Alice dragged Jake forward deeper into the alleyway, away from the screaming guard left alone to bleed onto the stone below. Looking over his shoulder at the bleeding guard, Jake guessed the wound was probably non-lethal as it had only pierced into his shoulder, but he wasn’t positive. The guard was making a meal out of his injury though that was probably the first time anyone had been shot in this world. Jake now knew from experience just how painful a bullet could be.
Jake found his thoughts drawn away from the wailing guard behind him as a set of piercing whistles cut through the air, all from different locations around him but closer than the last time they rang out. Running forward blindly, focusing all his effort on simply staying upright Jake allowed Alice to drag him forward.
Suddenly she let go of his wrist and ducked out of sight to the side. Not expecting his guide to suddenly disappear, Jake continued forward, his momentum already too great to change directions. Stumbling forward, Jake almost threw himself out of the alleyway before he felt a sudden pull grip hold of the back of his shirt and yank him downward.
Dragging Jake backward into the long shadow of one of the buildings that framed the exit to the alleyway, Alice pulled the pair into a large crack carved in the foundations of the building. It wasn’t a perfect hiding spot, but it would have to be enough for the time being. As soon as she managed to stuff the pair into hiding, a sharp whistle rang out, dead ahead. Soon two figures rounded the corner of the alley.
They wore the same identical grey uniform all the guards wore, and both already had their clubs drawn at the ready. They looked around for a moment before one tapped the other and pointed down the alley. He was gesturing toward the screaming figure of the injured guard left abandoned on the floor. Raising their clubs at the ready, the two stomped off toward the figure.
As the two stormed off down the alley, boots clicking against the stone and whistles raised to their lips to send out a signal to all the searching guards to converge, Alice took her chance to slip free of her makeshift hiding spot and drag Jake out from the alleyway. Pulling her hood back tight over her head she looked around and grimaced.
The streets were deserted now, save for the two of them and the growing patrols of guards. They’d have to sprint full force now toward the district’s fence. It was their only hope of survival, well really her only hope of survival. Jake could slip away anytime he wanted but for some reason, he seemed keen on following after her, and if they managed to escape Alice was rather curious to figure out why that was.
Grabbing hold of Jake’s hand as he wobbled a bit, still unsteady on his feet, Alice dragged the pair off toward the Broken’s district ever vigilant for the guards’ whistles or their clicking boots.
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Jake collapsed to his hands and knees finally allowed to rest. His head felt cloudy, and he was out of breath. As he lay collapsed to his hands and knees, Alice busied herself rushing around the shack, drawing the few burlap curtains hung around the place shut. There were only two windows in the whole of the one-roomed shack, and both were cracked and already boarded up but she would rather be safe than sorry. As it stood right now, she looked like a mess. Covered in sweat and blood, it would be easy to tell she had been the Broken sneaking around outside the district. Not to mention the outsider she had snuck inside and was currently hiding.
The run back to the fence had been mercifully uneventful. The pounding of the guard’s boots and their ever-present whistle blasts helped to keep her aware of their positions, so she was able to avoid cornering them as they moved. Jake’s explosive attack had proved the perfect distraction, it had served to draw all the guards throughout the city away towards the alleys. Fanned out searching the back alleys, they had left the main streets practically empty.
With well-timed slips between the shadows and lucky sprints, Alice was able to lead the pair back to the fence before anyone could catch wind of them. Thankfully Jake’s distraction had also served to stop the guards from discovering the gap she’d cut into the fence, as it remained unguarded and available for her to crawl through. She’d expected this to be where she and Jake would part ways, she couldn’t imagine an Unbroken willingly crawling into the district, but after looking around to make sure no one was watching he’d crawled in after her without complaint.
Now the two sat in her home, waiting. Well, she was waiting. Glancing over at Jake, she still couldn’t guess what he wanted. She had to stay on edge now, waiting for the guards to start a census. They wouldn’t give up searching the main streets and the alleyways easily, but eventually, they’d be forced to admit their failure in capturing her and start a census. They’d tear through the district taking headcounts and searching for anything out of place to try and find her.
With a worried gulp, she realized they might just opt for random extermination in hopes of saving face. Looking over at Jake who had sat up from his hands and knees now, looking around the shack a pang of annoyance shot through her. It was all this idiot's fault she was stuck in this mess.
With a sigh, she bent low and dug through a wooden box she kept against the wall. It wasn’t particularly big, but It had a lockable top which made it one of the most secured containers in all of the district. Rising up holding a hardened bit of tack and some musty old water, she broke a bit of the tack off and tossed it toward Jack along with the old water skin.
“Here, I’ll split some of my rations for today. Don’t expect much more, you stopped me before I could make it to the market so that’s all your getting.”
She watched as he tore into tac, noting with a smirk the unpleasant look that crossed his face as its salty taste met his tongue.
“Thanks,” Jake said, his teeth failing for a bit to sink into the bit of cracker-like bread he now held. “So, why were the Nazis after you?”
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“The who?”
“Sorry, whatever they're called here. Why were they trying to arrest you like that? It wasn’t because you helped me, was it?”
“Well… that was part of it…” Alice scratched behind her head, staring down at Jake unsure how much of his question was genuine or not. “It’s because I’m Broken.”
“The hell does that mean?” Jake asked, though his eyes naturally glanced toward the crack-like scars that traveled along her porcelain-like skin.
“Why are you acting like this!” Alice was getting more animated now, her voice rising. This was the first time she’d met an Unbroken person who acted like this. She’d never known them to play mind games like this, they always simply called the broken disgusting through the fence or beat them as punishment. She’d certainly never heard about an Unbroken who willingly touched a Broken.
