Eve's Hollow by Charles Bedlam (best free e reader .txt) 📕

She came upon an open section of the construction zone. The girders stood tall and the wooden supports in the floor were just being put in. It seemed that this was the end of the line, but then a shot rang out as a bullet struck one of the girders about a hundred yards away from where she was standing. The shooter seemed to be a very actuate marksman so far, so what was he shooting at? As far as she could tell, the Punished were behind her and no one else was around.

Estelle followed the sound of the impact and let herself out onto an open platform. She gazed up at the sky, then at the buildings around her. Another shot was fired, scaring her again. Her head snapped toward the direction that the sound came from. She searched the roofs of the other buildings, but saw nothing. Just then, a small blinking light appeared. Even though she still didn't know who this person was, the light was like a beacon of hope on a dark, rainy night. If he wanted her dead, he was a skilled enough shot that he could have done the deed at any point that she had been visible to him.

The light stopped flashing and another shot was fired. It struck something metal far off to her right. She moved in that direction and found a giant crane. The shooter fired another shot and the sound of the impact rang like a sorrowful bell. A series of shots were fired in a different direction. It must be the Punished. After a few seconds of silence, a few more shots were fired. Estelle saw the light flashing again, faster than it did before. After a few seconds, it stopped. Another shot was fired at the crane.

Estelle was confused at first. What was she supposed to do with the crane? She thought for a moment. She looked at the cab of the crane, then followed it up. There was a second crane near it. If the second crane were to swing a bit, the two could come very close. She followed the arm of the second crane down to its cab and everything fell into place in her mind when she saw the blinking light. She still couldn't see the person who held it, but right then she had to make the choice to trust him.

As soon as Estelle made her move toward the crane, the second crane roared to life. It slowly lurched into a rotation toward the first crane as Estelle began to climb. A chill down her spine made her look over her shoulder. She saw the Punished searching for her and they would find her soon.

Don't look down, she told herself. One hand in front of the other, she crawled up the arm of the crane. It was shaky and probably very weak. She was about half way up when the first Punished began to climb after her. The second crane had stalled and heavy metal parts within it clanked, malfunctioning. She turned to meet her attacker. As he approached, the crane buckled beneath them.

“Shit!” she scoffed.

The Punished reached out and grabbed her leg. He pulled her down to where he was and stood over her. Without hesitating, Estelle dug her knife under his ribs and into his heart. He collapsed and still clung to her as he died. She pried his fingers from her leg. With great effort, she pushed the corpse off the crane, knowing that the combined weight was straining the structure. She knew that more were coming.

When Estelle heard the sound of the second crane running again, she got moving. She climbed the crane and her foot fell between the metal rungs. She fell forward, but caught herself, looking down into the abyss. She saw pure, sinking darkness below. The gargantuan buildings around her, like ancient relatives of this darkness, made her feel like no matter how high she climbed, she would never escape. She pushed up as she felt the crane shift under the weight of more Punished. One of the mad creatures leaped to grab her. The man ended up grabbing too late and fell over the rail. He wailed as he plummeted into the black.

Estelle made it to the top of the crane just as the second one was approaching it. She could just barely hear a muffled voice from the cab of the crane.

“JUMP!” the voice tried to scream.

Estelle knew what she had to do. For a few seconds, she stood on the brink of life and death, risking new life for a chance at a better one. As the two cranes passed each other, Estelle took a deep breath and jumped. For just a moment she hovered above the streets, above the Punished. In that moment, she didn't think that she was going to make it. As fate would have it, she grabbed on to the second crane. She held herself firmly so as not to fall as her crane moved away from the first one. It buckled under the pressure of the Punished upon it. Two of the monsters attempted to make the leap to the second crane, only to fall. Their screams faded like passing sirens. The crane was too far for any of them to get to now.

Carefully, Estelle climbed down the crane. One foot in front of the other. Once she made it down, she backed away from the crane and watched the Punished gathered upon the other. They hung off, at least two dozen from the original pack and they all glared at her. They remained there, frozen in place, only watching Estelle. She backed away and then the person who was operating the crane stepped out.

He was an older man with short gray hair that was slicked back. He wore a bushy mustache and a short beard on his chin. He had a hardened demeanor and very sad blue eyes. Estelle wanted to show him that she was friendly. She approached and he drew a handgun on her.

“Hold it right there!” he spoke with a Scottish accent. Estelle froze. “Is that you, Viola? What's your name girl?”

“My name is Estelle,” she said to him. She kept her hands in plain view, knife in one hand.

“You look just like her...”

