Evelina waved her hands around frantically, gesturing to the very, very stupid man in front of her. She and Marena were stranded at a small filling station in the middle of Germany, and neither of them knew a word of German. Marena and Eve knew English well enough to somewhat comprehend what the man was saying to a point, as the languages were both Germanic, but could not make out how much they needed to pay him; his cash register was broken, of all things. They attempted to use their fingers to point out a price, but after a while they weren’t sure if he was capable of counting high enough.
In frustration, Marena brought a rumpled 50 Koruna Ceska note and threw it at the man, hoping the 50 on it would throw him off enough until they were gone. In reality, it was very little money; comparable to one-half Euro nowadays. With most of Europe on the Euro, it was the most common currency. The Czech Republic, however, still had Koruna Ceskas flying about, and it was easy to confuse citizens of other countries who weren’t exactly up-to-date on their currency.
Marena thanked the man with the only German she knew and grabbed Eve by the arm, yanking her through the food isle and out to the motorcycle. They had sped about a mile down the road when Marena tapped Eve on the shoulder and motioned for her to pull over. Confused, Eve stopped the bike in the middle of nowhere beside a dead, brown meadow, frosted with snow. Marena hopped off of the bike and quickly unzipped her bag. She was thankful she had insisted they go back and get her things and clothes from her apartment, as it was absolutely freezing. Marena pulled out a camel colored sweater and hastily put it on over her other, black, long sleeved shirt.
Evelina looked over at her. “Um, that isn’t very covert.”
“We’re being covert?” Marena asked, reaching up her shirt and pulling out snack cake by snack cake she had stolen from the gas station. She then pulled one out of her pocket. “I didn’t think you’d want one out of my shirt, so I stuck this one in my pocket. It’s squished but, well, I guess you don’t have to eat it.”
Eve grabbed the snack cake out of Marena’s hand and tore into it, famished. Marena proceeded to do the same with another cake. They stood in silence next to the motorcycle for a moment, eating, before Marena spoke up.
“So...what exactly will we do in London?” she asked, crumpling up the cake wrapper and throwing it in her bag; no need to litter.
Evelina shrugged. “I dunno. Get a hotel room, look around, enjoy the nightlife. I’m sure we can arrange that cheaply enough. And after that...I don’t know.”
“Sounds good to me.” Marena said. “I like a little adventure. And don’t worry, I’ll get us some stuff while we’re in London.” she winked. There was a slight pause, and Marena motioned towards the bike. “Let’s go?”
Eve made a grunt-like noise and got on the bike.
The ride across Germany had been long and boring, the two stopping every once and a while to rest and warm up, then back on for the next stretch. After nearly fifteen hours of driving - and not much else - they had reached Belgium. Looking at the little map they had stolen from another gas station, they figured they would go to the coast then work their way south, into France and on their way to London.
Belgium was a nice and, thankfully, very small country. They knew they could make it across in very little time, which was definitely a plus. Riding a motorcycle across Europe in December weather, however, was not a plus, and midway through Belgium the two stopped at a small diner to slow down the frostbite. It was a cozy little place, run by a very fat, warm faced woman and her equally fat, warm faced husband, as they assumed him to be.
For most of the trip the pair had been relatively quiet, only chatting when they stopped and even then not chatting about much. Marena had ordered very, very hot coffee and was stirring it, attempting to stay both awake and warm while it cooled enough for her to drink it. For the better part of the time they had been in the diner, they had been in an awkward silence, so Marena attempted to remedy that.
“So, Eve, where were you born?” Marena asked. Eve shifted her eyes down to her own drink and she also shifted in her seat, looking uncomfortable. Okay, maybe not the best plan. “I didn’t mean to-”
“Oh, no...it’s okay.” Eve muttered. “It’s just that...all I remember is waking up in a Prague apartment building with Golem and with a bullet in my chest when I was thirteen. So, I don’t really know where I was born.” she looked back up. “Sorry.” she added quickly.
“No, it’s...don’t be sorry. I was just curious.” Marena said.
“Well...” Eve began, “I‘ve been in Prague all my ‘life.’ I’ve always kind of thought of the Nightriders as my family, of course, but...I felt I owed them a debt. That’s why I’ve been working for them. ” she stopped abruptly before beginning again. “Actually, I’ve been to London before, it’s where I met Ghost. It’s nice.”
“Good, I was hoping it’d be much better than Prague.” Marena said, excited.
