Taste the Rain
Chapter 1
"I'm gonna kill you little bastards!"
I ran down the alleyway as fast as I could, crowbar in hand. If what Slasher said was true, I was about to score it big. Turning corners, I rushed past the woman with the seven kids, all squalling and rolling around in the dirt like puppies.
I rushed past the old man, swaying like a ship in a hurricane, clutching a half empty beer bottle tightly in his dirty fingers.
I rushed past the dark eyed boys who shouted lurid things to me as I passed, hiking up their sagging pants with tattooed hands grasping knives and tugging the chains of fierce looking dogs, which lunged and snapped at my heels.
The morning air smelt as it always did, of sweat and grim and human refuse. Ahh, a morning in the slums of Gotham. Living on my own on the streets wasn't as bad as I'd thought it would be a few years back when I had first found myself striking it out alone. Sure, it was tough sometimes, dodging cops and all sorts of other frightening characters, but I had fallen in with a nice crowd of kids just like me and we made it all right. Sure, we scraped, but things never got so bad.
Not bad enough, anyway, to go back to the Viper. I trembled when I thought of him. No, things were good compared to that. We ate what little there was and survived. However, if Slasher had his facts right, we might not have to scrape for a while.
It was then that I hurtled around the bend and skidded to a halt behind the corner of the building. A few of the other kids were already there, gazing at the store. "They say it just opened", Ginko whispered as I lowered myself to a crouch beside him, "No burglar alarms."
"Sounds like a trap", I replied in a similar hushed tone, "You know how the police been looking for us."
"Ohh, don't worry so much Gunner", Puppet replied, "they ain't looking for us that bad. After all, they got the Diablos to go after. They ain't gonna bother with the Renegades."
That was what we called ourselves, the Renegades. I had thought up the name myself. We weren't much of a gang though, just a bunch of runaway or poor as dirt white kids living on the streets. The Diablos, now they were the real deal and right now, we were in their territory. But, they didn't know about this store yet, nobody did but us.
The owner came out, wiping his hands together. He looked like a nice old man. He probably thought he got a great deal on the building. Maybe he'd been dreaming his whole life to open a store with his old lady. Probably a rich old bird. Well, we'd boost him for a few hundred bucks and be gone.
My hand fell to my hip, where my gun was strapped. The reassuring weight of it helped to settle my frazzled nerves. I always got jumpy right before a heist and when I got jumpy, my trigger finger did too. That was why they called me Gunner.
Puppet slapped his hip, the signal for us to gather around. He was our leader, the oldest of us at sixteen. "Alright everyone", he murmured, eyes flashing with anticipation, "here's the plan. Gunner, take Cricket and go in the back. Break open the windows or the door or something and get in through there. Slasher, you hit the front with me and Ginko. Rooster, Tattoo, you keep watch."
The little boys nodded in synchrony, happy to be included. Being the tiniest of us, Rooster was six and Tattoo was five. We called him Rooster because of the sound he made when he cried and Tattoo was as clingy and as hard to get rid of as his namesake.
Their mother had overdosed a few weeks back. That fell close to my heart. So had mine, just a couple years ago. With nowhere to go, they'd fallen in with us. We always used them as lookouts though. Puppet didn't feel right about putting them in the line of fire, being that they were so little. I didn't either.
Once everyone had his or her task, we crept into position. Cricket followed me close, her long black hair lying in tangled mats around her shoulders. The daughter of one of the Joker's goons, she had fled when the manic had come after her family. Her mother, driven insane by street life, had slashed open her little brother's throat with a high heel before coming after her. Even though she was a girl, Cricket was a dead shot and invaluable.
Cricket put a finger to her lips as we entered the yard, trying her best to calm me because she knew I was getting jumpy. Then, she pulled a few pins out of her hair and started to pick the lock. That was another great thing about her; she had the nimblest fingers of anyone. I followed her into the store. There was no alarm, nothing.
We went through and came upon the counter where the man stood, back to us. He was gazing distrustfully at Puppet and the others, who loitered suspiciously in the front of the store. I could see him reaching for a rifle beneath the counter. So he wasn't a complete idiot, just mostly one.
The old man's fingers had just brushed the rifle when he felt something hard bump the back of his head. "Hands in the air", Cricket said, her voice colder than the steel in her gun. The man began to tremble and slowly reached for the ceiling. That was Puppet's cue. He swaggered in, Ginko and Slasher at his heels.
