"Green"
Part 3 of 6
by Steave
A few moments earlier.
Thomas was holding Kami in a cradling position and took her down the street. He managed one last glance back at his son, standing tall and proud. "You can do it son, I believe in you."
He ran into a nearby alley, every so often looking at his deathly pale, yet still beautiful wife. How he could ever have been so careless as to let Jack get a hold of her, he wasn't sure. But it would all be over soon enough, the plan was set into motion, there was only one thing he hadn't counted on happening. That man's name, was Jack.
The skirmish between the two had almost resulted in the premature death of Thomas' family, including himself. He barely escaped that encounter alive, with all thanks to his son. Ollie would grow up to be a strong young man, at least, he hoped he would.
What was he thinking? He wanted one thing, but yet another at the same time. He wanted to get out West Star didn't he? Then there was no more room for false love. His son had to die, and so did the one who he was currently protecting.
He stopped in an alley and set Kami down in a sitting position, propped up against the wall of one of the buildings. Tears were streaming down her face, and her eyes were full of depression and wonder. She wondered if her son was still alive, and if so, she wanted to hear his voice one more time.
"Why didn't Ollie come with us?"
"Shut up! We don't have time to talk about this Kam. I have other things to worry about."
"Things more important than your own son?"
"Just shut up! I don't care about this son of ours, and I don't care about you, you stupid whore." Thomas threw a right hand straight into Kami's jaw. The sound of his fist connecting with her jaw was sickening. The pure force behind the blow knocked her from her sitting position onto the cold concrete. "I'm surprised with all of the name calling you have received that that son of ours hasn't figured out what you have been up to. He never questioned where you were at night, because he thought you were with us, and you were usually. Until we found our little hell hole of a home. Then you were out just about every night.
"He thought his family was happy together, but after the incident with Scar, you changed. You became a little slut, and slept with anyone to get all of these things you thought we desperately needed. All we needed was your love Kam. Well now, you will pay for your sins and your nightly escapades."
Kami sat back up against the wall, blood now coming from her mouth. "I loved you both, you always knew that. I did all of that so we could be a happy family." Tears now started to stream down her pale face.
"We were a happy family. As happy as we could be living in West Star, but then, you changed. You turned on me, and betrayed me. You betrayed what I believe in, and you betrayed your son."
"You mean our son Tom. He's not just mine, and what could possibly be more important than our son?" Kami's eyes were full of question and curiosity.
"Money. Money is power, and money is the key to getting out of this place. I will get out of West Star, and I will become someone of importance. My son, my only son, believes in lies, he thinks his parents care for him. The truth is, I only stayed with you two so he would be happy. But now that he has been lied to, and you have turned into a cheap whore, I have no need for either of you."
"Oh my god! You set this up . . . you bastard."
Tom reared his fast back and struck her again, only this time in the side of the nose. "You have no right to call me anything after what you've done."
"You promised you would never leave us . . . you promised. So, you lied to our son too."
"And now, he is going to die, because if he knows the truth, he would kill me, and I can't let that happen now. Not when I'm so close to achieving my goal. He has gotten too strong, and poses too much of a threat. He must be removed."
"Are you even listening to yourself? Tom, you're not the same man I married, you've turned into a monster."
He raised his left hand this time, and rolled it into a fist. "What did you just call me?"
"You, are a pathetic monster."
He landed a hard punch in her right cheek. She fell to the ground, and blood started to form around her head. She wasn't dead, and Tom knew she wasn't. He grabbed her by her hair and propped her back up against the wall. Tom still couldn't believe how beautiful she was, even through the tears and the blood.
"It will all be over in a few seconds, he should coming any minute now."
"Who . . ?"
"You're executioner."
At this last remark, a man came into the alley. An arrow was sticking out of the right side of his chest, which he prominently tore out. However, there was no blood, and he didn't seem to be too affected by it. The man stood at about 6 feet and had black hair. His skin was brown and he looked fit. His brown eyes were staring a hole through Kami, and she felt cold inside.
"This her?" His voice was almost soothing, but Kami knew it wouldn't be soothing for much longer.
"Yeah, this is the bitch."
"Alright, you know what to do, there's a car about two blocks north of here, in it are instructions to get to East Star. My employer will be waiting for you at the location described in the note."
"Just make sure she dies, and make sure you kill the brat too."
Thomas made his way north, and never looked back at Kami. She felt dead inside, and stared up at this black man that now stood before her. His soothing voice quickly turned into a deep growl, he sounded like a monster. "Now then, honeybuns, you're coming with me."
"Where are you taking me?" She was almost too afraid to ask.
