Runner stumbled into the slaughterhouse and Troy shut the double doors immediately. They both went behind a table at the centre of the room and began to force it towards the door.
“Push!” Runner screamed.
Troy pressed his shoulder on the side of the large table and they pushed it to bar the door. A loud thud went off as the butcher slammed his hammer on the door from the other side. Runner retreated backwards.
They were trapped.
He scanned the room with his eyes, searching for another way out, but there was none. Troy cuddled the little girl to ease her shivering.
“Hey, you,” Runner brought out the energy bar he wanted to eat, “you must be hungry, have some.”
“You suck at cheering up a child,” Troy said, “Her name is Angie, and she was a child slave to Ishmael’s gang. Believe me; you don’t want to know what they did with her.”
Runner gazed at the bruises all over her and then passed the food to girl. A sudden slam on the door made him shudder involuntarily.
“We need to find a way out of here or when that door comes down,” Runner pointed at the door, “our flesh will fill the butcher’s bucket.”
Troy left Angie and walked to one end of the room, “there is a way out of here, but you won’t like it.”
“Try me,” Runner said.
Troy bent down and pushed away a pile of bones to reveal a hatch. He held its handle and forced it to open, but it proved too strong.
“Where does it lead,” Runner joined him and grabbed as they combined their strength.
One hard pull and the cover sprang open. An odious stench wafted out of the dark tunnel that ran deep and Runner covered his nose with his hand.
“I warned you might not like it. I saw Ishmael’s gang use it to dispose unwanted parts of the human’s they cannibalised on.”
Runner spat, “this just gets better and better,” he said. He took a peek into the tunnel and withdrew almost immediately, “God, this stinks.”
“I will go first,” Troy came forward, “when I get down, then you send Angie.”
Runner nodded and stepped away for Troy to stand at the edge. He watched as his friend went down a ladder. With each step downwards, Troy grew continuously vague in the dark tunnel. Suddenly his hand slipped from the ladder and down he went.
“Troy!” Runner yelled.
All he heard was his voiced echoing back at him.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Runner glanced behind to find the butcher has broken half the door. The man pushed his dreadful head through the opening he made, but the bar on the door still proved an obstacle. He scratched, slammed, and chewed at the door, like a rabid dog, he wanted nothing more than to tear his way in.
The Butcher paused for a moment and his fiendish red eyes were locked with Runner’s. The way Runner saw it, if he did not find a way out the butcher would carve his flesh out slowly for putting him through hell.
“Runner!” a voice came from the black depth.
“Troy,” Runner called, “you are alive.”
“You won’t believe what I found down here, come on…quickly,” the voice returned in echoes of enthusiasm.
Runner grabbed Angie and pushed her towards the tunnel. “Okay, kid. I know it looks scary down there, but you have to be brave.”
The butcher slammed on the door again and Runner glanced back in shock. Quickly, he helped Angie down and she held tight to the ladder.
“Close your eyes, Angie, just close your eyes and let go. Don’t worry, it’s safe.” Runner brushed her hair.
“I can’t…I can’t do it,” Angie spoke for the very first time and her voice was filled with fear.
“Look at me, Angie,” Runner said softly, “Troy is down there, don’t worry, he will catch you. He won’t let anything happen to you, Okay. Now close your eyes and let go.”
Angie closed her eyes, but she couldn’t let go.
The butcher hammered the second door to break free and then began to push away the table both boys had used to bar the door.
“Angieeee!” Runner screamed.
She released her hands and screamed hard as she fell downwards. Runner readied himself to go down the tunnel. As he reached the ladder to set a foot on its steps, the butcher threw his machete towards Runner and it went clean, tearing the surface of his right breast and through his shoulder. The machete dug into the wall with force, burying half its length.
Runner lost his footing on the ladder and dropped down carelessly, smashing his head severally on the ladder steps as he slide down the slippery tunnel. The room’s light that was visible at the opening of the tunnel continued to grow dimmer as he descended into the depth.
The tunnel vomited Runner into an open space, but not without lots of pain and aching. He lay on the ground, his black shirt and shawl soaked in blood from his chest. Troy and Angie rushed to him and knelt.
Runner coughed violently with blood forcing its way out of his mouth. Troy tore his cloth to reveal the wound.
“It’s bad, men…it’s really bad,” Troy shook his head.
Runner coughed again and then raised his head to see his wound. His flesh was torn badly, revealing white tissues in his body. Troy applied pressure on the wound with a torn piece of Runner’s shawl to slow down the bleeding.
He put his hand in his pocket and brought out his stash of sense pills. “Here,” he forced two into Runner’s mouth, “I’m afraid it would heighten your pain, but it will stop the bleeding.”