“Yes, much better than Prague.” Eve said. “It’s beautiful...in a special way, I guess.”
“It’s one of the cities that wasn’t ruined, right?” Marena asked. Eve nodded. “Ah, so it must be lovely.”
Eve nodded again and stirred the drink in front of her. “What about you? Where are you from?”
Marena smiled. “I was born in Morocco. By the beaches; they were such beautiful beaches. We kind of moved all around the country though, and then I was sent to Spain.”
“Spain...” Eve thought about it for a moment. “Why ‘sent’ to Spain?”
Marena paused for a bit before continuing. “Well, it wasn’t really my choice, you know?”
“Oh.” Eve said. “Where in Spain?”
“Seville.” Marena answered simply; there wasn’t much more she needed to say. It was well known that Seville had become a major center for prostitution in Spain, as it had been legalized in the same manner as in Las Vegas, United States. It was never publicly announced or “condoned,” but Seville was also a popular place for poor families to sell their daughters, as most houses would take just about anyone. Marena, fortunately, had gone to one of the “better, cleaner houses,” but in reality that didn’t mean nor matter much to her.
Eve was quite for a moment. “Oh, I didn’t mean to bring anything bad up.” she said, sincerely.
Marena let out a small laugh. “What do you mean? I wouldn’t have said anything if I had cared. I’m not ashamed of it, or anything, I mean, it wasn’t my choice.... Not exactly something you bring up over dinner, but still. Seville is a very pretty city though, once you get past the filth.” she smiled again. After a moment, she continued. “I saved up my money and I ran away after about five months, hung around Toledo for a while to, ah, save up some more, then booked a train to Prague. It was the cheapest place to go, the history books make it look gorgeous, and it sounded like easy money. It wasn’t so easy, but that’s okay, I wanted to be as far away from my father as possible -- then anyways -- and what better than smelly, grimy Prague?”
Evelina laughed, albeit softly.
After what seemed like another eternity in the freezing cold night, they reached the toll for the English Channel Bridge, as that’s what it was; an abnormally long steel structure spanning the entire distance from France to England, as the old tunnel had been destroyed by a freak missile discharge during the War. The bridge had been constructed almost too quickly after the previous bridge’s destruction that many people feared it was not safe and actually refused to use it, taking boats instead. It had been nearly 75 years later, however, and the bridge had shown it was definitely safe to cross. There was a nearly constant pour of traffic across the bridge, and to Marena it was absolutely stunning; she’d seen traffic, but never like this.
“Do we have to pay to get across?” Marena asked. Eve nodded and Marena drew a few silver buttons from the pocket in her coat. “Change?”
“It’s not that much, don’t worry about it.” Eve said, drawing real coins from her pocket that almost amounted to just about nothing. Tolls had apparently gone down. Marena shrugged and looked at the lights again.
They drove past the booth and started across the bridge. Marena looked out into the inky black ocean in absolute awe; it was 9 at night and you could barely see anything, but it was one of the most spectacular things she had witnessed. It was amazing what man could do when he put his mind to it. It gave Marena slightly more confidence in the human race. Slightly.
It was a only a short, but cold, ride from the bridge before they started to see the glistening, glittering lights that were London. If the world had already ended, the bustling and vivid city showed no signs of knowing this fact; there was a liveliness in the air - and in the surroundings - that was unlike anywhere else the two of them had seen. The architecture was unchanged from before the perpetual eve, and the lights of the traffic spilt across its concrete streets brilliantly shone against the buildings of the breathtaking cityscape.
It was so different from Prague, which had not only been blanketed in darkness, but a cold melancholy. London, however, was completely devoid of this. Its beauty was not hidden, nor forgotten; rather, it had only shined brighter as time went on. People walked the streets freely, carelessly. Not just a few people, either, but crowds. It was an entire, restless population that saw no reason to seek the comfort of their (rather picturesque) homes. The nightlife loud, and obnoxious, and enchanting despite this, basked in the neon glow of the brilliant array of lights that store signs and buildings that had few, if any blemishes. It was remarkable, to say the least.
As they drove down the “strip,” (is it looked more like that than anything else) they noticed a fabulous hotel. The outside was decorated with flashing lights and holograms twirling about, with giant movie-size screens blaring coming attractions at them. After little discussion, they figured it was as good as any. Eve rode the motorcycle into the parking garage, bypassing the ticket machine, and sped into a spot next to a wall. They dismounted and Marena began to walk away, luggage in tow, but Eve stayed behind.
