Sproggo - Son of Max

Chapter 2

The rest of the evening was spent preparing, and they all had a good sleep before setting off as early next morning as they dared. Sproggo led them back to the basement and into an old sewer pipe connected to the building next door, then out through a back door into an overgrown vacant lot, then on to a road. Sproggo looked into the rising sun, 'north east'?, he asked. Niko walked to the front, 'just follow me', he ordered. They turned and followed him into the metro. Dozer was a lot stronger than they thought, and they made fair time through the morning without too much drama, apart from coming across a couple of straggling Scavengers heading back to their den. Being pack animals, the Scavengers believe in safety in numbers, so a couple could be easily stared down. They stopped for a feed and to give Dozer a breather around noon, and had walked for another hour before they got their first real challenge. The three men stood on top of a pile of rubble that was blocking off a side street, two others where making no attempt to hide themselves on the second floor of a shell of a building adjacent to the road block. Sproggo spotted one more hiding in a lane way and moved over to cover him. The others had seen him as well, and spread themselves out to cover the others. 'That'll do', one of the men on the barrier yelled,
Nice whispered out the corner of his mouth and identified the tribe, 'The Cross City Crew. Lightweights. They'll probably rather let us pass than fight us. Play nicely and we'll be ok'.
'Just passing through, not looking to cause drama', yelled Goz.
'You might have still found some sweet heart', the man yelled again. 'How 'bout your friends pass, and you stay'. His cronies giggled their approval.
'How bout we pass and you don't find out which one of you dies today', Goz replied defiantly.
Niko quickly stepped in, 'we're just wantin' to keep walkin' mate, that's all'.
'Best be doing something about the mouth of the girly then', the leader came back at him, 'you want to keep walking, she needs to stop talking'!
Goz took a step forward and seemed to be ready to unleash a gobful, but Niko grabbed her arm and pulled her back, trying to calm the situation down, 'yeah, sorry mate', he said, 'you know how they can get sometimes. Let us pass and I'll promise to keep her on a shorter leash'. As soon as he said the word leash, Goz gave him a filthy look. The man on the barrier picked u on it and started giggling, 'you might want to get one of the others to hold that leash', he said, 'or you might get a shiv in your ribs. Keep going, but remember we'll be watching you til your out of our territory'.
'No worries here. We'll just keep truckin', replied Niko.
True to their word, the nuffies sent a man to follow the four of them until Sproggo got the shits with it and sent Reddog back to get rid of him. Reddog came back about ten minutes later with a large piece of what looked like the arse out of someone's pants with a fair bit of blood on it. 'That's gunna make it difficult to get back', Niko noted, moving the scrap of material around with his foot. 'I reckon I'll get by them without too much trouble', Sproggo replied. 'Your funeral', said Niko, hoisting up his pack, 'lets go'.
Dozers stamina started giving out around mid afternoon, and the decision was made to look for somewhere to hold up for the night. The area they were in didn't seem to have any tribal claims on it, which usually meant it was either a disputed area or The Gutter Kids frequented the area regularly enough to make it not worth anyone's time or effort to fight for and hold. Not somewhere you'd want to set up camp, but beggars can't be choosers. Niko led them to a gutted cinema he had taken notice of on their outward trip and, one at a time due to its condition, they climbed a shagged out old staircase to the balcony/camera room. It was an ideal place. Only one way up, with a good view over the cinema floor and the street via the blown out windows in the camera room. Sproggo gave Reddog the order to scout around while they set up camp and had a feed. They weren't going to risk a fire, so they ate some of Sproggo's dried meat and damper. Reddog return about 45 minutes later and walked twice around Sproggo then lay down at his feet. This was his way of letting Sproggo know he hadn't seen anything. Sproggo gave him a pat and a feed, and the dog went and lay down at the top of the stairs.
As the sun went down, Niko volunteered to take the first watch. It was agreed they'd take three hours each, with Niko doing two shifts to cover for Dozer. Dozer tried to argue he could take his turn, but the kid was shagged and flat out keeping his eyes open.
