#20

Back in the car, Your hands inch towards one of Your knives. The driver catches this out of the corner of his eye, which You in turns catches out of the corner of Your eye. “No funny busin...” he says, before You stabs him in the chest. He screams in pain, and the car swerves off the road and crashes into a tree. You and Klaus are still a good distance from Zorro City—but You hopes no one heard it.

There is a gurgle as the mobster perishes. You feels bad for killing the man, but it was what You had to do. And if he wasn't bluffing—which You doesn't believe he was—then he's probably killed other people before for much less noble reasons than those which made You kill him. You pulls the knife from his chest, and Klaus looks at You, his eyes ablaze with (though it makes You feel weird to realize it) admiration.

The two of you get out of the car and look around.

You knows from the note that Susie went, or was taken, down this road. It seems likely, then, that she's being held captive in the City. You'll have to go down there and face the Gang if You wants to rescue her. Yet—as You's sure a wise old man somewhere has said—there may be an alternative to fighting.

You searches the dead man's body for identification. Sure enough, sewn onto the inside of the collar of his shirt, is a tiny logo of what seems to be a wolf's head; or something similar. It must be the logo of the Gang. You decides to take the man's shirt and put it over Yours—it might be possible to disguise Yourself as a Gang member, You figures. You also finds the man's wallet. It doesn't seem to have any ID, but it does have money, and several tickets. The tickets seem to be remains from some sort of game, probably played by Gang members in the City. You doesn't know how these tickets work, so You only takes the money. Which, of course, does make You feel guilty, but there's nothing he can do with it now.

You decides to start heading into town. You urges Klaus to stay behind, but at a distance, until You can perhaps sneak him a disguise. He nods to this, and stays in the background. However, by the time You's made it about halfway from the woods to the City, You realizes that Klaus is gone. You considers letting forth a few curses, possibly into the face of his doll, but You doesn't see the point in it. You doesn't know for sure if he's just hiding really well...or if he's deserted.

It's probably not a smart thing to ignore this particular element from a tactical standpoint, but You has no choice. This must be where Susie is, and You doesn't want to think about her or anyone else in the hands of the Fennec Gang.

You walks and finds the entrance to Zorro City empty. There are no guards, which doesn't surprise You much for some reason. The Gang has a reputation, both protecting them, and to uphold; any “visitors” would find that the real danger is inside, rather than in the streets. And plus, having guards would generate a semblance of authority, which the Gang presumably wants to avoid--being gangsters and all.

You feels somewhat confident about Your abilities to disguise Yourself as a member of the Gang. As long as You makes a bunch of luck-based comments, You ought to be okay. Unless there are more secret codes and whatnot that Your would-be murderer wasn't intent on sharing with You.

You begins to look around for some sort of prison—or just anything in general that could be used to hold a small group of people. Or even a large group, for that matter—they could be taking other hostages. Of course, the stories also talk of how the Fennecs never take hostages. Your family could be dead right now. You just needs to not focus on that, however, if this is all going to go well.

It's pretty impressive that a gang of bandits has managed to construct a city like this. It's entirely possible that they've stolen it, though. The architecture is a sort of bony white, sort of like the creamy stones of New Cenabum. The cityscape really is similar to a skeleton, really—the spires of the town are jagged and poke out like ribs and spines. If they did steal the city, they must have really cut it up, but it's still possible they built it. They...hold on. Wait.

You looks close at one of the buildings You's standing next to it. The texture of it is...odd. Up close it looks less like bone and more like flesh—quivering and jelly-like. It's cold to the touch, as well, which doesn't make it much better. That when You notices that there are eyeballs in it...

And then the barrel of a gun pokes Your back.

Scheisse.