AN: My thanks to everyone who's reviewed thus far!
"I want to play black." Alexis said brightly.
Castle turned the chess board to give his seven year old the black side of the game. "Just out of curiosity, why?"
"All the villains wear black in my movies." Alexis gestured over to the stack of Disney films.
"You want to play as the bad guy?" Castle found that amusing.
"The bad guys get all the best jokes." Alexis said primly. "And until the end, they always have more fun."
Castle burst out laughing. "That's my girl!" He moved the white chess piece.
They played for a while without speaking, beyond Alexis making sure of which piece could move the way she wanted them to. "Daddy?" She asked after a while. "Why do the bad guys be bad, if they always lose in the end?"
"Because in real life, sweetie..." Castle admitted sadly. "Sometimes they win. And most days, it can be hard to tell who the bad guys are."
"Oh." Alexis screwed up her face in thought. "Like your books, right? Not bad guys, just people doing bad things."
"That's right. Good people can be bad, and bad people can be good." He watched her carefully. He knew his daughter was bright, but these were rather abstract concepts for a seven year old.
"How do I know if I'm bad?" She asked finally. "In the cartoons, you know the bad guys, because they always wear black."
Castle smiled and patted his knee. His little daughter came over and crawled up into his lap. "There's an old story." Castle told her. "One evening an old man told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, 'My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, greed, lies, and cruelty. Everyone has this wolf inside them.'"
"Even me?" Alexis said quietly.
"Everyone." Castle confirmed. "Then he said, 'The other wolf is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, kindness, generosity, truth, and faith.' He told his grandson that every day, these two wolves fight inside you, day and night." He gestured at the board to make his point. "Good and Bad, always fighting. The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: 'Which wolf wins?' The old man simply replied, 'The one you feed.'"
Alexis woke up. 4am. Time for training. She went to the gym and found three or four people already there, including Beckett. Alexis found a spot with room and collected a simple jump rope. Esposito had shown her how to do speed runs with it, the way professional athletes did. She wasn't quite there yet, but she was a lot better than she had been before it all went wrong.
With the 12th now under the command of the SHD, there was an unmistakable feeling of energy building in the team. Hayley had shown them how to avoid infection, and there was now a small team of officers going out on missions with them.
"Alexis did this?" Beckett was looking over the map carefully. "Pretty comprehensive stuff."
"I taught her how to interpret the Police Codes. She's a quick study." Esposito nodded. "She seemed to handle the apocalypse better when she could put it in a spreadsheet."
"All right, where are we?" Beckett said under her breath as she studied the map. "The Cleaners are on the East Side, the Raiders to the West..."
"Most of the Raiders are... independent." Ramirez reported, coming in and adding a few more notes to the map. "Just local militias, really. A gang that takes in more people than they've ever had because they can provide food."
"They get the numbers, they get weapons, they get brave." Beckett mused. "Well, smart money says that if we can show them we're a force to be reckoned with, they'll back off. The new members get another source of protection, they'll break up."
"I hope so." Esposito agreed. "Because the alternative is that we'll never get them under control. We break one gang, they scatter, and find each other a week later?"
"Like playing whack-a-mole for the rest of our lives." Beckett agreed.
"Have you heard anything at all from other Precincts?" Ramirez asked.
"One PP went under within the first week." Esposito shook his head. "Hayley tried to raise them." He turned to Beckett. "Where would they go? They can't stay where they are, and people are always coming after their guns, their food, their gear. Where do they fall back to?"
"I know a few places." Beckett nodded slowly. "With your... permission?"
Her tone was cold, but not enough that he could call her on it. She hadn't thawed toward him, but it wasn't the time yet. He gave her a nod. "See if you can find them. Police, Fire, Ambulance... Remember, if they're dressed in fireman gear, they probably aren't firemen. The only ones still doing that have flamethrowers."
Alexis was still in training, but she went outside with Hayley during the night. Officially, it was to test her skills at going undetected. Unofficially, they were both fighting cabin fever. Alexis had locked herself away for a full week and a half already, and had no desire to do that again.
The city was dangerous, but the survivors had learned the trick of it. Alexis and Hayley had scaled fire escapes and traveled by rooftops where they could, and had found others doing the same, all of them willing to stay away.