"To dinner."
He violently grabbed her by the arm and ran back the way her and Tom had went. She was going to her deathbed, and she knew it. There was no stopping it, nor this man who was running faster than anyone she had ever known. All she wanted was to see her son's face one last time, but she knew, that if he was alive, she was about to.
After a long, vigorous run, they had come to Greenland Park. It was still as beautiful as it ever had been. Kami took one last long look at it, for she knew it was her last chance to look.
"OLLIE! OLLIE!"
"Shut up you whore. He'll know soon enough." They were walking into the park and Kami could see the circle of homeless. Ollie was now standing, looking around the park for the location of the voice he had heard. A man lay at his feet, and she presumed that Ollie had just killed the man. However, she noticed he didn't come out of the battle unscathed, for the entire left side of his face was covered with blood. It was amazing to her that he still looked beautiful, his blue eyes sparkling in the moonlight.
They came into the circle and Ollie looked at her in horror. The man then started to speak, "Does she look familiar to you boy! DOES SHE!" Ollie's eyes seemed full of sadness and rage at the same time. He nodded. "Good, cuz you're about to know what it's like to lose everything you ever loved! Oh boys, it's dinner time."
Kami's eyes widened and she felt the man throw her to the ground with such strength that it was scary. Whoever this man was, he wasn't normal. She heard his footsteps trail off in the distance . . . coward.
She watched as the homeless crept towards her, all with the same crazed look in their faces for fresh meat. Ollie had picked up his bow and started to defend her. Creating a barrier between them and the homeless with his arrows and his swings. But she knew, it was in vain, and they couldn't escape alive. She wanted to just tell Ollie to give up, there was no hope for either of them, and it made her sad.
Ollie was taken down by one of the homeless, and they rolled away from the group towards the raging river. "This is it," was all Kami could think to herself. She lay there, and then felt herself be picked up off of the ground. The scratchy and cold hands started to maul and grope her. She could feel her clothes being ripped off of her body, and she knew what was coming.
Kami noticed something in the distance, towards the river, running towards the group. It was Ollie, full of determination and rage. Swinging and swatting the homeless, he screamed at them full of rage and hate. She was almost scared of what he would become of he lived through this.
The homeless then had surrounded Ollie and she noticed them starting to pull him away from her, towards the river.
"MOTHER! DON'T GIVE UP!"
"I LOVE YOU OLLIE! I LOVE . . ," then she felt something enter her stomach, and her body started to turn cold and numb. Everything started to fade away, and all was silent and dark. "I love you Ollie," was her final thought.
On a nearby rooftop.
A man, wearing all black stood, gazing through his binoculars. He could barely be seen in the dark night. His trench coat, fluttering in the wind. His face, was disguised by a black mask, with a white circle, and a smaller one inside. He stared through his binoculars and watched until the death of the woman. When it was over, his gloved hand reached into his coat pocket, and pulled out a phone. He flipped it open, and answered.
"This is Pete. Yes sir it is done. Yes, the bitch is dead. Yes sir, he should be on his way. No, I'm not sure if the boy survived or not. I still want my money for the woman though. I'll be over shortly to collect it. Yes, Star City shall begin its journey to becoming one again. I'm looking forward to helping . . . Mr. Mayor."
Now.
I had just finished cutting up my jeans, which were now cut-off shorts, and wrapped the leggings around my stomach. Hopefully, this would help my stomach a little.
The images of my mother still ran through my mind, and I began to cry. I hadn't been emotional about it yet, but now, I couldn't help it. My mother had cared for me more than anything, of this I'm sure, and now she's gone. I could only wonder where my father was during all of this.
My eyes turned to the sky, it was a cloudy day. I could smell rain in the morning air. My logic had told me to get a move on and find a place to seek shelter. However, my heart did not agree, and all it would make me think about was what happened yesterday . . . or had it been two days ago?
My memory was still fuzzy from the incident with the river, and how I came to be here. I had lost track of time, and wasn't quite sure how long it had been since I was last in West Star. I can't say I preferred West to this sanctuary, but once I started to think about it, I became homesick.
I got up and started to continue my way through the beauty of the forest. The sound of thunder awoke me from my day-dreaming and I knew that the storm couldn't be too far off. I continued to wander the forest, making sure I stayed going against the current of the river, and I looked for a place to stay for the remainder of the day.
After some walking, I noticed a smooth rock wall to the right of me. I left the river and journeyed by the wall, and only a few steps later the wall abruptly stopped, and I was looking at a hole in the wall. I peered inside, and I was peering inside of a cave. I wandered inside, and without any light, it was hard to determine how far it went, and hard to give an accurate description. I stopped and turned back towards the light at the cave's entrance.