"Alright", Puppet said, "lets see the cash, start unloading." Ginko opened a bag and began to shove merchandise, electronics and other such things, into it. Puppet just stood there, arms crossed, looking cool and intimidating with his dragon tattoo reaching from just below one eye, twisting and turning downward until it disappeared into his shirt. I didn't know where he'd gotten the money for something like that, but I knew I wanted one.
Finally, all the money was out of the cash register, the old man's fumbling fingers having thoroughly emptied it. Slasher swept it into another sack. "Lets go", Puppet said.
"Don't turn around", Cricket hissed, "We're going to back away after Puppet's gone." I kept my gun trained on him as well. We didn't even bother with masks for this sort of thing. After all, what cop would come looking for us?
"I'm gonna get you little bastards", the old guy hissed. Puppet tutted.
"Now, now, how would your old lady feel about your language boy?" With that, he turned around and was out the door with Ginko and Slasher. I started out the back, my gun still trained on the old man. Cricket backed away slowly, paused and made a break for it, me close behind.
Rushing as fast as we could, we got out the back and into the yard. There was a shot just over my head and the crack of a rifle rebounding. Idiot, keeping a rifle in the slums. While he was busy loading the thing, he'd get a knife in his gut. But, now that it was loaded, it was dangerous, which Cricket and I kept in mind as we darted, heads low, out of the yard and back into the gutters, like rats.
"Damn kids", the man screamed, waving his gun as he hobbled, wheezing, into the yard. But, we were long gone. Gasping for air like fish out of water, Cricket and I sagged against the wall of an alley. We looked at each other, adrenaline pumping and elation in our eyes before slapping highfives. Then, we staggered upward, replaced our guns in our holsters and started back to the others. They had regrouped in our favorite corner and were going through the loot.
"Alright", I whooped as Cricket and I entered the area, "Who's got it now?"
"We're set", Slasher cried, "We won't need anything for weeks."
"Now, lets not get too over excited", Puppet cautioned, though I could see a flicker of optimism in his eyes, "We have to make this last. No pigging out."
"Just tonight", I pleaded, "Come on."
"Yea", Tattoo and Rooster chorused, "We want ice cream." Puppet rolled his eyes as if we were all ridiculous and looked over our hopeful faces.
"Alright, but just tonight." Cricket and I highfived again and ran, whooping down the streets with the rest of the gang. We'd be kings tonight.
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I swayed back in forth in place and felt my body gave a lurch, bringing me slightly back into reality. The cigarette hung from my mouth and I took another deep drag. Everything was completely out of wack. The room surged and swayed like the deck of a ship. That was kind of funny. In fact, that was really funny. I started laughing uncontrollably, rocking back and forth in my seat in hysterics until there were tears in my eyes. But, who cared. I was certainly too stoned to care.
Next to me, Ginko gave a heave and threw up to one side before falling over next to me and landing in my lap. I didn't know what he banged, but whatever it was, he always barfed after he shot himself up. It was gross and I knew I would care tomorrow, but today, today I just sat in place, giggling quietly and telling myself little jokes.
Ginko stirred slightly in my lap and twitched. From the other room, I could hear Slasher screaming. Puppet didn't shoot up, but he did drink and when he drank, he got violent. Slasher must have inadvertently stepped in on him and now was to pay the price. Perhaps Slasher would die. I didn't care; I was so stoned.
Rooster and Tattoo quivered before climbing up into Cricket's lap, glancing fearfully at the other room. Cricket patted them gently to soothe them and took another drag from her cigarette. The little ones didn't do drugs, at least not yet. They were afraid of the needles, didn't like the smell of cigarette smoke and hated the taste of booze. They'd figure it out eventually though, they'd find a way to get their fix.
After all, we all did sooner or later. Life sucked too much not to take full advantage of whatever escape you could and in our lair, there was a chance to wind down, now that we had money that is. We could all feed our addictions behind the safety of the walls.
This was basically a two-room set up in a condemned building. We had been planning to expand later in order to have ourselves a happy little home, but it took a while to patch all the holes in the walls and put chairs and stuff. We didn't have electricity or running water or any sort of luxuries as that, but it was homey in it's own way.
Slasher fell silent and Ginko slowly picked himself up, tripping over to the door. Probably looking for air. Freed of the load of him on my lap, I swayed in place for a moment and then sagged to one side, swiftly falling asleep.
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Chains
So many chains
Clinking like sinister chimes as the warm wind moves through them
Carrying with it the scent of fetid meat.
