Chapter 7: Construction Work

Kid and Michelle get caught in a storm, and decide to head through a construction site.

A small drop of rain landed on Kid's shoulder, causing him to look up at the clouds, which appeared to be nothing more than a morphing black mass. The sky had shown no signs of rain throughout the entire night. Kid was really starting to believe someone was out to get him. Someone other than every gang in the entire city, of course. In seconds, one drop became billions. “Not now,” he groaned.

“That construction site is looking a lot better now,” Michelle said, wrapping her arms around herself to keep warm.

“We don't need these unnecessary stops. For once, I just wish good luck would at least acknowledge our existence.”

Michelle was shivering. Kid took his hoodie off, revealing a white t-shirt with a black Chinese dragon swirling around on it, and tossed it to her. “Here, I don't need you freezing to death on me. Don't really want that on my conscience. And, uh, sorry about the blood.”

She didn't seem to care, given that she threw it on quicker than he could blink, hood and all. The red and black garment was pretty big on her, giving her an almost childlike appearance. Seeing her like that made Kid feel even worse for getting her involved. For all he knew, they would never make it back home. He felt stupid for taking on this unwanted, and definitely unneeded, responsibility.

He just groaned again, however, and threw the thoughts far from his worn out mind. “We still have a bit to go, pick up your feet,” he said, upping his pace.

Roughly twenty minutes later, the rain had become heavier, and the two were soaking wet. “What time do you think it is?” Michelle yelled over the loud rain.

“I don't know, four-something, maybe, why?”

“Just curious. Kind of hoping it was almost morning. I figure the brighter it is, the less chance the creeps'll be around, ya know?”

“It doesn't really work that way in this city. Especially if they're promised a reward or bounty.”

“That makes me wonder what the reward for us is,” she said, pulling the strings of the hood, tightening it and concealing most of her face.

“You, nothing, they're only looking for me. But considering it's The Harbingers that put the word out, I think I can safely assume it's something huge. Probably along the lines of earning a spot next to them on the list of 'top gangs'. So, basically, they'll be just as known, but probably still less feared than The Harbingers themselves. Because, after all, every gang follows their word to the T, for whatever reason.”

They were now coming upon the site's entrance. Even through the dense rain they could make out most of the building, which a nearby sign revealed to be some sort of local branch of a foreign paper company. So far, they only had the first twenty or so floors' layout, but no walls. It was like looking at the building's skeleton, what with the girders and rebars here, there, and everywhere.

Deeper inside the site, on the ground floor of the building, a faint light bounced around. They ducked behind a pillar a few feet from the light's source. “Is that,” Michelle paused to look harder. “Is that a fire?”

“Looks like it,” Kid replied casually.

The fire was burning inside of a metal barrel, and after even closer inspection, it didn't seem to be unoccupied. In seconds, their suspicions were confirmed as voices were now present, some loud, some almost a whisper. “Who are they? They can't be workers, there's no way they'd be here this late, right?” Michelle asked, craning her head around the pillar.

“Its gotta be another set, just can't tell who. All we have to do is get by without them noticing us, and we're good,” Kid said, searching the place for a safe path. Kid was just hoping it wasn't The Wretched out to play. Everyone knew they liked to wander into other people's turf just to start fights, and sometimes, all out wars.

There were multiple pillars, identical to the one they were behind, lining the wall around the entire site. They seemed to be just recently added, as if they were planning on making the building wider than necessary. Either way, the exit was just out of reach.

“Okay,” he finally spoke, making Michelle jump. “If we move from pillar to pillar, we should be able to make it out of here.”

They moved as quickly as they could through the thick mud the rain had bore, surprised to find it was easier than anticipated.

In no time, they were two pillars away from the exit, which made them only mere feet away from the people around the fire. According to the back of their bright yellow jackets, they were a group that called themselves the 43^rd Street Dominators. Kid let out a quiet sigh of relief. There were six members, and no telling where the other ones were. Kid let Michelle go first, ensuring that she made it before he attempted to follow. After a mad dash, she was behind the pillar, frantically waving him over.

With one last glance at the gang, he was off. The rain was still heavy, and loud enough to drown out the footsteps, but it wasn't loud enough to cover up Kid slipping and falling inches away from Michelle. Kid hit the ground with a thud, letting out a painful grunt as he did so. Michelle gasped, but quickly put her hand over her mouth. The guys immediately jumped up and shot looks in his direction. He looked at them, then back to Michelle. “Don't move,” he whispered, trying to stand up.

The mud was too slippery, and Kid's body met the earth once again. “Hey, look what we got here!” one of the Dominators laughed, leading the way over to Kid.

Michelle moved around to the other side of the pillar, out of their sight. Kid was still in the mud, furious with himself for being so clumsy. Two of the Dominators picked him up by his shirt, bringing him to eye level. The other four members surrounded him, all snickering like children. Kid knew not to attack yet. He knew the beating would only be worse, and there wasn't much he could do after throwing the first punch anyway.

The leader, a twenty-something year old with pale skin and bright orange hair in classic crew cut style, stood face to face with him. He tried his hardest to look tough and intimidating, but Kid could see right through his facade. He was a lanky joke, yet Kid wasn't laughing. He was legitimately scared, and he wasn't sure if it was for him, Michelle or both. “We were hoping you'd come by this way, Angel. Don't tell me you thought no one would recognize you without your colors. Who else would be out here this late? You know, we've been trying to get our name on the network, and now you're going to help,” he said with a wicked grin.

“Yeah,” the other guy holding Kid piped up. “And the best part is, you're wanted dead or alive.”

“But!” the leader stuck his face in the, slightly bigger, Dominator's. “Alive is worth more. So,” his eyes locked back onto Kid's. “You get to live.”

