Runner

by Samantha Lau

  He ran through slippery tunnels and stairs until he reached an exit, and from there, straight out on the busy streets.

  “There! Back there!” he heard someone call.

  Something buzzed past him. A shot missed him by an inch. People on the streets screamed and yelled and tried to get out of danger’s way.

  Oren pulled out a gun he’d hidden on the back of his waist, did a half turn, and skidded sideways behind the nearest object that might provide him some cover, shooting blindly as he did. There he took a breather and launched into a run once again.

  Shots fired. Some to him, some, he thought, towards these men. But whomever they’d pissed off came down soon enough, if the cry of pain he soon heard was anything to go by.

  Shit. He had to get these men off his back if he wanted to get to Wei. A hover car nearly ran him over. He jumped over its hood and took cover behind it to briefly fire back again. One of his pursuers went down, but in that glimpse he saw no blue to their dark clothes. Not police then. Then West Tower? It had to be. They must have been monitoring Wei’s parents... He should have known. Damn it. Dhani and Jun...

  He ran once more. Pushing past people, squeezing through alleys, shops, back doors. Was he still being followed? Back on the streets, on one of the alleys, he paused, taking cover behind a wall. His breathing heavy, his heart racing; he took a moment and peered out on the streets. He couldn’t hear or see the men, nor did he hear shots.

  He had to get back to Wei.

  He turned around... right into searing pain and darkness.

  ***

  “Now, who do we have here?”

  Oren’s lids felt heavy as he tried to open his eyes. He had to blink them twice to be able to focus his sight. He looked first at the blue haired man before him, then feeling something hard cutting into his wrists, looked up to see the cuffs holding him up. He wriggled his feet. He couldn’t feel the floor below them, but he couldn’t be too far in the air, after all, he was just above eye level with the blue haired man.

  Before Oren could look down, the man grasped at his face, forcing Oren to look at him.

  “No, you will look at me when I speak.”

  Oren grunted in response and tried to shake his face out of that grip. In response to this he felt something blunt jab hard at his side. His body seized, spasming as he gasped, pain searing through him. The display on his eye fizzled briefly, the fingers of his burnt hand twitched uncontrollably. The stun cane was messing with his mods.

  “Where is Zhao Wei?”

  “How... would I know?” Oren asked, muscles still spasming slightly from the hit.

  “You recorded him,” the man said, “And you’re the one who sent the message to his parents.”

  Oren gathered that they’d not only intercepted the message – which he hoped would have still made it to the Zhao’s inbox – but also watched it. However, they had still not figured out where Wei was, which meant they – or at least Wei – had a chance.

  “So?” he asked, panting. “I’s a runner, I deliver shit... I ain’t gotta know what’s ‘bout.”

  Another hit of the cane, his body seizing again, his head felt like it would explode. He gasped and twitched once more. This time the shock was followed by a punch to his ribs, and another to his face, jaw cracking.

  He let a soft whimper and coughed up a bit.

  “So you plead ignorance?”

  Oren’s breath shuddered, the coppery taste on his mouth said he was bleeding from somewhere. He spat blood to the side, “’the fuck are you ‘nyway?”

  “You can call me West.”

  “Original,” Oren drawled. This time he got the sting of a hard slap across his face for his cheek.

  “Where is Zhao Wei?”

  “Whadda ya want from him?”

  “I ask the questions here.” The blue haired man nodded, and again Oren was zapped.

  He let out a soft cry this time, every new shock sending his mods on a fritz.

  “Sunova – Even if... I knew... wouldn’t hand ‘im... to terrorist sunova bitch like ya.”

  “West Tower fights for people like you, Oren.” West said. Obviously he’d informed himself, not that Oren expected otherwise. “The destitute. The people forgotten by the Sky City officials. Those pushed to live beneath the clouds and work in favor of those up there, seeing no gain while they party and waste their wealth-”

  “Spare me,” Oren gasped. He’d heard that speech before from West Tower recruiters. They had some reason to their words, but their ways of dealing with things – always with violence – left a lot to be desired. Oren could agree with their ideals, but he could not agree with their means.

