Things You See in a Trash Can
Summary: Graverobber takes Shilo to see a strange friend.
Disclaimer: So, I don't own Repo, or Sesame street. If I did, I'd be rich and somehow related to Jim Henson. Anyway, this is just for fun. No money is made on my part.
"GR," Shilo called gently. "Where are we going?" Tonight wasn't a harvesting night, and the streets were on a high alert.
"To see an old friend." Graverobber replied to her glancing over his shoulder. He just ignored the flashing lights.
"Tonight?" She asked incredulously.
"Yes." He pushed her back for a moment as some cops made their way down the street. Once they were a safe distance away, Graverobber took off again. Shilo sighed and followed him. An hour later, the pair was on an empty street in the remotest part of town. Shilo didn't know what could possibly be out here. She glances up at a rusty old street sign. "Sesa—" she muttered to herself. She couldn't see the rest of the street sign, since the rust and decay obscured it.
It seemed like no one lived in this part of the town. The houses were blacked out and windows broken. "GR, where are we?"
"In a part of town where no one lives anymore." He replied. "This was the last place to get infected. They were able to hold it off as long as possible."
"Then what friend could you possibly have down here?"
"A different kind," he replied. "Come on Kid." He sat down on a crumbling set of steps. Shilo glanced up at the door behind him. At one point, it was green, now it looked more brown and rotten in places. "Look, I'm gonna tell you a story." He patted the decaying step next to him. Shilo sighed and sat down.
"Shouldn't we get somewhere a little less—in the open?" She motioned to the space around them.
Graverobber shook his head. "No," he replied, holding his satchel strap. "The gencops don't come out here."
She nodded at him and sat down, leaning her elbow on her knee. She glanced to her left where the railing was completely gone. On the other side of it was a large bird's nest; or what was left of it. "So, what's your story?"
Graverobber smirked slightly and leaned back. "So, three years ago, I was collecting. Nothing to unusual, except I ran into a little turf trouble. I'm not one to stick around so I causally decided to leave." Shilo snorted. She knew Graverobber well enough to know that he would never casually do anything, even alerting GenCops. He gave her a sharp glare. "Anyway, I made my way to the outer edge of town. At the end of the street, there is a large graveyard, of completely unharvested. I collected some prime glow down there, and then it began to rain." Graverobber stood up and walked over to a trashcan. It wasn't his usual dumpster. They didn't make trashcans like that anymore. This one was round, and made of metal, and had began to rust. "Since there aren't any good dumpsters to settle in I thought I'd jump in here for cover." He nodded to the dumpster. "You'd never imagine what I saw. I expected the trashcan to be small and cramped but it wasn't. I fell a good ways and then landed on a pile of trash. I was in a large room and across the room, there was something I'd never expected to see. It was sitting down, glaring at me. It was a green monster looking thing. It had a uni-brow and two huge eyes. "
"What?" She said incredulously. "You're lying."
Graverobber smirked. "Kid, have I ever lied to you?"
Shilo raised an eyebrow and crossed her arm. "Do you want me to really answer that question?"
His smirk faded almost instantly. "Well, that doesn't count." Shilo just continued to stare at him. "That time either." Her gaze only became more intense. "Ok, well maybe that time does count. But anyway Kid, I'm not lying to you. So, to continue my story, I sat there staring at him.
'Who are you?' It asked me.
'What are you?'
He just stared at me. 'I'm a grouch. Name's Oscar. How'd you get in here?'
'You ask a lot of questions.' I told him.
'Well, you're in my house.'
I wasn't really sure how it was a house, because there was nothing but junk. We just sat there in silence for a few minutes. I just stared trying to remember if I'd taken a hit of glow or not. If I had, this was a really weird dream 'So you're a real monster?' I asked him.
'No, I'm a grouch. What are you?'
'Human.' I replied. I pushed some trash out of my way so I could be more comfortable.
'So that's what you all look like any more. I haven't seen a human since the—' he stopped. 'Since the sickness came and killed everyone here.' In the mean time, I'd lighted a cigarette. I was about to blow a puff of smoke out, when I realized what he said.
'I'm a graverobber, that's my name actually: Graverobber. So, no, not everyone. So, you were around before it all happened. How's are you still around?'
'Grouches were the last to get it, and then, one by one they died. So, I'm the last grouch. I had an unnatural natural immunity to it all.' So, we sat there all night, talking. He told me all about the old days. Back before it all happened. And every once in a while, I come out here to see him. I hadn't been able to get out here lately with you, and thought you would like to know what it was like before."
Shilo just continued to look at him skeptically. She turned around to walk back towards town when Graverobber called out to her.
"Hang on kid, just two seconds."He knocked on the front of the garbage can. They waited in completely silence. Shilo's thin arms crossed over her chest as she watched the trashcan expectantly. She rolled her eyes and turned away after a few minutes.
Suddenly she heard some clanging and then a gruff grumpy voice. "Who's banging on my trashcan?" It demanded.
Shilo turned around. "Nice try Grave—" she stopped in her tracks, completely stunned. Next to Graverobber, a green grey monster was glaring at her. She walked forward and extended her hand.
"I'm Shilo Wallace. Were you really around back then? Before, I mean."
Oscar rolled his eyes. "You bring people to give me more questions Robber?" He made a motion at Shilo. Then, with a roll of his eyes, he said, "Fine, come in and bring some trash with you."
This was written for my friend, and beta reader. He thought it would be funny if Graverobber and Oscar met in the trashcan. So read, review, flame the weirdness of it, and enjoy.