“Well isn't that special,” Kid said, cocking his head to the side.

“Shut up!” the leader screamed over the roar of thunder, before shoving a knee into Kid's stomach.

Even after the air escaped his lungs, he still managed to fake a laugh at the rage of the Dominator.

Michelle looked around for something-- anything-- that could help get them out of there. Eying the fire the Dominators had going, that something finally presented itself. A lead pipe was propped against the barrel that housed the flames. She could see a way around that wouldn't outright expose her, but would require going around the last pillar and sneaking through the back of the Dominators' makeshift campground. She tightened the hood, crouched, and ran around the pillar towards the fire. The lead Dominator's voice was loud, but she couldn't make out exactly what he was saying through the rain. The mud had almost made her slip here and there, but she managed to keep steady and keep moving.

A hop, skip, and a jump later, she was within throwing distance of her target. The flames were illuminating the entire area. If they just so happened to look over while she was reaching for the pipe, that would be it, but that wasn't about to deter her. It had to be done.

Kid saw her moving into the light by the fire. His eyes widened. She was too easy to spot. Everyone and their mother could see her.

Or so he thought, as his was the only one who's attention she'd managed to catch.

The Dominators were too busy flicking, kicking, and punching him to notice something as small as her. Michelle looked at him, wincing with every hit he took. When she noticed that he was looking back at her, she simply pointed at the pipe, like it should have been obvious what she was doing.

He slightly shook his head, trying to disguise it as a reaction to getting hit. She responded by nodding furiously. And just like that, she dropped to her knees and started a slow, awkward, hunched over crawl towards the pipe. Kid had to make sure they didn't look up. “You know, you guys kinda hit like five year old cripples,” he said through clenched teeth.

The guys stopped and looked at each other, then burst out laughing. In that brief moment of vulnerability, Kid used all of his strength to throw himself to his left and out of their hands. He landed in a crumpled heap. His plan, if it could be called that, had worked. They were still focused on him, but none of them were facing Michelle's direction now. They just laughed even more and started to kick him, hard enough to hurt him, but not break anything. They had all night with him, why would they want to end the fun early?

Michelle saw her opening when he tumbled to the ground, and quickly grabbed the pipe before running back the way she came. In a flash, she was standing behind the group, completely invisible. Most of the Dominators were built pretty well, except one. He was shorter than the rest with raggedy, shaggy hair. His body had almost no muscle at all. The guy couldn't have been much older than twenty-two, but his build made him look like he had just turned thirteen, so naturally, Michelle chose him.

She was tiptoeing closer, not exactly knowing what she was doing, but she couldn't stop herself now, even if she wanted to. When she was directly behind the gang member, she raised the weapon high above her head, closed her eyes, and swung the pipe down on his skull as hard as she could. The impact sent shivers down her spine, but downed the Dominator instantly.

The loud crack of the attack caused the gang to stop stomping on Kid. They looked over at their fallen brethren, then to Michelle, dumbstruck. Kid took advantage of the distraction to kick one of the guys in the groin. The attacker bent over, howling in pain. With a completely sore body, Kid jumped up and brought his knee into the guy's face, dropping him. The other four members were confused. They hadn't had time to figure out what was happening.

Without any hesitation, Michelle swung the pipe into the leg of another Dominator who had nasty cavity ridden teeth that stuck out of his mouth unnaturally. He was stronger than he looked. The hit only made him drop to one knee. He looked at her with anger splashed all over his face. A growl escaped his throat. Michelle, frightened, reared back as far as she could and swung the pipe like she was swinging for a home run. The lead connected with his face, causing more than half of his teeth to fly from his mouth. He plopped over and was down.

The leader and another Dominator went straight for Michelle. She swung the pipe around a few more times, but they easily dodged it now that they knew what was going on. The leader simply grabbed the weapon from her, while the other wrapped his hand around her entire neck, slamming her into the pillar she had originally hid behind when Kid was spotted. The noise she made when her body collided with the cement was sickening.

It had happened so fast that Kid didn't have time to stop them. He started towards her, running right past the last Dominator who was amused by his two comrades toying with Michelle. As soon as Kid moved past him, the gang member snaked his arm around Kid's throat. “Where do you think you're going, Angel? We ain't gonna let you get away that easily, brotha. Besides, I know you don't want to miss the show.”

The leader was holding the weapon out in front of him, observing it, whilst taunting Michelle, saying things like they were going to make her regret what she did, and that they were going to take her to the hideout and take turns with her. “Why wait til we get back home, why not just have a little taste, a sample, if you will?” the one strangling her said, doing his best to sound eloquent while wearing a nasty smirk.

Kid struggled, but couldn't break free. The guy holding him was slightly overweight, and just one of his arms was twice the size of both of Kid's. He was holding him in a tight enough grip that he could still get enough oxygen, but that was about it. Kid's feet were a few inches from the ground. He saw that Michelle was doing all she could to take in any air that would come.

“She can't breathe, let her go! You got me, that's all you need! She has nothing to do with this!” he coughed out, kicking and still trying, unsuccessfully, to squeeze out from the choke hold.

An almost demonic smile spread across the leader's face. “Very noble of you, Angel, but we haven't had our fill tonight, so anything to do with this or not, she ain't goin' nowhere.”

The look on Michelle's face actually terrified him, but that fear was quickly replaced by something he couldn't control. His blood was boiling. That familiar anger began to rise in him, and in Michelle's half-conscious mind, she could almost swear his eyes were red.

Author's Note

The story gets a little darker here, and in the next chapter, so hopefully that makes it a little more exciting. Hope you enjoy, any feedback of any kind is greatly appreciated, as it helps me improve, and lets me know my story has possibly entertained, or even wasted your time. (hopefully that's not the case though)