Sproggo and Goz had both done their shifts, and Sproggo had returned to his dreams when Reddog woke him with a low, quiet growling in his ear. Sproggo rose quietly as Reddog returned to the top of the stairs and continued with his quiet growl. Sproggo had a quick look around and snuck out into the camera room where Niko was keeping an eye on the street. 'Still a couple of hours til sunrise yet', Niko quietly said by way of greeting,
'somethin's stirred up Reddog, have you seen anything', Sproggo replied.
'Na mate', Niko said. Just as he finished speaking, the slightest of noises from the cinema snapped them both to attention. Sproggo reached for his knife, while gesturing to Niko to keep watch on the street. Niko nodded he understood the direction, and Sproggo stepped out of the camera room to investigate. Although it was dark, Sproggo could make out someone slowly picking their way through the rubbish on the cinema floor and heading toward the staircase. 'One I can handle', Sproggo thought to himself, and he motioned for Reddog to get in behind him. Through a kicked out panel on the balcony, Sproggo watched as the intruder came closer, and the closer it came, the more Sproggo could see. A short, and very thin person, who seemed to have a rucksack on their back with a short bow slung over one shoulder, and was holding a bundle at the front. As the person was coming to him, and had shown no sign of knowing he was there, Sproggo sat tight. When the intruder had reached the top Sproggo jumped out of his hiding spot, pinning the intruder to the wall with his hand over the mouth and his knife to the throat. Sproggo was surprised to find himself looking at a young girl. He was even more surprised to find the bundle she was carrying was a baby, and the commotion had woken it up and it started crying. Niko came running out, 'dafuk's going on', he demanded. Dozer and Goz jumped out of their swags looking confused. Thinking fast, Sproggo addressed the young girl, 'I'm going to let you go', he said, 'you need to keep the baby quiet. If the Gutter Kids hear, we're ALL in a heap of trouble'. The girl quickly nodded. Sproggo released her and she immediately pulled her shirt up and put the baby on her breast. Unfortunately, it was too late. A howl rang out from the street, followed by another. Then another. The Kids were coming. The young girl looked pleadingly at her captors, 'please help me', she said, 'they're after my baby......don't let them take my baby'. Sproggo to a second to think, 'you any good with that', he asked her, pointing to the bow over her shoulder.
'I had to hunt sewer rats for the Kids, but they made me breeding stock after my blooding', she replied, 'if I point it at 'em, I'll hit 'em. But I don't have may bolts for it'. She shrugged her bow and backpack off. Sproggo quickly rummaged through it. She was carrying 8 to 10 small, sinister looking arrows. The shafts were wood, and the metal tips were like twisted barbs that would have, with the help of the flange like feathers at the other end, made the projectile spin, thus helping with the aerodynamics. The wouldn't have a huge range, but they would have great accuracy, and the spinning motion would give them good penetration. The howling grew closer. Sproggo made the call. 'Ok, they have a fair idea where you are, but they don't know about us. Plan A, lay low and hope they bypass us. That's unlikely. Plan B, we only have to defend the stairway and hold them until the sun scares them off. With the element of surprise, we might be able to do that'. A look of frustrated anger crossed Niko's face, 'who made you commander and chief', he demanded.
'Ya got a better idea', Sproggo fired back.
'Not helping', Goz said in an angry whisper. She had moved in to the projector room to keep an eye on the street, and with the help of the moonlight was currently looking at around 18 to 20 Gutter Kids heading their way.
'Look, the Kids are more savage than smart', Niko said, 'but we still need someone to keep an eye on the roof. We need as much warning as we can get if any of them get the idea to climb up and come at as through there'.
Sproggo nodded, 'fair call. Any ideas'?
Niko turned to Dozer, 'sorry mate, but you're it', he said. 'You're still fucked up, and the chick and her bow are gunna be more use in this blue than you. Take the baby and get over to that far corner. You do nothing but watch the roof. If you hear so much as a rat fart up there, you let us know'. To his credit, Dozer didn't argue. He just walked over to the girl, and she passed up her baby to him. 'His name's Jett', she said, 'he's still going to be hungry, but let him suck on you're thumb and he may stay quiet'. Dozer nodded and walked over to the farthest corner from the stairway and sat down. Goz returned to the balcony. 'They're about here', she announced.
'Ya get all that', Sproggo asked her, and she nodded her reply. 'Righto', Sproggo continued, 'fingers crossed for Plan A then'.