Vincula

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Jon eyes slowly open in a dimly lit room, his eyes haven't fully adjusted to the light. The sound of wooden planks creaking forces him to search for something he can use as a weapon. After feeling around he grabs a wooden cup and readies himself to use it as a hammer.

The wooden door slowly creaked open and Jon takes that moment to pounce, as Sairento takes a step through the door he catches Jon by the arm and flips him to the ground. 

"Damn it!" Jon yells as his body slaps the ground, "I thought we'd agree with you using the secret knock when you were coming in", Jon said. Sairento tosses his satchel aside and looks at Jon, with seemingly no emotion on his face.

"I didn't, you came up with the knock," Sairento said, almost sarcastically

Jon grunted in annoyance "If we're going to trust each other, then we'll need to do something. I can't have you flipping me over every goddamned time you come in."

"You could just come with me if you'd like," Sairento said

"Nah nah," Jon said, "we agreed that I'd stay here and watch home base while you're gone."

Sairento cocked an eyebrow at him, as he sometimes would "I've gone out on numerous runs like I did when I found you, and the ones I've been on since then, and I come back and no one's ever found it."

Jon scoffed "Sure, but it's better to be safe than be sorry."

Sairento then grunted and began walking to another makeshift room in the house.

Sairento made a fire that night, he often made a habit of going outside and starting a fire, like the campfires from home. He wouldn't really do much aside from sitting outside and sharpening his sword. Jon didn't ask him why he did it, but he would sometimes join him. They didn't really talk much, but Jon would sometimes take in the scenery of the place...it was beautiful. He once again began to wonder why such a beautiful place be given to the most barbaric and depraved of men. On this particular night, Jon went out to sit with Sairento, who was sharpening his blade absentmindedly.

"So..." Jon said, trying to break the silence "it's quite nice out here."

"Mm-hm," Sairento said, not really paying attention.

"You know, I've known you for about...three days or so, and we've barely talked this whole time," Jon said

Sairento then looked up, stopping what he was doing and said "Well, what is there to talk about?"

"I don't know." Jon said "I mean, I came with three others, and when we got here, they either abandoned me or are probably dead. I guess I...I don't know."

"I've been here for a while." Sairento said he was back to sharpening his blade "I've lost count of how long I've been here."

"What did you do?" Jon asked, rather suddenly.

Sairento stopped what he was doing, but he didn't look at Jon. He seemed to be thinking about what course of action that he would take next. After some deliberation, Sairento looked up at Jon.

"I was an enforcer, back home," Sairento said

Jon then looked at him, slightly confused "Enforcer? For what?"

Sairento grunted, clearly not wanting to answer.

"Alright, alright. I hit a sore spot. I get it." Jon said, nerves tingling in his voice

It then got quiet again, and Jon looked around awkwardly, thinking of what to do or say. Sairento was back to sharpening his sword.

"I'm heading to the Stacks tomorrow," Sairento said

"The stacks?" Jon asked

"Former buildings and ships for when the USE attempted to settle out here, some other prisoners have built a small community out there. They trade food, water, and other sorts of possessions."

"Wait there are actual communities on this planet?" Jon asks. Sairento answers with a grunt and continues to sharpen his sword. "You also said ships. Has anyone tried to fly them off this rock yet?"

Sairento stops "Most are heavily damaged, a few are missing components, and there are two that can still fly."

"Wait if there's two ships that can fly then why hasn't anyone taken them yet?" Jon asks. 

Sairento sighs "There are three reasons why no one touches them. First is the location of the two ships, which are both being held on two of the largest communities here, Second is the fact the warden takes all pilots sent here and keeps them on the satellite, and third you know how the drones keep you from dying from the fall well they also shot down the first few ships that tried to fly out"

Jon falls back into his chair "If I can grab one of the working ships then I can fly back to earth" he thinks. He looks over at Sairento "I have to find someone who can fly the things, but that's the easy part. I'll need to find some muscle for the hard part" Jon gets up from his seat and looks at Sairento dead in his eyes.

"What kind of guys are typically found in stacks?" Jon asks.

Sairento sighed "Mostly people who have banded into groups. We have Bobby and his flock spending all hours of the day praying. Then there are the gangs from back home who still stuck together after they were arrested, as long as you stay away from them, they won't interact with you in any way; then there's Theo."

"Theo?" Jon asked

"He's the leader out there...I use it for lack of a better word." Sairento said "He's the one who brings them all together. I don't know how he did it, considering that there are people from rival gangs there. Maybe he was a sagi-shi."

"What's that?"

"A con man. A swindler."

"What does that have to do with anything? I thought the worst of the worst would come here."

"That's what they say. He knows how to convince people to do things that he wants. I have no idea what he did before coming here. You don't really ask people that."

"Oh..." Jon said, his head dipped down.

They talked a while longer, till both of them decided it was time to head in the night before the creatures caught the scent in the wind. As Jon laid in bed he dreamt of how his mother was holding up. Another thought was how the girl at the bakery was doing. Jon had a crush on one of the employees at his favorite bakery. He never really spoke to her outside of getting his lunch bread at the same time every day. "When I go back to earth I'll finally ask her out," Jon thinks resolving himself to his new plan.

Jon woke up the next day, he rubbed his eyes and he saw that Sairento was preparing his sword. Jon sighed sheepishly.

"Heading out to the stacks?" Jon asked

Sairento grunted in response.

"Mind if I come with?" Jon asks. Sairento grunts "I'll take that as a yes."

Jon, being led by Sairento through the forest, heads to their new destination of "The Stacks". Jon resolves himself to look for someone he can use to help capture one of the ships and escape Vincula.