Chapter 5

We swapped working partners for the next week. I found the other smaller black guy (Anthony’s Celly) Devon, or just ‘D’ to be one of the funniest guys I’d ever met. He normally had a really dry way of speaking but could turn it on if he felt like it. You knew most of his story was total B.S, but we’re laughing too much to call him on it. His best of the day had to be the story of his first time eating edibles, which just happened to coincide with his first anniversary. His thought process was ‘Hey, beer is expensive, I’ll just pre-load with one of these, and have a cheaper night out!’. It was hilarious, and D had no problem making fun of himself. I really felt for his poor wife, he’d stepped onto a 4-hour-long drug-train ride that he couldn’t get off of, and she gave him the stink eye for weeks afterwards.

For my part, I told the story about my first day at High School, and how I found myself quietly following along with a whole bunch of bigger kids that I recognized but didn’t know well enough to talk to. D thought the idea of me attending an entire day of grade 12 classes as a ‘minor niner’ pretty funny. “How come did that happen?” He asked, bemused. “They were my older sister’s friends, that’s why I sort-of knew them. I’m a small guy anyways, so the fact that they were a lot bigger than me never twigged. I think I finally clued in by the middle of Calculus class ... I was trying to figure out why there were no numbers on the board in a math class, just letters!” He had the grace to smile at that one, and I resolved to find a way to tell it better next time. Stories were like currency, you held onto your own in here, and shelled it out frugally. The other rule was, you never told another guys story, just your own.

“I think we have got all we are going to get from them without actually making a trade of the portals.” I spoke. Jake and I were in our Cage, talking over a number of things, not just the other Weapons. “Yeah, I liked most of these guys, but we’re just swapping stories at this point.” Jake sighed. “Our steam trap jump is in two days. You need anything?” “Nah, but I think I’d like to spend more time in the marsh, I wanna practice cooking Rat, and load up on that. Also, those guys are finding 6 of those stones on every trip. I’m leaving money on the table if I’m not finding them all. I know that I can only sell them for 4 silver each, but it’s still cash I can use in the store ... I want a healing potion, it’d be awesome to have in here, especially now you have another ‘appointment’.” I answered. ‘and it goes badly’ I thought.

“About that ... he’s here already and already trying to make waves ... he’s an Aryan and has already pissed off the SouthCore gang ... I have a plan, and will need your blade. I’m going to befriend him, point him at big Carlos from SouthCore and give him your dagger...” “What?!” I hissed, “How the hell is that keeping it quiet? We gonna’ just announce it to the whole fucking Yard?” “I’m gonna let him hang himself... “ Jake carefully explained. “He’ll confidently take on their biggest, baddest fucker, knowing that he’s got an ace in the hole ... then you’re gonna take it away from him...” I blanched a little, this guy was going to get painfully beaten to death in the yard, and I was going be involved. Another night of troubling dreams.

I actually wanted to take another guy in with me, sort of show him the ropes of the Marsh, but Jake was adamant. They could run it themselves, and to be honest they were better armed. (At least as far as I was publicly declaring).

Stepping through the portal from the Start room, I basked in the sights and smells of the swamp. It was so ... alive! Teeming with things that weren’t just other men. Shaking off my initial euphoria, I glanced at my blades and got down to business as an exterminator.

The first rat was basically a carbon copy of all of them from before. Not too fast, went for my legs and groin, never reared up to attack my torso. My plan was to pin the island’s biggest one with Needle and practice a single swipe decapitation with Sword. The smaller rat on the island would be much the same but left as a moving target for better practice. It sorta went to plan. I dropped the biggest one fairly easily, but the little rat had a few new moves. Well, I had some new moves too, so I suppose fair is fair. Moving into position, with ‘her’ still trying to attack my calves and me defending with Needle, I lashed out with Sword, a perfect left-to-right slash across my body. I had worked this, thought it out, and expected it to work.

It didn’t.

The rat rolled to my right, got her feet under her and leapt for me. The knuckle guard on Needle contacted the side of her mouth as I swung wildly, just barely avoiding gettin’ bitten. I was barely able to fend her off after that and abandoned my plan to treat this like a training round. Catching a third rat out of the side of my eye, I skewered my current dance partner, pulled out and ran for it. The two smaller rats followed, with the injured one falling behind quickly. Turning to engage, I found the current uninjured one attacking in the old way. Trying the first plan, I batted her to the side and lunged for a single strike to her now exposed neck. Even with a month of extra working out, and footwork I just couldn’t manage a single swipe decapitation. That move might just not work with the tools I have. Still, this rat was done, so I backtracked to finish the second small (already injured) one, finding it had died already. Sometimes you just get lucky. Spending 20 minutes searching a 100 meter round island will cover most of it fairly well, still I didn’t find anything but the used firepit. I didn’t even find a decent branch to use as a walking stick in the mud. Today was not playing out as I’d hoped.

