Most people would be glad that the noises had stopped. They'd think the chase was over. But I was smarter. I knew my pursuer, and it wasn't his style to just stop. This was only a trap to make me feel safer, but I wouldn't be fooled. Instead, I went from sprinting to jogging. I was going to slow down, but not by much. I wasn't stupid. I knew how dire things were for me. I just did my best to be silent as I ran on through the woods. It was hard, though, because there were leaves everywhere and they crunched endlessly under my feet. Just my luck!
"Alana Kane!" a strong, loud, deep voice called my name and I was taken by such surprise that I practically leapt 17 feet into the air. I looked around wildly for the voice, but there was no one there.
"Up here!" the voice repeated. I tilted my head back. There, looming up in the tree branches, was a tall, lithe figure. Said figure jumped from his perch and landed in front of me with a smug expression upon his painted face. Oh. Wait a sec. I knew exactly who this guy was.
"Graverobber!" I snapped. "You idiot! You scared the You-Know-What out of me!" I smacked his arm, but he only laughed, amused by censorship.
"Can't a pal just drop in and say hello?" he asked, looking back up to the tree branches as he said this. I rolled my eyes, disgusted by his lame pun. Then, when he looked back at me, he continued his little diatribe.
"It's not my fault you're in trouble and need my help again! Honestly, for someone who claims innocence, you do always seem to be running from something!" he paused to laugh while I felt the heart in my chest skip a beat. His words were genuine and innocent, but they hit me like a knife and I remembered what I had to do...
At once, I had turned tail with the intent to keep on running, but Graverobber thought I was only running from him, so he followed me with a cheeky grin. When he caught up to me, he continued his taunting jokes.
"What'cha running from this time, princess? The law?" he asked.
"In a sense," I spoke softly and vaguely. I was in no mood to go into detail. But Graverobber, not getting the hint, continued his joke.
"So you broke a law? Tut, tut! That's no way to act my ex do-gooder!" Graverobber wiggled his finger in a scolding manner. Although my situation was dire, I couldn't help a chuckle. Graverobber was too silly and carefree to stay mad at. True, he was cocky, selfish, arrogant and foolish, but he was also my best and only friend in this nightmarish world I lived in and I wished I had the strength to tell him to leave me alone. This wasn't because I didn't want him around, it was because as long as he was with me, he was in danger. I couldn't stand the thought of anything happening to him. Especially not if it was because of me. It was for his own sake that I wanted him to leave me alone. (By the way, before you ask, we were not lovers. What we shared was something akin to a sibling bond, so don't get any cheesy ideas!)
"Yes. Tragic, I know," I said, returning to the present. "Because you've never ever, ever broken any law ever!" I shook my finger back at him. See? I could be funny sometimes. I just had to be in the mood for it.
"Me? Break a law? Never! Abominable!" Graverobber put a hand to his chest, feigning offense. "I am many things, but a law breaker is not one of them! I'm a patron saint to the laws!" his voice held so much courtliness that I laughed. His sarcasm was fantastic and it was even funnier considering the story of how we met…
Several years ago, I was wandering the graveyard. I had lost someone very close to me and I was only going to visit the tomb. On my way home, I ran into Graverobber and, by proxy, all the cops chasing him. They caught us both and immediately assumed that he and I were a tag team. In the end, it was only his speed and my innocent look that saved our lives that night. Ever since then, Graverobber and I have been friends, and although I do honestly despise law-breaking and grave robbing, I've helped him scrape a living and vice versa.
I woke from my reveries when I heard soft thudding, like something stalking me in the shadows. I stood listening for a tell-tale sign of something specific in the dark but I got nothing. I looked to Graverobber, but his confused face told me he didn't hear the thumps.
"Walk with me, walk with me, move!" I ordered softly, I began to pick up my pace again, struggling to hide my fear. Graverobber was on guard at once, sensing this dramatic shift in my tone and behavior. He became totally serious and followed me without so much as a whisper. We walked this way for a good 10 minutes before I left myself breathe again.
When I sighed, Graverobber took that as a sign to speak again but he made sure to be quiet. It was this mannerism that let him survive as a criminal and hobo without getting caught. He was a cocky, greedy, flirt, but, in bad times, he knew what to do.
"What are we doing? And why? Who's chasing you? You said it was the law right? You know we can take the cops! We did it countless times before!" Graverobber began to speak rapidly, all his unasked questions pouring out of him at once now that he knew he had the green light to speak. Now, I knew he was only asking out of genuine concern but the questions quickly overwhelmed me and I couldn't bring myself to answer a single one of them. It wasn't because I didn't want to, it's just that I honestly didn't know how to. How could I tell my best friend that I had done something so dumb, dangerous, and desperate that it finally caught up to me? How could I tell my level-headed, streetwise companion that I had finally caved to societal pressures and sided with the enemy? How could I tell him?
But Graverobber wouldn't let me stay silent for much longer. In his genuine fear and irritation, he began to shake me, continually bombarding me with questions in hopes that it would loosen my tongue. I tried to flinch away from his cruel gaze and his foul breath but he was in no mood for games anymore. Finally, I broke.
"Ok! Fine! I got a heart surgery and I'm late on payments!" I collapsed into sobs, totally broken. Meanwhile, Graverobber stood as still as a headstone, trying to wrap his mind around what I had just told him. Finally, it sank in and he came to life once more, animated and angry.
"What? Why?! You KNOW how any surgery like that ends. What made you do this? Why on earth, after all I've told you, would you still pursue this?!" In a nutshell, he was really, really, really mad. I couldn't blame him, but the shouting wasn't doing much to help my nerves and I mustered up the strength to yell back at him.
