There would have been snow on the ground if Kaie wasn't in the city. All the warmth from the buildings and lights melted the snow before it could reach the ground. So all there was was a fine drizzle of rain soaking her one jacket. She had to get Rachel out of it. The little girl's cough was getting worse and Kaie wasn't feeling much better. It was December but she couldn't pin point what day exactly it was. Was it the 19th or the 20th? She couldn't remember.
Not that it mattered much which day it was when you were a street urchin. All that mattered to the street gang that "protected" her and Rachel and gave them food was that she did the deliveries on time and didn't get caught. This delivery had been particularly hard because she had brought Rachel along. But she knew that she couldn't leave her behind. Sick kids usually didn't survive on their own. Another gang member thought you were weak or helpless, that's when they would strike. They'd cut you and steal all your things. Even if you didn't own anything particularly important. Grease, the leader of the gang, supported this sort of behavior. He said that it was how you kept a strong gang. Weeds out the weak ones. She knew that one day that policy would end up with his death when one of the underlings saw a weakness and took advantage of it. But the delivery had been done, one small package of red sand placed on the back step of some business. No one had noticed two little scrawny street kids. Kaie hoped. They were pretty nondescript kids in all honestly. Kaie looked like most of the street kids here in Tokyo, a kid of probably Korean descent or Chinese, but certainly not Japanese. She would have been a discarded street child if she'd been. Rachel on the other hand was probably of American or European descent. Her blonde curls, blue eyes and fair skin certainly made her stand out. But you'd have to look past the months worth of grime that layered all of their clothes, their skin and hair.
After weaving through the underbelly of Tokyo, they reached the door to the warehouse. Providing this week's password was simple, a quick phrase in Japanese and Liam opened the door to admit them. The warehouse was huge and many kids and teenagers were running about doing their own thing. Once they were in their little corner of the building, Kaie wrapped the blanket around the shivering little girl. Rachel was probably six or seven, only a few years older than when Kaie had shown up on the street. Now she was fifteen and well versed in life on the street.
As they were getting settled, an older boy sauntered up to their space. Johnny was the one person Kaie didn't want to see that day. He'd roughed her up a few times just for the fun of it. He found particular enjoyment in messing with her. He was probably seventeen or eighteen but like most street kids he probably added years when you asked him for his age.
"Do you want something?" Kaie asked, her voice sharp and venomous.
"Nothing in particular. Just checking on you to see how your run was." Johnny replied, his voice cool and slick like an eel. Kaie had to force herself to not grimace at that. She knew he was here for something but she couldn't guess what exactly he wanted.
"It was fine. Now buzz off." She turned back to Rachel, her voice challenging.
"I see that's how you treat a friend, Kaie. One day it's going to bite you in the ass, you know?" His tone was more menacing than angry. He shrugged and walked back the way he came.
"You really shouldn't mess with him like that Kaie. You're lucky he's in the good mood today." Rachel said around chattering teeth. She was smarter than your average little kid. Living on the streets her whole life had made her wiser beyond her years.
"I know sweets, I'll work on it, ok? Why don't you lay down and sleep? We've got a big job tomorrow and you need to have plenty of rest."
The little girl curled up on the mat and fell asleep quickly. But sleep wouldn't come to Kaie easily. She stayed up half the night concerned that Johnny would come act upon his threat while she slept.
The next morning, Kaie picked up her package from Grease. He wouldn't tell her what it was but it was heavier and she was delivering it to a posher neighborhood than they usually delivered to. Rachel tagged along, her cough a little better this morning, but her skin was paler than normal and in the right light might have been a little blue. It took them all morning to get to the drop off spot. The package was safely deposited in the specified place and the girls headed back home.
The downside with posh neighborhoods is that they were usually higher up in the city. This meant having to go around road blocks that kept the city separated. It wasn't like a street kid could just saunter up to a fancy neighborhood and wander around. So they had to use ledges and pipes to get from level to level. Sometimes you got lucky and they were doing maintenance and you could use the maintenance scaffolding to climb. This was one of those lucky times, or at least that was what Kaie thought until they reached a platform where Johnny and a few of his friends were waiting.
"Well looky here. The little monkey and her pet." Johnny crooned as the girls landed on the platform. They were standing against the wall which meant that Kaie and Rachel only had open air and a long fall behind them.
"What do you want, Johnny?" Kaie asked as she stepped in front of Rachel.
"Oh not much. Just whatever Grease pays you for this job and all the other jobs he gives you." He was so calm as he stated this that Kaie knew if he didn't get this, a beating was sure to come her way. But without those credits, there was no way she and Rachel could survive.
