Runner

by Samantha Lau

  He broke into a run to the nearest docking station, away from the police and from the man calling his name. The man ran after him. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught another one joining in on the chase. He burst through the doors that led to the vehicles, pushed a man who’d been about to get into a pod, and slipped into it in their stead. “So sorry! It’s an emergency!”

  The man glared, muttering something Wei didn’t hear, as the door of the pod closed, and he activated it to take off. He looked back out of a window in time to see the two men that had ran after him reconvene with the two guards, and point towards pods.

  Turning back to the onboard computers, Wei pressed the communicator to the screen. It flickered and read briefly: “hold on”, then it went dark.

  The pod continued in the same direction for a moment longer. Wei looked back again. A pod was following.

  Suddenly, his vehicle darted downwards. Wei gasped as he’d not secured himself with seatbelts, and grasped for the ceiling, trying to hold on, somehow. He panted heavily as through the tinted windows he saw the thick clouds approaching, making it seem like he might crash against them. He closed his eyes.

  ***

  The constant sound of dripping water woke him. Oren’s mismatched gaze opened to an overly familiar concrete gray ceiling – the type found on the outskirts of the city.

  He laid on the hard floor for a moment, taking account of his situation. Last he remembered he’d been shot. He brought his hand up to his shoulder, frowning, but could feel no wound, just a sting. Sedative, then? Probably, he recalled Zhao Gui saying something about a favor. Fucking bastard.

  A gust of strong wind distracted him, making him shiver. It carried drops of freezing water that felt like tiny stings on his face and hands. Oren pushed himself to sit up, feeling a little queasy. He looked around at the room he was in. Most the walls were in one piece, but they had plenty of cracks, and the openings – such as the threshold were once a door had been, and the window – were crumbled. He slowly pushed himself up to stand, and tried to approach the crumbling window. He reached out to lean against the wall, but misjudged how far it was and stumbled into it instead.

  Shit, right. His enhanced eye... He gripped the wall, thankful he’d not outright fallen out of the window, for as soon as he looked out, his heart dropped. He could barely see the ground, and it wasn’t just because of the fine, heavy rain falling. How far up had they left him? And more importantly, how the fuck was he going to get down? He looked up, the clouds high above, too, not that he would have tried to go back up.

  He turned away from the outside, resting his back against the wall, bringing his hands up to his head. He ran his fingers through orange strands, and ended up tugging at them when his arm spasmed.

  “Fuck!”

  He turned around and punched the damp concrete wall. Not his greatest idea to date – now that hurt, too.

  Did Wei know he’d been taken away? Or did he think he’d abandoned him?

  His next curse was in Chinese, and though hitting the wall had proven ineffective and painful, he did it again, twice more, each one accompanied by a new curse. Having expanded that extra energy and frustration, he sighed.

  “Well, ain’t no way ‘round it.” He told himself, and pulled back.

  Slowly, trying to regain proper perception of where things were, and trying not to run into any wall, he tried to find his way to either stairs or elevator shafts, any way he could start making his way down. He expected not all of them would be in one piece. No one came this high up, this far out. He was going to have to get creative.

  ***

  Wei opened one eye first, afraid of what he’d find. Then he opened the other. Slowly, as he realized he was past the clouds, no longer heading straight down but rather making his leisurely way to an uninhabited area of the city, his muscles relaxed. He released his death grip on the ceiling of the pod, and his legs eased. Little water droplets were pattering against the windows, and Wei leaned in, watching with curiosity. It looked like when the automatic waterers went off on the greenery of the terraces, but it was coming from the clouds. He’d read about this. Rain. He’d never experienced it before, having no such thing above the clouds.

  He leaned back in his seat, and clung a little to his bag instead. How was he going to find this Squealing Pig place? How was he going to find Oren? He just hoped he wouldn’t get lost there. Could he perhaps ask for directions? Everyone had looked threatening down there, but...

  Though he’d been warned they’d lose contact under the clouds, Wei still tried his luck.

  “Jun?”

