Lucky Palms: Briar

The city of Lucky Palms became my destination when the car experienced a critical mechanical failure.

It seemed nice enough - there were even a couple of brief, warm days before the clouds rolled across the sky. The people were nice enough, a couple of places even had working generators powering the vital functions of the city.

Appearances can, of course, be deceiving. I didn't have much choice in the matter, though. I ditched the car on the side of the road and bought a new one from a shady-looking dealership. Well, new to me. The new car had obviously seen better days, but the dealer assured me it would last a lifetime if I treated it right, which I assured him I would.

It was while I was under the hood of the new car, checking it for faults.

"Hey - " a man's voice said.

I turned my head.

There came a loud crack.

Everything went black.

When I woke up, I was in a dark room, lit by a single dim bulb that flickered as it swayed gently.

I was definitely not thinking very clearly those first few moments.

I felt like I'd been hit in the head with a bat, which, I suspected I had been.

"You're a funny shade of green, boy," the man drawled lazily. At that moment I realized I was not alone. "What brings you to our little town?"

"... uh." It was all the more coherent I could manage. My silence did not impress.

The shotgun leveled at me, the click - that impressed me, at any rate.

"You one'a them aliens?"

An answer I knew! "Nnnnnnnnnnno." I said slowly.

"You sure? You ain't human, that's plain as day."

I winced. "I was human," I muttered darkly.

"Really now. Why don't you tell me about that." The way he waved the shotgun suggested that it was not a request. I decided then that I did not like guns. At all.

I sighed, dramatically. "Look, I'm not supposed to tell anybody about this," I said, egging him on.

"I ain't askin'," he informed me. "You'll do what I say, or I'll be eatin' salad for dinner."

A slow nod that made me wince in pain. "There's this school, see ...."

Apparently my tale was a riveting one. Eventually, he even put the gun down, and I relaxed a bit. He offered me a glass of water, which I gladly accepted. The story wasn't over - I was fairly certain he wouldn't drug me until after that.

"Here's how it is," he said to me, after I finished the story and the water both. "We've got limited resources here. Now, you tell me, you don't eat. That's useful, means I don't have ta feed ya."

Whoo. I wasn't going to die! Probably.

"Thing is, there's things need doing. And all that needs funded, see? So sure, I'll let you settle down here. We've got a plot of land, some supplies we can spare. You find a job for yourself, like a good little sprout. Every Monday, my boys will come by and collect whatever you've earned for the week."

I didn't like the sound of that, but ....

"I'll need to buy things for myself - "

He nodded. "You make a request, we'll put it through. Don't you worry, I take good care of my people."

"So - you're in charge of this town ... ?"

A laugh. "Me? Naw. Not officially. That's some puppet we put in as mayor. Behind the scenes though? Yeah, I run everything around here."

He gestured vaguely, and two men came out of the shadows of the room. One of them carried a hood.

"You tell my boys what you need, they'll get it for ya, up to a point. Don't worry too much about your budget - you ain't got one. That money you walked into town with? That's mine now."

He smiled, right before one of the men slipped a hood over my head. "I'll take good care of ya."