  The man watched him carefully, frowning. “Ah, I see. Are you worried we’ll hurt that perfect face of his? They sure make them pretty up there, don’t they? But don’t worry. Don’t you see it’s in our best interest he’s in one piece? At least... until they open the doors...”

  Oren didn’t answer. West frowned. Another sharp sting sent pain through his body. This time his hand continued twitching lightly even after the shock cane was pulled away.

  “I don’t know!” He cried, glaring. “I recorded ‘im!” he admitted “Then he left. Was taken-” he panted. “Dunno where, man! My only job- ah!” the zap of the stun cane was longer this time. “I... don’t know!”

  “We’ll see about that...” West said, nodding to someone Oren couldn’t see.

  A plastic bag was quickly put over his head. Oren gasped and thrashed.

  Chapter 7

  Wei was starting to get restless. How long had it been since Oren had gone out? He’d said he wouldn’t be long, yet it felt like it’d been hours already. It was hard to tell the passing of time in that place, more so indoors. Wei had tried to stay away from the windows, but a few times he’d peered out, hoping to find that orange head in the crowd below.

  He’d finally given up and gone to lay down for a little bit when he heard it. It sounded like something, or someone, was at the door. But the door didn’t open. Wei quickly got to his feet and reached for the gun. He waited to see if it was Oren, if he would announce himself as promised, but the scraping sound continued, and then two loud thuds. Someone was trying to break the door down.

  Heart racing, he slipped in the closet as he’d been told. Switch, switch, switch... where was the switch? His hands desperately felt near the top of the wall for the promised switch. He whimpered. His fingers found it at last – a round button that he pressed at once. As hoped the door slid open behind him, and he scrambled through to the narrow opening, barely in time before the sliding door shut again. Trembling, he rushed down the stairs. Somewhere in the middle of the way he stopped short. What if the people were outside too? What if it was safer there? He waited, shaking, palms sweating, breathing heavy. He heard the door a few floors above him sliding open and ran. He heard someone shout, he couldn’t understand what they said, he only knew it had not been Oren’s deep voice.

  Down several flights of stairs he found the door to the outside. It wasn’t a sliding door as above but a simple metal door. He tried to open it but it wouldn’t budge. In the dark and in panic, it took him a moment to spot the old-fashion lock on the inside. He undid the latch. He had to be careful, he knew he had to be careful, but his feet carried him and he burst out, and straight into a stun cane. He cried as the electricity ran through his body, weakening him, and fell into someone’s arms. A punch to the face sent him into oblivion.

  ***

  His eyes opened, slowly. His jaw was sore, his body too, but that soreness he’d already grown accustomed to. Remembering the last moments before he’d blacked out, Wei lifted his head to look around. The building he was in was as run down and dirty as the first one he’d seen when waking in that horrible underworld. Like that time, he was greeted with the sight of orange hair. Unlike that time, said orange haired man was now hanging from cuffs from a slightly bent iron rod coming out of a broken concrete beam, which protruded from the caved in ceiling
. His head hung limp. His torso was bare, revealing a large, bright tattoo of a full lion wrapping over his ribcage, around half his body. He was bruised and bleeding and looked like he’d been hit quite a bit. His feet dangled just above the ground. The shadows cast by the lousy lighting near the door made everything look even worse, even those bruises.

  Wanting to reach him, Wei tried to get up, and found his arms tied behind him, and his legs tied to the chair’s legs. He looked around, but there was no one in sight in that room.

  “Oren,” he whispered, sending little looks towards the nearby door, half expecting someone to come in if he was too loud. But the whisper accomplished nothing, so he tried a bit louder. “Oren!!”

  A soft sound came from the other. Wei sighed in relief, body sagging on the chair. Thank God, he was alive...

  “Oren...”

  “Hn...” Oren’s eyes opened, lids heavy. He blinked them a few times, lifted his head as if it weighted tons. His eyes found Wei’s. “Shit... they found ya.”

  Wei pursed his lips at the man’s looks. Not even his face had been spared. The amount of bruises sent a shiver down his spine.

  “I’m sorry.” He whispered. “I tried to run but... they were waiting.”

