A World for us Alone

Chapter 4: Shintaro

Day 143:

Tucked away on the south side of a decaying city, an empty warehouse held a meeting of criminals. Each outlaw had a black snake etched into their skin with eight stripes, spare a blond woman who had a snake with nine stripes on its tail. All had red paint haphazardly splashed on their faces, and wore shredded, faded rags, so mistreated they could hardly be called clothes. No more than twenty of the criminals milled around under the warehouse's lofty ceiling, shivering as a cold winter enveloped them. The blonde stood atop a stack of looted crates, green eyes observing the ragtag group of 'Eights', counting a total of eighteen. A long red scar across the bridge of her nose was accented by red paint. Her chapped hand curled into a fist as she raised it, capturing the eyes of the others. Cries of complaint greeted her.

"We're cold!" shouted a small, mousy woman.

"We're hungry!" another chimed in.

"Where's the Snake of Clearing Eyes?" a voice piped up.

"Why can't we fry that kid who keeps escaping and eat him up?" At this, the meager crowd started talking all at once, arguing, shouting over each other, until one by one they noticed the blonde's harsh laughter. Once they were all silent, a southern drawl filled the room.

"I'm almost glad the Snake isn't here- if he saw so much chaos, I'm sure he'd kill all y'all without a second thought. Now, if you don't stop bitching, I'm limiting your food for the next month. All of y'all!" A cruel smile crept across her face as silence gripped the room. 

"We need the prisoner. Nines, such as myself, are the Snake's inner circle. Most of us were with him from the beginning of his career." She paused, then scoffed, "Almost half of your pathetic asses weren't even criminals before the world ended. Y'all only made it up the ranks because our better candidates kicked the bucket. How many of y'all heard of the name Shintaro Kisaragi?"

Eighteen hands went in the air, then dipped back down as the scarred woman continued. "The miracle doctor who could cure even the Snake's victims. I imagine the Snake, WHEN he comes back, will want to decide what to do with our famous prisoner. Besides, Kisaragi also has to do with the Snake's arrest." A collective gasp arose from the Eights.

 "What I'm about to tell y'all about Kisaragi is top secret. I've locked up the slaves, and have Fives and Fours surrounding this building- even though Fives are above guard duty. Nobody's getting in here who ain't supposed to be-"

"Shit!" A scream from the roof, and a grate fell from a neglected air duct. The blonde stared, frozen, as it fell and landed square on her face. Tumbling backwards, she lost her footing on the crates and plummeted to her doom. Stunned, some criminals remained still as others ran to help her. After realizing their leader was gone, the gang members slowly turned their heads to the air duct, where a small form was struggling to pull itself back into the air vent. A red-clad boy was hanging upside-down, hips still caught in the vent's slender opening. An uncomfortable feeling of all eyes on him made the boy freeze and glance down, meeting the glares of several starving, angry cannibals. 

Shintaro Kisaragi smiled sheepishly down at the group and murmured, "Mind if I hang here for a bit?"

Day 144:

Shintaro fidgeted with the chain attached to his waist, awaiting the results of his "trial." He shivered against the cold stone floor of his holding room, wishing he had his jacket. After the air vent incident, he was promptly removed from the duct, dragged to a former factory which the gang turned into a prison, thrown into a tiny, dark room, and chained up. The group of rogues left him, promising they'd get justice for their fallen leader.