Well, I had found a place to stay for the night, now there was another problem. How was I going to keep warm? Then, it hit me. I felt a pain in the stomach, only not like the pain I felt that day when I was punched by that man. This was a different kind of pain. It was the pain of hunger.
The wildlife would more than likely find a place to hide like I had, and plus, I had no ammunition to take out an animal if I wanted to. All I had was my bow, and a knife. A lot of good that was going to do me.
I stood at the entrance of the cave and gazed upwards at the sky. The storm was almost here, but there was no way of telling if all of the animals had reached or found shelter yet. I placed my bow on the ground of the cave and drew my knife. I ran outside and searched all around this particular area of the forest.
Nothing.
I did, however, find fallen branches or long sticks on the ground and took them with me. Running back to the cave, I noticed some stones near the cave. I picked them up as well and carried them with me to the cave.
A few seconds after I reached the cave, the rain started to fall . . . hard. I walked a good 10 feet from the entrance and dropped the sticks and rocks. Now, I had seen trash fires lit, but it was nothing like this. I had, however, seen and one time used two stones to create a fire.
I made a pile of the sticks, however not using all of them, for the others had "special" purposes. Putting the stones close to the sticks, I scraped them together fast and hard.
Nothing.
I tried again, and there was nothing. Becoming frustrated, I scraped faster and harder, and still got nothing.
"You know, getting angry isn't going to help any," I told myself. I cleared my head and thoughts of frustration and anger, and began to concentrate. I scraped more gently this time, yet still fast and a little hard.
Nothing.
The coolness from the rain started to creep into the cave and I shivered. I clacked the two stones together again.
Still nothing.
I wasn't quite sure what, or if I was doing anything wrong. But then again, I wasn't even quite sure what I was looking for. All I wanted was warmth and to be nice and cozy. I almost half expected the fire to just appear there. A foolish hope, I know it was. So I concentrated harder, and hit the stones together, this had to be it, I was so sure of myself.
Nothing.
"What the hell?" I angrily hit the stones together out of frustration.
Spark.
Unfortunately, I didn't have the stones close enough to the pile of sticks to start a fire. I put the stones very close to the sticks, and performed the same motion as last time.
Spark. Fire.
The twigs had caught the spark and turned into a flame. It was a good thing this was in a cave, for there was not really any wind to put the flame out. I sat down, triumphant and happy. Now then, if only I could have something to eat.
At this moment, something near the entrance of the cave caught my eye. I noticed something slither into the cave, but stuck close to the wall. At the time, I wasn't quite sure what it was. You have to remember that I had grown up in a city, and it didn't have very many snakes in it. Though, of course, I know what it is now, at the time, I had no clue as to what it was.
I pulled out my boot knife and stood up. My stomach now growling, I wandered towards this live, slithering thing. It coiled up, and just sat there, it's eyes glaring at me. What it was, I was not certain, but, with it being an animal, I was sure that it was edible.
Not wanting to take too many chances, I launched my knife straight at what I assumed was its head. The knife struck this animal, and it keeled over. I picked it up, feeling the slimy, yet smooth texture of its skin. Putting it up to my nose, I took a sniff. It smelled disgusting. I hoped that it tasted better than it smelled.
Taking one of the "special" sticks, I jammed it through the animal's mouth and out it's end. I placed it over the fire, mimicking what my father had done with some of the animals that we had eaten, which were the best of meals. If I had a choice between garbage or animals, I would much rather eat the obvious answer.
After the animal looked good enough to eat, I took a chunk out of it's "side." I chewed, moving the meat all around my mouth and getting familiar with the taste. To my surprise, it was quite scrumptious. I ate the animal until there was nothing left of it. I wasn't too sure I cared for the head of this animal, but it's body was delicious. This was easily the best meal I had ever had.
I fell onto my back and let my thoughts take me where they would. Of course, it brought me back to my family. Those lingering questions about my father returned as well. Why wasn't he there? I tried to push those questions out of my head, assuming that my father would have saved us if he knew it was happening.
I reached over and took one of the sticks and started to sharpen it with my knife. I had need for these arrows, and I had a feeling it would be very soon. After the rainfall, I had planned on getting some more food, hoping the flame would stay up. If it did not, I knew what to do. This forest was an endless supply of wood, and it wouldn't be hard to make another fire.