“Calm down, calm down, please," Jake said quickly, raising his arms and trying to calm Alice down. "I just… where I come from these terms don’t exist…”
“Where you come from? You’re from beyond the wall?” Alice asked, suddenly sitting forward and looking toward Jake with a newfound excitement in her eyes.
“Well, I mean, kind of yeah. Not sure what wall you’re talking about, but we can circle back to that. I’m sort of like a nomad, just found myself wandering into the city by accident.” Jake gave a nod to himself, proud of his word choice. Nomad sounded much better than Hobo.
“I didn’t know anyone could travel beyond the wall…” Alice said in a mutter, more to herself than anyone else before refocusing on Jake.
“I am Broken because I am cursed.” Alice held her hand up so he could see the cracks in her flesh. “You felt it before when I accidentally cast it on you. I am… sorry about that. I know the unbroken find the curse to feel disgusting.”
“So, what? They don’t like your magic?”
“What is magic?”
“Magic is… never mind. Your curse I mean.” Alice nodded, looking toward the floor. She hadn’t imagined he could be a nomad from beyond the walls. So, few from within the city were allowed to leave on expedition and she’d heard it was impossible for someone to migrate inside. She had so many questions about the beyond but felt it was too late to ask now. He’d heard now about the situation between the Broken and Unbroken and felt the effects of her curse firsthand. She’d be lucky if he simply left her in peace without retaliation.
“Well, their loss I guess. That was incredible. Only ever met one over magician… cursician… one other person who could heal me as fast as you did. You might be even faster.” Jake leaned back a smile on his face as he began blathering on a chuckle escaping his lips.
“I thought I was going to die I just… Thank you…”
Alice couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing. In a squeaky voice, she said,
“Why are you thanking me?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I?”
“But my curse… it was an accident I swear…”
“Well don’t make me feel too bad about it. Even if you only did it by accident, you still saved my life.”
“But the unbroken… your supposed to…” Alice wasn’t quite sure what to say, wasn’t sure why she still sat objecting. Jake just looked at her confusion evident on his face before lifting aside his bloodstained poncho and shirt to show his side. Red raw skin came together to form a scab in his front. Disgusted purple skin around the wound, and what looked to be a pus congealed across the tear's surface. Next, he pulled the collar of his shirt down, revealing the now dark purple bruises that wrapped around his neck and down his chest.
“Do I look Unbroken to you?”
Alice stared in amazement for a moment before a giggle escaped her, eliciting a smile from Jake. Letting his clothes return to how they normally sat on his body, his voice turned dark a moment as he said,
“Besides, I’m cursed to believe me. You don't have to worry about me.”
He sat back leaning onto the floor and Alice found herself mirroring his pose, relaxing against the floor as she sat across him.
“So, Alice, if they hate the Broken or whatever they call you so much, why do you bother staying here?”
“Can’t leave, they won’t let us,” Alice said with a saddened shake of the head. “They keep us cornered, pinned in the Broken District. Said they don’t want us infecting the rest of the world. Anyone caught sneaking around or trying to escape the city is beaten and dragged away. Usually, they don’t come back.”
“… Then why were you sneaking around outside the Broken District if it’s so dangerous?”
Alice scoffed at Jake’s words.
“What, let them beat and pen me forever? Rollover and starve to death? No, thank you. Besides you tasted their rations. That’s no way to live.”
Jake nodded yet right as we started to speak again a knock suddenly came from the door. Both turned with a start before Alice shot up, pulling her dirty cloak over herself and tossing it in a pile in the corner of the room. Unsure what to do next, Jake sat frozen a moment before noticing a blanket left abandoned on the floor. Grabbing it, he pulled it over himself and tried his best to look like a crumpled heap left on the floor. Alice looked with a grimace, not finding the disguise very convincing, but with little choice left she pulled the door to the shack open.
Fortunately, the figure of a guard didn’t greet her but one of her elder neighbors, who stood with a bent back and cane in hand.
“They said they’ll be doing a census soon… wanted me to spread the word…”
Alice thanked the elder and he left without another word. With a sigh, Alice pulled the blanket off Jake and looked him in the eyes.
“Stay still, stay quiet. I’ll let you stay here till the morning, but you’ll have to find your own way out of here after that, got it? After that, we never met.”
Jake nodded, an odd look of relief on his face. Alice thought he looked oddly relaxed for a man trapped in a prison camp but shrugged, standing up straight and hurrying out the door toward the census, doing her best to make herself look as presentably decrepit as the other broken around her.
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When morning came Jake woke up to find Alice well awake before the sun rose. He’d been allowed to sleep, tucked in the corner of her home. Thankfully the census had gone over without much issue, and now soon as the sun rose Jake would be able to escape this world without much issue. He was worried about Alice, especially since he was the reason she was dragged into this mess in the first place, but there was little he could do to help. Not anymore, he was out of time. In the dim purple of the early morning dawn, Alice sat wearing her cloak and reclined in an old, rickety-looking chair.
“Got so used to waking up early to sneak out I did it out of habit,” she said with a chuckle and a smile, but an air of nervous dread hung about her. Last night she’d returned late from the census, fresh blood etched on her arms and legs. She hadn’t said a word to Jake, just a small nod in his direction before curling up to sleep.
“Thank you again, for saving me. I’m sorry to you had to, that I had to screw up what you had working for you.” Jake said, not sure what else he could say. With an awkward sigh, he extended his hand. Alice looked at him for a moment before letting out a sigh of her own and flashing him a smile,
“Just get out of her, fast. Don’t screw anything else up for me, got it? And anyone catches you, anyone asks. We never met.” She reached her hand out and took hold of his in a firm handshake as the morning sun broke the horizon, spilling through the boarded plains of glass into the shack.
Then there was silence, utter emptiness. A moment passed, then two, but still no sounds escaped anyone as no one remained in the shack as morning broke the Broken District.