The Gangs didn't take the rooftop routes. They roamed the streets. A deliberate challenge. The Raiders and the Cleaners in particular were moving unchallenged, daring anyone who wanted to come and fight back.
"Look closely." Hayley had whispered to Alexis, looking down at the street. "Look how they move. They swagger. They don't mind showing off that they're dangerous."
"Wolfpacks." Alexis whispered back.
"That's right." Hayley nodded. "What do you notice about the rest of the street?"
Alexis looked. "It's empty."
Hayley hefted her rifle and unhooked the scope. "Are you sure?"
Alexis put her eye to the scope and let Hayley guide her gaze. Two levels below them, a woman was huddling against the wall. A level above her, two kids hiding in their apartment, peeking out the window, almost invisible. Down at street level, someone in the dumpster.
They were all totally still, totally silent, letting the Cleaners pass by. And once they did, they waited a few minutes, and then started moving again. Including some that Alexis hadn't noticed.
It was like something out of a nature film. Prey went quiet when the predators passed.
"What you must learn?" Hayley whispered silently in her ear. "How do you have to power and strength of the wolfpack, but draw those people out of hiding at the same time?"
How do I become their champion, instead of another gang? Alexis wondered to herself. "I'm going to have to fight them, aren't I?" She whispered to her teacher.
"No. I am." Hayley promised. "If you come with me is up to you."
During these jaunts, Alexis had been surprised to see some of the streetlights were still on. She wasn't sure if there was battery or solar power still on, or if someone had gotten at least a few of the mains working. An odd collection of candle light, fire barrels and and neon signs went active every night.
As the first wave of destruction and chaos ended, the survivors were starting to poke their heads out again. There was still illness, but at least there was movement. The frenzy of the riots had faded, as the city ran out of things to steal or smash, and then out of people to riot. But the people who were starting to emerge were raw, hardened from loss and getting hungrier with each passing day.
The wildfire had passed, but what came next would be harder for the survivors than anything they'd faced before.
Alexis wasn't manning the radio any more, but the Pirate Stations were the only ones left broadcasting. When he wasn't ranting or spinning his conspiracy theories, he was giving actual updates.
The 12th wasn't the only remnant of the Emergency Services trying to pull something from the ashes. The National Guard, what hadn't fled the city, had been trying to maintain order on the West Side. The Hospital Services had been the first victims of looters, but whatever doctors and nurses had survived the lynchings and riots and Contaminated Hospitals were setting up free clinics here and there.
For every story the Pirate Station gave about people trying to help, there was another that followed, of rioters attacking the clinics and Safe Zones.
The whole city was holding it's breath, just waiting to see which wolf starved first. Good or Evil.
Ramirez came back from one of her courier missions and went straight to the computers. The 12th had been able to keep their lights on and equipment running, but they only had so much time to use their machines, due to rationing.
Nevertheless, Rodriguez printed half a dozen pictures taken by their scouts and brought them to The Map.
"We're scouting almost a dozen Rikers at the Docks." She reported. "But that number is... very, extremely flexible. The fact is, we don't know how many there are. They all wear those scarves for warmth, and that means we can't really see their faces."
"They probably trade their cold weather gear to whoever's going to be outside." Beckett mused. "Without air support or surveillance tech? We have no idea what they're doing in there."
"Actually, we have a few ideas. We saw another four or five join them this morning, and they had stolen gear with them. Cutting torches, bolt cutters, hacksaws..."
"They're breaking into the containers." Esposito and Beckett and Castle all said together. The three of them traded a shy little look. Just for a split second, they were all on the same side again, just like in the old days.
"Why would they cut their way in? Surely they can just open them." Alexis asked, confused.
"Unless they can't do that on some. I don't really know how containers are sealed, but most of them don't use padlocks. Or for that matter, they may have gone through all the containers they have, and now they're taking the metal." Beckett mused. "They've got cutting torches, the docks will have repair equipment. What could they make with all that metal?"
"Plenty of barricades, plenty of fortifications, duck blinds..." Esposito shivered. "They're not just cleaning the place out, they're establishing base camp."
"The longer we wait, the more fortified they're going to be." Beckett told Esposito. "How long you plan to do recon?"