"I- I- I was s-sii-sick!" I sobbed. "I was dying! Without the heart transplant I would've died! Besides, I got the surgery months ago! I was doing so well! I don't know what happened! I just, got a bit in debt and suddenly... boom!" I knew my shouting would bring my pursuer right to me, but it felt so good to finally get my stress out. "All of the sudden, boom! But do you think I like this? Do you think I did this for fun!? I did it because I didn't want to die! Why is that so wrong?! But look at me now, you've had your last laugh! My life is forfeit!"
Our fight continued a little longer when suddenly, the thumping returned. I could tell from his face that Graverobber finally heard it too and even if he couldn't exactly pin where the thumping was coming from, he knew it was far too close for comfort. All at once, he fell silent, rage melting from his face faster than I could blink. His survival side had returned and, without a sound, he grabbed my arm and off we ran.
After about 10 mins of running, I saw flashing lights and could hear an array of loud, bustling noises. Graverobber and I approached the place warily and realized where we were. Somehow, we had gotten turned around in the forest and now we were back in the city. The worst place to be. But we had no chance of turning back now. Graverobber and I looked at each other nervously before entering that decaying city of Sanitarium. Hand in hand, both of us hoped we could find somewhere to hide, at least for a little. Then maybe I could return to the forest and continue on my way out of the city.
A little while later, we found ourselves in the Zydrate Zone. It was where Graverobber did a majority of his business, his best customer being Amber Sweet, daughter of the man who sold me the heart that was pounding furiously in my chest. But the Zydrate Zone was empty now. All the junkies were either already out cold or were off looking for some other drug dealer. Graverobber led me down that dirty little alleyway but scarcely had we reached the end of it when we literally ran smack into a massive figure all in black. Both of us fell to the ground and when we looked up, all we could see was black. The only color was a blue light coming from the top of the black mass.
"REPO MAN!" Graverobber and I screamed in unison. He hopped up first, nearly yanking my arm out of its socket as he tried to run back the way we came. I could tell from the heavy thuds that not only was Repo Man hot on our trail, but he was gaining. Finally, we threw ourselves into an old building and after sprinting up a few flights we had to stop. Both of us were out of breath and we literally could not advance further. We both knew we were stuck. It was game over.
"You should go," was all I could bring myself to say at that point. I was so scared and tired that my voice was but a squeak. Graverobber nodded mutely. I could tell he was just as scared as I was.
"Yeah, bye," fear had made his low, calm voice become high-pitched and strangled. It would've been funny had the situation not been so terrifying.
"If you should find me again you can, you know…" I trailed off, gesturing to my nose. I knew that Graverobber probably would've taken the Zydrate within me regardless of whether or not I gave my consent but, for some reason, I felt like verbally telling him that it was a sacrifice I was willing to make. Maybe it was just so I could perform one last act of kindness to the one friend I had, the one friend who had tried to save me this night. God knows nobody else tried to help me pay for my heart or out run Repo Man when my bank went dry.
"Ok," Graverobber choked out again in response to my statement. I could see conflict in his eyes. He was a naturally apathetic person but I was one of the few people he really cared for. Losing me was not going to be easy on him. Even if his grief only lasted an hour, it would be a painful hour.
Despite everything going on around me, the heart in my chest sang just a little bit. It was cruel and selfish, but there was something sweet in knowing I would have at least one mourner. It made me feel a little better to think that, in this world of hatred and apathy, there was one person who genuinely loved me and that there was someone out there I had made a positive impact on. I tried to smile bravely at him. We both knew I only had maybe a minute left. This building was a dead end, Repo Man could take his sweet time.
"You should go," I told my only friend.
"Ok," he repeated, but then he pulled something out of his long coat. It was a little glass vial. He inserted it into his gun and explained. "This is to ease the pain. Besides, I know I'll be getting it back really soon," as he injected me with the glowing blue substance, he tried to smile at the dark joke he had just made. His smile came off more as a grimace. My body twitched once as the Zydrate shot through my veins. It only took a few seconds for the first tingles to cascade through my body. This was a relief for me. With any luck, I'd be totally numb by the time Repo Man would get here. Of course, I would still scream my life away in terror, but at least the pain would be gone, right?
I was brought back from this little high when I felt Graverobber kiss my cheek. It was a small, platonic kiss but it meant so much to me. I wanted to thank him but my body refused to respond. Instead, I only watched him as he crept back the way we had come. We both knew he would be running right into Repo Man again, but since he was not the desired target, Repo Man would allow him safe passage out. I was the one Repo Man wanted, Graverobber was immaterial in his glowing blue eyes. So once Graverobber had gone, I was entirely alone. I sat like a rat trapped in a cage, waiting for my angel of death to come. Ah! There he was! At last…
Repo Man came up the stairs as slowly as he could. It was clearly an intimidation thing and let me say that it did a really good job. I was shaking violently, my vision suddenly blurry with tears as I felt my stomach churning. His tread had become light now that he had no need to run but I still heard every footstep. As they struck the metal steps and floor, they made a dull clanging. They were my funeral bells. At last, Repo Man was right there in front of me. He looked down at me and I was close enough to touch the hem of his uniform. We were silent for a moment, then he knelt down beside me and pulled out his black bag. I could hear myself sob but I could barely see, so thick were the tears. I could also hear the awful sound of clattering metal as Repo Man decided upon which tool would be best. At last, he made his choice. I closed my eyes as he raised his knife, ready to reclaim GeneCo's property.
AN: This is my very first fic and I know it's not exactly the world's best and I know it isn't very original, but hey, I'm proud of it. It was inspired by the song "Genetic Repo Man", though it's slightly AU-ish, what with the girl being close friends with Graverobber instead of a nameless woman slaughtered by Repo Man whilst Graverobber sings. (Her name is slightly based off of the actress, her actress being Athena Karkanis and her name being Alana Kane).
