The Runners

Scrap Run

"You sure you know where we're going, it's pitch black out here," I ask. "I have the map right here, it says to go this way." he answers, "so what are we looking for when we get there, any particular pieces of scrap you need?" 

He takes a moment to think and speaks " anything steel, just not stainless, It doesn't temper that well. Also if you find any interesting metal things grab it, we have a lot of space in the back." 

After some time of driving and watching the road markers go by we arrive at the junkyard. "Remember, be quiet. What we're doing isn't smiled upon by the law." I look at him and give him a "you fucking think?" face. "You know what I mean." He whispers agitatedly.

He goes to smash the lock and I pat him on the shoulder and whisper " I got this. it's a simple lock, I'll have it done right quick." I reach into my bag and pull out my lock picking kit. 

"You just keep that on you at all times?" Sovetsky says trying to annoy me. " No of course not, I assumed we had to keep this on the down-low so I brought it along." I retort proudly.

 As I start to pick the lock he continues pestering me, "why would a computer tech like you know how to pick locks?" I start to have a little trouble with the lock, it's harder than I first thought. "It's a skill I learned from my old line of work," I say slightly agitated about remembering it. 

"And what was your old line of work exactly?" He asks while leaning in slightly. I crack the lock and open the gate, retorting " Nothing the legal system would enjoy too much." He raises an eyebrow looking genuinely impressed "well, let's get to work then." 

 As we're hauling scrap back to the truck I ask him a question, "You said a while ago you were a cop?" He looks over at me and answers nonchalantly " What about it?" I heave the box of metal onto the car, resting my arm on it.

 "Well you said you were a cop, So why arent you still one?" He looks into the darkness of the surroundings and answers solemnly 

"I'm sure you've seen what's been happening with the police in Russia, during one of the protests I guess the Russian government was getting sick and tired of the protests. I mean I guess I understood it was getting out of hand, I thought we should just give them what they wanted, I guess it was an unpopular opinion because, because." His voice cracks and he stops, taking a moment to gather himself before continuing. 

"Because on that day we were ordered to open fire on the crowd of protesters, I'm pretty sure the crowd had kids in it." I stand speechless and give him a pat on the shoulder as he starts to continue. " after that day a wave of resignations came in, me being one of them. I just couldn't after that." 

He looks up and stares into the darkness hoping it was staring back, hoping it was judging him. A thing I've done far too often.

"Not a day goes by I dont think about it," he says with sorrow. " I understand how you feel, I'm sorry," I say.

"Hmm, what's your story then?" He asks with intrigue. I grab a pack of cigarettes out of my jacket pocket and grab one and offering another to Soversky, he takes it and I light mine while he lights his.

"I was born in Germany, loved it there too. But I lived with my family and they weren't the greatest, I mean they were horrible, just awful."

I take a second to breathe and continued. "What I'm about to tell you I haven't told anyone else. There is a crime syndicate in Germany called the Risen, they were raised from the ashes of Berlin after world war 2 with the goal of protecting the German population. 

In the beginning, they were truly a force of good, trying to feed the starving populace and keep them warm.

 They believed they had a duty to protect Germany after seeing the failures of the Third Reich and the horrors they had committed, The founders threw themselves into their work, and they worked themselves to the bone.

 After helping rebuild Germany and after a while most of their work was in berlin, especially east berlin. After the wall went up they fought hard to bring it down and to reunite berlin.

Their good streak didn't last long after the wall fell though. It seems that without a people to save and a cause to fight for, they fell into greed and started to extort the people they once helped. 

Eventually, after enough years, they had fallen into actions like murder, torture, and even worse than that."

I realized I had smoked through the cigarette and lit another and continued. "I was born into it, at first they had me at grunt work like cleaning up after tortures and murders. After a few years, I'd proven myself trustworthy enough to do the important stuff, like doing the torturing and murdering.

 Hell, I was so good at it that people started calling me by my middle name with respect instead of disgust. Eventually, I became a liquidator. Liquidating people's assets." 

I took a drag and chuckled at my own prior stupidity and went on with my story "I was so engrossed in my job and place in the family that I would've never gotten out, at least not without her, She helped me so much. In a place where I'd seen others as beneath me, she lifted me out of it and showed me the light. She showed me, genuine love when all I've ever been shown was hate, disgust, and fear." 

The pain of remembrance stung but something told me that if I got it out I would feel better. So I did. "I truly loved her, but her making me see people as actual people made me realize what horrors I've committed, and she'd known. She'd known what I've done and still saw a person under all that bullshit.

 Because of her, I am the way I am, why I can care about people, why I'm so fractured. I notice I smoked through a whole pack while explaining, I reach for the next one but stop, and continued explaining "But if it wasn't for her I wouldn't be human."

I take a deep breath to talk about what happened next, the pain is tremendous but I push through. "They noticed I was acting different, more merciful than usual, They figured out why and one day they called me to an outpost in the outskirts, and Inside was a sight I can't bring myself to describe, all I can say Is they killed her, brutally. And what's worse is they did it the way I would do it. 

They thought If they did this I would go back to being their little puppet, I left that building covered in guts and blood and didn't look back, I had killed about 100 people in my rampage. I knew they would come after me since I killed one of the main leaders of the family." I lie. "So I left and came here and tried to make a living, but we know how that ended up." We sit there for a few minutes In silence and to break the silence Sovetsky speaks up trying to break the tension with humor "I guess that explains why your such a good shot." 

 I try to suppress the smile but It wins and I start chuckling, " well enough feeling sorry for myself, let's get back to work." He puts his arm out letting me take the lead and says "ladies first." I stifle a laugh and reply with "oh fuck off." 

After a while of work and loading up scrap we get back in the car and set off back home. As we are going down the road He asks me a question "Mist, What was her name?" I look over at him and answer "Dawn, her name was Dawn." He stares forward and speaks " When you look back to your old life and what you're doing now, It's a good change. Think about it, you're fighting against a group trying to hurt innocent people, It's a far cry from how you used to be. I'd go as far as to say I think Dawn would be proud of what you're trying to do. "

"Thanks, it means a lot to hear that," I tell him. my eyes tear up slightly, i hold the tears back though.

(authors note: Hey thanks for reading and sorry for it taking a while to get this out, I had a massive cold that just wouldn't go away, I'm still on the ass end of it.  But anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I was originally going to have a battle scene as they were going to leave the scrapyard but decided against it.  Anyway Remember to like the story, and comment on it as well, anything helps. have a nice day/night. -HunterOfTheMist)