Day 2 -- 10161, total 30,169

Today turned out to be an odd, difficult day on many levels. I'm stunned that I reached the 30,000 mark. I had far too many things go wrong, and I'm not at all thrilled with much of what I wrote. But I got through it.

And now today's snippet. I don't know that I'll do snippets every day, though.

The narrow passage stood between two tall buildings with splintered walls and pealing paint. Graffiti had been scratched into places, most of it rubbed out by the wind and rain. Even on a relatively calm day like today, the wind still blew hard across the Pier.

"If you don't know this path, you'll never get in," Nic said. "Not unless someone decides you're worth letting in. This is the path that marks those who live here from those who just come looking for thrills. You have to know it's here to go through."

Eli nodded, peering ahead.

In a dozen or so steps they came out into the Pier's inner world. With the night setting in, fog had already started to drift up through the planks, giving the place a surreal look. The walls suddenly sprouted colors and carvings, and a couple rusted cars -- how they had gotten here, Nic couldn't say -- stood like guardian statues on the right and left of where they stepped out. Eli looked around, surprised. Nic grinned. It felt oddly comfortable coming back here again after so long. This place represented a different world.

The walkway branched off in many directions, built haphazardly around and through the makeshift buildings. A couple people passed, nodding hello. The right side of the first one's face showed a design of glowing tattoos, much the same color as the glowing lichen that inched its way up the walls. The next person who passed them wore a one-eyed infrared visor. Nic knew from experience that it gave the person a skewed, double vision of the world.

Quiet still, especially out here on the edge. He nodded to the right and started Eli in that direction, along the maze that would lead farther and farther into the heart of this huge, ramshackle settlement.

"The Pier is a lot larger than most people realize," Nic said softly. No one else stood on the walkway with them at the moment. He could hear the ocean starting to come in beneath them, too -- the tide coming in. They had barely beat it. "I think it's about four miles long and two wide. And some of it is stacked, so there's an upper and lower level."

"Population?" Eli asked.

"Not a clue," Nic said. "I'm sure people have tried to do a count, but it's just not possible. There are people where who don’t want to be found."

Eli looked at him, eyebrow raised.

"Oh yes, probably a few of them are killers. But we're looking for something very specific, Eli. Remember that part. Maybe later we can come back and clean up Dodge."

Eli laughed, a bright sound that drew a smile from someone who slipped past them on the walkway. Even this close, Nic couldn't tell if the person had been male or female. Not that it mattered.

They took another turn. Graffiti, both crude and poetic, ran up the walls ahead.

"It's a message board of sorts," Nic explained. He looked it over and shrugged. "We can come back and look at it later. You never know. Our guy has been pretty squirrelly already, given the messages he drops off to the police. But let's get to Maro's place. I want us seen as part of the Pier, and that's the best place to get established."

"I'm not going to argue," Eli said. He followed Nic past the boards. "It's a fascinating place, though."

"It is," Nic agreed, for all his own reasons.

By the next turn in the path they'd come in among the regulars. Many of them wore colorful rags, bright bits of cloth around their necks and up over their heads. Damp seeped in around everything a person wore, though. TB and pneumonia were always rampant out here.