Grayson Ryder: A Thief's Thrill

by M. L. Giles

  He agreed.

  Later that same day, I got a very angry call on that mobile from someone’s mother demanding I “return the stolen phone”. I tried to explain that it wasn’t stolen, that it belonged to my friend, Eddie, who had let me borrow it for the day.

  It’s pretty obvious where this is going, right? I was wrong.

  The phone had some weird tracking software on it, resulting in the police knocking at my parents’ door. When I explained the situation, no one believed me. Even Eddie said I was lying.

  I forgave Eddie sometime after that, mostly to heal the rift in our gang at the time. As the year went on, we wanted to keep upping the stakes by stealing bigger, more important stuff. So, we arranged a friendly competition: whoever could sneak out of a supermarket with the most expensive items would be considered the best in the group!

  Eddie fucked it all up… He got caught, then tried to make a deal by telling the security guards more of us were stealing in the store at that very moment.

  I ended up at the front door of my parents’ home, with the police by my side.

  As a form of punishment, I was taken to the police station by my parents. They had me locked up for a while to show me where my life was going. It was some kind of fear tactic to get me to stop stealing.

  Naturally, it didn’t work.

  All it made me realize, as I sat in a holding cell for half an hour, were two very important lessons: don’t get caught and don’t work with others.

  Those were the last lessons I learned before my parents died in an accident, and my big sister had to take over.

  Gloria knew me. She knew who I was – why I did the things I did. Although my sister never liked it, she never forcefully tried to change me. Her only wish was that I got a normal job, but she never once tried to stop me from stealing.

  She was the only one I needed in my life back then. Friends, gangs, teams, all of them can let you down. Gloria never did.

  Apart from her, I was a lone wolf. And that’s just the way I liked it. The only reason I stuck with Wendy and Thomas was because I didn’t want to go nuts with loneliness after Gloria died… Although the two did somewhat grow on me.

  That being said, those were my thoughts that night while mulling over the idea working in a “team”. The very prospect didn’t thrill me. But if leading a team of people into a hospital filled with fire freaks was my only option to have things my way, so be it.

  I mean, how bad could they really be? All I’ve seen them do so far is stab a man to death in a playground!

  Chapter 5

  Surprises.

  Whiskey-Flavoured Kisses.

  Night came. I had spent the entire daylight period sleeping soundly in my room. It had been so very long since I was able to sleep during the day and remain awake at night.

  I like the dark. The shadows that cover your movements; the playful rustling of the leaves in the empty, quiet streets; the lack of people to pester me and, occasionally, the odd window that used to be left open.

  I do find myself missing the risks that came with a more populated England… These days it’s easy to break into a home when the only living creatures in there are insects or animals. No risk means no thrill, and no thrill means no point.

  One of my fondest memories was of climbing through a kitchen window when everyone was in bed. The house was so big! It looked exciting to me as a child. And no, I didn’t steal anything from them… not unless you count taking a bottle of orange juice from the fridge.

  Snooping around can be thirsty work.

  That night, as I lay in bed feeling well-rested, I had an urge. The same one I had when climbing through that kitchen window. I wanted to check out the places nearby. It wouldn’t be quite the same thrill as going to the hospital, but getting some in practice beforehand was better than doing nothing.

  Grabbing my dark gray clothing, I got dressed and tied my light brown hair back, before setting off for the underground parking lot to make my way outside for a bit of fun.

  The lobby was nice and quiet that evening. One person was sitting behind the desk, another asleep on the white sofa. One person, an elderly lady, walked past me carrying a box of supplies. She saw me and scowled slightly, probably unsure about this suspicious newcomer. In my tracksuit getup, I suppose I did look like trouble.

  I began making my way through the lobby, heading for the car park, when a familiar voice came from behind.

  “Goin’ somewhere, kid?” It was Colton’s ungodly deep voice.

