Underland(5)

Alpo came up behind her and smacked her on the head. “Quiet, slave, or we’ll take you back to the farm.”

Grater watched the exchange through narrowed eyes. He scanned the paperwork and asked to see her brand. She grinned; she knew she didn’t have any kind of mark on her body that would give truth to their lie.

Vic smiled. “Gladly! Alpo, hold it down.”

Hands gripped Kira’s hair and pulled her head down across the vendor table. They smashed her face against rotted fruit and what she assumed was some kind of dead squirrel. The stench filled her nostrils and she had to close her eyes, breathe through her mouth to keep from vomiting. Clawed fingers moved against her neck, and she tried to buck backwards in defense. The rat traced a mark behind her ear, and she winced in pain. Something was wrong.

“Well, everything does seem to be in order, even if its slave mark looks a little newer than the others.” Grater squinted and looked between Alpo and Vic thoughtfully. “Where’s its bracer?” He pointed a gnarled finger at her wrist.

“Malfunctioned. We’re waiting to register it to get a new one.”

As soon as they let her, Kira straightened up and tried to look for a reflective surface. She found one in a polished broken mirror a few feet away and had to crane her neck to see the almost indistinguishable hash mark tattooed below her right ear. Her skin was slightly pink where the ink had been applied, but it looked days old. If they’d tattooed her when she was knocked out, she could have been unconscious for days, not hours.

How far had they traveled since then? She’d never find her way home now.

“I’ll give you three hundred,” Grater intoned nonchalantly.

“I won’t accept anything less than five,” Vic argued.

“It looks a little wild in the eyes. I can’t feed it to the zekes like that.” Grater turned as if to leave.

“Nonsense, it’s stubborn, not crazy. Four fifty.” Vic looked furious, veins bulging on his forehead. Alpo stood quietly behind Vic and held onto Kira, but he kept shifting on the balls of his feet.

“It is too thin, not enough meat on the bones. I would have to fatten it up to use it as feed, and that costs me more money. I’ll give you two fifty.”

“Wait, you’re supposed to go up, not down!” Vic screeched and grabbed at his hair. “Fine. Three hundred, and use it however you want.” Negotiations were obviously not his strong suit.

“Deal. Three hundred freedom tokens.” Grater smiled evilly at getting his first price. Or it could have been happily. It was hard to tell with his snout and whiskers. He pulled up his sleeve to reveal a metal arm band with a black digital screen and keypad. He tapped it, then held out his arm. The screen flashed with a lots of slashes and circles—like something you might see on an ancient artifact.

Vic revealed his own bracer and touched it to Grater’s. A low chime sounded and green digital marks on Vic’s changed to include Grater’s money.

Grater disappeared into a stall and reappeared moments later with a larger metal band attached to a chain. Kira struggled against Alpo’s strength. The death-grip he had on her head said he was definitely not human. Grater lifted the collar up to her neck, and when the metal lock clicked, Kira fought the urge to scream and claw at the band around her neck.

She was proud that she didn’t break down and cry. Grater tugged on her new leash, and Kira yanked back angrily. In a wink, Grater flipped the chain around Kira’s legs and pulled, knocking her onto her back hard. Blinding pain shot through her vision. Man was the rat fast.

Grater put one foot on her chest and leaned his foul smelling snout towards her face. “Don’t give me trouble.” He stepped back and allowed her room to get up. He picked up a walking stick and beckoned her to follow him. Another rat came out from the back and took over the vendor stall. Grater cut through an alley and headed towards what looked to be the downtown area.

“They were lying to you,” Kira spoke heatedly. “You were dumb enough to believe them.”

Grater picked up his stick and whacked Kira on the back of the head. “Slaves don’t talk!” He walked in silence for a few beats. “I wasn’t dumb enough to believe them. Vic’s Uncle’s farm hasn’t had any slaves in years. The slave farms are dying, especially with the ban against going to the surface. But we’re the ones going extinct. While your kind multiply like cockroaches on the surface, we are left here to rot in the underbelly of society. Forgotten, the biggest crime of all.” Grater spit into the street. “But you’re in our world now.”

“If you knew they were lying and I was from the surface, why did you buy me?” This time she was prepared. When the stick came her way, she ducked, and she would have cheered except that she missed the return swing aimed at her shins. She buckled to the ground in pain.

“You might as well get adjusted to our way of doing things down here. Doesn’t matter where you’re from, whether the borderlands or the surface. You’ll still be fodder, and even fodder has a price. But I’m warning you, any funny business and I’ll kill you right here.”

Kira pitched forward, pressed her head to the littered sidewalk, and tried to flex her purple fingers. She had lost all feeling in her hands; the zip tie had cut off most circulation. “Give me a second.”

Grater didn’t swing at her for talking.