“City Gates” A Prequel to “Nameless” Part 3

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Sorry for the delay, I have been busy the past few weeks, but here it is... the last part of the prequel. :)


“City Gates”
A Prequel to “Nameless

Abandoned Building by Kenji Nakayama, 2005

PART 2: THE SIGNATURE


PART 3: THE RED HERRING

She slides her physique with the quiver in her hand through the crevice of the old building where the ground splits spatially from lower to higher position due to the movement of the ground platelets about twenty eight years ago during the nuclear revolution that partially ended the war. We are still in war, she thinks. She steps through the cement stones that are still strongly attached from the walls over the crack in the ground. Inside the abandoned building, she tiptoes through the dim room where only a partial light enters from a four-inched diameter hole that looks like some fist hit the wooden-barred window that created the hollow.

It seems like a safer place to hide than the outside. She was on her way to the train station to flea to Avalonia when Castor saw her and seized her back to his BMW, but as soon as she hit the other side of the door which happened to be unlocked, she escaped. What a foolish thing to do. Castor, as foolish as ever... she smiles to her self.

In the dimness she could see broken things—her favorite things. She looks at the hard metal scraps on her right. Railings, broken shutters, aluminum and copper scraps and even old condensers are almost everywhere. She's in heaven... She could create from all the junk. The place is the perfect studio for her arts as soon as it is renovated.

She finds herself tippytoeing through the dirty floor to the darkest area of the room where she couldn't be seen. Castor and Ani could still be looking for her. Her back on the wall, she pushes her self down. When she is already in her place, she moves her arms around her knees in a hug. Her head she drops down touching her knee and covering her face. She starts crying unbeknownst of the reason behind the tears.

She stays there for what seems like hours until she hears a tumble from the other side. The sound echoes through the vastness of the room. Her head jolts up in a protective spasms. It made her numb for a while. Then a silhouette across the darkness appears. A man—not as big as Castor's, nor is it a body of a woman or Ani's. She is now standing—her body ready to move and escape from an anticipated attack. But the figure just stands there as if waiting for her to move, or otherwise. She might not be visible at all from across because she makes sure she is in the darkest recesses of the room.

She could make a run for it, but if she will, the figure might notice her—that is if it hasn't discovered her existence yet. So she decides to freeze on her position. Then the figure moves obliquely through the barred window where the light enters the small hole. As soon as his face hits the light, she could see a part of his face—a familiar face.

He peeps through the hole in a rigid manner as if cautious in his movements. He seems afraid—but afraid of what exactly? She asks herself.

"I see you standing there." He begins talking in a low pitch, but still peeking at the hole. "I'm hiding like you are, so don't you worry about hurting you because I won't." And this time his eyes now directed toward her. "I lost my brother from the pursuit."

She remains quiet but still cautious.

But before he could move toward her, a sudden rap echoes through the room. The door bolts and the light shimmers through. Three goons enter the room and she charges through the crack of the wall where she entered a few hours ago. The boy, on the other hand, rushes through the junk to hide himself. But it was already too late for him. One goon catches his shoulders while the other hits his head with steel. He is now unconscious.

Before she could slip through the crack, she hears the boy's groan in unison with a loud thump and clatter. Shit! I have to help him. Stealthily she goes back to the darkness where she couldn't be seen. It is possible that none of the goons saw here earlier.

Indeed, none did.

The goon with an eye patch dragged the boy's body toward the open door where they came in, while the other two pace ahead of them.

"Search for the boy. The doctor would be furious to know we have lost one prisoner." says the blond man with tattoos all over his body.

As soon as they were out the room, the girl follows their track along the hallway of the abandoned building.

Two of the men goes straight out of the building to the outside world to search for the lost boy, whereas the one with the eye patch dragged the unconscious boy by the shoulders up to the stairs to the next floors.

"Fuckin' elevator!!" He cussed with annoyance to the malfunctioned elevator. The elevator could have saved him the time and effort of bringing the prisoner to its destination. The girl follows them silently and hides behind junks that scatter along the hallways. For that, she's happy with the scraps, old woodworks and metalworks.

