4.
Alice scrambled up through the jagged hole in the roof, trying not to tear her skirt on the splintered wood. She clattered onto the slate tiles, scuffing her boots wildly and getting insulation lint on her skirt, but that was fine. As Claude climbed up to sit beside her, she picked the lint gingerly off the hem of her skirt.
"My mom always told me not to touch fiberglass insulation," she said. "Apparently it gives you splinters or something… Mom only said it was dangerous, and I was afraid I would get hurt if I even got near it."
Claude grinned. "Not unless you rub the stuff on your hand. Or breathe it in."
"I didn't know that, back then." She looked off along the debris-strewn alley--the trail she would have to take home. The late sun slanted in at a skewed angle, illuminating secret corners and recesses in the junk heaps. "I just knew it was dangerous in some way. So I avoided it entirely."
She sat up straighter and, for the first time, really noticed the trash pile across the street, and thought about the fact that the view from the church doors was a trash pile. "I guess that's how you Ihave/I to live in the slums. Everything that might be dangerous, probably is."
"Sucks for you."
"Yeah. But it's not like I'm poor or anything," she added hastily, afraid he would think she had deceived him when he saw her home. "My mom takes care of me. We have a nice house, a garden, money to live on… I'm really lucky and all that." She sighed.
"Right about now," smirked Claude, "some people I know would have given you a rousing speech about the evils of Shin-ra. How they cause all the poverty and hardship and stuff."
Alice gazed at the late afternoon sky, the clear air pierced by the towering Shin-ra building. "Well, I do think they're killing the planet. That much I resent. And if they're not enough to kill the planet per se, they're at Ileast/I killing the area Ihere/I." She scowled. "Messes with my gardening, and I Ireally/I hate that."
Claude shrugged. "Hey, I'm not saying I like them, either. You don't see me working for them anymore." He jerked a thumb behind him. "Hey, who was that guy, anyway?"
"Reno of the Turks. They've been chasing me lately."
"Why?"
Alice was not about to tell him why. He was, for all his apparent benevolence, a strange, armed man with eyes that hinted at Shin-ra training. She stared blankly for a moment, frozen in panic, and then said the only thing she could think of, goofy as it was. "I think they, ah, think I have what it takes to be a soldier." She cracked a grin.
Claude laughed. "No, really."
"Really…" She sobered. "I don't know."
He let that go.
Alice wondered with a new intensity where this stranger had come from. He was from outside Midgar, and involved in fighting Shin-ra. He could tell her so many things, take her so many places, if only she could bring up the subject without sounding nosy or desperate. He could give her some of his adventure to share… if only she knew more about who he was. "Who do you work for?"
"Well, it's… an anti-Shin-ra group."
Her hope plummeted. "Erm. Someone like Avalanche?" Hopefully, he didn't work on promised pay for one of the no-name, hopelessly disorganized and lazy rebel groups that did nothing—a bunch of guys sitting on couches eating leftover pizza and jawing about their big ideas. Alice had a friend who claimed membership in one of those groups; she noticed they were full of pride in all the plans that they hadn't yet started on.
"It Iis/I Avalanche."
"Oh. I didn't know." Well, now she had more respect for him.
A nearby vehicle chugged audibly into action. Alice and Claude watched, hunkering down behind the pointed line of the roof, as a truck with a Shin-ra logo rumbled through the alley and turned right, disappearing down the trail.
"That'd be Reno," said Claude. "He's gone."
A moment later, they were too.
Alice scrambled up through the jagged hole in the roof, trying not to tear her skirt on the splintered wood. She clattered onto the slate tiles, scuffing her boots wildly and getting insulation lint on her skirt, but that was fine. As Claude climbed up to sit beside her, she picked the lint gingerly off the hem of her skirt.
"My mom always told me not to touch fiberglass insulation," she said. "Apparently it gives you splinters or something… Mom only said it was dangerous, and I was afraid I would get hurt if I even got near it."
Claude grinned. "Not unless you rub the stuff on your hand. Or breathe it in."
"I didn't know that, back then." She looked off along the debris-strewn alley--the trail she would have to take home. The late sun slanted in at a skewed angle, illuminating secret corners and recesses in the junk heaps. "I just knew it was dangerous in some way. So I avoided it entirely."
She sat up straighter and, for the first time, really noticed the trash pile across the street, and thought about the fact that the view from the church doors was a trash pile. "I guess that's how you Ihave/I to live in the slums. Everything that might be dangerous, probably is."
"Sucks for you."
"Yeah. But it's not like I'm poor or anything," she added hastily, afraid he would think she had deceived him when he saw her home. "My mom takes care of me. We have a nice house, a garden, money to live on… I'm really lucky and all that." She sighed.
"Right about now," smirked Claude, "some people I know would have given you a rousing speech about the evils of Shin-ra. How they cause all the poverty and hardship and stuff."
Alice gazed at the late afternoon sky, the clear air pierced by the towering Shin-ra building. "Well, I do think they're killing the planet. That much I resent. And if they're not enough to kill the planet per se, they're at Ileast/I killing the area Ihere/I." She scowled. "Messes with my gardening, and I Ireally/I hate that."
Claude shrugged. "Hey, I'm not saying I like them, either. You don't see me working for them anymore." He jerked a thumb behind him. "Hey, who was that guy, anyway?"
"Reno of the Turks. They've been chasing me lately."
"Why?"
Alice was not about to tell him why. He was, for all his apparent benevolence, a strange, armed man with eyes that hinted at Shin-ra training. She stared blankly for a moment, frozen in panic, and then said the only thing she could think of, goofy as it was. "I think they, ah, think I have what it takes to be a soldier." She cracked a grin.
Claude laughed. "No, really."
"Really…" She sobered. "I don't know."
He let that go.
Alice wondered with a new intensity where this stranger had come from. He was from outside Midgar, and involved in fighting Shin-ra. He could tell her so many things, take her so many places, if only she could bring up the subject without sounding nosy or desperate. He could give her some of his adventure to share… if only she knew more about who he was. "Who do you work for?"
"Well, it's… an anti-Shin-ra group."
Her hope plummeted. "Erm. Someone like Avalanche?" Hopefully, he didn't work on promised pay for one of the no-name, hopelessly disorganized and lazy rebel groups that did nothing—a bunch of guys sitting on couches eating leftover pizza and jawing about their big ideas. Alice had a friend who claimed membership in one of those groups; she noticed they were full of pride in all the plans that they hadn't yet started on.
"It Iis/I Avalanche."
"Oh. I didn't know." Well, now she had more respect for him.
A nearby vehicle chugged audibly into action. Alice and Claude watched, hunkering down behind the pointed line of the roof, as a truck with a Shin-ra logo rumbled through the alley and turned right, disappearing down the trail.
"That'd be Reno," said Claude. "He's gone."
A moment later, they were too.