raspberries and dirt

12. rooftops

Ranboo was finally free.

He had been in and out of shitty foster homes ever since he was eight. None had liked him. It was okay, though. It's not like he had wanted to live with them either.

He was now free from rules. Free from everything. Free from responsibility.

He was walking across rooftops instead of on the ground. He preferred being high in the air; it seemed cleaner and fresher. The crumbling road below was littered with cigarette butts and empty soda cans and populated by people who would kill for a meal.

He hopped from one rooftop to the next effortlessly, they were crowded together, and most had fire escapes leading to the next.

The orange-red colors of the fading sunlight were quickly replaced by the dark sky sprinkled with stars. The moon was new, letting the stars shine to their full glory. As he shoved his freezing hands into the pockets of his hoodie, he found an object in the pockets.

Curious, Ranboo pulled the object out. It was an old, cracked MP3 player, the kind that ran on batteries and could last for hours.

He powered the electronic on. The bright light of the screen hurt his eyes as he scrolled through his saved music. He selected a song at random, humming along to the familiar tune, the song with no lyrics. He checked the name of the song on the MP3 player.

Fallen Down, the screen read in bold white letters, harsh against the dark background.

The song ended all too quickly, and he moved onto the next one.

You said something dumb again. She's mad, at least that's what they say...

He stuck the MP3 player in his pocket but kept it on, the music surrounding him.

Devil town is colder in the summertime, I'll lose my mind at least another thousand times...

Then the ground collapsed beneath him.
_____

Ranboo was dangling from the building by his fingertips.

The rusty fire escape he had used to move between rooftops had crumpled as he walked across it. He had barely had time to grab the side of the other rooftop before the fire escape had dropped away from his feet, clanging and breaking apart under him.

He attempted to pull himself up but didn't have the strength. There was a windowsill not too far below him; he could reach that if he didn't fall first.

The song was still blaring from the speakers of the MP3 player while Ranboo was trying not to fall to his death.

I forgot my name again.
I think that's something worth remembering...

Ranboo couldn't reach the windowsill how he was now, that's for sure. So he made the only choice he could.

He dropped.
_____

Ranboo only dropped a few feet, of course. He caught himself on the sill, but only barely. He had stumbled and his heart and gone through his throat. He steadied himself, trying to lower his heart rate.

He crouched down and attempted to open the dirty window. It didn't work, and the effort almost made Ranboo lose his balance. So, he went with the other option.

He put his foot through the window.

He slid himself through the hole in the shattered glass, the edges scraping his already cut arms. He brushed himself off and looked up to see a startled girl with faded pink hair staring at him.

"Nice to meet you," he said. "I'm Ranboo."
_____

The girl introduced herself as Niki and had accepted Ranboo's numerous apologies for putting his foot through her window. Niki had given him a quick tour of her apartment. While it was small, it was pretty cozy, which was a word Ranboo had never used to describe a post-apocalypse house. She had made him some stew and told him that he should stay with her until he had recovered. Ranboo said he didn't need recovering from anything, but Niki had insisted.

It was nice to have a friend.
_____

Ranboo slept on Niki's couch and woke up rested. Niki had made him breakfast and gave him her phone number if he found some sort of telephone booth. Ranboo left later that day. He still used the rooftops but made sure to test the fire escapes before walking on them. This slowed his progress down significantly, although he wasn't really sure where he was going.

After two more hours of walking, Ranboo decided to move to the ground. He was impatient and couldn't stand how long it took to text every fire escape. He walked along further before finding a small bar filled with activity.

Ranboo had never been inside a bar, as he was thirteen. Nobody questioned him at the door, though, and he was able to walk right in. He walked up to the bar nervously and asked for pink lemonade. He hadn't had pink lemonade for years.

The man next to him turned to him to try to make conversation. Ranboo ignored him, though. He didn't feel like being kidnapped today.

The bartender returned with his pink lemonade and a 'check' (a napkin with the request for around £2. Ranboo stuck his hand inside his pocket, scrounging for change.

shit.

The man in a blue beanie next to him looked at him once more and places two euros on the table for him. Ranboo gave a nod of thanks and stood up to leave the bar, but the man stopped him.

"You up for a game of poker?"