"Fortifications don't concern me that much." Esposito told her. "Because these people aren't trained soldiers. They're hard, but they're not skilled. We get past one line, and their fortifications are ours."
"Then what does concern you?" Castle asked.
"Rookie?" Esposito didn't even turn to look at Alexis, but he wanted to know if she had the answer.
Alexis chewed her lip. "Um... Weapons."
He just waited. His way of saying that she hadn't answered correctly yet.
Alexis realized. "People! You don't know how many enemies you have in there, or if they have prisoners, or how many are armed, or if they're all in the same place."
"Bullets are small, people are unpredictable." Esposito nodded. "A lot of sharp corners and hiding places in there. If we have to clear the whole place out, one block at a time... Way too easy to get ambushed. If they build defenses, then that'll protect us too. But if they've got twenty people with baseball bats..."
Alexis bit her tongue, but the first thought that came to mind was: You can handle them.
An instant later, she realized that was the point. "How much risk do you take to spare their lives?"
"I, for one, would like an answer to that too." Beckett put in. "What are the rules of engagement?"
"We're here to protect people." Esposito said firmly. "The Division was meant to be the last ditch effort to save humanity. But the job of a soldier is to defeat the enemy and bring his or her people home alive." He glanced at Alexis, and then at the memorial wall. "Most of the people out there aren't our enemies. They're scared, hungry, cold and desperate. If we can change any one of those things, then the list of people who are our friends can rise dramatically. But to do that, we need to take the docks." He looked to Beckett. "Your people?"
"We're police officers, not Army Rangers." Beckett told him. "But we know how to clear a room and watch for ambush and booby-traps. I just wish we had reinforcements. We're down to eight. Everyone who was outside? I haven't heard from them in days."
Esposito stared hard at the photos. "Keep watching. I want to know how many are in there."
"What if they get reinforcements?"
"They won't." Castle put in. "They're a pack of fairly strong Raiders that have found a plum spot to wait out the apocalypse. If more Raiders come, they'll probably fight each other. If they're organized enough to team up with other groups, then we don't want to fight them out, we want them on side."
"Either way, we need to know more about them." Esposito added. "Run the photos, see if there are any faces we recognize."
The meeting broke up. Beckett turned on her heel and moved away from Esposito as fast as she could while being casual.
Hayley leaned in closer to Alexis. "So, Rookie. Notice anything about Beckett?"
"She's barely speaking to Agent Esposito and she's a foot shorter." Alexis whispered back. "I guess it literally takes the end of the world to get her out of those stilettos and into some combat boots."
Hayley nodded. "How many people were in the room by the time the meeting broke up?"
Alexis blinked, looking around. "Um..."
"Bzzt. Time's up." Hayley grinned. "Let's get back to work."
Alexis could feel her perspective changing more every day. Hayley drilled her unexpectedly at all hours, asking her what was different, what was the same, what was happening outside, what were the officers talking about in the 12th, how many civilians were outside, and what were they carrying. Alexis could only answer about one in ten questions, but she found she was looking now. She never knew what Hayley would be asking, so she had to see it all.
And then there were the physical drills. The 12th had enough space they they'd mocked up some training areas. Simple rooms laid out to look like an apartment, cardboard boxes to rearrange where the windows and doors were. Alexis swept through the Training Room over and over, trying to catch Hayley before she got caught.
She always lost.
"Bang!" Hayley whispered in her ear, and Alexis jumped, feeling the Division Agent tap her hard on the back of the neck. "You're dead, rookie."
Alexis struggled not to scream. "Where the hell were you hiding? I checked the blind spot, the closet, the stairwell..."
"You checked all the places I've hidden before." Hayley finished. "This room doesn't look like it has a lot of places to hide, does it?"
Alexis shook her head.
"And yet, I always seem to find one more." She said smugly. "Now do it again. This time, use your brain."
While Alexis trained, so did a few of the 12th's Survivors. The rest spread out into the rest of the city, and in particular the docks.
The whiteboard started to fill with pictures of people who were hanging around the docks. Most of them had no record, driven to join a faction by circumstance. But some of the leaders were known to the Police.
Alexis studied the pictures, learning how to spot injuries, which ones were hungriest, which ones were left or right handed... The Contacts that Hayley had given her also overlaid with some more information, including their employment, their records, their last known address...
