Feb 2018 v01 online

touch it, but he couldn’t raise his arm. On his
lips he still tasted the salt of his tears. The
gaping wound in his side drained all the
strength from his body.
Footsteps. Dave squeezed his eyes shut, biting
down the whimper in his throat. He would not
let them see him cry.
“Do you need help?”
A cold voice, but one without the cruel glee
of his masters. Dave opened his eyes.
A woman stood over him. She wore a sleek
black overcoat. Her eyes were a paler shade of
the sky overhead.
“May…” Dave’s voice came through in short
breaths, “May…I have…a knife, ma’am?”
“For what?”
A lump formed in his throat. He felt tears
coming again, but he spoke anyways.
“So I can die.”
A wrinkle creased the woman’s forehead.
“This child is yours? How old is he?”
“What?”
Reaching down, she took hold of Dave’s
wrist, turning it upwards and tapping at the
joint.
“He’s unmarked. No assigned number, I’m
assuming. Do you know the penalty for an
unregistered child under twelve?”
Old Paul’s face turned red, and he walked
closer. “Now listen here—”
He pounced. A deafening sound rang
through the alley. Paul’s mouth dropped open.
He stumbled back, holding a hand to his chest.
When he took it away the palm was red.
“You…” he collapsed before finishing his
sentence.
“Unregistered minor and assaulting an
officer,” said the woman. In her hand was the
strange black thing that had made the sound.
The woman frowned, looked like she was
about to speak, when a familiar cackle
interrupted her. Gritting his teeth, Dave tried
to get up again.
“Don’t come any closer,” he heard her say. In
his blurry line of vision he could see the sudden
tension in her figure.
When he turned his head, Dave saw his
masters. They each had knives and chains. One
of them was stained with blood already.
“The police doesn’t hve any jurisdiction over
our private property,” snarled old Paul,
brandishing his knife in Dave’s direction. His
blade was the only one stained with blood
already. Dave wondered who else had tried to
run. Had it been Clint?
The rest of the men stared for a minute. Then
all at once, they turned and ran away.
Considering them for a minute, the woman
slid the thing into her belt. She knelt over Dave.
“Are you…police…?” he muttered as her face
swam in and out of his vision.