“Something wrong?” Marena asked.
“No...but I like this bike. If someone steals it, I’ll kill them.” Eve muttered, and slung her own bag over her shoulders and walking over to meet Marena and they both began towards the entrance of the hotel.
The inside of the massive hotel was just as lavish as the outside; the walls and ceilings might as well have been gold plated. Inside it was obvious to see that it was a casino, and everything inside glittered and shined with wealth and intoxication. It was exhilarating.
“How are we supposed to get a room here, Marena? We don’t have any money.” Eve said, looking around at her fantastic surroundings.
Marena winked. “Oh, don’t worry about that. I said I’d take care of it, right?”
Eve shrugged, and they began to walk casually over to the elevators and picked the elevators that went to the highest rooms. After a friendly debate, they decided to pick the room that was 5th from the top, as to not arouse suspicion by going into a full blown suite.
On the 45th floor, most of the rooms looked the same, the only real distinction being the numbers on the doors.
“Okay. Now pick someone unsavory.” Marena said simply.
They perused the selection for a while, watching the people that came in and out of them; quite a few families and couples, a few newlyweds. Neither of them were exactly sure what kind of victim they wanted, but Marena felt slightly squeamish about beating up families and newlyweds. It just didn’t seem right.
Soon, however, the duo spotted a couple of drunk, American accented, 20-something guys, stumbling out of their room and heading towards the elevators to go to the bars and get another drink, Marena figured. She made a nod of approval and Evelina started after the two, Marena in tow. They stood behind the two as they waited for their elevator to come and, impatient as always, Marena tapped one of the shoulder. The hulking, very intoxicated man spun around and a smile immediately crossed his face as he started at Marena, who had put on a face no drunk man could refuse.
“Hey,” the guy said, elbowing his friend and motioning for him to spin around and look at Evelina. “Check out these girls, maybe we should stay up here, eh?” the man laughed and his friend, who was remarkably more drunk than he was, attempted a laugh but was a little more interested at groping for Evelina. Eve took it with admirable calmness as she and Marena let the two guys lead them back to their room.
The two guys pulled Marena and Eve into the nearly pitch black room, and quickly attempted to divest the girls of their clothing as quickly as possible. Marena pushed the first guy away and motioned for Eve to do the same. Marena pushed her victim onto the bed and Eve, sensing a plan, followed suit.
“Hold on...why don’t my friend and I give you a little show first, hm?” Marena said, picking up her bag and heading towards the bathroom, Eve following. Outside the door, they could hear the guys conversing in jumbled voices. Marena calmly reached into her bag and withdrew her two Jerichos, checking to make sure they were loaded, just in case. She looked over to see that Eve had the same idea, and already had her guns withdrawn.
“We’re going to knock them out, okay? Not kill.” Marena ordered. Eve nodded, but it was a disappointed nod. Marena listened for a few more minutes to the guys conversation but finally had enough and kicked open the door, pistols locked and pointed squarely at one guy while Eve did the same with the other. Both of the guys nearly had a heart attack, and one actually threw himself on the other side of the bed. Marena walked over to said guy and pulled him up by his shirt and threw him back onto the bed, then resumed her former place in front of him.
“Hello, guys. Enjoy the show?” Marena winked.
“What the fuck!?” one guy yelled randomly.
“Boys, we need a room and well...we really want yours. Either you will leave peacefully and not tell anyone we’re here because, well, we are the ones with the guns, or we’ll have to do something else.” Marena explained, then looked over at Eve. “I’d pick the former; she’s pretty mean.”
The other guy decided to speak this time. “No way we are going to let two girls kick us out, you’ve got be kidding me. No way. Now get the fuck out of here before we call the cops on you guys. Shit.”
Marena thought for a moment. “Hm...no. I think that was probably not the best answer.” she finished, and motioned to Evelina. They then both advanced towards their prey and, with carefully placed blows to the head with the butts of their revolvers, knocked them completely out in such a manner that would keep them that way for quite some time. Marena quickly walked back into the bathroom and returned with four ropes and a roll of duct tape. Evelina gave her a strange look.
“Well...” she explained. “We need it, don’t we? I prepare for these things.” she muttered and she proceeded to rope, tape, and throw the two guys in the closet, taping the handles together and sitting the only two chairs in the room against it.
“Well, then.” Eve stated simply. “It is a nice room.”
Marena laughed.
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