"The display on these contacts still thinks I'm you." She told Hayley. "The information still comes to 'Agent Shipton'."
"Unavoidable, I'm afraid. If we get a base set up properly, I can get you your own set, but for now, why not get ahead of the curve and see how they work?"
Alexis agreed, and the lessons continued.
The weather moved in unexpectedly, cutting visibility down to only a few feet. The attack on the docks was called off due to the weather. The training shifted to squad based combat, and the 12th learned how to work like Division Agents, even if they weren't equipped like them.
While Alexis learned how to think like a soldier, her father had another objective. He had tracked down as many people as he could find with connections to the Carlucci family. The list was short, and none of the confirmed survivors could be found. Castle had turned his attention to other angles.
"I'm trying to figure out what they would do." Castle explained to his wife as they kept warm during he blizzard. The generator was enough to run the equipment, not enough to keep the heaters going.
"Smart money says they'd dig in, just like we did." Beckett offered.
"Yeah, but you gotta think like these guys. The rest of us are getting used to the Law of the Jungle, but the mobs live in the Jungle every second of their lives. They won't be squeamish about taking homes, taking food, killing people... And they're used to a certain amount of luxury. The top guys, at least. Security, supply, luxury. Which would suggest some place with electricity..."
"Any conclusions?"
"There are some hotels, a few exclusive clubs..."
"The mobs ran more than a few nightclubs." Beckett put in. "They'd be equipped for mob violence, which means they'd have weapons and provisions..."
"And if they did decide to go for each other when the lights went out..." Castle thought aloud. "But there's another factor."
"What's that?"
"We dug in and waited out the more.. apocalyptic parts. The Carlucci's wouldn't wait it out. They'd strike." Castle reasoned. "Someone would have been hitting back..."
"The First Wave?" Beckett almost seemed amused. "You've shifted from Ninja's to secret armies in your head, babe. I don't know what happened to Esposito's people, but given what I've seen, I think I can guess."
"And I still can't believe that we wouldn't have heard something. Even if they all died, to the last man standing, someone would have surely left something behind! A message drop, a bit of graffiti, something."
"Maybe they did." She soothed. "But we haven't even begun retaking the city, Rick. There's a lot of jungle out there to tame and explore."
There was a knock on the door, and Rick rose to answer. It was Ramirez. "You said you wanted to know when the storm broke. Skies are clearing up."
Beckett squeezed his hand. "I want to go with you."
"I know, but if the storm has broken, it means the attack is back on, and Esposito's going to need you for the planning phase. Time isn't on our side any more."
"I don't suppose it ever was, really." She kissed his cheek. "Good hunting. And make sure you've got your vest on. This time of year, you can wear it under your coat."
"I will." He promised. "Check on Alexis for me? I don't want to interrupt her training, but I haven't seen much of her in the last three days..."
She read his mind and nodded. "I'll look in while you're gone, make sure she doesn't realize you're doing something dangerous."
"What exactly are you looking for?" Ramirez asked quietly.
"Footprints." Castle told her. "Of a sort. Espo and Hayley are the second wave, which means... what? Where did the first wave go?"
"Offhand, I can guess." Ramirez snorted. "The Captain told me to put you in touch with any known associates of Dino Scarpella."
"We're on our way to their last known hideouts now." Castle nodded. "But the Water Treatment Plant is right there... If I was a First Wave secret agent, I'd want to get control of that place..."
"Looks like someone did." Ramirez said grimly. There were bulletholes all over the walls at the entrance. Shells all over the ground.
Castle crept closer to the fence and pulled out a dental mirror that he'd found in the Seized Property room. he used it to peek around corners, check blind spots... There was no sign of anyone. At least, nobody alive.
"Looks like we missed it." Ramirez mused when they approached the stack of bodies. They had been piled up outside the entrance, but behind the fence. Out of sight from the street, but away from the interior, so they were out of the way.
But what got Castle's attention was that all the bodies were the same. At least, they were all wearing similar clothes. "Cleaners?"
"Looks like." Ramirez looked closer for a moment, before returning to watching for enemies. "Those propane tanks they're wearing, or whatever they plug those flamethrowers into... Looks like the tanks were hit. One shot, high caliber. Probably a sniper."
