Leo stood up and whispered over to the other slumfolk sitting in the opposite corner.
"Do you know anything about the streetwalker?"
"I've not seen it before, but I know that it sleeps in the basement, so we should be fine up here on the third floor."
Leo wasn't convinced, and his mouth twisted into a frown.
This is bad, this is really bad.
"How long how did you live here that you know where it lives?"
"Long enough."
Leo's eyes narrowed, but there was no point in digging any deeper right now. The streetwalker's clumsy movements could be heard, echoing throughout the empty building. There wasn't much Leo could do besides wait and hope that the streetwalker would not come up to this floor.
"Has it ever come up to this floor while you've lived here?"
"No, but it also never came up to the second floor until it did. That was a couple months back and I came up here after that."
Who the hell keeps living in a building like this knowing a streetwalker is right belowthem?
"You've lived here for months?"
Leo was shocked. Staying here for a single night was already dangerous enough, but living here for months was insane.
"I'd say closer to a year." the man replied.
A moment of clarity rushed over Leo, this man was simply living here until the end came for him. He had no intention of living in the shelters, or rather couldn't afford it, and was likely just barely scraping by each day. Leo had seen many in a similar situation. Life in the slums was hard, and sometimes people simply had no other options.
"Where do you work?"
"The mine, my body is getting hard to move and I don't make as much as I used to."
Leo nodded, not that the man could see. They might have a heart attack if he could see what Leo was wearing over his face. The mine was a particularly harsh area of the slum to work at.
It usually required the slumfolk that worked there to work long and hard hours. In return, it offered the best pay in the slums if you could manage the workload. Work at the dump was easier on the body by comparison, but not by much.
"Got a family?"
"A daughter, but she moved to another sector a few years back. My wife died in childbirth."
Leo looked down at the floor knowing that such a tale was common here in the slums. Then the man chuckled, surprising Leo.
"Ya know, when you were just sitting here hoping that there wasn't a streetwalker in here, you were as quiet as a mouse. Now that one of those murderers is lurking around you can't seem to shut up."
Continuing to laugh, Leo couldn't help but to smile.
"Well, that's simple I didn't know where it was before, and now I do."
As the two continued to talk, the streetwalker's horrific walking could be heard every so often as it stumbled around the first floor.
"Boy, shh, sounds like it's getting close to the stairs."
As if it was responding to the old man's request, Leo heard a new noise coming from downstairs. The noise sent shivers down Leo's skin, like metal was scraping against metal. Leo could hear the other slumfolk shuffle around, but they remained in their seated position after hearing the harsh screech.
"It's climbing the first-floor stairs." The man whispered to Leo.
The pair waited in silence, listening to the streetwalkers' horrible noises as it walked up the stairs, hoping that it would remain on the second floor. Leo knew that there were 2 staircases in the building from his earlier exploration. The real question was would they be able to make it to safety if that thing heard them.
"It's coming from the southern staircase; we need to move to the northern end." Leo said.
"You can do what you want, I'm staying here."
Leo was shocked by the man's response.
"It will kill you if it finds you here, why risk it?"
There was no response at first, and for each second that passed, the noise of the streetwalker echoed throughout the halls.
"I've lived long enough, and some of us don't have such a strong will to live anymore."
The pair heard the scrapping noise continue once more. It was climbing to the third floor.
"You better get going if you intend to run."
Leo could tell the man was sincere by his voice.
"My name is Leo."
"Tom."
"I'll help you out Tom, I'll distract the streetwalker and draw the streetwalker away from here."
Tom sat in stunned silence, responding only after a couple of seconds had passed.
"You'll what?" The disbelief apparent in his voice.
"I can't help you with much else, but after I return, I have a request for you."
Leo was starting to get an idea of how he could hide the mask.
"Are you insane, that's a streetwalker out there." Tom said in a hushed voice. "You'll be lucky just to escape if you leave now, and you want to lure it away?!"
"Yup, so you'll owe me a pretty large favor I wager."
He could hear the old man sigh.
"If you can pull it off, I'll do you a favor."
Leo smiled under the pure mask.
I just hope I can actually do it.
Walking out of the room, Leo could hear the Tom wish him luck. He was certainly going to need it.
Leo quietly creeped into the hallway. Listening for the streetwalker, he heard the awful sounds of it walking up the stairs. The scratching against the floor was grating to the ears and made Leo's hair stand.
The visibility on this floor was minimal, with any windows being relegated to the outer rooms. Being in the center of the building, there was no light except for the few rooms that lacked a door letting the moonlight in. As a result, Leo could only really rely on his hearing and touch to tell where anything was.
Walking towards the closest wall, Leo quickly got his bearings thanks to his exploration earlier in the night. He began moving towards the northern staircase, putting as much distance between himself and the streetwalker. Leo wasn't sure how well he could compare to a streetwalker, even with a pure mask empowering his body.
That was not even taking into account that Leo could barely see in this dark place.
As he neared the staircase, Leo heard the noise cease. The streetwalker had finished climbing the stairs and began clumsily walking around the floor. Leo cursed, hoping it would have given him more time.
"Hey ugly over here!" Leo screamed.