Judging by the packs of people, ‘might’ wasn’t necessarily physical strength.  Those who had the force of numbers at their backs or the better weapons could do what they wanted.

Which pretty much describes the Merchants as a whole, and by extention Skidmark. He’s currently terrorizing the city simply by virtue of how many people he’s got behind him.

I wonder what power(s) he has. Hopefully not ones that match his name, I suppose.

If they didn’t have numbers, sheer physical strength or weaponry that put them one step above the other guys?  They became victims instead.

This group is such a mess.

“Anyone else want to complain?” Jaw asked.

Nobody did. I was surprised at how quickly people backed off and went back to whatever they’d been doing before.

Speak now (and get beaten to a pulp) or forever hold your peace.

Jaw collected two red elastics, put a hand on the small of Brooks’ back and nudged him inside.

The interior was so crowded we could barely navigate, and it was rank with the sweet and sour smells of sweat and garbage that had just started to reek.  Body lice had found hosts with a full fifth of the people here, and more were spreading to new hosts in the shoulder to shoulder press of the crowd.

This place is just fantastic.

The tide of bodies around us might have crushed us if our bodyguards weren’t clearing the way.

Surprise! It’s a Tide ad.

…actually, no, this whole arrangement manages to be the opposite of a Tide ad.

Senegal and Minor simply pushed through the crowd with enough force that some fell over, while Jaw and Brooks followed our group.  Nobody complained too loudly, and from the way others took it in stride, it seemed this was the norm.

Of course, because they can’t have any sort of decency at this arrangement! That would be wild.

Here, I was coming to understand, might made right.

Yeah, sounds about right.

We looked back and I saw Jaw and Brooks with a small crowd around them.

Jaw looked at Lisa, and she gave a discreet hand signal, making a fist and tapping her leg twice.

According to old superstition, little homophobic fairies live inside people’s legs and cause trouble, so sometimes you gotta knock on leg.

A moment later, Jaw was stepping in close and slamming the heel of his hand into the doorman’s nose.

Alright! Bit more violent a solution that I was expecting, but you ain’t gonna see me complaining.

He fell roughly on a pile of rubble, and his ‘friend’ who’d been guarding the door with him stepped forward.  Jaw caught the man’s hand and pulled him in close, smashing his skull into the man’s nose.

Y’know, I’m not sure whether this confrontation counts as trouble or if it’s actually helping them fit in even more.

As the man fell, blood gushing from his nose, Jaw straightened, cracking his knuckles.

Nice!

If it wasn’t already clear, Jaw is my favorite of the escorts so far. Might change if we learn more about him, though.

Senegal put his hand on my shoulder again, and I didn’t stop him.

Fuck off, dude.

As a group, we approached the side of the building where two larger guys were standing guard. They noted the elastic bands that Lisa and Minor wore, handed each a red elastic, and then waved them through.

Well, that was easy.

“They’re with us,” Lisa spoke, gesturing towards the rest of us.  The guy gave Senegal and I the go ahead to pass, and I took the offered rubber band and pulled it around my wrist.  The second we were clear, I brushed Senegal’s hand from my shoulder.  He smirked at me in response.

Yeah, yeah, smirk it up.

“No faggots,” the other man spoke.

Dammit. I knew this might be an issue, yet I somehow didn’t see this coming.

I guess Brooks and Jaw can’t be together here after all. They’ll have to remain star-crossed lovers.

…incidentally, this is why I initially suggested Minor and Senegal as the third couple (I’m not sure if I did that explicitly, but I at least did it implicitly) – as they’re two of the more intimidating guys, that might dissuade comments like this.

Trash cans had been dragged into place around the mall, and burned with an acrid smell of melted plastic and rancid meat.

Ew.

Countless Merchants had gathered, some perching on piles of trash or rubble as lookouts, and it seemed like everyone was striving to be heard over the music that blared from the countless speakers that were set up in and around the mall.

I bet their music is terrible too.

Overall, this arrangement sounds a lot like some sort of awful rave so far.

Not every set of speakers was playing the same music, or even the same kinds of music.

Oh wow. Going a bit hogwartsy, eh?

The blend of a half-dozen techno, dance and rap tracks devolved into a single grating, uneven noise.

Yeeah. I think I’m winning that bet, regardless of the quality of the individual tracks.

Leviathan’s attack and the waves had done a huge amount of damage to the shopping center, and it seemed like the Merchants had interrupted the efforts to shore it up and rebuild.  

Oh yeah, I remember the mall’s last appearance, besides the previous chapter, being when Taylor took note of it while chasing after Leviathan.

Construction equipment had been left behind and bore the decorations of the same hooligans that had hotwired and taken them for their own use.

I’m not sure I want to know what the Merchants do with this sort of equipment.

The bulldozer closest to me had been spray painted in hues of purple, blue and red, and it had bras, children’s toys and defaced flags strung around it, among other things.

This poor bulldozer…

Clothes racks from one of the clothing stores in the mall had been tied crudely to the scoop and the jutting parts had been clubbed into rough points, as if they thought they could use the vehicle to run into people and impale them. 

Eesh. Custom assault vehicles, sort of.