"So whoever hit them, it was outside the complex, but inside the fence... and they got sniped off. That's a lot of bodies for that."
"All the shell casings, it wasn't an ambush either." Ramirez agreed. "Look, Castle... All due respect to the Boss' husband and all, but the more we learn about how these guys got taken out, the more I want to be away from here."
Castle was about to turn away, when he noticed a familiar shape in one of the coats in the pile of bodies. He gingerly picked through them, until he found the dictation machine. Small, solid, digital. He checked, and was surprised to find that it still had a charge.
He put it in his pocket and quickly followed Ramirez away from the scene of carnage.
Alexis' training included solo jaunts. Usually, nothing more than taking a pair of binoculars onto a rooftop and keeping track of the street for a few hours, but Alexis knew how quickly being outside could turn deadly...
"Bang."
Alexis jumped and spun around. It wasn't Hayley. "Captain Beckett. You startled me."
"Mm. I won't tell your father I was able to do that if you won't."
"Deal."
Beckett came over and sat next to Alexis. "And when are you going to start calling me Kate? We've been related for going on a year now."
"When are you going to start calling yourself 'Captain Castle'?" Alexis shot back. "You've been married for going on a year now."
"Old habit, I guess." Beckett admitted. "For what it's worth, I use it everywhere else, but-" She shook her head. "Team Castle is a very hard club to join, huh?"
"Easier for you than anyone else, including my mom." Alexis pointed out, but without any anger.
Kate flushed. "Sorry sweetie. Still trying to get over a heavy dose of 'us-and-them' that recent events have hit me with."
"Esposito would open his wrists for you." Alexis insisted. "That was true a month ago, and it's just as true now. Do you really need to outrank him that badly?"
"No, the problem has nothing to do with that." Kate shook her head. "And anyway, that's not why I'm here. But about that, you should really vary your routes a bit, even over rooftops. The Precinct has been hit twice now, by people keeping watch on comings and goings."
Alexis nodded, suitably chastised. "You came out just to tweak my nose about that?"
"Actually, I had some business on 34th street and I wanted to know what you were looking for out here. Your father tells me you spend more time outside than he does."
"I suppose I do. And how did he talk you into that, by the way? We haven't found any of the Carlucci's."
"And we never will if we stop looking. Your father is grown man. He's friends with all of what's left of the Precinct, and if he wants to lend a hand, why shouldn't he? He's a good shot, Alexis."
"I know he is, but... Part of me worries that he's going to try and slay a few dragons before I get sent after them. He'll think of it as protecting me, but..."
"Alexis, you got promoted from daughter to Agent. He protects you, you protect him, I protect the both of you, Esposito and Hayley protect everyone. Responsibility is the only thing that rolls uphill." She gave the younger woman a look. "Now, what were you looking for, exactly?"
Alexis nodded. "I'm trying to..." She fought to find the words. "Look, there's a difference between doing good and fighting evil, right?"
"Of course."
"So... Esposito and Hayley are training me in how to fight evil. But when I was in college I spent a lot of time volunteering at soup kitchens, and retirement homes, and op shops... I can't help but wonder how those places are holding up. Are you more likely or less likely to survive civilization's collapse if you're homeless? It's not like you get that much help from the infrastructure..."
"You looking for places to start homeless shelters?" Beckett was amazed. "In all this?"
"Finding a place to stay isn't a problem. 95% of buildings in the city are available at no charge. But what about everything else?"
Beckett smiled. "Come with me."
"To 34th street?"
"This is the place..." Ramirez checked her map again. "Think they abandoned it?"
"I doubt it. Dino told me the place was set up to fight Mob Wars, from back when the Racketeers ran the whole town." Castle smirked, just a little. "Come to think of it, all the proper authorities gave up days ago, so they probably run the town now."
"Lovely thought." Ramirez said grimly. "These guys are pals of yours? Because I'm still carrying the badge, y'know."
"Are you angry about my choice of friends, or worried about our reception?"
Ca-Clik!
They both spun, to find that they were surrounded. Where they had all come from, Castle had no idea, but sure enough, four men with a variety of deadly weapons had them surrounded.
Castle raised his hands. "I'm looking for-"
BANG! A bullet hit him square in the chest, and he dropped.