Sitting up, I gazed outside the cave, looking at the remaining beauty of the forest. My gaze turned, and I got a better look at the cave I was currently residing in. I noticed that the cave continued to go deeper into this forest, and how far exactly it went, I wasn't sure. Some day, maybe, I would venture deeper into this cave, and learn its secrets, but that time wasn't now.
My thoughts returned to my mother, and how I would never see her beautiful smile or her green eyes ever again. Tears formed at my eyes, but I pushed them back.
"You need to stay strong Ollie. No point in giving up now, you have to keep going. Mom wouldn't want you to throw your life away because of this," I reassured myself. I knew these words I spoke to myself were true, I had to hold it together. I would return to Star City, and I would have my answers. Of this, I was sure.
East Star City.
Thomas sat in a very comfortable chair facing a beautiful oak desk. The chair sitting behind it, was empty. He had never been in a more beautiful room in his life, but that isn't hard when you've lived where you have your entire life. The room was of an oval shape and was carpeted in a beautiful green color. The walls were painted white, and were decorated with portraits of past mayors of Star City.
Some have said that Star City has usually had the best mayors in the country, and that if you became mayor here, you should run for president. However, the same might not be able to be said about Star's current mayor. Caring little for the welfare of others, he forced Star to separate itself, between the poor and the rich.
His motives, unclear, other than he was careless and cared little for the well being of others. Now, he cares, or just wants the rich to live on and the weak to die. Thomas had heard of this, and this was his only way out.
Thomas heard the doors open behind him and he swung his gaze behind him, towards the entrance of the room. Walking in, was a man with a posture that looked like that of one who was going to lead to world. He was obviously at least in his mid 40s, possible early 50s, but age didn't necessarily matter. His face was very regal looking, like he was supposed to be a king of the Middle Ages. There was no hair on his head, save the back of his head and the sides. It's color a mix between grey and white, and had thinned out somewhat.
His body wasn't small by any means, but by no means large. He was not overweight or incredibly muscular, he was a normal size. He did not slouch, instead he walked straight and tall. This man, was obviously a very proud man.
He moved to his chair and sat in it, gazing at Thomas. His hazel colored eyes seemed to be burning a hole through him. At last, he spoke in a calm and gentle voice, "So, what can Mayor Jefferson Blain do for you today?"
"Well, sir, I think you know why I'm here."
"Oh, that's right. Thomas isn't it? I met you at the bridge. Pete told me of your desperate need to get out of West, and I agreed to help. Perhaps this is the moment we have been waiting for."
"Excuse me, what do you mean by that sir?"
"Well, due to the constant growing of West Star, the area is getting out of hand. We have had reports of police officers being attacked in the middle of the night and some of the homeless creeping into East. Due to these actions, and what we are doing to you, we will offer the same choice to all of West. You may enter and live in East Star, but you have to pay for it."
"And how exactly would they pay for it sir."
"By exactly what you did, to get in, you give us your family. Well, give Pete your family. I know how some of the homeless are just yearning for our way of life, and want it the easy way. This act will reunite Star and no more homeless to stay in our way and bother our citizens. Star City will become a respectable place once again, and business will be better than it ever has been before. Star City will go into a "Golden Age," so to speak."
"Did Pete report to you about my family? Did they live?"
"Yes, Pete witnessed the death of you wife. However, your son, he is not sure about. Whether the homeless took him to do what they would with him, or if he escaped is uncertain. Some say they saw a body struggling in the river, and due to this, I know what to do."
"Wait, you said if they lived they would stay alive."
"I'm afraid, Tommy boy, I am going to have to change that. If other homeless have to give up their families, you have to too."
"No please sir, I still care for my son. I didn't think he would live, but, if you're giving me a second chance, please, give him a second chance too."
"No, Tom, I can't do that. This is out of fairness, and if you were so willing to do this before, why turn back on it now? You do want your money don't you? You want to be given a chance and become a very respectable, and powerful man I might add, don't you?"
"Yes . . . sir."
"Ah, very good, I have just the man to do the job."
"Pete?"
"No, Pete will have his hands full with work here, I have another man in mind. You may come in now."
Jefferson motioned to the entrance of his office and from the hallway entered a man wearing a rolled up long sleeve white button up shirt. Blue jeans covered his legs, and holding them up was a brown leather belt. His red hair was short cut, but not overly short and he wore shades, hiding his eyes. A very expensive looking watch adorned his right wrist, and by his looks, Thomas knew what kind of work he did.
Thomas stood up and the unknown mercenary extended his hand. "His name is Eddie Fyers," the mayor said. Thomas looked at him and Eddie lowered his shades. He had blue eyes, they reminded him painfully of his son. Tom took Eddie's hand.
"You can call me Ironhorse."