  No answer. He held tighter to the bag and waited. The pod landed safely, power turning off as soon as the door had opened. Wei climbed out, careful. The water droplets were freezing against his skin. He let an involuntary gasp, considered staying inside the pod, then thought best of it and decided he didn’t have the time. He had to find Oren and make sure he was alright. It was no time to be a coward about a little cold water falling from the sky. He shouldered his bag and headed into the city.

  Though his white clothes stood out against the either colorful or dark clothes everyone else wore, Wei tried to keep his head down and, for now, go by as unnoticed as he could. He drew eyes, though, both his clothes and his looks too different not to. Those white and gray clothes had long since stopped resisting the rain and were now soaking, sticking to his skin. He trembled, hastening his pace to try and keep some warmth in him.

  A spark of light drew his attention up. A few more people looked up at the lightning as well. A few seconds later, a loud thunderous sound followed. It made Wei shiver, it felt ominous. More than one person must have felt it too, for people scurried faster down the streets, in a hurry to get to their destinations.

  Wei tried to keep his attention on the signs around the city. They were so many, all so bright. Screens boomed with music and colorful videos. Neon signs blinked in an attempt to attract people. Such an overwhelming city...

  Right in front of Wei, a hologram popped up. Wei gasped and jumped back, having not expected to come face to face with a life-size scantily clad woman.

  “Wanna have a g-g-good time baby?” the hologram called, making suggestive gestures. “Wanna s-s-s-squeal like a pig? Just follow the l-l-lights. I’m waitin’.” The hologram blew a kiss and winked, starting her ad again, this time without skipping. “Wanna have a good time baby? Just follow the arrow, I’m waitin’.” She blew another kiss.

  Wei stared. Then he looked around. There was an arrow pointing to a business nearby, but that was definitely not the message he was interested in following. Follow the lights? The place was just lights!

  Just as he was starting to lose hope, he noticed them. A series of neon signs. They blinked off and on, sequentially. They seemed to be leading the way.

  Another loud thunder made Wei jump a second time. People were now running to get out of the streets. Wei joined in with the crowd. He ran, following the blinking neon lights. Street after street, through a creepy dark alley and back into the neon-lit streets, until he finally came in front of a blinking pink neon sign that read Squealing Pig.

  Wei let out a shuddering breath, and tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. Inside it looked rather dark. He took a couple steps back to look up at the tall building, then around. Was it closed? He neared the door and banged on it. No answer. He banged again. And then one last time.

  Rain started to fall harder. It covered the sound of steps coming from the alley by the Squealing Pig.

  Wei tried to look through the dirty windows of the establishment, until a hand grasped at his wet jacket and pulled him backwards, making him stumble and cry out in fear.

  “Shush you little wuss!” The woman called over the rain, “Come on!”

  Wei turned back to find the doc. His features brightened despite the cold and rain, and he tried to hug her, so very happy to see a familiar face.

  She held her hands up to keep him at bay. “Whoa, whoa! Just f
ollow me already.”

  Wei followed, they went around the alley, to a door towards the back. “Where’s Oren?”

  She looked at him over her shoulder, pausing, then opened the door for him. “I was going to ask you the same thing.”

  Wei frowned. “He’s... he’s not here?”

  “Get inside,” She ordered, giving his shoulder a nudge. He heard her follow inside, close and latch the door.

  In a narrow, badly lit corridor, she hurried past him, already quite wet from the rain, shaking some water off her hands as she went. He followed her to a door further ahead and to the familiar operating room he’d been in once before. One of her computer screens read: Tell Oren he owes me.

  “Oh, he’ll hear about it,” She mumbled upon reading that, turning back to Wei.

  “Where’s Oren?” they said in unison.

  “I thought he’d be with you!” Again, at the same time.

  Wei watched her, just as she watched him back. “Wasn’t he taking you home?”

  He pursed his lips, looking away. Water dripped from his hair and clothes. Though he was no longer outside, he was still trembling, the damp clothes cold. “He did.”

  “Why are you here, then?” She demanded, exasperated.

  “Oren was with me-”

  “Up there?” Her brows rose, but Wei ignored her.

