71Author's Note
Welcome to my newest story, Running with the Boys a story about the children of our favourite heroes. After this chapter, the Author Notes will be posted at the end of the chapter. Don't forget to like and review.
"Perhaps it takes courage to raise children..." ― John Steinbeck, East of Eden
Running with the Boys
Chapter I: The Escape
After the Dark Wars, a time of peace settled in. Children were born healthy and strong, the three cities: Haven, Spargus and Kras, grew as well. Expanding her borders, Haven moved to include the Icelands and re-opened the palaces ruins. Spargus, in the unforgiving Wasteland, made a small settlement near the Oasis and drove the Marauders back. The Marauders took refuge in the old Metal Head Caves, leaving their fortress and everything they knew. Kras, thriving under the eye of Lady Krew, abolished the rest of the crime families, leaving on Krew to rule over the city. But Mar, our hero, knew better; this peace wouldn't last. So before he returned to the past, he made the Mar Accords which were supposed to be signed by the three ruling families: Praxis, Mar and Krew.
It's been twenty-two years since they were written, and only one name appears on the sheet: MAR.
In the Fortress, a rhythmic banging sounded from one of the cells. A Freedom Guard, dressed in the electric blue armour, walked down the small walkway. Each cell housed up to four prisoners, each awaiting trial or sentencing, but the cell that banged housed a very different prisoner. The guard approached with caution, he heard the rumours of course. A child of the fabled Jak, the only survivor of the Dark Warrior Program. It turned the innocent boy into a feared man, but he'd saved the city, and more, from total destruction. Baroness Ashelin made sure everyone only knew the good stories, the stories of triumph and heroism but he'd heard the others. Jak was known for being a ruthless killer, a dangerous man that turned into a monster, but Ashelin, and the rest, still worshiped him.
And of course, he was allowed to breed. This guard never met Jak's other children, but he heard they were just as dangerous as he was. The banging stopped when the guard came to the cell, he waited for an explosion of Eco but it never came. He carefully slid the door open, his other hand fingering his gun ready to shot at any second -his commander would understand, he was a dangerous boy, with a dangerous birthright.
To his surprise, and horror, the cell was empty. Besides the lone bed, there was nothing else in the room. He stepped into the room, prisoner clothes were scattered all over the floor and the toiletries he was given upon arrival. He jumped when the door slammed behind him.
Standing behind the door was a blonde boy, he regarded the guard with his sharp teal eyes before smirking. "What's your rank?"
"I'm a private." The guard answered.
"And you have access in and out Haven?" He asked. The guard nodded but never got another word out. The boy rushed him, shoving him up against the wall and tied his hands with the ripped sheets of bedding. The guard struggled but the boy held him down, pressing his knee to the back of his neck. Once he was tied up, the boy searched through his pockets, taking his gun, pass, knife and a bundle of cash he was given by a prisoner -he given up his cigarettes for it. The boy chuckled and pocketed everything. "Thank you kind sir, this will be my fourth escape from the Haven City Fortress."
"Aren't you supposed to be released in a couple of hours?" Asked the guard. "I heard your mother or sister were supposed to pay your bail."
The boy shrugged and opened the door. "I heard that too but I'm not really on speaking terms with my mother right now. Plus," He glanced back at the guard, his eyes shining with devious ideas. "this way it's more fun." Without another word, the door slammed close and the prisoner was free
The Prisoner glanced to the label by his door, his name printed neatly on a pale piece of paper: RIDER HAGAI. He ripped the name off the door and started down the hallway, he ignored the taunts he got from the other prisoners. Words like monster, Eco Freak, and mistake bounced off of him, before he lost it when he heard those words but now they didn't phase him. The legacy of his father, his deadbeat father, always seemed to follow him.
The alarms, however, did. He started, almost dropping the guard's pass and the gun. He cursed and sprinted for the ventilation system -no one would look for him in there. Pulling himself up, he wiggled his way into the metal tube. Pausing at a crossroads, he listened to the panic below. The Guards were in fact looking for a prisoner, but it wasn't him. A murderer had escaped his escort and now he was loose in the Fortress. Rider kept crawling, pausing every couple of seconds to listen for guards. After ten minutes, he dropped into an open section. Several lights flashed and a couple of guards ran past him -oblivious to the escaped prisoner. Standing, slowly, he walked to the door. He swiped his stolen card and heard the welcomed beep. The doors opened in a whoosh of air. He didn't look back at the Fortress, he just ran out the doors and kept going until he reached the edge of the Slums.
He didn't dare to look back, that's what all the heroes did when they escaped. They'd look back, a guard would recognize him and then they race through the city until someone was caught. Instead, he grabbed the closest zoomer and drove through the Industrial Section, avoiding the cameras and the guards that patrolled the area. He made it to South Town without anyone noticing him, without anyone shouting that he had escaped -after all his arrest was public and he was a known figurehead.
He got off the zoomer at the Naughty Ottsel, ignoring the sign that declared they were closed for business. Rider walked right up to the bar, he sat on one of the stools and looked over the edge at the small ottsel on the ground. He wore a pair of mismatched goggles much like Rider's and a pair of shorts, he sat in the middle of a mess of glasses. Champagne flutes, shot glasses, tall glasses and long flutes made out of rainbow coloured glass.
"Stuck on polish duty again?" Rider asked.
The small ottsel jumped, scared by the sudden question. His green eyes glared at the boy before he hopped onto the counter, his fur, much like his father's, was a light orange with spots of brown and red near his tail. "How'd you get out of prison?" He demanded. "Mom called Keira an hour ago, she said she'd pick you up tomorrow."
"So she can marry me off to Camille? Hell no. I broke out. I'm heading into the Wasteland, scoring some sweet cash and then moving to Kras." Rider plucked a toothpick from behind the pair, he put in his mouth and smirked at his friend. "What do you say Bash? Leave the Naughty Ottsel, leave Tess and Dax to find someone else to slave around here?"
The ottsel, Bash, glared at Rider before giving an exasperated sigh. Rider always knew how to rope Bash into a mission. He wanted something more then working for his parents and cleaning up after drunken Freedom Guards. Bash hopped onto Rider's shoulder, sitting on the small bronze shoulder armour that Rider wore. "Don't read too much into this." Bash commented as they ran out of the bar.
Rider chuckled but said nothing in response. They ran down the Port, ignoring the curious glances they got from the citizens. Nowadays no one ran anywhere, no one was in a hurry to get anywhere. Rider heard that people used to run from his father but he doubted it. He also heard that people ran from the Metal Heads and Dark Makers, but they were so rare nowadays he couldn't imagine them in Haven or Spargus.
"Why do I have a feeling we're gonna be back within a day?" Bash asked Rider as he climbed onto the transporter Hellcat. "With Wren dragging us back by our ears?"
Rider shrugged. "Then we'll escape again."
TBC...