"And exactly how am I supposed to take care of us without those credits?"
"Well, you can earn them back I suppose. Do things for me and my friends." He leered at her, his eyes running from head to toe.
"No." The declaration was loud and firm. "No way. Now get out of our way."
Johnny laughed as though he thought it was a joke. He nodded at the two other boys. They lumbered up and towards Kaie.
She took a step towards them and balled her fists. She wasn't going to let them control her. She'd fought others before and she'd fight these three if she had to.
The closest boy, one she barely recognized, got a knee in the groin. As he dropped, the other boy came at her and tried to punch her. The swing went wide as Kaie ducked under it. She laid a flurry of blows on the boy but he seemed unfazed. He finally landed a punch on the side of her head, making her ears ring. And at first she thought the high pitched keening was just her ears continuing to ring. Until she looked back at Rachel. Johnny had her by her arm and was holding a pistol to the side of her head.
Raising her hands, she backed off, "Johnny, don't hurt her. I'll do whatever you want, just don't hurt her." She pleaded her eyes brimming over with tears. The two boys grabbed her and wrenched her arms behind her. Her shoulders burned with the twisting of the joints.
"I know you will, Kaie. I own you. You'll do whatever we tell you. Is that an understanding?" He asked, his voice impossibly calm.
"Yes, whatever you say Johnny. I'll do anything, just please don't hurt her." She couldn't stopped pleading, whatever happened she had to save Rachel. She'd do anything to protect her. Rachel was the only bright spot in her life. For the last two years, everything she had done was just to protect and provide for her. And she'd continue to do anything and everything to do that.
"Good, I'm glad we have an understanding. Now to just to make sure that you understand how much I control your life." With that statement, he stepped toward the edge while at the same time pushing Rachel out into the air. And just like that, the only person Kaie had ever cared for and loved was gone. She fought against the two boys but there was no use. Gasping, hiccuping sobs, she screamed after her. She couldn't save Rachel. She was gone and no one would ever find her small broken body. No one but her would morn the blue eyed girl that had wandered into Kaie's life. She slumped between the two boys her energy gone. But she promised herself and Rachel, that she would never stop fighting back. She would never stop until Johnny was dead.
For two years, Kaie was at the beck and call of Johnny. She ran her deliveries as well as his. He'd be the one to see a weakness in Grease and to take over the gang. Kaie had thought Grease was evil but Johnny made the gang brutal. Thankfully he never followed through with his leecherous threat. If he'd tried to use Kaie, she would have probably killed him or died trying to the process. Her body was the only thing that she still had any measure of control over. And for those two years, Kaie plotted and planned. She watched his patterns and discovered his weaknesses. And it was those things that was his downfall.
He'd started taking red sand along with a cocktail of other drugs and drinks. So one night when he was in a stupor and his normal guards were busy in the other room, Kaie slipped into his space. She had wished that she could kill him just like he killed Rachel but he never had to climb between levels anymore.
So she'd settle for the easiest way. A small pistol rested in her hand. She wanted to wake him so that he could see his end coming but Kaie was afraid that she'd loose her nerve. So with that she sighted down the gun like the fence had shown her. She traded her last delivery for the gun. This would be her final act in the gang and then she'd have to leave. She didn't know where she'd end up but she couldn't stay here in Tokyo.
It felt as if time had slowed down just for a second. She remembered Rachel and her blonde curls. The way the sun would light her hair and make it shine like gold. She took a final steadying breath and whispered, "For Rachel." The gun went off and the back of Johnny's chair exploded. She didn't even wait to make sure he was dead. She turned and was out of the warehouse before anyone could even figure out what had happened. She ran and ran until she didn't think her legs could hold her up any longer. With that she collapsed in a shuttle bus terminal.
Once she caught her breath, she surveyed the area around her. It was then that she saw the sign in the window. It read, "Nobody likes to fight." in large letters with something written in smaller letter under a picture of someone in a uniform. Kaie got up and went over to read the rest of the poster. The smaller letters read, "But somebody has to know how. Join the Systems Alliance Marines." That was where she could escape. There was where she could reinvent herself and maybe become something better than a street rat kid that had the sense and luck to grow up.
The next day, well on the other side of Tokyo from where the gang usually worked, Kaie stepped into a recruiting agency and filled out paperwork. She fudged a little on her age, but not by much. She'd be 18 that year so what did it matter if she moved the month back a little. And, she had that one secret she had never told anyone in the gang, not even precious little Rachel. Her last name was Shepard.