Cutting into my ankles and wrists
Blood trickles down
Drip drop
Drip drop
I scream, throat raw
His breath whispers in my ear
Mine
Mine
Mine
I sat up straight, gasping for air. 'But, it's alright, everything's alright', I told myself, 'I'm safe in the Renegade lair with Ginko and Slasher and Cricket and Puppet. I am safe. The warehouse is gone, it burned down a long time ago.' But, the Viper still lived, as did the others, or most of them at least. That thought roused me fully, driving me upward. The high had worn off and as much as I wanted to smoke again, Puppet said moderation or we wouldn't have any left and anyway, I needed to be alert.
I stretched, groaned and got up, going to the window. The cool Gotham night air slid down my throat, making me tremble with chill. But, though the darkness held many terrors for me, none were out and about that night, at least, not in this neighborhood.
The lights of Gotham twinkled and shown. I could pick out a few stars if I looked up, but most of them were hidden by a thick layer of smog. The moon, however, was just visible. The sight of it was soothing. My mom was up there. Maybe she was watching me. Maybe, up in heaven, since she didn't have to worry about drugs or anything like that, she could think about me. That was a nice thought.
I was about to turn back to the Renegades and go to sleep when I saw a flash of black flying across one of the streetlights out of the corner of my eye. I turned towards it, but there was nothing there. Still suspicious, I gazed over the street from my vantage point high above it.
There, up the street, advancing on our home, was a small group of cops. "Damn", I cursed quietly, "they've been stalking us. Stupid Puppet, letting that old man see his face." We Renegades aren't all that hard to find if you know where to look for us and if you know Puppet, you can find us easily.
I turned around and rushed back inside, shaking Puppet awake. He was lying sprawled on the only bed in the room. He got it because he was the leader, something I didn't totally agree with.
"What?" he moaned, still suffering from a hangover.
"Cops", I hissed, and he was wide-awake.
"Where?" he asked.
"Coming up on us", I replied, "They must of gotten a tip from the old man."
"I knew we should have killed him", Puppet cursed, sitting up slowly. "Alright, let's get everyone together and get out of here."
"But, we won't be able to carry all our stuff", I whimpered.
"Oh well", Puppet replied, "We've got it hidden, we can come back for it or something. We have to go now." I nodded and sighed. There went our score. I crawled over to where Cricket, Rooster and Tattoo were curled up and roused them. Cricket's large green eyes blinked open slowly and she gazed at me with confusion on her worry-lined face.
"Come on", I said, "We gotta get out of here, cops." Instantly, she was wide-awake, collecting the two little ones in her arms and getting up. Puppet was still waking Ginko, so I went to get Slasher, who was lying quietly where he had fallen the night before. "Slasher", I said, giving him a rough shove. He didn't move. "Come on man", I hissed, but still nothing. Feeling my heart skip a couple beats, I put a hand on his neck. No pulse; Slasher was dead.
"Leave him", Puppet snarled, "Let's get out of here." Casting one final frightened, miserable look at my old friend, I got up and started after Puppet. We crept as quietly as we could over to the back exit, which had a staircase for us to get down to the ground level. It was painfully dark and we had to go slowly. I rammed into Puppet's back and received a harsh blow over the head. I knew better than to cry out and bit my tongue.
A few tears fell down Ginko's cheeks, tears for Slasher, but Puppet hushed him with an angry snarl. Ginko fell silent. I felt like crying too, but I didn't. There would be time to cry later, when we were safe.
We had just made it through the back exit and I could already smell the fresh air when suddenly, a dark shape landed in front of us. It was the most terrifying creature I had ever seen. Standing at least six feet tall, it seemed to suck away all the light and leave us cast in total darkness; the Batman. The other's recoiled in shock, but I was too frightened even to breathe.
"You're not the Diablos", he hissed, flames in his eyes. Puppet, the bravest or the stupidest of us, stepped foreward.
"We're the Renegades", he snapped, "Eat metal bitch!" With that, he lifted his gun and shot at the Batman. Puppet shot at the Batman! But, the second he pulled the trigger, the great beast was gone. He was on Puppet in a moment, kicking the gun from his grasp. The rest of us pulled out our guns and shot at him, but he just kicked our weapons away.
When my gun fell from my hands and the Batman turned to me, I couldn't take it, I ran. Puppet called after me, but I just kept running, too terrified even to think. Sliding through alleyways and skidding past gutters, I bolted as fast as I could in the opposite direction. My feet pounded the pavement to the rhythm of my heart. I wasn't sure what was going to happen to my friends, but sure as hell wasn't going to wait around and find out.