The security guards walk into their changing room for shift change and begin to disperse to their private lockers.

“Hey, anyone seen the new guy? I thought he had finished his round and was going to be the first down here,” the new guy’s trainer, James, asks the general populace of guards.

“Did you lose another one again?” the former new guy, Marco, ribs.

James answers, “Hey, I didn’t lose you. I ditched your ass. You smelled.” James throws his used undershirt at Marco, hitting him in the back of the head.

Temper sparked, Marco aggressively returns the sweat-covered undershirt and tries to smother the much larger James. Holding Marco’s arm back at the wrist that held the undershirt and fighting for control over the remaining arm,James takes a step into Marco and forces Marco’s center of balance out of line, knocking him into a fall. James holds Marco’s one wrist, and, while plucking the undershirt from the wrist, he says, “Now remember, little man!” James leaves it at that, clearly protecting some private conversation he has shared with Marco.

This doesn’t have a calming effect, and Marco begins to scramble to his feet, as one of the other guards yells out, “Oy! Who the hell blocked the shower-room door? I can’t get it open.”

James flicks a non-existent left ring finger in Marco’s face, as if to say “don’t mess with me,” and then turns to join the rest of the guards, who are making their way over to the shower room. Message received by Marco, he remains seated on the floor. The frosted window is darkened, making it impossible to see what is preventing the door from opening. The guard in front is pushing on the door, unable to knock free the obstruction.

James places a hand on the man. “Hold on. I think the showers are running. Maybe the new guy is just playing a joke. Here.” James begins knocking on the door. There is no answer or response of any kind, just the sound of water running. James then puts his ear to the door and listens, trying to find out who is inside and whether they are coming to open the door.

“That is weird; the showers don’t sound right,” James says aloud to no one in particular.

Back on the floor still, Marco calls out, “What does that mean? Get a light, you ogre, and see if you can tell what’s in front of the door.”

“Good idea, troll. Someone get me -- thanks.” James points the light into the shower room, revealing no more than a shadow or a line of something along the top of the window. Pointing the light at the bottom corner of door and door frame, James crouches to look for the blockage.

“What was that?” the first guard to the shower asks.

James stands up and looks into the shower room to see a human figure now outlined clearly on the other side of the door. The shadow drifts out of the doorway. James starts to pound on the door and door frame with both his hands in fists. When there is no response, he begins to become enraged and hits the door harder.

“James!” Marco suddenly yelps out but is silenced. James hits the door once more, causing the window to crack and a slow, undulating river of water to snake out from the crack. James turns to see what Marco wants, only to be met with the incongruity of seeing the front of Marco’s bare chest, but the back of his head. Marco’s head is turned completely in the wrong direction.

The water pressure turns the crack into a leak, spraying the back of James. He is unable to turn back to the door as the window gives way to the water. When it shatters, the glass is followed by hundreds of gallons of water, forcing the big man to fall to his knees under the weight. The other guards are unable to stand as the water rushes past, taking them out at the ankles and causing most to fall flat on their faces.

James braces himself on all fours, until the body of the new guy flowing out of the window opening pushes him all the way to the floor. The water drains until the water line is equal to the bottom of the window line.

Half of James’s face is submerged in the red-tinted water, as he starts to push the body off himself. Still running in the shower room, the water continues to flow, maintaining the window line level. The floor is slick, making it difficult to stand.

Recovering to all fours, James can hear splashing, and thinks, What the hell? Get on your feet, guys. Quit splashing like a bunch of fish. The splashing subsides, and the water becomes redder and redder. Looking up, James sees that all of his fellow security guards are bleeding out from critical cuts of the major arteries and veins.

Confused and shocked, James gets to his feet and realizes that all of them have expired. Still sitting upright with his head on backward is Marco. Standing on the bench behind Marco is dark figure, brandishing a curved blade in their left hand and staring into Marco’s face. The point of the blade curves toward the ceiling so that the blood runs smoothly away from the point and pools at the hilt.

James doesn’t move while looking at the bodies for a weapon. A couple of them have not changed, so they still have their sidearms. But all of the armed bodies are too far away to get to without alarming dark figure. James looks back at dark figure to see that they are still staring into Marco’s face. Now they are flipping the blad, perhaps as a display to show how the weapon is well balanced, even though it is curved.

