Driftwood

They didn't stop until they reached the underpass of the suspended highway bridge on the edge of Sector 4. It was dry here, the roar of the traffic above muffling the silence of the city below.

They sat on a concrete ledge overlooking the sludge-grey river. The adrenaline was fading, leaving a cold ache in Cole’s bones.

He reached into his pocket. He pulled out the diamond.

Even in the gloom, it caught the stray light from a passing barge. It was beautiful. It was worth more than Cole had made in his entire life. It could buy a ticket off-world. It could buy a new identity.

Maya watched him. She hugged her knees, waiting.

Cole looked at the stone. Then he looked at the river.

With a flick of his wrist, he skipped the diamond across the water.

*Plip. Plip. Plip. Splash.*

It sank. Gone. Just another rock in the mud.

Maya stared at the ripples. She turned to Cole, her eyes wide.

"Why?" she asked.

Cole leaned back against the graffiti-covered pillar. He fished a crushed pack of cigarettes from his pocket, realized they were soaked, and tossed them away.

"Because it wasn't mine," Cole said. "And it wasn't yours. It was just dead weight."

"We're still in the city," Maya said quietly. "They'll keep looking."

"I know," Cole said. He looked at the skyline, the towering monoliths of the corporations and the crime lords. He knew the danger. He knew he had painted a target on his own back by helping her.

He looked at Maya. For the first time, she didn't look like a victim. She looked like a girl who had survived the night.

"We need to get you out of The Sprawl," Cole said. "I know a smuggler in Sector 7. He owes me a favor."

"You'd leave with me?" Maya asked.

Cole shrugged, looking back at the river. "I've been looking for a reason to quit this job. 'Finder' doesn't look great on a resume."

Maya moved closer on the ledge. She rested her head on his shoulder. It was a tentative, fragile gesture, but Cole didn't pull away. He let the weight of her lean on him.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Don't thank me yet," Cole said, watching the sunrise turn the smog a bruised shade of purple. "We've got a long walk."

They sat there for a moment longer, two small figures against the massive, uncaring city, neither rich nor safe, but for the first time in a long time, not alone.