"What is this place?" Alexis asked, delighted.
"It used to be a speakeasy, back in the day." Beckett explained. "I told my people to give the location only to people without weapons. Like you said, wolfpacks and prey. But even the prey could find places to be safe."
The large basement space had been cleverly hidden. Alexis never would have found it without Beckett. The place was now a shelter. There were almost a dozen people, half that many cots, a few large storage containers being used as tables, and people handing out supplies judiciously. One or two were being treated for injuries, and there was a radio in the corner, playing a pirate station.
There was a rolling whiteboard, just like at the 12th, full of the latest info on the city, including maps and locations. Alexis scanned it with her new eyes and quickly recorded everything. "Agent Esposito doesn't know about this place?"
"In a few days, you'll hit the Docks, and Esposito will have his people coming in. But wherever they decide to base themselves, the only way left to get around the city is on foot." Beckett explained. "Your Division Agents will need places to rest, recover, reload... If I can set up a few safe houses across the boroughs before that, then it only helps later."
"And in the meantime..."
"In the meantime, having a place like this does some good, without having to fight evil." Beckett agreed. "Your father is going to turn The Old Haunt into another place like this. There's one more that I know about, run by the 8th Precinct-"
She was about to keep going, when the sounds of yelling rose from the other side of the room. Two people were fighting over an actual, unspoiled orange. "Where do you suppose they found that?" Alexis wondered.
"No idea." Beckett was up and marching toward them quickly. She swept up to them, snatched the orange out of their hand and put her other up to block them both as they spun to her. "Listen carefully, both of you. I'm a cop, and your landlord, of a sort. You've both got five seconds to plead your case. Go."
"He tried to steal my food!" One shouted.
"He was hoarding it! That's against safe house rules!" The other fired back.
"As it happens, you're both right." Beckett told them. She took the orange out of their hands and dug her fingernails in, tearing it right in half. "I don't mind you guys wanting to save your supplies, but in this room, we do that for you. We do it so that you never have to fight over the scraps. If you think you can get a better deal somewhere else, go ahead. This isn't a prison. This is a hiding place. And rule number one in hiding, is that we're all in it together." She promptly handed each of them half the fruit, and turned back to Alexis without even waiting for them to respond.
"That was brave." Alexis said quietly. "All due respect to you and the guys at the 12th... 'Police' is sort of an honorary thing now. It's not like you can arrest people any more."
"You would have stayed out of it?"
"Well, I would have waited until somebody actually started something. Putting yourself in the middle could have escalated it."
"If you're going to get involved, you have to get between them before anyone has drawn a weapon, or thrown a punch." Beckett told her. "Someone will walk it back from the edge of violence, but once the violence starts, a lot of folk will die before letting someone else get the last word, or the last shot in."
Alexis nodded, filing that way.
Beckett noticed her look, and realized she'd just started training her stepdaughter too. "That's true of a lot of situations. Prisoners, bar-fights, panics, riots... On average? You have four seconds to take control of a situation, and after that you've gotta pick a side and get your knuckles dirty."
Castle blinked fast as the bag was pulled off his head. He was inside, tied to a chair.
A woman with dark hair and eyes that were cold and dead like a shark was looking him over critically. "I saw you... when you left the 12th. Top Cop there is Beckett. The Stiletto Bitch kissed you when you left." She rasped. "I saw you... when you reached the Water Treatment." Her voice stayed low and harsh, like a permanent hiss. "I saw you... and the cop. You come from there to my place." She hissed a breath. "I saw you looking at the blood. You stink like a cop, but you don't have a badge. Not that it means anything." She opened her jacket. She had five police badges, dangling like trophies. "I saw you before you even got out of bed this morning."
She's had the 12th under surveillance. Castle blinked. "Where's Ramirez?"
She slugged him hard, across the jaw. "You don't talk. You answer. I put questions in, and answers come out. Like a machine, right? Because otherwise I put other things in. Bullet, knife, choose your own item. I could kill you with a rusty spoon, if I wanted." She pulled his face up by his hair. "Now. You were out front of the place. Why? You're no looter. If you were looking for food or weapons, you wouldn't have gone to the Works first."
Castle licked his bleeding lip. "Good thing you saw all that, or you would have dropped me."