“I wouldn’t,” dark figure says in warning, without breaking their gaze.

This crazy fucker is trying to win a staring contest with a dead body, James thinks as he looks again at the closest weapon, which rests halfway out of its holster. That’ll increase my chance of getting the weapon out and getting a shot off before this fucker can react, James strategizes.

The half-naked James dives for the weapon, acquiring it successfully and pulls the trigger to hear a click. There is no round in the chamber. James does not panic; he efficiently chambers and fires a round at dark figure.

Hearing the click, dark figure remains motionless until the round is chambered. In a flurry of efficient motion, dark figure picks up Marco, using his body as a shield, and then, spinning off the bench, launches Marco headlong into James.

James fires three more rounds into Marco before they crash into each other. James drops the weapon and catches the force of Marco’s body in order to stay upright. James holds Marco by one shoulder with his right hand and by a couple of ribs through a hole that the shots had made with his left hand.

Dark figure charges. James uses what he has as a shield. James lets go of Marco’s shoulder and takes a well-placed swing, hitting dark figure in their left side. The blow does not faze dark figure, and in response, they cut into the Marco shield, whittling its mass down. James takes another swing, perceiving an opening, only to find empty space and receive a light cut across the back of his forearm.

Swearing at the sting and at himself, James uses the awkward meat shield as a club. Dark figure parries the club with their blade. James smiles as the blade slides between the ribs up to the hilt. James violently twists Marco’s whole body, wrenching the blade free from dark figure’s hand.

Surprised at James’s strength, dark figure rounds a kick across James’s open backside, pushing him up against the shower room door. James receives minor cuts from the leftover glass in the window frame. Then he quickly drops and rolls to his right, avoiding the following strike from dark figure.

James recovers from his roll, and now neither have weapons in their hands. Dark figure presses the attack with a left jab. James blocks the jab with his cut forearm, ignoring the extra pain that comes from having the cut struck. He dodges and blocks, retreating back and trying to find some dry ground. Dark figure doesn’t tire as they continue to press James across the locker room expanse.

Finally, James finds himself running out of space to retreat. The ground isn’t dry here but is far better than in front of the shower room.

James makes his stand. Deflecting dark figure’s swing of the left arm, pushing it far enough to make an opening, James strikes dark figure in the same spot where he had hit them before. James tries to hit the same spot but finds nothing but air again.

The two circle each other, sizing each other up, looking for an opening. James feints and drops his guard with his right arm, creating an enticing opening for dark figure to strike. Dark figure takes the bait and swings with their left fist. James catches the punch and sticks dark figure in the side of the face. Dark figure reverses the grapple of the captured arm. Dark figure lifts James’s arm, exposing the armpit, and plats their foot deep into James’s rib cage just below the shoulder. The force of this kick, in addition to the pulling on the arm, causes a sickening, sucking pop as James’s arm is dislocated. Adding to the injury, dark figure swings the limp arm like a tetherball around James’s body.

James grunts from the pain and brings his good arm up to try to block whatever attack is next. The next attack doesn’t come. Dark figure takes a couple steps back. James takes the opportunity and risks moving closer to the exit, keeping an eye on dark figure, especially to see if they are going for a weapon. Dark figure does not move to stop James, nor do they move to get a weapon to make it easier to finish James off quickly. Dark figure just moves in a line parallel to James.

The two stand staring at one another. Then, in an explosion of power dark figure charges. James is ready for this, and even with only one arm, he feels he can handle the onslaught. The world slows in James’s vision as he readies for the impact. He takes note of the water splashing up and how dark figure is preparing for a left swing or a tackling charge, and he makes plans for both attacks. The moment before the collision occurs, dark figure dives feet first between James’s legs, sliding on their back. Thy grab James’s ankles, pulling him down. Dark figure lets go of James’s right ankle and uses the left ankle to pull themself around, twisting his ankle until it snaps, as they stand up. From here dark figure steps on either side of James’s left knee. They lock their legs around his, twisting and falling back down until James’s knee and hip pop.

James’s face is submerged, and the shallow water mutes his screams. He turns his head to the side and is able to take a breath of half water and half air. Dark figure is no longer entangled with him, and James doesn’t know where dark figure has gone until a hand grabs his head.

“Go ahead and do it already!” James yells defiantly.

