<strong>RUTH</strong><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body">That seems like a good idea to John; he sets his cup down on that bucket and disappears into the infirmary.<br/><br/>Ruth doesn't rush, but it doesn't take very long for her to cover most of the ground between her infirmary and the staggering somebody.  Whoever it is, their flimsy white shirt brilliant red with blood -- pretty recently drawn, given its brilliant hue -- and their dirty blond hair is matter down.  She's got a hand held to her forehead, covering one eye.  The steps she takes are awkward but hurried, like she's in a rush but she's not quite confident that her next step is going to fall quite where she's planning it.<br/><br/>A little closer and damn, yeah, it's definitely Anise.  Even through the violence, it's clear to see, with her pointy chin and puffy lips, and of course, when she looks up to Ruth with those blue eyes of hers.  She once told Ruth that her daddy said she would've been royalty in the golden age, as if it matters now.  Sometimes you could see it in her face, like maybe she really could've been regal, sitting on some throne at the top of one of those towers so high the clouds had to part around it, but stumbling this way, no way, she's just the same flesh and blood and dirt as the rest of Gomorrah, except right now, she's maybe got a little bit less blood in her than the average.<br/><br/>Closer yet, and that one blue eye locked on Ruth, Anise says, rasping a bit, "Ruth, Ruth," until she's close enough to talk without trying to yell, to be heard even though her voice is mostly a coarse whisper just now: "Got jumped," she says, "One of Cringe's girls.  Maybe a few broken ribs.  Split my head open, probably not my skull.  Bandages, bed rest," she prescribes herself, "Jeanette, I think," she mutters.  Isn't that the girl with the baseball bat?<br/><br/>Why would Jeanette wanna smash up Anise, anyway?  Any idea?  And <strong>Ruth</strong>, what do you do?</div></div><br/><strong>JACK</strong><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body">"Har har," Barker says, not a laugh at all.  Neither of them seem incredibly excited to be dealing with Jack; he's got that reputation about him, right?  A freakish body count and all kinds of rumors.  Not good news.  Besides, who could ever need that many god damn knives?  The things he says come out muffled through the surgical mask he wears; thing's brown with age, and it sounds more like, "Hur hur."<br/><br/>Mimi's wearing brass knuckles, but Jack's seen him before, and he's always got those things -- either he's wearing 'em, or he's holding 'em, playing with 'em, like a totem or security blanket for a brute.  He shifts a bit of his weight, eyeballs Jack warily as he comes to stand between the two.<br/><br/>"Man, I fuckin' hope not," Mimi says.  <br/><br/>"Madison wants to see you," Barker says.  "You know Madison?"<br/><br/><strong>Jack</strong>, you know Madison.  <strong>Who is that</strong>?  What do you do?</div></div><br/><strong>HAVEL</strong><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body">"Shit, uh," Kettle manages.  Kettle does not have eyebrows.  Isn't that pretty weird?  Like he's got this lush head of hair (or anyway, he did, before he shaved the whole damn thing off), he's got a full beard (that he keeps neat, but only grudgingly), but he hasn't got eyebrows.  "Man, you know I didn't do shit.  That's on Gnarly, Captain," Kettle says.  "I mean, damn.  It was at Balls' place, that place they sell the cider."  Yeah, that cider -- won't just make you ornery, but half the time it really sends a person on a trip.<br/><br/>Balls, right?  That's Cringe's girl, and even if Havel's kind of an outsider, he's at least got an inkling about Cringe, this woman who's got her fingertips all over the Gomorran markets, just taking a little bit of everything for herself.  She doesn't fuck with Havel's gang, as a rule -- nothing to gain, but so much to lose.<br/><br/>"Right," Kettle says, and kind of backs off.  "Right, I'll get Manimal and Geek, try to keep things calm.  Shit," he says; as he goes off to rouse those guys from their card game, he mutters something about 'blowing a sweet gig'.<br/><br/>Hey <strong>Havel</strong>, is Company Man literal?  You run a boys club, or is it metaphorical?  Also, who does your fancy stitchwork?  And, hey, what're you doing?</div></div><br/><strong>WHEELS</strong><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body">It's hard not to pay attention once shots are fired; as far as Wheels' opponent is concerned, the game is <em>over</em> when shots start getting fired, fuck the rules and fuck the winnings.  Six-five is pretty close anyway.<br/><br/>"Rematch later," Tug says, and just like that he's sweeping his cards off the table.  A few of Wheels' playing cards get caught up in it as he goes, though he doesn't seem to be paying attention and he's kind of in enough of a rush to get out of there that probably he doesn't care.  Pretty much as soon as he makes that sweep, he's kicking the chair out from under him.<br/><br/>The big guy in the leather coat, the guy with the gun, he seems noteworthy.  He's pissed.  He's shouting, like, "Learn some fucking respect, you fucking skag," and he's slamming a boot into the guy on the ground.  That guy's not moving much, but the movement he is doing, he's trying to pull away.  A few people are watching.<br/><br/>Balls, she runs the place technically, but really it just seems like they call it 'Balls' place' and she just shows up to collect profits, she steps up from the back room, where the cooks hang out and common mumble is that there's a private dining room back there, too, though who knows for sure.  Balls, she's flat as a board, and she's got a flair for flashy clothes, like how today she's wearing this top that's really basically just fishnet.  Whatever; she pulls it off.  She looks over the room, too, eyeballing the violence and the people bailing and casting her glance toward Wheels, too, just at the same time that Tug's kicking off.<br/><br/>Shit, did he scoop up one of Wheels' baseball cards in his rush, too?  <strong>Wheels</strong>, what do you do?</div></div>