"I did drop you." She waved at his vest, on the floor beside him. "Maybe you'll get lucky and say something that makes me think the second bullet is worth more than that jacket you're wearing." She grinned like a shark. "Think hard, because if I don't like what I hear in the first two words, I may not let you get to a third."
Castle took a breath. "Dino Scarpella."
The woman's eyes flashed.
Endless beat.
"Keep going." She decided finally.
Hayley pulled out a pen and held it like a knife.
Alexis settled into the combat crouch Hayley had taught her, ready to go.
"Well, there's your first mistake." Hayley snorted. "You know there's an attack coming. I just told you we were about to fight. You can't avoid it at this point." She gave Alexis a hard look. "Let me tell you something you don't get from the TV. In a typical street fight? First punch gives you the high ground. The first one to take a solid knock is hurting or limping. A knock to the head and suddenly you're seeing six of everything, getting dizzy, nauseous... If you want to avoid the fight, that's fine, but you're in an actual fight now. When it happens out in the streets? Do you plan to give your opponent the first swing? Do you plan to stand and wait for them?"
Alexis spread her hands wide. "You had a 'knife' and I didn't. When you're unarmed, why not be ready to counter? You're the one that said it: offense opens up your defense."
"You are armed." Hayley told her.
Alexis looked down at herself. Protective bandages wrapped around her knuckles. Hair pulled back in a ponytail. Sweats and sneakers. "I don't even have boots on."
"Look around." Hayley told her. "A bench. A table. Candles. Matches. Lockers. Magazines. A towel. A backpack."
Alexis looked at them all, trying to make herself think of whatever Hayley was trying to drill into her.
"Everything is a weapon." Hayley told her firmly. "Everything is either a weapon, a tool, or a defense. A building is a protective wall and a place to set up. Food is a tool. To fuel you, to bribe others, to draw a civilian or a target. A magazine is a tool or a weapon. A way to cover your face, or a way to hide information or a way to-"
Alexis moved. A quick lunge that took her over to the backpack. She snatched it up and threw it at Hayley. The agent was able to bat it aside, but it gave Alexis time to reach the table and snatch up the magazine. Within two seconds she had rolled it up tightly as a baton. Seven inches. Hayley's 'blade' was only four inches long.
"I'm still taller than you." Hayley warned. "Not by much, but you don't have a greater range than me yet. What else you got?"
Alexis cast about and ran to the locker. Hayley let her go, to see what she would do. Alexis snatched up one of the gym towels and wrapped it around her free hand, layers deep. "That'll stop a short blade, right?" She gestured at the covered hand.
"Only if you take the edge, and not the thrust." Hayley nodded. "But now you've got a shield in one hand, and a weapon in the other. A low cost knight." She nodded. "You're learning fast."
Castle felt the pavement jump up and hit his face, even through the cloth bag. The cold bit into him instantly and he tried to stand up.
That harsh whisper in his ear almost seemed lighter for a moment. "Sixteen hours, Mister Book Writer. And thanks for the coat."
There was silence for several seconds, until the bag got pulled off his head by Ramirez. "They let us go." She coughed. Her face was bruised. She hauled him up and freed his hands.
"Thank god." Castle said when he saw her, teeth starting to chatter. "I thought they'd killed you."
"They were about to, but the guy with the knife heard you say the magic words." She told him. "But they took my gun, and that may yet be worse." She looked around. "Where are we?"
Castle looked around at the buildings. "Fifth Avenue." He croaked. "We're in the Dark Zone!"
Alexis ran the simulation again, sweeping the room. As she went around the faux-doorway, Hayley emerged from her hiding place to sneak up behind her, but when Hayley got to the doorway, Alexis had vanished. Her boots were sitting neatly on the floor beside the door. Hayley took half a second to be confused by that, when she felt a tap at the back of her neck.
"Bang." Alexis said smugly.
Hayley chuckled. "Very sweet move."
"Harder to track my footsteps when I'm in socks, huh?"
"Not a plan you can use all the time." Hayley smirked, pleased. "But in this case, you win. Which makes the score 21-1."
Alexis smiled impishly. "Again?"