The pain went down his body as if he was bathed in fire. Runner convulsed, trembling and shaking in spasms. It was like a poisonous sting, sending waves of pain down his nerves to his brains. Troy held him down.
“Easy, Runner… easy, it will be over in a moment,” he said.
Angie tugged Runner’s left hand, trying to keep his mind away from the pain in her own way. She tilted Runner’s head and directed his gaze by pointing at something that has been glowing for long. Runner noticed it too. They were in a field of giant mushrooms that formed an umbrella over their head. The mushrooms glowed light green in the darkness.
Troy smiled, “I have never seen anything like it too. It is like they went through phases of mutation because of the radiation, but then I’m no scientist from the Citadels.”
Runner’s gaze lingered on the mushrooms, keeping his mind occupied. He knew without proper medication, this might be the very end of his journey. He had beaten the odds, conquered his challenges, but this time his body was broken. This time he cannot fight his enemy with knives or bat sticks. He smelled smoke and turned to see Troy bringing a fire alive.
“Your wound might get infected,” Troy said, “I need to cauterize it with fire. This is Rhiannon’s kind of thing, you know. I wish she were here, somehow she always managed to make everything seem alright.”
The smile on Troy’s face as he spoke of Rhiannon held hope, but Runner knew the truth. How does he begin to tell his friend that the girl he loved was dead and cremated? How does he explain that she was hit by the bomb while trying to stop him from killing Dope?
Troy came with a red hot knife and a stick. With Angie’s help, he forced the stick in between Runner’s teeth for him to bite on and then smeared the knife on his wound. Runner shrieked so loud that half the world would have heard it.
The smell of burnt flesh filled the air.
“Wow, I never knew you could smell this good,” Troy laughed.
Heat from the fire made Runner warm. Perspiration grew like beads of water on his skin and rolled down his forehead. He wasn’t out of the boat yet. Troy might have fixed him to the best of resources available, and without the first aid kit, there was still risk of infection.
He had seen it before. When his aunt Celia had gone to hunt a buck in the artificial wild reserved for MegacityOne. She was shot by a Ranger from Section 5 and left to die in the cold. Rhiannon had luckily removed the bullet from her breast, but for lack of antibiotics, she died from an infection.
His fever has begun to set in. He felt it, burning in him. He was becoming too weak to move his legs or arms. There was only one thing he could do now, urge Troy to finish what he had begun.
“Troy,” he called weakly.
Troy came to Runner and removed his makeshift bandages. The wound reeked of gangrene and he pulled his face away.
“A lot happened in the weeks you were missing, Troy. I got setup by a City dweller and then imprisoned, that was how I joined the Remnants of Men. Finding a constant supply of water is imperative not just for the big city, but for our friends and families back at home.”
“That’s impossible,” Troy said, “I mean…have you seen what’s left of the world. Old Max spoke of large bodies of water in the world before called oceans, but they are far away if they are not yet dried up. We both know how things in the big city work. They probably sent you guys down here as a profitable way of gaining from your executions. Why give them a public execution when they can make good money from your agony, I mean…kill two birds with one stone.”
Runner twisted in agony.
“Where is Angie?” Troy looked around.
The light from the glowing mushroom proved a good source of illumination, but even so, darkness still held sway over the night. Light footsteps approached them. Runner raised his head and saw Angie walking towards them with her arms stretched out and her hands curved to form a bowl.
“What do you have there, Angie,” Troy rushed to her.
He looked into her hands, “Oh my God! Oh my God! Bless you, Angie.”
“What is it?” Runner asked weakly.
“Maggots,” Troy said, “live Maggots.”
“Maggots?” Runner seemed confused.
“Yes, we can use them in place of antibiotics. Over here,” he beckoned at Angie.
He pushed Runner to lay still and then collected the Maggots in an enclosed pouch with perforations to allow oxygen. He placed it gently on Runner’s wound and dressed it carefully to prevent the worms from escaping the wound.
“They will eat out the infected tissues that are preventing your wound from healing. Just get some rest and in a day or two, you will be good as new.”
Troy finished and then put his hand over Angie, drawing her close to him. “Sweet child, where did you find them?”
Angie pointed with her fingers at the foot of a giant glowing mushroom, far at one end. Troy stood up and stretched his hands.
“I’m pretty sure there are edible worms down there, let me go find some for us to eat.” He began to walk away.
Runner wondered why he didn’t salivate at the sound of that. Things were now becoming clear to him. Perhaps, he should have looked for a way to escape when he had the chance than join the fool’s errand of the Remnants of Men. Now, he has to eat worms to survive.
This is a death sentence, he thought.
Angie came and lay beside him. She put Runner’s arms over her cuddled figure and rested her head on his torso. A few minutes passed and Runner felt his eyes go dreary.
He shut them and slowly slipped into the world of dreams.