Lance led the way through the tunnels, pausing every so often to peer at the murky walls, and occasionally, to scratch a symbol onto the wall, underneath a row of similar ones. Joey shivered as they paused by a crossroad and when he stepped forward again, he walked into Lance and grunted.

"Ow. Watch it."

"Sorry."

Lance scratched one more symbol onto the wall and set off down the right hand side tunnel. Joey sighed and followed. They dropped down through several more levels and finally emerged blinking into a great hall. It stretched for as far as they could see and was packed with people rushing from one stall to another. Lance grabbed Joey's arm and started walking purposely through the crowd, like a salmon swimming up-stream.

They carried on past the more exotic looking stalls, even though Joey caught Lance staring at  a table covered in small black electronic boxes before pushing on. The stalls got smaller and dirtier as they approached the far wall. Lance came to an abrupt halt before a stall that had once been covered in gaudy purple material, but had now faded to grey. A petite blonde girl stood behind it, dressed in an ancient brown jumper and a pair of jeans with holes in them. When she looked up and caught sight of Lance, her face lit up in a smile and she waved them closer and stepped out to hug Lance.

"Lance! Honey, long time no see." She beamed. Joey though her voice sounded like the autumn sunshine he remembered as a kid, slick and heavy on the ground. Lance stepped back from the hug and petted her hair.

"Let me introduce you. This is Joey. Joey, this is Britney. We grew up together."

Joey nodded and held out his hand. The next thing he knew, he was being hugged and then Britney stepped back and smiled.

"He's kinda cute. You strike it lucky, baby?"

Lance chuckled and Britney beamed again. Joey didn't think he'd seen anyone so sunny in a long time.

"But anyway, what can I do for you Lance? I'm assuming this isn't a social call."

Lance held out a piece of paper, "I'm trying to find some of these items. Can you help?"

Britney took the paper and studied it carefully. "I can get the bandages, paper and clothing but it's gonna cost you. What do you have as an offer?"

There was a rustle and Lance pulled a small package from his coat pocket. "This."

Britney unwrapped the package, and even Joey couldn't hold back a gasp. Lying on her palm was gold chain with a gleaming red stone, set in an ornate setting, hanging off the bottom.

"Will that cover it?"

Britney nodded, closing her hand around the chain. "Oh yeah. Twice over. Give me three hours and I'll have the things for you." She blew them a kiss and then vanished back behind the stall.

Lance turned heel and walked away, Joey had to jog to catch up, pushing his way through people again.

"Woah. Where did you get that?"

"Brought it with me when I left. For this purpose."

Joey nodded. "Britney seems like a nice girl."

"Yeah, she is. Still wouldn't turn my back on her though."

"Snake?"

"Yes."

Joey stored that away. A snake was sweet on the outside and violent within. They tended to be trustworthy if you were on their side but you'd still be really careful around them. Joey knew this well; JC was a snake too. Behind his sometimes dozy, not-all-there exterior lurked a violent and cold streak a mile long. Joey still shivered when he thought about what had happened the last time they'd run into the Cainaanites. Kevin still walked with a limp after JC had got hold of him.

They strolled around the hall in silence after that, occasionally stopping to talk to a few more stallholders, and then started the long walk back to Britney's stall. When they got there, the stall was being manned by another small woman with shoulder length brown hair. Lance leant over the counter and they talked for a few moments before she opened a water-stained door and yelled for Britney to come back out.

Joey nodded at the girl as she turned back to the stall. "Who's that?"

"Brit's girl, Kylie."

"Ah."

Back | Next

Fiction