Eco Freak

“Damn it, I should have had that one!”

Lia stormed into the garage. She tossed her helmet aside and tore off her racing gear, which was suffocating her, and quickly changed into some ordinary shorts and a white tank top.

Kiera followed Lia into the garage, towing the overheated racer. “Don’t fret over it, Lia. You still made fourth. You’ve made it to the next race.”

“Yeah, but if I keep getting fourth I’ll never get first now, will I?”

Kiera refrained from saying anything and got to work on the racer. Lia simply watched her with vague interest. She was still boiling over the disappointing results from the race.

“Just as I thought; the fuel injector is toast. That’s why you lost speed that final quarter mile.” Shaking her head Kiera backed up from the racer. “That’s going to cost money we don’t have.”

“Oh, I forgot!” Lia jumped up and went to her pile of clothes. She pulled a mostly-full money pouch from the pocket of her pants and tossed it at Kiera, who caught it in her hand.
Kiera looked at the pouch with surprise, but an accusing frown soon crossed her face. “Where’d you get this?”

Lia shrugged. “Just around.”

“You did not! Lia! You were fighting again, weren’t you?”

Lia considered lying for a moment, but knew it would be of no use. Even though they had only known each other for two years Kiera was able to read Lia like a book. “Yeah.”

“Lia! You know how dangerous that is! If you try to race with a black eye you might as well crash into a wall. Here, let me look at you.” Kiera, always with the best interests at heart, took Lia’s head in her hands and started examining for cuts, bumps and bruises. “Hm.” Kiera sounded confused.

“What?”

“Nothing. You don’t have anything. Not even a faded bruise.” Kiera let go of Lia’s head. “Did you get hit last night?”

Lia laughed. “Oh yeah. Big time.”

“That’s weird; I can’t see any signs of you being hit.”

Lia shrugged. This wasn’t news to her. “I’ve always been a fast healer.”

Kiera, accepting this conversation was over, went back to the racer. “Whatever. You go wash up, I’m going to try and salvage whatever parts I can.”

Lia went to the backroom and grabbed a clean rag. She dipped it in a tub of mostly clean water and proceeded to wipe away the layers of sweat and grime that accumulated on her body during the race.

Out of curiosity Lia looked into the mirror over the sink. Sure enough there was no sign of bruising, which both surprised and didn’t surprise her. It didn’t surprise her because, well, she almost never bruised. But it surprised her because she had never been hit that hard before in her life. It almost wasn’t natural, the fact she didn’t show the slightest sign of bruising.

Lia had just finished washing up when she heard voices from the main garage. Grabbing a wrench that had been sitting by the basin Lia went to investigate.

It was Erol, a fellow racer and the scum of the city, in Lia’s opinion. He was also Baron Praxis’ right hand man and commander of the Krimzon Guard, the local “justice” police. He was dressed in blue racing gear with yellow accents. His face, which Lia had to admit had handsome features, was adorned with the black tribal tattoos required for all KG.

“C’mon, doll. Can’t you tell me where Kip is?” Erol asked.

Kiera and Lia exchanged a quick glance. “He’s out.”

Erol smirked. He then looked at Lia. “What a coincidence. He seems to be gone every time I stop by.”

“Kip is a busy guy,” Lia responded. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears.

“Of course. Well, when you see him, pass along the message that I have an offer to give.”

“Whatever offer it is he’s not going to take it,” Lia countered.

“Oh? And how can you be so sure?” Erol looked into Lia’s eyes. A cocky smile grew on his face.

Does he know? No, there’s no way he can. He’s just messing with me. Right?

When Lia didn’t respond Erol, in a triumphant manner, turned his attention back to Kiera. “So, doll, what do you say to you and me going out for a couple of drinks?”

For about the past year Erol has stopped by the garage almost every day and tried to get Kiera to go out on a date with him. Kiera always held her ground, which seemed to motivate Erol even more.

Kiera expertly went back to working on the racer. “Can’t. I have work to do.”

“Don’t be such a sour puss. C’mon. Just one night of fun.”

Lia could see a vein of annoyance twitching in Kiera’s forehead. She decided to step in. “Hey, loser, she said she’s busy. So why don’t you leave and go do whatever it is scum like you do.”

“You little bitch. You ought to know your place.” Erol’s hand reached to his waist where a pistol was fastened. Lia tightened her hold on the wrench. Luckily, she didn’t have to use it.

A static message came over the communicator on Erol’s sleeve. “Red Commander One, the Baron is requesting your immediate attendance.”

Erol ripped the communicator off his sleeve. “What does he want?” he growled into the device.

“Hell if I know, but it’s urgent.”

“I’m on my way.” He placed the communicator back on his sleeve and looked down at Lia with disdain. “Lucky for you I have business to attend to.”

“Too bad. And I was really looking forward to this.”

Erol grimaced. “I bet you were.” He then looked at Kiera. “This isn’t over.”

Kiera said nothing, just buried herself deeper against the racer. When Erol left the garage she let out a relieved sigh. “Thanks, Lia. I really, really can’t stand him.”

Lia placed a comforting hand on Kiera’s shoulder. Kiera had grown a lot in the past two years, but sometimes her fragile self showed through. It especially happened when jerks like Erol showed their faces.

Lia became distracted by a flurry of activity outside of the garage. People were congregating on the streets. Curious, Lia went out on the street. She grabbed hold of a little boy who was running around.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

The little boy, no older than eight or nine, looked up at Lia with eyes, bright with excitement. “Someone has escaped from the Baron’s prison!”

“What? No one’s ever escaped before.”

“Well… Now they have!” He pulled himself away from her grip and continued running down the street.

Lia watched after him. First she was numb, then excitement began to bubble inside her. This was exactly the kind of information that could get her into the Underground once and for all. She was hardly able to contain her excitement.

“I have to find Torn.”