“I could have killed you at any point. You see this now. You fought well, and the fact that you are a Child of Pain makes me hesitant to kill you. That cult took your finger, and because they challenged me as God, I took your parents. It isn’t your fault they fought God, so I bear no ill to you. In fact, many of your Brothers and Sisters of Pain have converted to my followers. I am tempted to offer you the same. So, what am I to do?” dark figure preaches.

James is in so much shock he has trouble understanding what is being offered to him. The water is now reaching James’s lower lip. James says nothing as he coughs on the bloody water.

Dark figure flips James on his back, bringing a fresh tsunami of pain, and then towers over him, saying, “I have to go finish something. You lie there, and if you are still alive when I get back, you can give me your answer.”

Retrieving their blade and a uniform, dark figure walks out of the locker room, shutting off the lights as they leave. James lies shattered in the dark, feeling the water level rise.

The water rises into James’s ears. The sound of the falling water from the shower room window to the pool he lays in, is like a constant wind blowing off in the distance.

The intolerable wind would not stop blowing. The wind alone was bad enough to drive children inside, but the rain the past three days that kept everyone in the shelter was too much after the first day and a half. The small commune was used to the tight and closeness of their living conditions, but with the nomadic traders that became stuck in the commune, the space restraint was too much for them now as well.

“Close that shutter,” the eldest woman pleasantly called out to the tallest child. He sighed deeply before throwing all of his weight into the lead shutter. Even with the hinges properly balanced it took all of his weight to move the shutter slowly. The boy sighed once more as the shutter locked into place closing the gap in protection, making the barriers whole once again and giving the shelter a cave feeling as the rain fell on the lead roof.

“Now remember, no openings to be left open while rain still comes,” the old woman said with a different cadence than the rest of the commune.

A founder of this jilted group, she had no kin of flesh and blood a part of the commune anymore. The old woman, Gina, was unaware if she had any flesh and blood anywhere now, not uncommon for these dejected times. Her sister passed away four years ago from radiation poisoning, and her brother’s son, who had traveled with his two aunts, left after his favorite one died a most painful death. The fight was very public between Gina and her nephew. The commune responded by becoming her family, and none of them ever had a second thought about being so.

“Now, gentlemen, we have no issue with housing you till rain passes, ’cause let’s face it, that would be murder. But we are going to need some compensation for the food you are eating. I think you find it is more than fair that we also get one more of hand held rock drills and half off the needed hoses and support equipment for that drill,” Gina said as she returned to her conversation with the nomadic traders leaders.

Barbod the leader of the traders sat back sucking on his unlit pipe and took in the request as his underlings discussed in hushed whispers with each other in their own language based off of the ancient Gaelic tongue. None of the traders knew where their language came from, and it was possible that only Barbod would have ever heard of the word “Gaelic” before. Barbod had been on the move since he was thirteen. This stop here was always his longest, but with the rain it was looking like it was going to be longer than normal.

“Please walk with me. I wish to discuss how you are so sure the ground water is clean. Can you show me your cleansing system again?” Barbod stood up and held his hand out to Gina.

Nomadic traders never give into requests quickly, Gina thought, took his hand. Gina dropped his hand as soon as she was upright and started to lead the way out of the room down the same hall the tall boy had taken after he finished with the shutter.

Halfway down the passage she abruptly stopped and turned to Barbod. Looking into his eyes she said nothing aloud but with her look she told him that she wasn’t kidding about the compensation requirement. He dapperly understood this and gave her a wink with his right eye. Pleased with her negotiation skills she spun a key up into her hand from a hidden pocket in her sleeve for the door behind him. She opened the door and held it for him first. The door opened up immediately to a downward staircase. Self locking, the door closed, and Gina hugged Barbod on the first landing once she heard the locking pins fall into place.

Down three more flights of stairs they reached the main water cleansing room, which also housed one of the backup power generators. The pressing darkness was held at bay by a couple of floodlights on either side of the doorway pointing into the expanse of the room. Roughly, the room was well over three hundred yards long and just shy of one hundred and sixty yards wide. This massive room was larger than two times the size of the above ground shelter. The area where the two stood was originally part of an underground parking structure now expanded to its current size mostly by hand, as evident from the rough edged walls. Noises from the different pumps and other mechanical equipment covered up the sounds produced by the drilling at the other end of the room. The excavation expansion done to this ridiculous room always increased in manpower when it rained due to the need for everyone to stay safely indoors.