They reach the fourth level of the building where dry sheets, blankets, clothes and underpants hang suspended on nylon ropes along the hallways. The thug knocks on a room located in the center of the hallway where another man opens the threshold from the inside. The threshold, among the rest of the doors in the whole building appears to be the widest of them all. It looks as if this particular room is a function room of sorts. The door, just like the wall paneling are of Walnut.

He continues to haul the boy inside the door. When they are already inside, the door closes.

Within the same hallway are broken consoles and cabinets. On the top of one of the consoles lay scabbards, and several knives and daggers of different sizes. She takes one of the knives and slides it on one of the scabbards. She tiptoes through the other room next to the room where the goon entered. It is a kitchen. Inside the kitchen are piles of dirty dishes, glasses and pots on the sink and on the table. Rotten food that looks as if they were thrown scatters through the floor.

From the other side of the wall she could hear the voices of men talks and boisterous laughs.

"Dude! You're a freakin' douche bag!" Squeals one man.

"A douche bag and a party pooper!" Says another in a an utter that sounds more like a groan than a voice. She could hear more gags. There must have been more than four hoodlums in the other side.

"Shut up!" The voice now irate... "If the doctor hears of your sloppiness, we're all doomed! Do you understand now huh, Burg!!" Then all the chuckling stops in an instant. "If Max and Bruss do not see the boy, you will have to take his place in the harvesting!"

"Then Project Bio be dammed!" Groans one of the thug—possibly the one named Burg. "My marrows are old and useless...and it'll be you who the doctor would kill because of your SLAH-PI-NESSSSS..." Burg hisses. His sarcastic tone aggravates the other thug that a sudden thud crackles through the wall where the girl is eavesdropping. The impact makes the girl drop on her back. Her limbs hit the piles of dirty dishes on the kitchen table, which clatter in an ensemble. Steams of blood ooze from her injuries in her upper limbs.

She's in danger. Her mind processes the information. She jerks herself to a stand, while sounds of running feet  reverberate through the immensity of the fourth floor. And so the chase begins, but it does not last long because the goons catch her immediately. She drops the floor. The strength of the men she could not contain—not now with her injuries suppressing her own strength.

"Looks like the we've got ourselves a replacement." The blonde grins.

"And look at what we have here..." The bald hoodlum points to her quiver, which she dropped on the ground. "....silver bow and arrows."

"I'll claim that." Says the blonde...

They take her inside the room where the prisoners are being held. She looks at the group, the boy now tied lying unconscious on the ground. Two adult women, one child, one old woman, an old man, and another adult male sit on the floor with their backs on the wall are also tied on all limbs, and mouths covered. And she to complete the group also being tied. She is to replace the other boy who escaped.

"You pretty face is perfect. I bet you've got pretty bones as well!" The bald thug cups her face with his hands, and she spits her saliva to his ugly face.

"Oh! feisty, this one!" He grins instead... "Don't yah worry girl, such thin-skinned ass like you is exactly the perfect candidate for the harvesting, and I'll make sure you'll be the first to be harvested. Our dear doctor loves feisty little things." And he laughs rollickingly.

Harvesting? What is this harvesting he is talking about? She wonders... and it scares her for the first time...

The bald reaches to cover her mouth. "And that is to keep you from spitting your filth on my face."

She sits on the coldness of the floor brooding. She shouldn't have followed to try to save the boy when she was already halfway her freedom. What a foolish choice. She chastises herself.

But it's not yet over, she can still save the boy, the others, and her self. All she needs is a red herring.

Then a phone rings. The blonde hoodlum answers. "Hey doc, yeah? Okay. Got that."

"Doc says the bone marrow harvesting begins in twelve hours. Seems like his flight has been delayed."

WHAT!! She panics. Did he just say BONE MARROW HARVESTING? Fuck!

"Which means we can still play with the prisoners.... and I want the girl." Says the bald goon looking at the girl. Their eyes meet, and she sees great desire and rape in his eyes. She grimaces.

Bone marrow harvesting... her marrows be harvested. Will she and the rest die? Is this how her life's supposed to end? NO WAY! And she feels her motivation—much greater and stronger than ever!

Then, the boy's eyes flutter and his body jerks.

And she finds her self a red herring....she smiles.


-END of the Prequel-

Read Sequel here: NAMELESS

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