NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2 – The hole in the ground
Charles marched out of the gambling house with sixty chopper that day.
Heavy in her hand stuffing them underneath her shirt sleeve she was sure it would affort some fine bread. With hurried steps, down here in the slums sixty choppers were a fortune, she made her way, this was good enough to get you by for at least half a year on food and clothing in the slums.
Using the small crevices and her knowledge of the back alleys and dirty places she managed to slip past the guard of the ones trying to rob her who were keen on the money until she was at home and happily run into her homeshed.
To face devastation.
Her mother was lying there, her body was beaten black and blue the maks showing easily on her pale porcellain skin, she was bleeding from between her legs, wearing a raggy dress. Holding a molten piece of bread in her hand which she offered Charles without hesitation. Quivering inside she took the bread biting into it, it tasted like Ash in her mouth.
"I hopw it tastes well, fill your stomach little one.", she whispered trying to hide her state, maybe she would have succeeded so too if she had been a normal child. "Eat well, mommy has already eaten."
"I am sorry mom, I am sorry mom.", she muttered, and their mother smiled at her as well stoking her hair softly.
"Nothing to be sorry for my pretty Tsukiko, I know you would never attract that kind of attention without reason." she said and Tsukiko carefully hugged her while crying silently.
Charles stood there and gashed her teeth, she would kill them all, slaughter them if she got the chance and this time she would actually enjoy it.
"Mom, Sis, I have been really lucky.", she said, remiding herslef, and smiled at the two taking out her sixty chopper. "I found a nice person, they gave me all this only for running an errant."
Her mother and Tsukiko stared at the money, and again the two started to cry anew, this time hugging Charles tightly. She felt a bit misplaced, but then she felt something soften inside her as she hugged them back, a fierce protectiveness welling up inside her. "No worries' mommy, sis, I will protect you two I will protect us all, I am a clever child don't you know." she muttered to them silently.
Maybe she had difficulty acting before, due to limitations of age and body, but hell would freeze over if she couldn't win enough for the three of them at Shogi now.
She smiled at them but couldn't prevent the same cold feeling she always had when being furious from erupting inside her, activating the swirling depths of her Nanites. The vicious thing that they were staying enforced the coldness even more, all Nanites were different. Someone had once told her, but if there was a ranking on whose were the most vicious, hers would take the crown.
Don't worry.
"I will get a doc for you, mommy." Charles said and the smile on her face grew dazzling, it may be a risk but leaving her mother unattended was an even bigger one, "Tsukiko, would you watch out for mom until I am back, I won't need long, don't worry."
"Mi...."
"Not a word, I know what I am doing." she answered, her voice harder than she intended, causing both women in front of her to look at her startled. "Don't worry about anything, do down into our hiding spot if you can, I will get the doc."
Hesitatingly the two followed her orders and Tsukiko helped their mother, alongside the piece of bread, into their self-made shelter and Charles drew the carpet over it. Turning on her heel, she started jogging. Darkness slowly started too decent to the slums, and she followed soon only the directions her instinct told her to avoid trouble. Dodging she went out of the way as a gang member murdered another, a woman was raped on the side of the street and in jet another corner a small child was beaten, most likely already dead.
She did not care for all of that. Stopping in front of a run down hut, a tad bigger than theirs but less well maintained, she came to a hasty stop and knocked. She had known from Gamblers and other street Urchins that the old man living here had once been a doctor, a medic, who practiced illegal ways, so he lost his license and ended up here. But he was the only one around here who had any experience at treating people and while she had experience in bandaging gun shots and other injuries, all she knew was done with the aid of modern technology she didn't have available here, so it was little more than useless knowledge.
She knocked again.
No answer.
Deciding that it was not the right time for patience she took out the small wooden hairpin her mother had made for her, it was all screwed up and ugly and looked at what she suspected was to be a window. Ramming the pin into the wood, she tested the stability. It wouldn't hold any pressure but give enough of a way to use as a stepping stone, luckily the wood was half rotten, and she got it in.