  Oren cursed in Chinese and looked around – to the door, to the broken ceiling leading to another floor, to the run-down room. He took a few deep breaths, wincing with each, and Wei saw the muscles on his arms bulge slightly as the man tried to pull himself up. He continued to watch, agape, as Oren began swaying his feet for impulse, let the cuffs cut into his skin as he swung back and forth, higher each time, until he was finally able to bring his legs up to the concrete beam. His first attempt failed, and he slipped with a gasp. The next, a foot found purchase on it – just enough to leverage his body and unhook the cuffs from the iron rod, which caused him to drop with a heavy thud. Again, Oren gasped and grimaced.

  “Are you okay?”

  Oren glared. “Do I look okay?” he grumbled as he pushed himself to kneel first. He paused, closed his eyes briefly and took a deeper breath, bracing himself for something. Wei winced as he heard a loud crack followed by a small grunt. Oren gritted his teeth, but he couldn’t quite hold back the call. “Fuck.”

  By the time Wei’s gaze found where the cracking had come from, Oren was already slipping a hand out of the cuff. Broken or dislocated? He wasn’t sure, but it’d obviously been painful. With a swift move and a grunt of pain, Oren snapped the thumb back into position. He let a shuddering breath.

  Wei swayed slightly, queasy at the mere thought.

  Oren stood, a little shakily first. The cuffs were still hanging from one wrist. He came to Wei, reaching to undo the ties on his legs, moving behind him to deal with his hands next. Wei realized, by the feel, he was likely in cuffs as well.

  “Wait-!” he gasped, thinking Oren might dislocate his thumb too, but whatever Oren did, he took his time and soon the cuffs were fully off him. His arms no longer restrained, he gave them a light shake, trying hard to ignore the sharp stabbing from his earlier wound and the burning pain from the punch. Soreness coursed through his body.

  “Quiet now,” Oren said, motioning for Wei to stay behind him. He could only obey.

  Though he had assumed Oren would lead them to the doorway, he instead quietly brought the chair closer to the beam he’d been hanging from. Those muscles went back into action, not heeding to the pain Wei could only assume he was feeling, and the man used the beam to prop himself up and peer on the floor above. He dropped back down quickly and reached for Wei.

  “Up ya go.” He whispered.

  Wei pursed his lips, took a deep breath and, trying his best to ignore the pain and not make any loud sounds, reached out for Oren to help him on the chair, then boost him up until he’d climbed to the other floor. Despite the bullet wound still sending sharp pain down to his hand, he grasped for Oren and helped pull him up in turn when the man followed, trying his best not to let him slip from the sweat.

  Oren waved a hand to signal he should stay low, brought a finger to his lips, and beckoned.

  Wei watched the way he kept his core low to the ground, how he walked with the weight mostly on his toes; he tried his best to imitate him. It was... surprising. Oren was surprising. Wei wouldn’t have known what to do had Oren not been there. He would have probably freaked out by now without him. Yet there Oren was. It didn’t quite seem like this was something that happened often to him, and yet he was keeping his wits about him. How did he do it? It was admirable. Oren was admirable.

  They scurried towards a doorway. Oren looked out, then snapped his head back. He held a finger up and Wei understood the signal: wait. Oren crossed first. Trying to imitate Oren’s previous care, he looked out too. Oren was in the room across. He held a palm up to stop him, his gaze somewhere far down the corridor. The sound of heavy steps got louder, making Wei fear they’d end up separated, but it then faded away. Someone was patrolling. When Oren beckoned him, Wei hurried across to where he was, barely holding back from clinging to him.

  Oren took a brief moment to wrap an arm around him, giving his back a little rub, then once more led the way, this time to a window, the glass long since broken. He looked out, switched to a second window in similar conditions, and this time put half his body out as he looked around. A moment later, he was climbing out.

  Wei gasped and grabbed his arm, pulling. Oren gave a warning look. Wei pouted and looked on in worry as the man found his footing... and motioned for him to follow. Wei looked out. Oren was standing on a fine ledge. Small bits of rubble seemed to come off when Oren moved. That thing looked like it would not hold the weight of a bird, let alone two grown men. Several feet below, the floor of a narrow alley. Across, just beyond arm’s reach, a building as dreary and abandoned as the current one. Wei’s gaze went back up to his companion and he shook his head energetically.

