Read Online The Society (A Broken World Book 1) by Dean Murray - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Dean Murray
Ads: Link
spoken looked anything but threatening. Her curly white hair was a shocking contrast to dark skin that didn't look anywhere near as wrinkled as her eyes seemed to suggest it should.
"Don't worry, Brennan doesn't worry about deserters like the rest of them do. He doesn't have to—not given the way that he's sealed off his inner compound from the rest of his territory."
I shook my head in amazement. "How did he do this?"
"He took down the building next to the one where he set up his headquarters. He had the other gang leaders frothing at the mouth. They figured that he wouldn't be able to hold his territory for very long, and they were worried he was destroying perfectly good housing."
"But he wasn't?"
The woman shrugged. "I don't know. It provided him with the metal he needed to build a wall and ever since then he's done nothing but bring more people into his compound—faster even than he's expanded the size of his inner sanctum. It kind of seems like he's finding somewhere to put all of those people, but nobody on the outside knows for sure. For all I know, he's a cannibal."
"Wait, you mean he recruits people, brings new bodies into his compound?"
She nodded, and gestured off to the right with her chin. "There's a recruiting center two blocks that way. Don't say that I didn't warn you though. Nobody but his guardsmen come out of there once they go in—at least not alive."
"What are you trying to say? You don't really believe that he's eating people, do you?"
"Doesn't matter if he's eating them or not, there are always at least two or three new bodies on our side of the gate every morning. Some of them are incredibly disfigured, missing limbs or fingers. You go in there, and as far as the rest of the world is concerned, you're dead."
The woman gestured around at the buildings to either side of us. "You don't have to go in there, you know. Whatever else anyone says about Brennan, he runs a tight ship. Even here, outside of his compound, things are better than they are anywhere else in the city—unless you're some warlord's favorite.
"We have food, all grown on the upper floors of the buildings, way more than the last place I lived. Brennan doesn't even make us carry the water up the stairs—he uses the pumps on the fire-suppression system. Murderers are hunted down, rape is punishable by death, and he doesn't turn a blind eye to thievery. There's no reason to go inside the compound when we're already living nearly as good as ants out here."
For the first time since I'd agreed to my mission, I was tempted to turn back. I was more than a match for any single enforcer. In a pinch, I was even capable of taking down two at the same time, but that was an entirely different proposition from walking into a fortress full of well-armed, well-trained men. I'd been in danger before now, but once I was inside, a single slip would blow my cover and get me killed.
"Don't you wonder whether or not the people inside of the compound are living even better than you are out here?"
"Sure, I wonder, but it doesn't matter if they are. I'm an old woman, old enough to know this isn't the first time something like this has happened. Brennan might have bigger ambitions than most, but there's one immutable law to our existence. If you try to climb above your station you get punished. For you and me the punishment comes from some enforcer or gang leader. For someone like Brennan, the punishment will come from the ants. You walk inside of there and sooner or later the bombs will be dropping right on your head."
"Maybe you're right, but I don't have anywhere else to go."
"Yeah, that's what your type always thinks. If you change your mind, I'm in this building here on the second floor. You just ask for Gladys and I'll put you to work in my garden."
I nodded my thanks to her and then headed towards the gate. A few minutes later I was standing on the outskirts of a crowd of more than forty people, all of whom were milling around as though
"Don't worry, Brennan doesn't worry about deserters like the rest of them do. He doesn't have to—not given the way that he's sealed off his inner compound from the rest of his territory."
I shook my head in amazement. "How did he do this?"
"He took down the building next to the one where he set up his headquarters. He had the other gang leaders frothing at the mouth. They figured that he wouldn't be able to hold his territory for very long, and they were worried he was destroying perfectly good housing."
"But he wasn't?"
The woman shrugged. "I don't know. It provided him with the metal he needed to build a wall and ever since then he's done nothing but bring more people into his compound—faster even than he's expanded the size of his inner sanctum. It kind of seems like he's finding somewhere to put all of those people, but nobody on the outside knows for sure. For all I know, he's a cannibal."
"Wait, you mean he recruits people, brings new bodies into his compound?"
She nodded, and gestured off to the right with her chin. "There's a recruiting center two blocks that way. Don't say that I didn't warn you though. Nobody but his guardsmen come out of there once they go in—at least not alive."
"What are you trying to say? You don't really believe that he's eating people, do you?"
"Doesn't matter if he's eating them or not, there are always at least two or three new bodies on our side of the gate every morning. Some of them are incredibly disfigured, missing limbs or fingers. You go in there, and as far as the rest of the world is concerned, you're dead."
The woman gestured around at the buildings to either side of us. "You don't have to go in there, you know. Whatever else anyone says about Brennan, he runs a tight ship. Even here, outside of his compound, things are better than they are anywhere else in the city—unless you're some warlord's favorite.
"We have food, all grown on the upper floors of the buildings, way more than the last place I lived. Brennan doesn't even make us carry the water up the stairs—he uses the pumps on the fire-suppression system. Murderers are hunted down, rape is punishable by death, and he doesn't turn a blind eye to thievery. There's no reason to go inside the compound when we're already living nearly as good as ants out here."
For the first time since I'd agreed to my mission, I was tempted to turn back. I was more than a match for any single enforcer. In a pinch, I was even capable of taking down two at the same time, but that was an entirely different proposition from walking into a fortress full of well-armed, well-trained men. I'd been in danger before now, but once I was inside, a single slip would blow my cover and get me killed.
"Don't you wonder whether or not the people inside of the compound are living even better than you are out here?"
"Sure, I wonder, but it doesn't matter if they are. I'm an old woman, old enough to know this isn't the first time something like this has happened. Brennan might have bigger ambitions than most, but there's one immutable law to our existence. If you try to climb above your station you get punished. For you and me the punishment comes from some enforcer or gang leader. For someone like Brennan, the punishment will come from the ants. You walk inside of there and sooner or later the bombs will be dropping right on your head."
"Maybe you're right, but I don't have anywhere else to go."
"Yeah, that's what your type always thinks. If you change your mind, I'm in this building here on the second floor. You just ask for Gladys and I'll put you to work in my garden."
I nodded my thanks to her and then headed towards the gate. A few minutes later I was standing on the outskirts of a crowd of more than forty people, all of whom were milling around as though
Similar Books
