Alone....(Finished)

[Eagle Eye MacAllister]

Sammy stood on the dock, looking out into the polluted water and scowling. With cat-like precision, he leapt under the docks to the dwellings beneath them. He gave his usual sneer to the prisoners there, then sat down heavily next to one of the dwellings. He was tired that day, after having ransacked an untouched house, but finding nothing. And after all that work breaking through that huge, thick wooden door. He knew he could have just blasted it open, but he wasn't in a blasting mood that day. With a gusty sigh, he reached into his jacket, flipped open the secret compartment, and pulled out his knife. He balanced it on his finger.

[Seraphim]

Tom was seated on the edge of the wharf, legs trailing off the edge. His dark hair was hanging in his face and his milky eyes were unfocused. He couldn’t see how far the drop was, but he could estimate. It was quite a fall to the water lapping the support poles bellow him. Blinking away the bright light of the sun, Tom pulled himself to his feet using the mooring posts and stood, wavering, on the end of the dock. He spun on his heel, hands out to either side of him, and began to make his way down to the prisoner’s cells. He was almost stumped by a steep drop, but he got down that eventually, and moved through the dwellings with his hands out to either side of him.

[Eagle Eye MacAllister]

Eagle Eye suddenly heard the movement of Tom. He dropped his knife back into his jacket and pulled out his gun, loading it as he did. He silently crept forward, pointing his gun ahead of him and clicked his tongue, the Wharf Rat greeting from sentry to sentry. Then, listening, he waited for the reply.

[Seraphim]

Tom smiled to himself and clicked his tongue back, recognizing the click of a gun being loaded. He scratched the black band over his eyes and reached out to the corner of a dwelling, running his hands over it to orientate himself. He drew on the mental map in his head and pin-pointed hi location by the scratches in the small building’s wood. He’d put them there himself, to help him find his way around.

“Eagle?” Tom asked, thinking that the sharp-eyed thief must have been the only other Wharf Rat with a gun. Tom’s was somewhere in his hideout, and it was going to be there until he gave it to someone else – his sight just wasn’t good enough for him to shoot straight. It was a pity – He’d been a good shot in his time.

[Eagle Eye MacAllister]

"Yep. Hi." answered Eagle, unloading his gun and putting it down. He wouldn't have used it anyway. He wasn't in that sort of mood today. He sighed again and rubbed his forehead. He was tired.

"What're ya doin' down here anyway?" , he asked. "Not that it's any o' my business." He sat back down heavily and leaned back, closing his eyes. He put his fingers on his eyelids and rubbed them.

[Seraphim]

“Walking. You?” Tom asked, blinking through the cloth over his eyes. His dark hair swayed a little in the wind, his long brown coat fluttering around his legs. He wasn’t tall, dark, or particularly handsome, but Tom had an air around him the either made you trust him or despise him. He was usually fairly withdrawn, barely speaking unless spoken to, but he was known to flare into other moods – depressed, angry, or sometimes he lapsed into sugar-induced high.

He sighed and ran his long, pale fingers over the wood again, tracing the marking he’d carved there. It was one of the Wharf Rat’s symbols – the curling spiral, closed at the end and beginning so as to be unending.

[Eagle Eye MacAllister]

"Oh, resting and watchin' the prisoners. I had a bad raid earlier, so I'm sorta depressed." He stretched and stood up, and then pulled the knife out and balanced it on his finger again. He looked at Tom and was startled as he saw that he had the black band on his eyes. Then, he decided it woudn't by nice to ask that question. He put his knife back in his jacket.

[Seraphim]

“Seems to be happening a lot,” Tom said morosely. He didn’t want to talk about that, though. Since Jade’s absence the hope of a lasting food source had shriveled and died – she’d been the only one who could properly grow the mosses they were cultivating for food. Sighing, Tom remembered fondly the first few months he’d had in New Pork – oh, sure they were constantly under threat from the Vampires, but the freedom they had here was so unexpectedly glorious that he didn’t care.

“Only a mater of time before we resort to cannibalism,” Tom said in a rare flash of humour.

[Eagle Eye MacAllister]

Taking it as seriousness, Eagle Eye threw a look of horror at Tom. "Never cannibalism?!", he said. Then, thinking, he said. "Maybe we could cut through the Razorwire wall, and break into one of those villas, maybe rob it of it's stores of food and such." He stroked his nonexsistant beard, thinking.

He sighed. If only they had gardens like the Cigarettes. Then they could survive on the vegetables. But, of course, the Waterfront wasn't suited for things like that. He glanced sidelong at the huge Boat nearby, on the water. They could take from the boat. No, that would be stupid. He dismissed the thought.

[Seraphim]

“Whoa, kidding,” Tom grinned. He motioned in the direction of the sea, waves slapping at the beach. “Why cut through the fence when we can sail out?” He sighed – the government probably had a way to keep ships in. Otherwise, Sandstorm might have escaped the city that way when it had first struck. No, the Wharf Rats would have to find a way of finding food inside the city. Gardens, maybe, or they could hunt the stray creatures returning slowly to the streets. There were rumors of fish in the harbor again.

[Eagle Eye MacAllister]

Eagle Eye voiced what Tom was thinking. "The government probably has a way of keeping ships in. Anyway, nothing good is within two days of this place." The Boat had only two days worth of food and water and things that the Tribe would need. He also sighed. "Maybe there are fish in the harbor, as rumored. That could feed us."

[Seraphim]

“If we can make nets and rods,” Tom said quietly. He turned back to Samuel, turning away from the lapping of the water on the shore. He licked his lips in a snake-like fashion and sighed, his hands on his knees. If there was fish, if they could catch it – then what? If the other tribes found out, the Wharf Rats would never be able to defend the entire shoreline. And knowing the Vampires and the Wildcats, nor would they have to – the other clans would go straight for the Wharf Rat base and wipe them out while they were at it.

[Eagle Eye MacAllister]

Samuel nodded and looked away from the shoreline, leaning his head against the wall. "Of course, some of the more quicker-fingered among us could catch the fish with their hands, if it was near the surface.", he said, idly tracing an invisible pattern on the ground with his finger. "There are still some untouched houses near the waterline."

[Seraphim]

“Yeah, but we have no idea what’s in them. Most of them burnt out, anyway,” Tom said dismissively. His almost-blind eyes traced over the outlines of the dwellings and figures silhouetted against the water. He would once have thought it a wonderful sight, but he could only see blurrily now, and colors were lost to him. He scratched at the strip of fabric over his eyes and sighed again, his hands disappearing into his pockets.

[Eagle Eye MacAllister]

"Yeah, I guess you're right.", he said, nodding and sighing. "I wonder what's going to happen to us tribes." He sighed again and pulled himself up again. He looked out onto the bay and saw the houses and figures Tom was looking at. Then, he pulled out his knife, balanced it on his finger yet again, and spoke again. "A beautiful sight."

[Seraphim]

“Yeah,” Tom said softly, his eyes picking up only fuzzy black and white. “I’m sure it is.” He stood up and made to leave, a melancholy feeling settling on him like a wet blanket – hard to lift, swallowing him up. He set his hands out to either side of him and set off again, fingers trailing along the sides of buildings and rock. He didn’t expect to be followed, and he’d rather have it that way. He wasn’t sure what he hated more – being blind, or having people remind him of it.

[Eagle Eye MacAllister]

Eagle looked after him for a moment, then shook his head, looking down at the ground, turned on his heel, and walked the other way, to the shore. He was still wondering why Tom wore tha tblack band across his eyes. Seemingly, Eagle had insulted him. He would have apologized, had he had the chance. He looked back once, then set off towards the Grid to have a walk.