The Reluctant Warlord

Prolouge

The dark room slowly brightened as the city lights started to stream through the faded blue tattered curtains and lit up the figured that was sprawled out on the bed. The figure grunted as dim rays of light fell upon his eyes, waking him from his slumber. With a grunt, he turned his head over, pleading in his mind for ten more minutes. However, the old round alarm clock beside him offered no peace and began to ring like a clanging chime. Another groan towards the alarm occurred and from the sheets a calloused hand came out and slapped the alarm. A sigh followed soon after and the figure raised itself from the thin worn out sheets.

Admitting defeat, the figure tossed the covers off and rubbed his eyes. He glanced over at the calendar before heading to the kitchen. The small kitchen had only the basics but the man made full use of it making a small breakfast of the last reserves of bacon and eggs for himself. The sound of sizzling bacon and the smell of scrambled eggs filled the air making the man's stomach rumble in anticipation. Finally, the man grabbed a plate and placed his meager meal upon it. The man gave his thanks for the food and quickly dug in.

The meal didn't last long and soon the man was dressing into his work clothes. He then grabbed his old boots from the small closet in the hallway and pulled them on making sure they were snug.

"Well here's to a new day." Said the man as he downed the rest of his water. He got up and walked out of his small one room apartment locking the door behind him.

"Good morning Mr. Kendric. Headed out to work I see." Said an old lady who was walking a small scruffy looking dog.

"Good morning Mrs. Anders. Yeah, they got me lined up on a job off 278th and 87th. Bit of a walk today. I see you worked a late shift again and just getting back." Replied John as he put on his jacket.

"Yeah, sorting mail for the new day is about the only job for us old folks now. Well, you young folk can bear with it better than we old ones. Just try and stay warm you hear?" Said the frail little lady.

"Aye. I'll do my best ma'am. Well traffic should be slow at this hour. I'd best make as much of it as I can. You have a good one Mrs. Anders."

With that John left Mrs. Anders and walked down the stairs. On his way down a nagging voice called out, "Hey! Kendric! I need this month's rent. When you gonna bother bringing me money. I always got to hunt you down like some criminal! "

The woman who spoke was Mrs. Alberta, the old land lord of the apartment that John stayed at. She was about fifty years old and stood at just over five feet tall. She had a withered and messy appearance that matched her nagging voice. Her shriveled head of hair was wispy and grey giving her a witch like appearance.

John put his hands up in surrender, "I've got my job this morning and I should be getting paid by Thursday. Can it wait until then?"

Mrs. Alberta gave him an evil eye and scrunched her nose a bit and then replied in a mocking voice, "I'm getting paid by Thursday. Can it wait until then?" She swapped back to her regular voice which sounded worse than her impersonation, "Thursday is five days away! Who do you think I am? As the landlord, I can demand your payment as needed. I am the law here and if I say I need the money then I need it."

John sighed and pulled out his wallet and handed over most of his money which only amounted to $150 roughly. "This is all that I have. I'll pay the rest when I get paid in a week." Mrs. Alberta looked at the $150 and then reached over and snatched what little remained in his wallet and began counting. "Only $200 dollars? I need $500! Not this! I need my rent money!" John cried out, "I need the fifty for food and work items Mrs. Alberta. I don't have anything else." She gave John the evil eye and he raised his hands in defeat. She then began leafing through the bills with a giddy grin. After this he turned around and started walking back down the stairs.