Junk yard shift

Kendrick landed on the dirt with a thud, brushing up a new layer of dirt onto his boots. Grabbing his backpack off the ground beside him, he dusted off his shoulders and readjusted his jacket. It'd been a while since he'd gone scavenging but the necessity of new items was at an all time high. If he could just find the one part he needed to fix the town's generator the whole trip would be worth it. Being on the edge of the second, however, didn't leave much hope.

"Hey, Kenny, back again I see."

Kendrick snarled, rolling his eyes. The man who ran the scrap yard was a large assed man by the name of Scavenge Rot, aptly named after the strangely green moss like hair that grew on his right shoulder down to his elbow. He claims its a rash but no one really knew the truth. Aside from that, Rot wasn't the prettiest or the nicest of individuals. His hair had all fallen out, expect a slight strand that fell just over his unibrow. His teeth were beyond yellowing and were now turning a rotten brown, riddled with holes and blackened spots. Boil covered and with the worst attempt at facial hair, he looked like he acted: horrible.

"Kenny, my young solider!" Rot called from his watch post, waving a fat fingered paw at Kendrick.

"My name isn't Kenny!" Kendrick hollered back. "I'm just looking for parts!"

"Parts, you say?" purred Rot, stroking his triple chin. "You look like a strapping young lad…what it worth to ya?"

Kendrick grumbled, digging his hands into his pockets. He was one of the finer dressed individuals of Section C, but that wasn't saying much. Black pants with minor holes, old tennis shoes passed down for ages, a virtually destroyed tank top, and lastly, his finest item of clothing, a maroon colored jacket in almost good condition. Pulling his hand out, Kendrick held up an old paperback novel transcribed 2011. The cover was smudged and torn, making it nearly impossible to tell what the book was until one actually started reading.

"What is it?" Rot chanted.

"An old book! How should I know?" grinned Kendrick. Reading wasn't exactly common in District this far out.

"Well boy, toss it up," snapped Rot, motioning for Kendrick to toss it up.

Giving a mean wind up, Kendrick threw the book into the air, just shy of flying above the watchtower, and straight into Scavenge Rot's hands. The fat lard grinned, flipping through the pages and smelling them as the clacked together. Slamming the book shut, he glared down at Kendrick again.

"Whatchu lookin for, boy?"

"I told you, parts!" replied Kendrick.

"You best show me what you got before you leave, ya hear!?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," groaned Kendrick, heading into the yard.

The yard was the biggest this side of the Main River. It housed some of the oldest pieces of tech and aged collectables never before seen. When he was young, Kendrick would sneak in for fun and find what he could to play with. He wasn't crafty but he did know a thing or two about repairing the generators and lamps of the town, since his dad taught him at a young age. After his father passed, he became the resident repair man for the limited tech the town possessed. So, when something broke, it was his job to repair it or in this case find the parts and repair it.

"Hope this doesn't take long," sighed Kendrick, walking through the next stack of metal. "I can't believe this had to happen today of all days."

He stared up, watching the clouds roll in quickly. It wasn't often that the Endless Storm blew out of its designated area, but when the air gets too dry and the wind picks up, the storm spreads out rapidly. He had always wanted to visit the Endless Storm, but unauthorized travel between districts is forbidden this far out. He had heard it was incredibly dangerous in the nearby area, making it one of the deadliest districts in the area. Adventure was one of the greatest lures for Kendrick.

The brief glimpse of sunlight caught the surface of a piece of metal, drawing Kendrick's eye. He grinned, kneeling down beside the slickest little hubcap. He brushed off the dirt, letting it shine a little brighter just as the sunlight drifted behind the clouds again. He liked the shape of it, though it wasn't the piece he was looking for. Grabbing it tightly with both hands, he pulled, listening intently to the shifting of the metal in the stack. The tire piece moved gently then quickly flung out from its place in the mound. It flew from Kendrick's hands, crashing into the pile behind him.

"Well then," he grinned, rolling over and grabbing the piece from the ground.

Something else sparkled, catching Kendrick's eye. He froze in place, staring into the hole he had just created in the stack. Within the shadows, barely reflecting the light from the other piles, was another round object. Masked in the darkness, Kendrick moved closer to try and get a better look. The light faded as he approached but the object was imprinted on his mind. He needed it.

"Please don't kill me," whispered Kendrick, crawling into the hole.

The small round object was luckily not supporting any of the above metal, gently resting beneath a small ceiling of old parts and metal. Reaching in carefully, with one leg safely outside the pile for the best possible escape, Kendrick grasped the side of the object. It was smooth to the touch, the smoothest he'd ever felt. The back was ridged though, slightly rough and crusty. He yanked on it quickly, shoving himself out of the hole. The pile rustled and creaked with a few items falling off the top.