The next big male met me at the next islands edge, and I worked him over pretty fast. Both smaller dames were of the ‘type 1’ and didn’t jump or roll. My single slashes with the sword still didn’t cut all the way through. This island had a nice stone and a decent branch to take along as a club / walking stick and I felt things were looking up. Crossing the marsh to the third island, I was immediately worried as no male met me on the waters edge. Up until now, I’d found it an annoyance since I was fighting in knee deep marsh. I hadn’t realized just how good I’d had it. Now, three (or more?) rats could come at me at any time. Getting surrounded, even by these guys was potentially deadly. What to do?

Choosing to stay at the edges of the island, I poked around the marsh edge for the coloured stones while trying to simultaneously keep my eyes up for Rats. I was rewarded with two stones, and a small roll of leather that looked at first like an odd wallet. I stashed them all for now. Cautiously moving inland, I crept over the whole island in a spiral pattern looking for signs of (rat) life. There was nothing, so I mentally shrugged and crossed to the next island. Another big male met me at the waters edge, and I squelched and swung and slipped and stabbed until he was no longer a threat. Gathering his silver, I moved directly inland to try to find and engage the remaining females quickly, making up for time lost on that empty island. I found them. All four of them.

I’d kinda harboured doubts that I could take on 75 Ants, and four Guards all by myself. After fighting 4 Rats (even smaller, type 1 ones) at the same time, I became certain that I couldn’t do it alone.

I’d seen group fights in the yard. Keep all your attention on the one guy right in front of you who was acting all aggressive, and you’ll have the two on either side of you knocking you down in moments. These girls went for me with that move, but I wouldn’t let them flank me. I was still faster, even over the rocky terrain and wasn’t hampered by some notion of ‘being a coward if I ran’. Scrambling to put distance between them and myself I had sudden inspiration. I put my sword away and pulled out my dagger. My beautifully balanced, razor-sharp dagger that I had stupidly ignored. The one that I can have in my hand at any moment. The one that I can recall to my storage whenever I want. I threw it, spinning end over end, and missed. As soon as I knew I was going to miss, I recalled it to my inventory. Putting it back in my palm, I threw it again. And again, and again.

Over the next 5 islands, I learned to throw reasonably well with my left hand and my right, getting to the point where I could recall the knife to my hand as I was winding up to throw it again.

I had a ranged weapon all of a sudden.

I never killed a rat with just the Dagger. I never hit one in the eye and watched it drop like a ... well, drop dead. What did happen was that now I fought mostly injured and distracted Rats, which were a damn sight easier than those at their full strength. Bleeding will sap your strength.

I wonder if Jake knows how to throw a knife? Stupid question, he probably knows 10 ways to throw a knife.

I looted the Silver from the Rats, and searched the islands as well as I could, but my internal clock kept ticking away, and I knew that the CO’s would flip out if we were late again.

Stepping onto the final island, the big rat was already bleeding. I’d managed 1 great hit, and 2 glancing cuts on him out of about a dozen throws. I pinned him with Needle as best as I could, then finished him off with a few well-placed cuts. There were four females on this island, and they were all the “type 2” kind. Dodging and rolling, lunging up and even trying to work together. They were no match for my new plan of attack. I injured three, then took off across the island, effectively isolating the only one who could keep up. Once done with that one, I’d return, injure two and take off again. I whittled them down, one by one. Searching the island quickly as I could while still doing a decent job, I took the portal back to the Start room, looked at the Store for a minute, then portaled back to Lockup. We ran for the COs office, and were totally surprised when we nobody said anything about us taking 3 hours to do a 90 min job.

Back in our cell that evening, I went over the portal run with Jake in detail. “You can throw a knife right” I asked. Ignoring the question with a snort, he asked to see the new stuff I’d found, so we dragged everything out. “May as well pull out the other sword you have...” he said with a sigh. “How on earth...” I started, but he cut me off “You have blisters starting on your palms that wouldn’t be there from just a dagger ... you have a long blade, and the leverage of using it against those rats is wearing at your palms. If y’d just told me I could have given ya’ the right wrist exercises too you idiot.” He said in a ‘disappointed father’ kind of voice. “You’re holding it wrong as well...” he added. I pulled out Needle and my Sword, dropping them on my bunk, along with everything else, careful not to damage anything or make a bunch or noise. “Ok, put away the stones and silver and the Zippo, then read me the description of the Ewer again”. He said “Now what the hell is this” he asked, holding the leather wallet thing which turned out to be a roll of tools. “Ahh! Lock picks! Good ones too. Put them away for now. Ok, a sword breaker, or Riposting sword. Put it in your left hand, nope turn your hand a little more, now see how it moves when you twist your wrist...”. The lesson went long, but he’d never used one for fighting something like a big dog, it was meant to fight other people. I put everything away and he had me go through some stretches while he took the Dagger again and went through some of his ‘forms’. I wasn’t in any good shape the next morning, and really lagged when waxing the Long Hall. Jake snapped at me a few times, telling (and showing) me how to hold the wax stripper correctly. I bit back the comment that ‘he could do the whole effing job if he liked’. Half an hour later and 10 meters further down the hall, my wrists and forearms were burning and I understood why he wanted me to grip it a certain way. I looked up, I had a long way to go.