  Now Oren glared. He let go of his handhold briefly and empathically motioned for him to follow.

  Wei again shook his head, glaring in turn, body shaking.

  “Ya wanna die?” Oren hissed lowly.

  “I’ll die if I get out there.” Wei matched his tone, frowning.

  “Get the fuck out here.”

  Wei pursed his lips. He leaned out, gulped at the height, and tried to back away. Oren’s cold hand grasped at his arm and prevented him from getting far.

  “Bǎobǎo,” he whispered, mismatched gaze fixed on his. “I won’t let ya fall.”

  For the longest moment, Wei looked into those strange, honest eyes. He looked back over his shoulder at the entrance, hearing the echoing of heavy shoes, still far, but for how long? He looked back out and whimpered. No choice. With Oren’s help, he climbed out and onto the ledge, hands gripping the window frame.

  “Don’t look down.” Oren whispered, keeping a hold on his arm.

  He couldn’t help a brief glare at him, as the remark had very nearly made him look down again. His legs were like jelly, he was afraid they would suddenly stop supporting him. Both his feet found the ledge, he felt more than heard the slight crunching of dirt particles grinding against each other, under his sole. The ledge was slippery with the grime.

  “Easy,” Oren instructed, and slowly and carefully started scooting sideways. Wei had little choice but to follow... once he could get his body to move. Shakily, step after step, body glued to the wall, trying to grasp at whatever nook and cranny the building wall offered, which weren’t that many.

  “That’s it, ya doing great,” Oren whispered. “Just slow n’ easy. We almost there bǎobǎo.”

  Wei thought he should complain about the pet name, but truth was... it was a little easing.

  From within the building, Wei heard the screams of alarm. Someone had gone check on them, someone had found them gone. Someone was going to find them. He whimpered, foot slipping briefly.

  Oren’s hand was on his arm at once to steady him.

  “Shhh,” Oren soothed. “Shh, ’s a’ight. We almost there.” />
  Almost there? Almost where? Wei tried to look around, swayed as he had no room for such action. Again, Oren’s firm hand pushed his body back flat against the wall before he could fall. Wei trembled.

  “Look at me!” Oren hissed, trying to keep his volume low. His gaze locked with Wei’s again. “Only me. Ok?”

  Wei nodded lightly. Only him. He kept his gaze on Oren even when the man looked away. They scooted until they were at level with... something. Wei didn’t dare look back.

  Oren paused. “Lissen. Don’t be scared. Just stay still, ok? Don’t be scared,” he repeated.

  It only frightened Wei more, but he nodded again, pupils wide. His gaze firmly on Oren, he watched as the man looked back behind him, lowered his weight just a bit and, in what looked like an impossible thing to do, took impulse and jumped backwards.

  Wei gasped, not daring look back to see where he was jumping to or if he’d made it. He grasped more to the wall, closing his eyes with a whimper. But he heard a soft clang, and then shuffling, and tried to assume that meant Oren had made it to some sort of safety.

  “Scoot over a bit more,”

  Though he was shaking, Wei tried to do so, not even daring open his eyes.

  “There, good. Jump back.”

  Wei froze. Had he lost his mind?

  Slowly, carefully, he turned his head to look back. Oren was standing on what was left of an old-style, now rusted metal fire escape balcony. He snapped his gaze back to the wall, flattening himself more to it. The thing he was standing on didn’t look sturdy at all, but it did look sturdier and safer than the ledge. But jump? How could he jump? He was just going to fall!

  The yelling from inside the building became louder.

  Oren’s voice pressed him on, his urgency obvious. “Jump back, I’ll catch ya. Bǎobǎo, please, I promise ya. C’mon, we ain’t got time.”

  Wei closed his eyes, took a deep breath. Took another deep breath. Took a third deep breath. He tried to jump back and turn in the process, so he could find purchase somewhere. He must have missed his mark, having only done a half-turn after all, his side hit something hard and metal and he whimpered, but as promised, a large hand grasped his arm, and a strong arm wrapped around under his own almost at once, pulling him up to Oren’s warmth; then, quickly inside the new building and to the side, away from the window, and to safety.