"Nothing shakes the smiling heart."
- Motivational quote of the day (Thirty-two minutes before eruption of the First Impact, 2022)
Once I reached Roach's apartment I called at the front door of the complex a couple of times, only to move around the building through an alleyway and climbing my way up the fire emergency stairs. On my way up I could hear an old man screaming from the front door, meaning that my petty crime had worked to perfection. Ever since I found out that old man was a friend of Bill's I started teasing him like that and he always had the same funny reaction.
With a chuckle on my throat I reached the correct floor, knocking on the window a few times and waiting patiently. Roach took his time, wobbling over in his usual sleepy stupor, it was getting a bit late into the night after all. Finally, he noticed it was me and not some random fuck, opening the window and stepping aside with a yawn and a wave of his hand.
"Sup Roach, woke you up?" I asked, knowing very well the answer was yes. He glared at me for a bit but then he smiled a little, remembering my visits meant profit to him.
"A bit yeah, anything you need or is this the day you finally fell for my masculine charms?" Before I could give him a retort he turned around and walked over to his desk's chair, slumping down on it as he yawned again. He was thin, like me, but he also had a few prosthetics. His left hand and right leg were mechanical. Not the best quality, but they were probably as expensive as three month's worth of rent for me.
"If you had any I may have."
"Oh, ha-ha." He finally snapped back into life and stretched a little, looking me over and noticing the way my right shoulder was more stiff and a bit less mobile than usual. "They fucked up your shoulder this time?"
I looked at my side then let out a tired sigh, sitting down on his old couch and slumping back a little before responding. "My fault this time. Got caught stealing and the fucker grabbed me before I could hide. Made a run for it though, he doesn't even know which way I ran after I hit him in the balls."
"I really needed the details, thank you." Roach replied, and without even looking at him I knew he was...A bit disappointed.
He may not look like it, but he did care for people, he was soft, too soft, and that was the reason he remained down here in the slums instead of moving on with his life. I couldn't say much either, I could've ran away ages ago, but I grew attached to the streets, to the old man, to the nights spent at the bar. It wasn't the best life, but it was a life.
"Anyway." I said, moving on with the conversation. "Bill roasted my fashion sense. Came up to pick a pair of socks, a jacket and maybe boots if you have a pair. Gonna rain tomorrow and my last jacket got covered in my own blood last week."
"Roger." He stood up and walked over to the secondary room in the apartment. The sound of clattering boxes and metal scrap was heard for a bit before he returned. A red jacket with black details on it and a fresh pair of black socks. There were no boots though, shame. "Here you go. Forty-five total."
"Shit, there goes my budget I guess." I raised my right hand and pressed two fingers against the side of my head, a HUD appeared on my vision and I sent over the bits he asked for. The jacket seemed like a real catch, and the socks didn't have any holes in them, so they should do just fine. "Thanks again, Roach."
"Don't mention it." He said, yawning again, eyeing his bed for a moment before leaning against the wall, waiting for me to put on the clothes to get out I guessed. "Hey, Raven?"
"Yeah?" I asked, putting on the jacket and pocketing the pair of socks.
"Don't get hurt, you'll give the old man a heart-attack."
"I know, I know...Take care." I heard his 'likewise' before he plopped back into his bed, and I made my exit the same way I did my entrance.
"Easier said than done though..." A mutter under my breath.
I reached for the stairs and made my way down again. The jacket was nice and warm, maybe one size too big, but that would do just fine really. The neck area reached all the way to the sides of my cheeks, and the chest was a little padded so it fit nicely there too. The sleeves were a bit short, but that was an entirely different issue. For some reason people liked having most of their arms outside the nice and comfortable warmth of long sleeves. Weirdos.
Once I was on ground level again, I started walking back home again. I had maybe half an hour before Bill closed the bar, and two or so hours before the 'Sun' rose up again. Of course, with all the smog down here, the change was barely noticeable with the few rays of sunlight that actually navigated all the way down to the slums. The darkest corner of Athenea.
With a smile on my face and a quicker pace, I tried to make it back home. If I managed to get back before closing time I may get a chance at stealing from the last drunkards in the store, and that meant pocket money for the next day, pocket money I could put to good use. Maybe get some medical supplies, our last first aid kit was almost done for and I'd really need some painkillers if I found myself in another fight.
As I walked past an alleyway I suddenly stumbled to the ground. My head was going in circles and my eyes stopped focusing. I felt a hot liquid coming out of my head and everything suddenly started to twist and turn. By the time I realized someone had ambushed me, I was already being kicked around by the same fuck that I stole from earlier. Pretty ruthless guy to be honest, tracking me down this long.
".....ker!....who......you.....from....huh?" He was yelling something. But the concussion I received was still fucking me up so I could barely hear him. Luckily, my body could still move, so I backed up my leg and sent it straight into his crotch. It was a weaker hit than the one I fucked him over with before, but since he was already delicate in that area, it didn't take much to bring him to his knees again.
"Son...of a...bitch..." As my hearing started to return and I managed to crawl towards the nearby wall, I used it as support to push myself up. And as I did, what I saw in front of me was...Simply terrifying.
The sounds of the weeping man was covered by the hymn of reality ripping apart. A rectangular shape was formed in the middle of the street, two-stories tall and maybe a whole bus in width. The air rumbled and the portal finally opened, giving way for an outbreak to begin. Outbreaks were usually dealt with by Hunters, and they were supposed to happen way further to the outskirts of the city.
Initially I thought I was seeing things, so I kept a dumb smile on my face as I watched the spectacle of light and deformed creatures made from both flesh and machine. But when the man in front of me turned around and pissed himself in fear, I understood it was no delusion.
That thing was real. An outbreak had opened its gate in the middle of the slums, and I left in an alleyway, concussed, and with a dumbass smile on my face.
Needless to say, luck really fucked me over this time.
