At four thirty in the morning, Lena yawned as she pushed her cleaning cart and long broom down the street.
She was responsible for cleaning two nearby blocks. It was hard work, and she did not like it, but it was the best job the Community Service Team had found for her. The pay was low, but it was enough to feed her and her three children and cover the rent, keeping the landlord from throwing them out.
Rumble...
The wheels rolled over the asphalt. It was still dark, but Lena was not worried about her safety. The East End Police Department was at the end of this street. Few people dared cause trouble here...
Huh?
She rubbed her eyes, wondering whether she was seeing things. Beneath the streetlight ahead, something hung from the lamp arm. Was that... a person?
Every streetlight along the street was lit, and a person hung beneath each one. Ropes bound their hands and secured them to the cast-iron ornamentation. Their toes hung a dozen centimeters or so above the ground, swaying gently in the wind like a row of meat dangling from hooks.
"Ah!"
Lena instinctively screamed and turned to run. But at that very instant, she clapped a hand over her mouth.
Oh my God, thank you for your blessing! Thank you for Gotham's bounty!
She turned back. Though she was still a little frightened, she could not hide her excitement as she approached the nearest human rain-doll cosplayer.
The man let out a faint groan.
Lena looked up. He was not dead after all. He looked about sixty, with graying hair, a black cloak wrapped around him, and a strange mask hanging from his neck. Several cuts split his face and the corners of his mouth. The blood had clotted but had