Daggered

Chapter 7: A runner

DISCLAIMER!
Almost everything, (Streets, names, nicknames, etc.) is made up, so please don't take things too seriously.

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Benjamin "Benzy"
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The nostalgic wind flows against my ski mask. Chattering from my friend would be heard behind me as I leaned against the railings, looking at the road with a few cars. The high low-income apartments towered behind me. I looked to my side to see my friend, Oliver or OV, casually smoking his recognisable purple vape pen. We were both quiet, having nothing to really talk about at the moment. We were both the same age, 16 years old. I've been together with him ever since we met on the first day of high school. He blows out smoke under him before looking at me,

OV: "Alright?" He greets me.

Benzy: I thought for a moment before nodding, "Yeah I'm alright.." I turned and leaned back against the railing, "Been really thinking about what's gonna happen..." I admit.

Oliver squinted his eyes at me,

OV: "What do you mean? " He asked me, so casually.

I was aware of the things we do are wrong. And the horrible consequences too. But for some reason I'm here anyways,

Benzy: "You know... I'm afraid I might end up dead one day. " I went straight forward.

Oliver looked at me before taking another hit from his vape and sighed out the smoke,

OV: "Well, of course we'll die one day." Again, he said it casually. Then suddenly his moody attitude changed to a cheery one. He moved closer to me and wrapped his hand around my neck, "That's why we have to enjoy our lives as much as we can bruv!"

I smiled, feeling more motivated,

Benzy: "Yeah... I guess you're right." I sighed, "I don't have big dreams anyways, just missions to complete you know?" I said with a smile under my mask.

Oliver smiled back when suddenly one of the boys behind us called,

A.O.S Member: "Ay you two boys," He called for our attention, "big man's calling, let's get going now."

The guy I barely knew led the whole group. He was up front, we call him T. Yes, simply the letter T. Probably a reference to his real name, every member should have a nickname instead of using real names. We were 8 people in total, walking along the pavement. Me and Oliver stood at the back of the whole group, I was cautious to not let anyone see my face which was the reason why I always had my mask on. The streets were empty with only a couple of people walking along it minding their own business. It was regular for all of us so they just ignored as we pass by them. The group was talking about things quietly, not sure what we're talking about but I just listened anyways.

Oliver was walking funny because of his blade that he always kept hidden on his hip. Knives here are common especially among youngsters like us, they represent power. The bigger the knife, the more respected we'll be by our fellow members. However, these days our rivals were getting themselves armed with bigger blades and more guns. We already know people who'd sell firearms to us, but we just don't have the money. Average brand-new small pistols here would already cost £3k or more because of how hard it is to smuggle things like that into our city. But I bet our gang does have guns posted in different trap houses. We reach to a block that resembles an abandoned apartment. We casually entered it as folks ignored us, not wanting to get involved with whatever we do.

The place was dark, the hallways were littered with debris and trash. Walls decaying and covered in graffiti, indicating that this building is actually occupied. All of us walk over the obstacles and reached a door deep in the apartment building, T opened the door for us and we all went through it. The room was filled with other groups that was from other areas that we controlled. They all looked at our group, we all stood in a small space that was saved for us as T closes the door. Big man, our boss, stood in the middle of the room with two guards surrounding him, it was obvious they were armed. Our boss speaks up,