"Again. But put your boots back on." Hayley told her. "Aside from medkits and emergency reserves, you measure the worth of your equipment by how often you use it and how urgently you need it. Your boots are the most important piece of equipment you have. Can't get far without them."
"I would give my boots for a gun." Ramirez hissed.
Castle was breathing hard as he skidded to a stop, hiding behind an overturned dump truck. "This is nuts. It's like 'Escape From New York' only less safe."
The streets had dead bodies piles at every intersection. Not like the body-bags in the rest of the city. These people had been gunned down mercilessly. Here and there, the bodies were strung up and carved up almost ritualistically. Wild graffiti was everywhere, in worship to terrible death gods that the modern world forgot.
The gangs roved thick and fast, and they warred with each other, not even concerned with saving their own lives. They ran into the fire, into the bullets, into the knives, tearing at each other. When they noticed Castle and Ramirez, the only option was to run. The chase had gone for almost six blocks. The two from the 12th ran with a hundred nightmares at their heels, as the wolfpacks of feral barbarians were hollering and hooting... And laughing. Some of them laughed with dark, unholy joy, exulting in the hunt.
"Reavers." Ramirez groaned.
"Huh?" Castle didn't get it.
"Bogeymen from a show I used to watch." She whispered. "That's what they remind me of."
"Here-kitty-kitty!" A voice yowled, a lot closer than they expected. "Come and play!" His laughter was like nails on a chalkboard.
Fight or Flight? Castle asked himself. His eyes lifted to gaze over the whole cityscape. Even in these times, he could see movement in the city, see the lights of people inside. Not often, and not always normal lights, but they were there. Life hid, but it still carried on.
But not here. The Dark Zone was a place where the predators had devoured all prey, and were now just hunting for the sake of having something more to kill. The madness was thick on the walls, almost something he could taste.
Long shadows moved, showing terrible blades and clubs sneaking up on him...
Ramirez grabbed his arm and they ran again. The ground tried to swallow them, jumping up every ten feet. Traps and tripwires and mines of every kind were all over the place. The Dark Zone wasn't made to keep people out. It was made to keep them in.
"HERE!" Someone howled. "Come on! Come on!"
Something lashed out and caught Castle's Ankle. It was a snare, the kind that any scared rabbit might fall into. Castle saw the world spin on it's axis, and his head cracked against the ground, and then against the light pole as the trap took him off his feet, and left him dangling.
Castle saw Ramirez stop and look back, hesitating.
"Go!" Castle yelled. "Get help!"
She ran, but it was an empty gesture. There was no help to get. In the Dark Zone, hope was dead.
"Meat! Fresh meat!" Something that might have been human shrilled. Their pursuers grinned and cackled and drooled like hyenas as they closed in on Castle's swaying form.
Alexis, I'm sorry! Castle thought wildly as he thrashed at them. I'm so sorry, baby!
"Gotcha! I gotcha! Heheheheheeeeee!" They were as gleeful as Gollum with his ring as they reached out and stroked him, clasped at him...
Kate! Where's Kate!?
There was a sound, sort of like someone spitting, but it seemed to move a lot faster. One of the hyenas dropped suddenly. the others were so caught up her their bloodlust that they didn't even notice. Another muted whistle, and another freak dropped.
Now they noticed. They whirled around, surrounding Castle and looking outward. It was not unlike a pack of wild animals protecting their kill.
Castle, six inches above the ground, saw something that they didn't notice. A silver ball, about the size of a baseball. It rolled along the ground, and turned as it rolled to curl around under him, and get closer...
Castle had heard the thing described by Alexis. It was a smart grenade of some kind. He squeezed his eyes shut. Going to die... now!
But the grenade didn't explode. Not exactly. Instead, a terrific blast of white light and smoke shot out, quick and violent enough to envelop all of them. he heard shouts of shock and pain, and then a brief burst of gunfire, the world suddenly went terribly quiet.
Blind and deaf, Castle just swayed, trying not to puke, when footsteps strode up to him. "Cut him down." A voice declared. "Mister Castle, I presume?"
"...w... Who..." Castle groaned.
"It's okay." The woman's voice said kindly. "My name is Faye Lau. We're here to help."
AN: I don't plan to take this one through the whole game. It's more a lead-in, or an origin story. So there'll be another chapter or two. Read and Review!