Even though his gun was pointed at her, he looked through her. Estelle tried to talk her way out of this situation.

“Who is Viola?” Estelle asked.

“What?” he studied Estelle, snapping back to reality. She gave him a weak smile. “Do you have any other weapons?” Estelle nodded. “Take them out. Slowly.”

Estelle reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out the gun, keeping her finger away from the trigger.

“It's empty,” she said.

“Drop it. The knife too.”

She did as he demanded. He was very calm when he spoke. His voice was soothing. He eyed her up and down, not saying anything for a minute. In that time, the several more of the Punished had appeared and were swarming around the crane, looking at the two. They gazed in silence with an otherworldly contempt in their ghostly eyes. Estelle was greatly disturbed by what she saw. This was more frightening to her than when they were chasing her. She looked back at the man. Their eyes locked.

“She was my brother's daughter,” he finally said. “I was supposed to look after her. I was supposed to protect her. But I failed. You look just like her. But she doesn't have your accent...”

“You can relax. I'm not armed.”

“I am relaxed!” the sound of his own shout seemed to make him question his demeanor. “I'm fine.”

“You're pointing a gun at me.”

“You think I'll let my guard down just because you're a child?”

Child. Estelle didn't like being called a child. It was true that she took that form, but she held decades worth of knowledge and experience in her mind.

“I'm not what I appear to be,” she said, hands still in the air.

“That's exactly why I'm aiming the gun at you,” the man said.

“Even though you just saved me?”

“I thought you were someone else. That you look like her is strange enough. You could easily be one of the Punished.”

“That's what the Punished look like.”

She motioned with her eyes to the creatures, still staring at them from the crane.

Without taking his eyes off of Estelle, he replied, “You must be new here. Everyone knows the stronger Punished can take limitless forms, even that of a once normal person. You are either new, deceptive, or you are new and deceptive.”

Deception was something that she knew much about. Her former life was an expert in the field. There was not a single person that she came into contact with that she had not lied to. Whether it was just to stay the night or to hide from the authorities, Estelle's past life was the embodiment of false truths. With her second chance, Estelle wanted to stay as far away from who she was as possible. She wanted to be good. If he did kill her, she would at least tell him the truth first.

“I'm here to find someone,” she said, lowering her hands. “I've already been killed once before. I was given a second chance and to get it, I had to come here. It's not you that I'm looking for.”

“Who are you looking for?”

“He is known as the Supernova Samurai.”

“What do you want with him?” He looked at her as if she'd just told a dry joke.

“You know him?”

“I know of him.”

Estelle took a couple of steps forward, eyes hopeful.

“Hold on,” the man said. “I still don't trust you.”

“Trust me?” Estelle asked. “You haven't even told me your name. Shouldn't I at least know the name of my assailant?”

The man looked at her for a moment, then looked at his gun. He lowered his weapon and straightened himself. The rifle he had used to save her was slung over his shoulder.

“Ransley. Baron Ransley. Expert marksman and two time Chesterfield Marksmanship Competition Champion.”

“Do you say that to everyone you meet?”

“Yes, I do.”

There was a hint of offense in his voice, but it subsided rather quickly.

“So sorry to have wasted your time,” Ransley said to Estelle.

Ransley sheathed his handgun, turned on his heels, and began to walk away. After picking up her gun and knife, Estelle walked after him.

“Wait!” she called. “You have to tell me more about him.”

“Trust me, it's not worth it.”

Estelle ran around in front of him. Her face was stern and her voice was a little bit hostile.

“Listen to me!” she demanded. “Since I've been here, I've been chased after by monsters, nearly choked to death, thrown off of a truck, and held at gun point. The samurai is my only way out!”

Ransley looked away from Estelle. She was quite determined and he wasn't going to get rid of her so easily. For a fleeting moment, he felt that it would have been better to shoot her. Viola's voice filled his head with shouts of disapproval and he realized just how undesirable his notion was. She would want him to help this girl. Viola was very kind like that.

“Alright,” he said after a deep breath. “I'll tell you what I know, but I don' think it will help. We should talk somewhere safe. Follow me. But if you try anything strange...”

He opened his brown trench coat, revealing that he was well dressed in dark blue slacks, matching vest, plain white shirt, and red tie. Her attention was meant to be aimed at the shoulder holster he was wearing. Along with the pistol he had trained on her earlier, he carried a second pistol on the other side of the holster, and a revolver in a holster on his waist.

“I get it,” Estelle said.

Baron Ransley walked on and Estelle followed. The two traveled the roof tops using the intricate