In the Shadows We Walk

The market swelled and flowed like it was alive as servants and travelers rushed to make their early morning purchases before the sun rose too high in the sky. 

I looked up at the grey sky that was just beginning to lighten with the ultra white rays of radioactive sunlight. Soon, only the Day-Walkers would be able to walk the sunlit streets while the other market-goers retreated to the underground city below my feet. Walkers were one of the few beings left in the world that could stand the touch of sunlight on their skin without suffering from fourth-degree burns.

As the sun rose higher and the sky lightened, the tunnel entrances were thrown wide open and the market was packed up and cleared out within seconds. As the sun reached up into the sky, the bones of ancient buildings created the shadows that I called home. As the shadows grew like fingers stretching towards the emptied aisles of the market I scavenged alongside the others that were barred from all society. Untouchables, we had been labeled because of the toxins on our skin. A mere brush against it would kill someone within seconds, and although we had no power or ability to wield this defense mechanism we had been banned in order to protect the majority. 

And so those that were able to survive became Shadow-Walkers. Scavenging the empty streets before proper day and retreating to hide within the carcass of the long-ago world that had doomed our planet. 


I kicked aside the daily detritus that littered the market streets in search of anything I could trade, or eat. I spent a few minutes gathering up spilled buttons and torn ribbons that could be traded later and moved on to the third stall in the row. Carefully, I climbed over the wooden sidewall between the two stalls avoiding the sunlight I could feel even through my long sleeves and gloves. I quickly ran my fingers along the edge of the back wall and found a small linen-wrapped parcel that had been hidden away. 

The Night-Crawler couple that sold baked items and prepared foods during market time often left small packages hidden for Untouchables to find, I was sure in atonement for their abandoned Untouchable babe.

Placing the wrapped bread into an inner pocket and securing my headscarf, I quickly retreated into the shadowed path that led back into the gaping maw of metal and glass teeth I lived in. 


~~

There are several components of my world. Belowground, that I am barred from entering simply for being born.  Aboveground, which serves as both my death and salvation. Then there is the Between, where the shadows pool and the Shadow-Walkers came together. 

There isn’t much society within a group of people that have been forced into near-extinction. We are forbidden to mate, enter society, or even assemble. Our children are culled in the rare instance that one is conceived or in the rarer instance an Untouched is born from another kind of couple. We are forced to cover our entire bodies in cloth and our hair is bound and covered. And while our existence is merely that of a cockroach surviving on scraps heading towards its inevitable extinction, we are still grateful to be ranked above the Hungry. 

The Shadow Market was nothing like the empty market I had just left behind. Here we assembled on an empty and cracked road that is surrounded on three sides by mostly intact concrete sky towers. Here we sit at the edge of a road and place our wares for the day on the ground before us. Here, we were safe from the watchful eye of the ruling Cured class that is safely tucked away from the deadly sun. Here, we were able to remove our head covering and display our unnaturally hued skin and hair. 

My mother had once told me that my blue hair and the yellow and black stripes that covered my skin served as a warning to others of the toxin I contained, just like some of the animals of the ancient world. Unwrapping my headscarf, I allowed my blue-hued braid to rest against my shoulder and lay the scarf down to set my scavenged offerings on. Among my bits of ribbon and buttons lays a battered and tarnished heart-shaped locket. I had found it buried under rubble many moon cycles ago and while I had originally fancied the trinket enough to keep it, when I had finally been able to pry the rusted clasp open, the foreign script and empty frame lost its appeal. And so it lay among my market offerings day after day with no one even bothering to look at such a useless item. 

Looking around the market I noted times were as they always were; rough. Most of the other Untouchables around me hosted green hair and yellow skin while a few purple and pink-hued individuals were scattered among the traders. I knew even another Untouchable could kill me if they had different coloring, so I looked down to inspect my covered palms noting the pilling that indicated they would need replacing soon.

I sat for several hours before a shadow fell across me. It wasn’t rare for a Day-Walker to wander the length of our Market from time to time, many enjoyed walking in the sun as so few could. Tanned brown skin was covered by a simple linen short sleeve shirt, and long pants were tucked into sturdy boots. He carried a long staff across his back, signifying that he was most likely an off-duty sentinel. He eyed my wares for a moment before crouching down before me. 

“What do you want for the locket?” He asked, taking me by surprise not only because of the deep tone of his voice, but also by the mere fact that he spoke to me.