Kendrick sighed deeply, listening the pile rest into a blissful silence. He pulled the object away from his chest, looking at its rounded surface. Dirt and mud caked the surface, though on the back was worn leather handle, which was slightly big around Kendrick's arm. He shrugged it off, attempting to place it in his bag. It didn't fit. He groaned, pulling it. After a moment of thinking, he managed to attach it to the hubcap and connected it so that both hung on the back of his backpack. It wasn't ideal but it worked.

Moments of scavenging later, he still hadn't found the piece he was looking for and darkness was beginning to fall. Moving back to the entrance, Kendrick stopped by the watchtower, glancing up to see if Scavenge Rot was still up there. Having barely stopped, a spotlight lit up and illuminated the area around him. He could hear Rot snort with laughter.

"You still here, boy?" cackled Rot. "Whatcha find?"

"A hubcap," motioned Kendrick, pointing to the round object strung to his back.

"Whatcha gonna do with that?" snapped Rot.

"Haven't figured it out yet," shrugged Kendrick. "Maybe I'll return it."

"Don't return the junk," scoffed Rot, waving Kendrick away. "Get off my property before I call 'em Advocates."

Kendrick rolled his eyes, heading back to the entrance. Seeing as Rot was a sluggish lard, the main gate was rarely open. Instead, costumers would have to jump or crawl under the fence. Kendrick didn't mind. It was fun for him. Reaching the top, Kendrick sat and watched the dim light of the sun behind the clouds set. The sky seemed to set on fire, lighting up with reds and oranges with the dark blues and purples chasing them into the horizon. He smiled. Such a fleeting beauty.

District 109, Section C was not very impressive. The higher the district the worse the condition. The higher the section the worse the people's lives are. Kendrick lived in the farthest house from the main hall, which was a small brick building in the center of town. Surrounding it were small wooden houses, often one to three rooms. Kendrick's home was one roomed. It was all he needed being the only one in the house.

When the sun had set, the streets had cleared and Kendrick was the only one moving in the darkened streets. While crime in the area wasn't uncommon, it wouldn't take place during a night with the Endless Storm on approach. The wind was picking up, forcing Kendrick's collar to flip up and cover his neck. The solidness of the hubcap and the rounded object forced Kendrick forward, making it hard to walk straight. Eventually, he made it home. The wooden door wasn't much but it managed to keep out the struggling winds.

"Finally," sighed Kendrick, sitting on the only chair in the house.

Being only one room, the entire house was condensed. He had a minor stove in the corner nearest the door, with a chair just side it. His bed was opposite the door, head facing it. A bath bowl rested the corner opposite the stove. A small chest sat beside the bed, closed and locked.

Kendrick stood up, taking off his backpack, and throwing the hubcap into the corner by the chest. He dismounted his jacket, throwing it onto the chair. Kneeling down, he took the rounded object into his hand, brushing some of the dust off. The layer of mud, dirt and crusting paint was thick, making it impossible to break through without the help of water. Unfortunately, he didn't have much.

"Looks like this will have to do for now," sighed Kendrick, dumping the round object into the bath bowl.

He had tossed the old water out this morning and had not had time to refill it. What little water remained was dirty and muddy. Kendrick splashed the muddy water onto the object, digging into the dirt with his nails. The layers of filth slowly crusted off, revealing a layer of faded color. Kendrick stopped a moment, slowly moving his fingers down the red colored surface he had managed to rescue from the dirt.

"What…do we have here?" whispered Kendrick, quickening his cleaning.

He had broken three nails and rubbed his fingers raw but he'd managed to clean a majority of the dirt off. He panted, feeling the weight of his arms from the constant use. The howl of the wind outside echoed as he stepped away, covering his mouth. Impossible, he thought, sitting slowly in the chair.

The rounded object, now clear of dirt and muck, was red and white with a blue center and a large white star in the blue center. Though rough and beaten up from years or wear and tear, the color had remained barely faded and there weren't even dents in the metal's surface. Kendrick turned away, shaking his head.

When he was young, his father had told him stories about heroes, these larger than life people that risk life and limb in order to better the world. Kendrick always thought of them as just stories, even more so after his father died, but now, seeing this. He couldn't deny it. Among the stories his father had told was a man outside of time that wore a rounded shield of red, white, and blue. The description from his father's story matched the item that now sat in his house.

And he had no idea what to do about it.