Sister Cities

Part 30: Caitlyn

And the first shall be first

And the last shall be last

Cast your eyes to heaven

You get a knife in the back

Nobody's righteous

Nobody's proud

Nobody's innocent

Now that the chips are down

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The back door crashes open just as I finish getting everyone on the first floor tied up. The Firelights' glue is temporary, so it was inevitable. I go down the hall, intercept them, re-glue them, and feel two hands wrap around my upper arms from behind.

"What have we here?" their owner whispers. I look over my shoulder and see the elevator back on this level and depositing two more guards. One of them comes over to rip the machine gun away from me while the first lets go of my left arm to snatch my rifle. In my split second of freedom, I reach for my blade. The second guard grabs it and throws it.

I scream Vi's name, knowing full well that she probably can't hear me from her floor. My captor spins me around and holds me against the wall, my feet dangling, and the second guard presses my rifle against the side of my head. The third guard starts untying his comrades. They're glued now, but it will wear off in minutes.

"What are you doing with a government-issued gun, sump-rat?"

To my absolute chagrin, the first response that comes to mind is reassurance that I'm not a sump-rat. I keep my mouth tightly shut, partly as punishment and partly because it seems to be the safest option: I'm not sure it would help if they recognized me and realized Caitlyn Kiramman just tied up a bunch of her coworkers.

The second guard pulls my scarf down and grins. "Pretty thing. Rare for your kind."

The elevator door opens again and three more guards spill out.

"This one's here with an accomplice to break Jinx out," a glued guard tells them, flexing his newly-freed hands. "One of you might want to go check the fortieth floor."

"No." I kick at the guard holding me, and the second one turns my rifle around and hits me in the temple the way the other day's enforcer hit Vi. I've never had it done to me before. It makes my vision tunnel for a moment.

"I don't think you want to do that," my captor says. "Wouldn't you like to live a couple more minutes?"

I search my swimming head for bargaining material, but of course, I have none. We're doing exactly what they think we are, and it's more than enough to get me killed.

"Look at her," says one of the new arrivals with a snort. "Didn't think you were gonna get caught, huh? Is this part of that failure of a coup? Stupid sump-rat."

"Just what you'd expect."

"Must be all the fumes down there."

"What should we do with her?" says the second guard. "It would be a waste not to have some fun."

A cheer goes up around us.

"Me first."

"Let's see if she's still pretty when she cries."

The elevator rattles again.

"Line up, everybody," says my captor.

Another cheer, shuffling footsteps and shoving, a collective gasp, and then the soles of my boots slam against the floor and the woman who was holding me flies clear through the air and collides with the far wall, dropping to the concrete with four neat round holes punched into her skull.