Purity Bay

~This is from a series that I write in my spare time when I can't think of anything else, the story isn't going anywhere so don't hold your breath. If you have any interest there should be a link to where the story is hosted somewhere to the left (if I have bothered to add that bit)~

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01- Tumbleweeds Caught In A Drain

"Purity Bay. Man, what a shithole."
The rusted Trans Am bounced down the uneven highway that would eventually filter off into the Town Center but for now led down a street of bland, lifeless buildings that resembled apartment blocks for the manic depressed. People must have lived in at least some of the buildings, at least it could be assumed so since not all of the windows were boarded up on this street ironically named 'Jubilation Boulevard'.
"What I want to know is why the fuck this jackass couldn't meet in any one of the million diners we passed between here and Phoenix instead of us having to drive to the ass end of California. It's inconsiderate."
"Look on the bright side," the driver said in a relaxed drawl, "the law hasn't given a shit about this place in at least a decade. We'll be plenty safe for the duration."
The first few times that they drove through a stop sign the pair had went largely ignored, some mongrel dog had barked at them at one intersection but that appeared to be the only real attention that they drew. Eventually as the buildings took on a more commercial (though no less dilapidated) look the Trans Am finally met another car on the road, but it was hard to tell if the driver was really alive without being forced to stare. Assumedly he was still breathing since he made all the appropriate stops and signals, but it really was hard to tell.
An ancient dirt mall had a number of vehicles outside and even some real honest to God people walking in the car park, against all odds it seemed that Purity Bay was still inhabited after all.
Rico, the more vocal of the two drifters had his arm hanging out the passenger side window, his long greasy hair waving in the breeze that washed in. He had thick black eyebrows that one could mistake for a mono-brow framing dark green eyes, his skin was the kind of chaffed tan one gets from a lifetime of living out in the desert near quiet villages in Arizona (the type with little or no law enforcement).
Rico wasn't some scumbag thief though, he and his partner Tommy were bounty hunters, and not the type idolized by modern cinema, they were real salt of the earth, throat-cutting, blood-spilling mercenaries. Killers with little regard for the sanctity of life and whatever they had to call morals or a conscience was easily numbed by a little green medicine, that altar of altars- The Almighty Dollar.
Tommy, the driver, was a more subtle man than his partner. His brown hair was short and neat, he was always clean shaven and he generally wore a pair of aviator glasses to cover his baby blue eyes.
"Whaddaya call this dump we're supposed to meet him in?"
"The Shuck Water," replied Tommy, lighting a Marlboro, "some Irish bar down by the docks, a real shithole from what I've heard."
Rico lit himself a cigarette and threw the pack on the dashboard, "I've heard that name before."
"Yeah, I googled it before we left," Tommy took a long drag of the pungent smoke, "a few years back some guy shot the shit out of the place. Slaughtered everyone in the joint save the bartender, left him with just a gimpy leg, then he went after the two gangs who ran the town. Body count was in the hundreds by the time he was done."
"Fuck."
"Yeah, if it had happened anywhere other than a shithole like Purity Bay it might have been in the news longer."
"What the fuck did he go after the gangs for?" Rico scratched at his chin, "The fuck did the guy think he was, the Punisher or sumthin'?"
"Who knows, man, lunatic was probably on speedballs or something."
They drove through a surprisingly busy town square, and shockingly it wasn't as drab as the bounty hunters had come to expect. The town hall was built in the Federal Style and around the small park were numerous red-brick buildings with all kinds of colourful shops, hell the Old Glory even fluttered proudly in the air outside several stores. A kid was even flying a kite in the park, and Rico found himself wishing for a bolt of lightning.
The turnoff for Harbour Road brought the rusted Trans Am behind the Town Hall, as if the planners had tried to hide the failure of the town's past by blocking the view with the glorious building. The road very quickly became uneven once again and the life seemed to drain from the buildings, it was as if the docks were slowly sucking the life out of the town even though the area had long ago been shut down.
"Jesus Christ, we've been here ten minutes and I already feel sorry for myself," Rico mumbled as the car rolled down the road towards what appeared to have at once stage been a vibrant promenade area.
Ahead were the old iron gates of the dockyard, one gate was hanging off it's hinges and the sign above now bore the legend 'Pur-ty -ay Doc--ar-s', the road itself took a turn to the left along the shoreline promenade.
And there it was, the Shuck Water, and it was just as shitty as Rico had imagined.
"What a dump."
"Yep," Tommy replied as he pulled up outside and killed the engine, "come on, we've got a client to meet."