"Wandering"
CHAPTER 1
Most nights around town leave people have two sides to them: the light and the dark. A cliché description perhaps, but an accurate one. People who do themselves the favour of being financially capable, corrupt, or perhaps simply just wealthy in terms of having the tools for survival will live each night by in a tense comfort. That is the light side of things… the forever flickering 'light' of the town.
The dark side is what you would expect: rape, torture, coercion, drugs, gangs, death, and despair. The people who live on the dark side of this town are just shy of 60% of the town population, which is actually pretty low considering how the town looked to the outsiders who were lucky enough to pass by it. The town itself is a small urban town, and used to have a name though it is of little relevance now to those who live in it. Not many know the town's name, and for those who did they didn't care. In this town it was all about survival. Whether it be in the streets, in the alleys, or in your own home if your were lucky enough to own one…. you had to have your guard up because the town is always on the hunt for prey.
For one lad though, these things mattered little. To him, the only things that 'mattered' were his meals and a canteen of ginseng tea that he carried with him. Otherwise he was a minimalist who wore battered jeans, a dirty white t-shirt, a black cap, and a navy blue hoodie wherever he went. He wore an old pair of Nike runners and old Puma socks which had huge holes in them, and carried a wooden sword on his belt along with a revolver which he rarely used. His name was Lin, and he had come into town on a request from a retired mafia member.
Lin had been to many places despite his young age. Most places he had been to were not much different from this town. He a young man who was 4-months short of his 18th birthday in November, and walked in the streets with his cap low over his face to cover up the fact that he was an Asian lad, one who was rarely seen in the dystopian North America these days. Most Asians skedaddled back to their native countries once they got word that the Big One was coming 6 years ago.
As he walked down the streets, he kept the same tired expression which he bore everyday, the same attitude which he had for the past year or so. The "oh man, what a drag" attitude which always seemed to stick with him. He had taught himself to be a minimalist, which was why he used a wood sword as weapon of choice. Yet ironically it always seems to bring him into trouble, and he knew it. He expected it.
A man wearing sunglasses and a thick gold chain around his neck came strutting down the street with a squad of goons behind him. Obviously a small time gang member who ran his own little package.
"Hey kid do you think you're samurai or some shit?" he shouted.
It was moments like these that Lin's level of annoyance really kicked in, the "oh man, what a drag" attitude. He was tired and couldn't be bothered to deal with anyone, so he just kept walking.
"Hey kid I'm talking to you!" the screamed the gold-chain-man as he grabbed Lin by the shoulder.
"I knew this was gonna happen…" mumbled Lin. He looked up into the sky and sighed.
One second later the gold-chain-man was on the ground, out cold. And the goonies, as most typical goonies do, took another second to process what just happened and then ran at Lin screaming:
"Your gonna pay for that you punk!"
Again with the clichés. Lin, now turned around to face them, took a glance and counted 5 goonies. Grabbed one by the arm and threw him over and onto the ground. Stood up and dodged a punch from number two, sack him the groin and push him into three and four. Number five came charging from the left only to have his momentum redirected into a nearby lamppost, knocking both the lamppost and himself out. Number three and four got up to have Lin's palms over there faces, and their head smashed into the ground. Bystanders turned and started a few seconds before minding their own business again. Street fights were not uncommon. With the fight over, Lin stared at the sky and sighed again and mumbled to himself "oh man, what a drag".