  “-and then they took him away, to bring him back here. We got split. I couldn’t leave him alone...” he trailed off, knowing it sounded ridiculous. As if Wei were trying to save him from a place Oren clearly knew like the back of his hand. As if he could. He couldn’t even save himself. “His mods were failing... I thought he’d come to you.”

  She frowned in turn, pursing her lips. “He didn’t, not yet. How did you get here?”

  “Something... someone? Said they were ‘Jun’. They helped me hack a pod to remove the restric-.”

  “Oh, you stupid boy...” She sighed. “You brought a pod here? And you left it?”

  “On the outskirts of the city...” Wei frowned. “Look, I don’t care about the pod, I-”

  “Then how will you get back home when it’s taken away? Because it will! The Reapers will be all over that thing!” She demanded.

  Wei threw his arms up. “I’m not! I just want to find Oren, alright?” He sniffled. “I need to find him.”

  Her gaze lingered on him for a long moment, then she sighed again, taking pity.

  “Where did you leave the pod?”

  “I- I don’t know,” Wei frowned “Somewhere just outside the city?”

  She hesitated, then said. “Alright, look... it’s been a few exhausting days for you, no doubt. I have a spare room,” She motioned him back towards the door they had come in through. “Just... let’s get you changed into something dry, there’s no use going out when it storms like this. And then... we’ll try to figure out where Oren is, okay?”

  Wei sniffled again, rubbing his eyes briefly, but nodding. He followed her to the corridor, and to one of the doors opposite her practice. It opened to a room no bigger than his bathroom in Taizhou, with a simple closet, several stacked plastic boxes, and a cot. There was no window, but up near the ceiling there was a palm-sized vent to the outside. Wei dropped his bag by the cot, it fell with a grossly wet noise; it wasn’t designed to withstand rain.

  “Oren’s stayed here a few times in the past, so there should still be some of his clothes-”

  Three loud bangs made both of them jump. They were coming from the backdoor.

  The doc frowned; Wei watched her take a step outside his room, hesitate. There was silence for a moment, then three more bangs. “Doc!”

  “Oren!” Wei followed her towards the backdoor.

  ***

  Oren limped down the now mostly empty streets of Dimian. There was only one time when streets in that city were empty, and that was when the storms came. No one wanted to be caught in the freezing rain, and no one wanted the off chance of some light acidic rain on them either. Oren was spared the latter, but he was soaked from head to toe and freezing cold.

  The way down the building had felt like an eternity. He’d slipped, fallen, walked into a column, and barely avoided certain death a couple times. He was exhausted. Even for a runner, it felt like he’d not caught a break in well over a week, though it hadn’t been that long... had it?

  No. It hadn’t. His only solace was that Wei was safe at home... or so he hoped. Certainly, that Gui guy was not to be trusted after what he’d done to him. But things had to be taken care of in order. If he was to do anything about Gui, or about trying to make sure Wei was alright, then he’d first had to be in decent enough shape – and limping down the streets of Dimian while it was pouring frozen hell on him was not precisely it.

  He made his way to the Squealing Pig and limped his way down to the back door. His enhanced arm had seized up somewhere on the fifteenth level of the building and would now not allow him to move his fingers. It hurt like a motherfucking bitch, and so he kept it to his chest, fingers cramped in the most uncomfortable position. He lifted his good arm to knock hard on the door, resting it against it, his head against the arm.

  He knew she had to be home, she was always home... but no answer came. He gave it a moment, then straightened and knocked again, grimacing. Maybe if she knew it was him, she’d open. “Doc!”

  The rain prevented him from hearing if there were steps coming on the other side of the door. He leaned his arm and head back against it, tired.

  The door opened with more force than he’d been expecting, hitting his face and pushing him backwards. He cursed in Chinese. It’d just been a day of terrible choices...

  “Come in!” She pulled him inside, closing the door after them, locking it.

  Out of nowhere, Wei, as soaked as he was, tackled him to the wall. His arms wrapped around him, tight. Oren froze. Had the latest head smack made him lose it or...? He licked his lips and lowered his good hand tentatively to Wei’s back. No, he was definitely there.

