Season 01 - Episode 26

‘the desperate pushing’

Iz is in darkness. The hand lamp barely pushes back the black. Its frail bubble of sickly light clings to her as she descends the clanging metal steps. She can just about see the next step down but no further and so she goes slow.

Her day began like any other, waking amongst a crowd of the desperate. Pushing her way through, sharp eyes scanning for opportunity. She saw a man come out through the door, well dressed and groomed, a head of dark hair taller than anyone else.

Iz knows a quick score when she sees one so she slipped in quick and close. A look and a nod and off they went. Getting punters alone takes longer now, quiet corners are in high demand. She found one eventually however, then turned and asked what he wanted.

In that moment she knew she'd messed up. His eyes weren't like others, scared, mean or manic. His eyes were empty, hard, cold and dead. She'd meant to roll him, to strip and rob him but those eyes said he wouldn't be fooled.

She knew she might die but had shown no fear, even when he brought out the cutter. A small, simple laser, basic and lethal. She tensed and primed, ready to bolt but then he pushed it into her hands, along with the crappy old lamp.

His client needed a structural sample, one that couldn't be legally obtained. An easy job for her. Quick and well paid. Half now, half later. Real, fresh food. Descend The Scapes to the lowermost level. Cut a piece from the stairway. Deliver it to a room in The Levels.

So here she is, further down The Scapes than she or anyone she knows has ever, ever been. She passed the last lamp many floors ago and now the darkness oozes like tar, pressing in around her.

Every so often she stops and peers upwards, sees the faint glimmering of her world high above. Here her footsteps are everything. They fill the black, masking other sounds, the things she stops to listen for. Movement close by, sometimes right beside her but always falling silent when she pauses.

Her guts churn with fear but also with hunger, despite the horrendous smell that is building. Iz thinks of the food and pushes herself on, on to the bottom of the bottom. Finally, her foot falls quiet as the ground flattens out non-metallic. Is this it? The base of The Scapes? The ground is strangely spongey and soft.

She crouches and peers, pressing her free hand to her face to fend off the stench. This is not the bottom she realises. The true bottom lies who knows how many floors further down. This is the refuse of The Scapes. Every piece of garbage, every bowel movement, every fallen person, clumsy and pushed.

Over centuries, The Scapes have been slowly filling from the bottom up. The recent platform collapse has added an additional layer of death and ruin. Iz can feel the filth sucking at her feet and retreats back onto the stairs. She turns to set about her task, moving as quickly as she can.

Iz cuts a piece of railing as long as her arm. The laser leaves trails across her vision. Then, she hurries back up the stairs, away from the smell, from the bones and the shit. It seems twice as far climbing back up but she reaches lights and people soon enough. Keeping it casual but hurrying still, she slips through the first door she finds into The Levels.

The corridors are weirdly quiet, empty even. It's bizarre but Iz focusses on completing the job. She rounds a corner and finds two EnFo's waiting. They grab her and bind her but all she can think is that she's never seen two out alone before. EnFo's always travel in packs.

The EnFo's say nothing. Each grips a twisted elbow, quick marching her on through strangely silent spaces. Their hurry seems panicked, sometimes they skip a little as if holding themselves back from sprinting.

Eventually, they turn a corner that to Iz is the same as the rest. They stop here and sag however, visibly relaxing. They force her to her knees and wait. She doesn't know what they're waiting for but then a deep roaring sound comes and everything shakes and it seems like maybe it's this.

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