Threaded

Rain fell in heavy sheets over the dark streets of Trash City. Not that there were any real streets, only paths and alleys through the sprawling district of discarded wreckage. Decades of junk from the world-that-once-had-been had been collected and piled together to form the city. Hence its name. Though it was hardly a city. People lived there, but they were rebels, criminals, and escapees from another time who somehow found ways to survive.

Atlas couldn’t remember life before Trash City. He’d been raised in the junk heap along with several other kids who, like him, had no past and no future. They’d been protected all their lives by their parents or aunts and uncles who had long vanished.

Not vanished. People were often taken by The Obedience. Nasty, gruesome, horrid creatures The Obedience were. Pets of the city of Paradise, and those who’d made them.

With his back pressed against what passed for a wall, Atlas risked a peek around the corner. The rain pelted his already drenched hood and plastered his hair to his face and neck. It was uncomfortable, but he was used to discomfort. Everyone who lived in Trash City was. He wasn’t even sure he knew what the word comfort meant.

Though it was difficult to see through the torrential downpour, he knew one of The Obedience was in the alley. He could hear its strange clicking sounds, and they were getting louder.

Atlas turned to his friends and signed for them to find cover.

Everyone who lived in Trash City had long learned how to sign. When it meant life or death, silence was key. The Obedience had excellent hearing. Their sight and sense of smell was equally powerful, but they primarily hunted by sound.

The Obedience creature appeared in the opening of the narrow alley where Atlas and his friends had hidden themselves. It looked like a creature from ancient myth or legend. There was a book Atlas remembered about off-world beings known as aliens. There had been pictures of several different types. The Obedience looked like the worst of them, the kind that lingered in visions and nightmares.

Holding their breath, they waited until the pet from Paradise had gone on its way.

Atlas signed that they needed to find a new place to hide. Preferably out of the rain.

With as much stealth as they could muster, their group slunk out into the wider alley and headed in the opposite direction of The Obedience. They hadn’t gone far when the clink of metal on metal made them freeze.

Atlas turned around to meet the frightened eyes of his friends. From the darkness, a blood-curdling howl echoed toward them. “RUN!” he screamed and bolted. The sounds of heavy footsteps behind him told him the others were following.

Rounding a corner, Atlas saw their escape. “Up there!” he said pointing. Then he cupped his hands together. “Hurry,” he urged.

There were seven of them, and the screeches of The Obedience could be heard closing in on their location. They would have to move quickly if they wanted to survive this night. If they could clear the wall, they’d be able to rest easy until morning.

Those who were heaviest were hoisted up first. That meant Atlas was propelled upward as one of the first. None of them were exactly heavy, but he was one of the strongest and would be of more use hauling up those who remained.

“Take my hand, Carys,” Atlas called to the last of their companions.

Carys jumped, trying to reach him. There was panic on her face when she missed. “I can’t,” she wailed.