Limitless

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Chapter 4 - Hope

When I was 8 years old, my dad came home one day from the warfront. He job was to clean up after the Republic's soldiers, so he was usually not at home, and Mom was left to raise the boys on her own. When he came back that time, the city patrols came to do a routine inspection, and dragged my Dad off to the city police plaza for questioning. When he came back, he had a broken arm, a twisted ankle, and bruises and cuts all over his body.

A few days later, I dipped a ball of crushed ice in a can of gasoline. I let the oil form a thick layer around the ice. I launched it with a slingshot towards the police plaza. I remember the fire trucks and the ambulances coming to blow the fire off. That was my first crime. They had no evidence against me and I never admitted it was me either.

My mom wasn't happy about it and wanted me to turn out to be someone good. Someone famous and successful. I am famous alight, but I don't think this is what she had in mind.

* * *

It's nightfall again, a good forty-eight hours since the soldiers stamped my mother's door.

I wait in the shadow of a back alley near the Limit. It's a cloudy night with no moon; I can barely make out the silhouette of Jess crouching behind me.

I look pretty awesome tonight. I'm wearing a good pair of shoes - boots made of dark leather and the soles are softer than usual, with strung laces and steel toes. I bought them with 200 Units of our stash. I have a knife tucked under the sole of each shoe, and when I walk, I can feel the cool metal against my skin. I have a pair of gloves, a handkechied, and a few Units in my pockets. My black pants are tucked under my boots, and I have a dark long-sleeve jacket wrapped around my waist. I'm wearing an old, loose black t-shirt and I smeared my face with mud, just for good measure. My hair is unchanged, the strands a deep black, as if I've soaked them in crude oil. My dark costume is perfectly camouflaged against the darkness of the night.

Everything comes down to this.10 days ago, when I broke into the Limit, I found out where they kept the medicines and blood samples. So today, I have to break in once again, and steal the vaccines. Jess was not going to come, it was safer for both. After all, two people are easier to spot than one.

The Limit is a meter or two thick, and goes all the way around the city. There's an archway ahead of me, it's as big as an average living room, and there are six soldiers guarding the entrance.

Breaking into the Limit has to be quick; both of us are prepared for it. Like 7 years ago, Jess takes balls of crushed ice and dips it in gasoline and burns it. Balls of flame soon start rushing down from the rooftop above me, and three of the guards rush forward to check out what's going on. Another one rushes to the rooftop to find the source of the flames.

I run forward to the side of the arch, camouflaged in the dark. I take out the PVC slingshot I made, and load it with a bullet. Jess bought a pack of them for a 100 Units. I stretch the band, take aim and shoot straight at the soldier's waist and he doubles over and collapses. The second guard becomes more attentive, raising his gun up high.

I take the slingshot once again, and shoot the second guard, it was easy work after years of training. They must have already called for reinforcements. There's no time to waste and I run forward, straight towards the hospital.

It isn't that far way, and once I reach it, I take cover around 20 meters away.

The hospital is eight stories high, with electric lights on every floor, a luxury outside the Limit. We have nothing but candles and lanterns, but these people have actual lights that run on electricity. I'm not interested in any of the floors other than the one without any windows, the second floor.

The second floor is where the laboratory, blood samples and medicines are kept, and where the doctors research. I know this because when I came here a few days ago, I got all the information I needed from a young, gullible boy walking out of the hospital.

I scan the side of the hospital. Sometimes I can break into a building by running it from the outside, if there are balconies to leap from window to window. Once, I scaled a three-story in less than 5 seconds, but the hospital is too smooth, with no footholds to hold on to. I have to get in from the inside.

There are soldiers standing at the perimeter of the hospital, and they are all totally focused, giving me no chance for me to sneak in. I take the pig blood that Jess gave me and smear it over my trousers, on my thigh. I put on a fake limp and falter towards the hospital.

An old nurse spots me coming, and looks at my bloody thigh and dirty face without pity. 'Can I get admitted?' I call to her. I wince in imaginary pain. 'Is there a room left? I can pay.'

She scribbles on her notepad about me, and an ID card dangles from her neck. 'What happened?' She asks.

I double over when I reach her and lean on my knees. 'Was in a fight,' I say, but panting. 'I think I got stabbed.'

'Pat him down.' She beckons to the soldiers and one guy comes and checks me. He doesn't find the two knives in my boots, but he does take the stash of Units I had. Of course.

The soldier gives the nurse thumbs up, and she nods and points me towards the entrance. 'The waiting room is on the left. Take a seat.'

I walk towards the sliding doors, and the closest soldier watches me as I pass. He is patiently listening to another soldier, but I can see him scanning me habitually. I take a mental note of his face too.