area of the city is quite eerie.

“Didn’t this city look a lot better from the outside?” Ajax feels like this whole city is a case of false advertising.

“Those towers right at the center… They really made the place look good. None of these buildings are built higher than the walls. There’s probably a reason for that.” If your city is surrounded by massive walls, it might be better to make the taller buildings more spectacular. For the rest of the city, just build everything shabby looking and poorly designed shorter than the walls. The people who rule this place seem petty.

The road curves left into an intersection. At this intersection ahead, there are homeless people sleeping on the ground on beds made of rags and cloth. There are also a few people huddled around a garbage can fire. Ajax and Shaula watch them from afar, after moving into an empty alleyway.

“They all… have the ears and tails.” Ajax sees that the homeless people here are all the animal eared race that they saw earlier. The ones who are sleeping are sleeping lightly. Some of them seem to be having nightmares. Shaula can sympathize with their poverty as someone who has also been forced to live on the streets.

“So, is this race the subjugated race of this city?” Shaula speaks out loud, not looking for an answer. Ajax thinks back to the city gates. The animal eared people in line were often sent away by the guards, even if they had money to pay for the toll. Shaula remembers this as well.

“Like that man who wanted to see his sister…”

“Do you see the ones awake near that fire, Shaula?” Ajax points them out to Shaula. She sees that they have clouded expressions. She recognizes that expression, one of pure despair. She has had it before as well. She starts to breathe faster.

“...Let’s leave, Shaula. We need to find some clothes.” Ajax knows about what Shaula’s life was like on the street. He remembers that day that he brought her home. He doesn’t want to see her cry again.

“I’m sorry, Ajax. I… I don’t know what got into me… Yeah, let’s go. Enough wasting time out here.” Shaula puts away her feelings for now. There isn’t much she can do about people who are living her old life. All it does for her is make her feel pain.

“Shaula, let’s find an empty house and just grab something to wear quickly.”

“...You really want to do that?” Shaula is surprised at Ajax’s suggestion. He always seemed too much of a rule follower to suggest breaking and entering.

“It’s an emergency, Shaula. This is as much of an emergency as we’ve ever had honestly. It’s not like we’re gonna loot a house for everything. Just a top, a bottom and a pair of shoes. I can even skip the top, I just need something to cover myself up.”

“Yeah, you’re absolutely right. Don’t overthink this, Ajax. We can always return to the house later and pay them back later once we get our bearings here. It is honestly… really tiring to be naked around you.”

“I feel the same way.”

The two of them walk away from the intersection with homeless people down a different path. In this current area, there are more apartment buildings. These ones are about seven to nine stories tall. They are all filled with people. But one of them has a broken lobby door.

“You think we should cover our heads?” Ajax and Shaula can both use ice and fire to obscure their faces.

“That would make it harder to see, hear and smell our surroundings. Besides, it’s completely dark in there… I guess they just shut off the lights at night to save power…”

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While watching out for nearby people and anything that looks like otherworld CCTV, they enter. Nobody is keeping watch at this late hour. They cannot see perfectly in the darkness but their hearing and ability to sense air flow allow them to ‘see’. The lobby appears clean and neatly arranged, though a bit empty of decoration and furniture.

There is what appears to be a single non-working elevator, as well as a door nearby leading to a hallway of first floor units. There are a lot of people dwelling on this floor. Their heartbeats and breathing sound far too slow for wakefulness. Some of these one bedroom apartments house large families.

The two of them quietly make their way upstairs to the second floor. On this floor, there is another hallway completely filled up with residents. They go up to the third, fourth, fifth and sixth floor to find the same situation. A home invasion is absolutely out of the question. On the seventh floor however, there are a few units empty. There are three empty apartments close to each other. A reasonable pick.

Ajax and Shaula walk up to one of these units. The door doesn’t have a peephole and it’s made of wood. Shaula decides to use brute force rather than fire. She first tests the door strength; it is sturdy enough and she can feel where the hinges are. Shaula then pushes a spot on the door where a door hinge seems to be on the other side.

She slowly increases the pressure on the single hinge. Very slowly. The wood of the door cracks repeatedly. After three minutes, the door is separated from this hinge.

“Ajax, keep your ears out for anyone that might have woken up from the noise.”

“Alright.” Ajax listens carefully to the apartments nearby. Nobody seems to have noticed anything. One person seems to be tossing and turning, but still keeps snoring. Shaula continues the same treatment to the second door hinge and soon gets it open. Still, nobody gets up to see what’s going on.

She carefully opens the door and enters the apartment with Ajax. They soon find stacks of clothes on a table in the bedroom. There is no closet or dresser for the person living here. Ajax finds a pair of black pants and a brown shirt. It is a bit big for him but he uses a belt for himself. There are only male clothes here.

Shaula simply has to make do with a large gray shirt and pair of black pants for herself as well. Realizing that there is only one belt, Ajax gives it up to her. There are three pairs of shoes here. They fit Ajax but not Shaula. However, one of the pairs has laces so she puts them on and tightens them as much as possible.

As a result, now the two of them are fully clothed. Taking this rare opportunity, Shaula decides to look around this place for some food. She finds a small pantry with stale but not spoiled bread. She hands it over to Ajax. Neither of them feel particularly hungry, but they know they soon will. They eat their food and wash it down with tap water.

This person’s small kitchen has a sink with running water. The people in this city are somewhat advanced even though they might not be in the 21st century. After the two of them finish eating, they simply exit the house while placing the door in a closed position. They would like it if nobody else tries to break in after them.

Hopefully, they can return to this person’s place and pay them back eventually. That is what they both hope. While in their new, odd fitting clothes, they leave the building. They run a few blocks away under the cover of night, away from their crime. They soon slow down.

“Remember, Ajax. No powers in these clothes, otherwise we’ll have to find new ones. You know… I know I agreed to this, but… I already feel a bit sick after robbing the guy living there.”

“Yeah, me too! I wanted to stop, but we had already gone that far and you did all that work to bust the door down… Shit, the lives that people live here. First thing we gotta do is get some money, so we can drop it off for that guy. Some for the clothes and food, some for the door, and a lot for the trouble.”

“*Sigh*… What a shitty place this is.”

Ajax and Shaula keep walking through the city, taking in the sights and sounds. They would like to find a place to sleep, but neither of them feel the need for sleep right now. So they just keep walking. They pass more homeless people. As they walk, the streets start to become busier. It is still the middle of the night, but this area seems to have more people living nearby.

Shaula sees a street two blocks ahead where animal eared and human women congregate in provocative clothing. It seems that this area is busier because it’s close to a red light district. She decides to walk through it and ask the people around for some information. The homeless people seemed so despondent she didn’t want to bother them. She has one or two questions that might be easily answered by anyone if she tries.

The two of them walk near an alleyway. Ajax pauses.

“Shaula, in there. I’m hearing a few heartbeats.”

Shaula listens in for herself in curiosity. A few heartbeats, just as Ajax said, all of them beating somewhat quickly. She hears a woman speaking.

“So… who are you and what do you want?”

“Well, girl, sorry to say, but we want your money. Be nice and hand it over.”

A mugging, right in front of their ears. Ajax is surprised. He’s never been involved in one or knew anyone who was. One of the marks of suburban life. Shaula meanwhile feels a different feeling. She wants to help the woman getting robbed.

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