  “As a matter of fact, yes, I was.” I turned around and, sure enough, there was a butt-chin with a man attached to it standing behind me. He looked sweaty in his black tank top, blue cargo shorts, and white trainers. A towel was around his neck, suggesting he had been exercising. “I was going outside to get some practice before the big event!”

  Colton pulled the white towel off his shoulders, dabbing the sweat off his forehead. “Rather you didn’t do that tonight.”

  “Oh? Why’s that?”

  “Wanted to introduce you to the team you’ll be workin’ with.”

  My disappointment was deep. I thought it would take longer for him to get a group sorted. Looks like I was wrong. “Hurray… Isn’t it a bit late, though? Why not wait until morning?”

  He flicked the towel back around his shoulders, letting it rest on his dripping neck. “This is my mornin’ time, kid. Carl takes the day shifts.”

  “That grumpy American I enjoy tormenting is in charge during the day? Well, shit. That’s not good news for me.”

  “Yeah. I run everythin’, but I can’t be around twenty-four-seven.” Colton turned around and started walking off. “You comin’?”

  “How adorable of you to give me the illusion of choice.”

  Colton chuckled as he kept walking to the reception desk. “Mary?” he said to the woman behind the desk. “Can you go get Tyrone, Carl, and Bethany? Tell ‘em to meet me in the bar.”

  The lady behind the reception desk nodded and went on her way.

  “A bar?” I asked. It had been so long since I’d had a proper drink. Alcohol was wildly sought after by survivors, making it hard to come by after a year. “Are the drinks on you, Colton?”

  “I wish, kid,” he sighed. “I wish.”

  Colton had led me to a large room with a fancy bar on one side, tables and chairs positioned around the room, and a squared wooden section in the middle of the room – probably a dance floor for the parties this place used to host. In the corner of the room sat a small, generator-powered light on a metal stand, dimly lighting the room up.

  We walked up to the bar. A lady, wearing a long, silky red dress with a slit down the side to show off her leg, was sitting on a stool. She was reading a book using the light of a single candle on the bar.

  “Hey, Pearl.” Colton greeted her as we approached. “Gonna be talkin’ business in here soon. Might wanna take that book elsewhere.”

  The lady in red closed her book shut with a slam before swivelling to face us. “Awww, party pooper… Oh! Who do we have here?”

  “This here’s Grayson. Grayson, this is Pearl.”

  Pearl got off her stool elegantly and waltzed towards me, swaying her perfectly shaped hips with each step, flicking her black hair behind one ear with a single finger while looking at me with deep, alluring eyes.

  She was sexy. At least she would be to a straight man.

  “Grayson? Lovely name,” she said as she approached me, getting way too close for my liking. “You have beautiful hair. Has anyone ever told you that?”

  I took a step back, feeling like my personal space was being invaded by her stroking a strand of my hair that was loose. “Yeah, I get called beautiful all the time.”

  “Oh my. It’s so very rare to meet someone as good looking as you.” Pearl spoke in the most seductive tone I had ever heard. “I’m in room fourteen if you ever need some… light relief. I do charge a small fee, though.”

  “…Of course you do,” I muttered.

/>   “Nothing heavy! Just a few supplies. But I might make an exception for you, Grayson. A little newcomer’s discount. Hmm?”

  I looked over at Colton. He was stifling a laugh, clearly enjoying seeing me suffer.

  As someone not interested in women, I felt obligated to let her down gently with my ever-charming words.

  “The last vagina I ever touched was my mother’s when she gave birth to me, and that number isn’t going up anytime soon. Thanks.”

  “Oh? …OH! You’re gay,” she said in a flat tone.

  Colton was laughing away beside me.

  Pearl’s face went bright red. She returned to the bar, scooped up her book, then left me and Colton alone in a hurry.

  “That’s gotta be a first,” he said. “You handled that situation tactfully, kid.”

  “Holy shit, that was uncomfortable. Is she always like that?” I asked.