  “Wei? Wei, Wei- wait,” he frowned, grabbed his arm a little harder than he’d intended to given Wei’s sound of complaint, and pushed him back. “Wei? The fuck ya doin’ here? How did ya-? Why?”

  Wei frowned up at him, watching his face carefully, as if not understanding. “I came for you.”

  “But yo was safe!” Oren said, giving him a gentle shake.

  “I wasn’t-” Wei’s gaze lowered and took notice of his arm. “Are you alright?”

  “I’s not!” Oren said, voice going a little higher as he was quite exasperated. He let go of Wei, grasping a little to the wall instead. He half turned to the doc. “Imma need the good stuff doc.”

  She snorted, reaching for him to place an arm under his good one. “Good stuff coming up, Oren. Don’t you worry. We’ll take good care of you.”

  Wei tried to help too. Oren didn’t fight them. He let them take him to the practice, limping along, and between all three of them got him settled back on the dentist-chair.

  The doc went into doc-mode at once and grabbed his arm, making him wince as he forced it off his chest to try and check it.

  “The eye too, it was bothering him,” Wei tattled.

  Oren huffed. “Lost sight in it. Least it ain’t giving me a headache no more.”

  “It was giving you a headache?” Wei asked, looking even more worried, if it was at all possible.

  “Look, Wei,” the doc said, eyeing him. “I’m gonna have to deal with this one, and you can’t be here. I don’t want you puking all over my carpet or fainting the second you see blood. Alright? So just go get changed like I said and stay there. He’ll be fine, I’ll go see you when I’m done here.”

  Wei shook his head. “I want to help.”

  “Hon, I know you want to help, but-”

  “Go,” Oren said softly, reaching briefly for Wei’s hand and squeezing it. “Go. Imma see ya after a lil’ nap, kay?”

  Wei hesitated, then leaned in, pressing a kiss to his lips; Oren responded at once, press
ing his lips back.

  “Go.”

  Wei did, leaving the room with a last look back.

  Oren waited until the door had closed to let out a shuddering breath. “What’s he doin’ ‘ere doc?”

  “That’s what happens when you pick up strays.” She said with a snort, turning to fetch something from her desk. Oren couldn’t see what, her body blocking it. She turned back moments later with a filled syringe. “I’m going to have to put you under.”

  Oren nodded, but when she was about to pinch him, lifted his head. “Wait-”

  She glared “What?”

  “Just... tell ‘im I ain’t mad, kay? Jus’ worried.”

  “Tell him yourself,” she dug the needle on his arm and plunged the contents in his veins.

  Oren let out a soft “Oohh,” as his muscles relaxed and his vision blurred once again. Losing consciousness twice in a day wasn’t particularly nice, but at least this one he was getting things fixed... hopefully.

  ***

  Wei went back to the room as told, huffing. He understood why he was sent away, but he didn’t like it. He wanted to help, he wasn’t going to faint at the sight of blood! He was a genetic engineer! But he understood this was a bit out of his depth, and anyway, even if he’d been a doctor, they said you shouldn’t operate on family and friends.

  Alright, maybe he was trying to give himself excuses now not to be upset at having been kicked out.

  The best course of action would be to obey and not catch his death from a measly cold. He went to the closet and opened it. There was a handful of clothes. Giving the various sizes, he wasn’t sure they were all Oren’s, but he still took some pants and a shirt that were somewhat closer to his size to put on, thinking it was best not to question who they’d belonged to, and if they’d even been washed.

  The warmer clothes helped lift his mood a bit, but worry about Oren still ate away at him. Was he really going to be alright? Before he’d realized it, his feet had taken him back to the door to her practice. She wouldn’t be pleased if he interrupted, and besides, he didn’t want to distract her and risk hurting Oren in the process. He paced, went back to the room, and eventually laid down on the cot. He looked at the lackluster ceiling, closed his eyes, created a mental map of how chromosomes related to one another, recited mnemonics, got up, paced, and did it all again.