“Barbod, you worry me that you are more interested in this room than you are me. I mean look at how much you ask to come here,” Gina teased while spinning [[ballerina spins]] into an open area with amazing grace for her age. She stopped after five rotations away from him and smiled her smile just for him.

Like a wolf stalking a sheep, Barbod quickly crossed the gap and scooped her up in his powerful and yet gentle arms. “But my love there is nowhere else where I can tell you ‘I love you’ without others hearing. And if someone did hear then we would have broken the trade treaty and we could no longer negotiate the best deals for our two groups.”

Gina knew the truth in this statement. She playfully tried to pushed back out of his arms saying, “You brute! Trying to swindle us poor people on the edge of the world!”

Playing right into his role Barbod stole a kiss. Gina swooned and finally hugged him back.

The trade treaty was the first contractual agreement welcoming outsiders to visit and barter with the commune. The only thing that really made it a contract was that it had been written down, but truly there was no higher power to enforce the articles of the contract. Nevertheless, before the treaty was formed it was always a dicey, scary proposition for outsiders to travel this close to what they referred to as the edge of the world. The treaty gave Barbod’s group of traders rights to show up twice a year without being killed outright or shunned and left to die in the possible harsh situations of the environment, like the current situation of rain. Barbod’s traders would then ensure that they arrived with what was requested last time and with as much survival food and provisions as they could bring. This was no issue for the traders because they always needed to be able to haul away the heavy bulk items the commune had pulled from the ground – lead, graphite, chromium, zinc, iron, and some copper where the largest amount of minerals they freed from the earth.

The idea of the self dealing clause in the treaty was completely from Gina’s sister. She thought it was a good idea because she saw how her nephew would someday be an elder and he was already cozening up to one of the trader’s daughter, was how she introduced the idea to the treaty talks. Ironically it was she who had started relations with the girl’s father which gave her the opportunity to witness the young couple sneak off on their innocent walks. After she passed on the trader and his daughter never came back to this trip.

Ascending the stairs, the secret lovers devised a fight of subterfuge in order to have Barbod’s traders feel they were getting the best deal, and so that Gina’s commune could save face on the concessions she would have to give up for the extra equipment. The fighting rouse that these two actors preformed was only saved for times like this when there was so much time close together. Barbod and Gina felt it would be the only time that it was appropriate seeing how all the closeness should get on his nerves was what the traders thought. And this logic was the same that the commune figured when they saw the fights. No one figured the two liked each other anymore than what would be normal for the nature of business dealings.

Barbod slammed open the door at the top of the stairs and screamed, “Pack it in! I don’t care what the weather is; we’re getting out of here!”

“O, no you don’t!” Gina yelled back catching the door before it closed in her face. “Don’t you walk away from me! I not done yet with this conversation.”

Barbod stopped and spun on his heels to face the red face Gina. While his back was to everyone he gave her a wink. She almost smiled at him for it, but just stopped herself and shook her head to get her bearings back.

“What do you want? You … you little cac! I told you there is nothing more to be said. You won’t give up four more tons of zinc or two more tons of iron, I’d go so far you won’t trade any more of the stockpile of chromium you have!” Barbod shouted with a smile on his face.

Gina placed her hands on her hips and smirked, “Seeing how you have failed to do the math of the value of just 1 ton of those minerals, I can't agree to your pricing. Besides you are talking about not adding in the replacement parts for the drills! You overgrown barbarian!"

Barbod spun again on his heels, walked towards his men, and looked into their faces. Fear and panic was all over what was staring back at Barbod. The prospect of walking out into the storms outside while with not break in sight was gambling with at least their health if not their lives. Barbod’s face softened while looking at each face, and he dropped his head into his hands, exhaling hard. Talking into his hands he said, “You get the drill, replacement parts and hoses for 1 ton of zinc and half a ton of iron. That is the best I can do."

Gina quickly fired off, "And one more ream of colored cloth, a brilliant green."

This wasn't part of what they had agreed upon before returning from the water treatment and Barbod turned around again to face Gina. This time she gave him very sly wink ending the negotiations.

“Men, stop packing. We’ll stay until the weather is clear,” Barbod yelled over his shoulder to the merchants who never moved to pack up in the first place.