  “Yeah. Pearl’s good for the morale of the boys round here. She puts a smile on their faces, if you catch my drift. We used to have a guy who did the same for the ladies and men, but he ain’t with us no more. It’s just Pearl now,” Colton explained while taking a seat on the same stool Pearl had been using.

  “Good for her. Now where are the drinks?”

  I climbed onto a stool, then hopped over the bar to begin my search.

  “Won’t find anythin’ back there,” Colton said. He wiped the sweat from under his armpits using the towel from around his neck.

  Unfortunately, the big guy was right. All the shelves were stripped bare, empty bottles had been moved into the cupboards under the shelves, even the taps were dry when I pulled the levers of each one in sequence.

  “Noooo!” I moaned, dramatically flopping the upper half of my body onto the bar in front of Colton. “You greedy bastards drank it all.”

  “Most of it was gone when we found this place,” he said. “Rest of it went towards medical stuff.”

  “MEDICAL?! Ugh, such a waste…” I made fake crying noises while my head was resting on the bar.

  “Cheer up, kid. Could be worse.”

  “How? How could it be worse?!”

  Everything suddenly went dark. I lifted my head up from off the bar and felt around my head. Colton had dropped his sweaty, smelly exercise towel on my head.

  Just as fast as he had plonked that thing on me, I launched it back at his face.

  “Jesus Christ, Colton!” I screamed. “Keep that thing away from me!”

  Colton peeled the towel off his face, laughing at his own antics.

  I admit, after the smell had dispersed, I also laughed.

  “What’s so funny?” Carl had walked in and spotted us laughing.

  “Carl!” I smoothed my hair back down from the ruffling of the towel attack. “What do you fancy? I can whip up a gin and tonic, maybe a mojito? Or would you like a pint of bitter? You know, to match your personality.”

  Carl sat down on the stool beside Colton, looking as happy as always to see me. “This is the second time I’ve seen you behind a place you aren’t meant to be. Are you looking for stuff to steal again?”

  “I’ve already stole all kinds of nice things from right under your noses,” I smirked. “Including one of those supersized dildos you think no one knows about.”

  “FUCK YOU!” Carl stood up with fist raised, taking aim at me. “I’m no faggot!”

  “HEY!” Colton bellowed, instantly causing Carl to lower his fist. “Calm down. He’s only playin’ around.”

  I blew Carl a kiss. “Yeah. I’m only playing, babe.”

  Just then, another two people walked in. One was Tyrone, wearing the same oily overalls he wore yesterday but with a new skull and bone bandana. The other person was a fairly muscular woman. She was tall, probably about the same height as me, with strong looking arms, and a well-defined set of abs on show below her gym bra. I loved her hairstyle; golden brown with shaved sides yet still long on top, flowing down one side of her head. It was nice to see I wasn’t the only one left with some vanity.

  “Gang’s all here,” said Colton. “Let’s get this meetin’ started.”

  The five of us sat around a table in the corner of the bar room, lit up by the glow of the dim generator light. The muscular woman was introduced to me as Bethany Seers: Colton’s gym buddy (unsurprisingly) and the muscle around here.

  She didn’t talk much, but when she did, Bethany sounded really feminine for one so buff. It was strangely cute to hear such a delicate voice coming from a she-hulk.

  Out of all of us, I felt out of place. Everyone seemed bulkier than me. I suppose when you live in this world, you either get tough or slink around in the shadows. I’m happy with my choice.

  Colton ran through all the details of what was coming up. Most of them were just recaps for my benefit. I didn’t really pay attention to any of it. Boredom had struck, making me tune out most of the conversation.

  There was some talk about Bethany having scouted the hospital out with another group, followed by something about the layout of the hospital… I don’t know. It was all dull, factual stuff.

  When you overplan an event, you take away from its fun factor. Granted, these people probably don’t see this as “fun”, like I do, but I’ve done this kind of stuff all my life just for the kicks it brought me.

  The longer everyone spoke about tactics, the more I wanted to prove to them that it wasn’t necessary. A single person, with experience and strong instincts, is far better than a group of inexperienced people that could make a wrong move.