“What do you have?” My voice came out raspy from disuse. He pulled a small canteen from the pack that his staff was attached to and shook it. I could hear the contents sloshing around on the inside.

 “Deal.” 

I practically threw the necklace at him as he placed the canteen on the ground. Eagerly I grabbed it and pulled the stopper out, only allowing myself one savory sip of glorious, clean water. The canteen was already half empty, leftover from his daily ration. I slid it into one of the many pockets lining my pants and looked up to see him slip a small glowing object into the inside of the locket before snapping it closed and sliding it over his head. Just as he began to step away, a warning call came from one of the buildings overhead.

“HUNGRY HORDE!” 

The call went up among the few Untouchable that were still in the street and I rushed to place my belongings back into my pockets before wrapping the scarf back around my head. As I tucked the final edge into my shirt I looked up to realize the sun had risen faster than I had anticipated and most of the street's shadow was gone. I froze in terror for a second before I realized that the beginning of the horde was turning the corner, limping forward on broken limbs and tattered skin. They would not stop and there was no killing them, because the sun had already done that ages ago. 

I looked over at the frozen Walker next to me and yelled, “follow me!”

We sprinted quickly towards the shattered doors of one of the closest buildings. Inside, I ran toward the door that had half boxes painted onto it but it didn’t budge. I looked up to find the Walker already prying two metal doors open to expose the empty channel that ran to the top of the building. I could hear the broken glass at the entry being crunched by the mindless steps of the Hungry as they caught our scent and their unseeing eyes detected our shadowed figures moving. 

“Quick!” The Walker yelled at me and yanked my scarf towards the open doors. I stopped at the edge to look to see an empty tunnel down, before looking up to see a rusted ladder along one wall and broken cables dangling a few floors overhead. Grabbing onto the ladder I began to climb as quickly as possible, keeping a few rungs ahead of the Walker at my heels. We climbed past several closed doors, the old metal tearing at my gloves the further we climbed. Finally, I climbed to a floor where the doors had been pried open and breathlessly pulled myself into an empty hallway illuminated by the sun filtering in through the cave-in yards away. I turned to look at my companion just as his head cleared the opening, when suddenly the rung under his feet gave away and he lost his grip. Acting on instinct, I reached out and grabbed his flailing hand, using my weight to anchor him and pulling him up into the hall beside me. 

As we both lay sprawled against the walls across from each other, the only sound our panting and the echoes of the hunting Hungry from below. I stared at the red I could now see coating the Walker's hand and shoulder. I glanced down at my own hands and horror-filled my stomach as I realized what I had just done. 

My gloves were torn and in between the bloody scratches across my palm, I could see intact toxin-loaded skin.

I sat in abject horror as I watched the Walker struggle to catch his breath. 

“That was a close one, I haven’t seen that large of a horde in cycles.” A few more panting breaths. “It must be from the newest shipment.” He seemed to mutter to himself as he looked down and took stock of his bloody hands.

He finally seemed to notice my silence and looked up to meet my horror-stricken eyes before looking back down at his bloody hands. “Is this your blood?” 

I swallowed the bile rising in my throat as I nodded and began to scoot on my bottom a little farther away from him.

“Are you okay!?” He rose quickly onto his knees and reached out towards my arms. 

I shifted farther from his reach. Any moment now he would be dropping down, paralyzed, fighting for the breath trapped in his lungs. 

He tried again to reach toward my arms and I moved back again. “Seriously, I need to know how bad it is!”

Any second now. 

He rested his head against the wall again and took a few more breaths before raising his head to look at me. “Can you at least show me your hands?” 

I raised a shaking hand up, palm out so he could see the blood-streaked neon skin. He sighed in relief. “Okay, not that bad.”

“Not that bad! I’ve killed you!” My voice cracked and reached a new octave at the same time. 

He cocked his head at my panicked statement in curiosity for a moment before a lazy smile filled his face. He leaned his head back again and let out a soft chuckle. 

“No, you haven’t.” He fished out the locket I had sold him only minutes ago and popped the clasp open. “Not when I have this.” 

Illuminating the aged paper within sat a small glowing rock. “It’s the cure. Straight from the Central Lab, can stop the effects of radiation mutations by its mere presence.” 

He looked me in the eye again. “So when you're with me, you’re safe. And next cycle distribution begins.” 

As I sat there in stunned silence, listening to the horde down below finally begin to shuffle away, I considered what it would be like to walk among people for the first time.

Unafraid of my own skin.