  As my thoughts flowed, I started to think that sneaking out to this hospital alone was the better idea.

  “…son… Grayson!”

  “Huh?! What?!” I said, confused from suddenly hearing my name.

  Colton was looking right at me, as were Tyrone, Bethany, and Carl.

  “That sound good?” Colton asked from his seat beside me.

  I realized I had missed almost everything they had said, and now they were asking my opinion on something.

  “Oh. Yeah, that sounds good to me,” I lied.

  Colton gave me a funny look for a second before carrying on. “Great. Go get some rest everyone. An’ start gettin’ yourselves prepared. I’m talkin’ weapons, lights, tools an’ such. Got it?”

  We all nodded.

  “Anythin’ else before we wrap up?” Colton asked the group.

  Carl raised his hand momentarily. “Yeah, the new girl, Wendy, keeps asking to see Doctor Hugo. She wants to ask him about what happened last year. Is he still unavailable?”

  “The doc still ain’t in the best of health to see folk yet. Tell her to wait a bit longer. Is there anythin’ else? …No? All right. Let’s call it there.”

  We all stood up. Tyrone, Bethany, Carl, and myself started walking away. When I was about halfway across the room, Colton called out to me.

  “Hey, kid.”

  I turned to look back at him. “Yes?”

  He nodded for me to return. As the others walked off, I went back, taking my place in front of Colton.

  “Mind recappin’ the plan we just made?” he asked, clearly hinting that he knew about my absent-mindedness.

  I had no idea what we had all agreed to, so I just made it up. “We get Carl in a dress and have Pearl pretty him up. Next, we have him lure everyone away from the hospital with an erotic display. Once the coast is clear, the competent people go in to get whatever it is you wanted… Plus booze.”

  Colton gave me a stern look. I looked down at the ground, feeling ashamed for not paying attention. When I looked back up, though, the sternness gave way to a cheeky grin across his large, butt-chinned face. “Sounds like a better plan than the one we just came up with.”

  “I… I’m sorry,” I said meekly.

  “Huh? What for?”

  “For not paying attention earlier.” I shrugged my shoulders, still looking ashamed. “It’s not that I’m ignoring you guys on purpose. I just go into my own world when bored – happened all the time at school.”
>
  “Hmmm. Come with me, Gray.” He placed one of his meaty arms around my shoulder and walked me to the bar’s exit. “Let’s turn that sad face around.”

  Colton had taken me to his room. It was still in the same condition it was in yesterday; clothes piled up in the corners; bed unmade; tools, equipment, and weapons lying messily on the wooden table; three candles lighting the place up.

  “Take a seat,” he said, pointing towards the table and chairs we had our first interview at. “Got somethin’ you might like.”

  “Oh god, let it be chewing gum! I love that stuff – used to nick it all the time from the local shops. I could kiss you if you have some,” I joked.

  It wasn’t gum. Instead, Colton pulled out two small glasses and a bottle of whiskey, the label of which was long since gone. “That right? Then what do I get for a drop of booze?” he laughed.

  “The best blowjob of your life,” I joked again.

  Colton took a seat opposite me. He placed a glass in front of us both, filling them halfway with whiskey.

  “I’ll hold you to that offer,” he humoured me. “Just don’t go tellin’ folk here ‘bout this. Drinkin’ goes against the rules.”

  We both sat, sipping whiskey for at least two hours. I’d never tried it before. The stuff was surprisingly flavoursome, once you get over the feeling of your throat burning.

  Colton told me about his past. He had spent most of his time in the army because his father (who, as it turned out, was still alive), and his father before him, had been army men. Colton seemed to take great pride in that part of his background.

  I shared a few of my own tales, mostly of my biggest or strangest scores. Surprisingly, Colton liked hearing about my less-than-stellar past. This was the first time since Gloria’s death that someone hadn’t judged me for what I was. Even Thomas and Wendy had shied away from me the first time I’d told them about myself.