The Time

Chapter nine

Lion yelped violently as she was lifted from the floor and into the arms of a Scavenger. But once again, there was nothing I could do.

After watching two of my only friends taken away, I was dragged off of the pitch and into one of the changing rooms. There, the ropes of my hands were hung on a clothes peg so high, there was no way in hell I was getting down easy.

"Boss said to let you go. That means she's not expecting to see you again. That means we can bend the rules a little. That means no one is going to see you again." The Scavenger who had found me and Destiny in the first place rambled, pacing round the room and picking up a variety of rusty weapons.
"You're not going to talk me to death are you, because that seems like the direction your heading and let me tell you now, that's the wrong direction." I retorted.
"There's only One Direction." He winked at me.
I shot him a look. Little shit.
"OK lads, there's five of you and one of me, but that won't be the case for much longer. Taking my friend? For that, I'll kill you. Taking my dog? You'll wish I killed you."
"Big talk for someone all tied up with no place to go." He said in a voice of pure snark, stepping up to me, his moist breath in my face.
His four friends giggled wildly.
"Oh believe me, I'm going somewhere. And you're not gunna like it." I then swung my leg back and kicked him in the nuts. Hard.

He gasped, tears in his eyes, and flopped to the floor like fish.
It was mere seconds before his friends were on me but, through the punches, I managed to kick off one of them and unhook my hands. It did end with me crashing to the concrete floor but breaking a few fingers when I landed was better than being beaten and eaten.
Swearing and bleary eyed with tears from the pain, I was dragged up by scrabbling hands but made short work of my captors, pulling my gun from my thigh with my good hand and shooting each of them between the eyes. Each bullet escaped the silencer with a short violent puff, none of my weapons taken off of me fortunately as the Scavengers suspected I'd soon be too dead to use them. Oh how fucking wrong they were.

Walking back onto the pitch, I took a shot, not looking, at anyone who got within a few meters. After about seven deaths, they kind of learnt their lesson and scuttled back to their shadowy corners.

I found Destiny in a room on the top floor. He was standing in the middle of the room trembling, holding his gun shakily still in the position he'd shot it from, blood running from his lip, eyebrow and nose. And Crimson Gacy was on the floor before him.
"Jesus, fuck..." I breathed, staring at the scene.
Destiny had shot her, but not before she'd beaten the holy hell out of him.
"Are you alright?" I asked.
Shaking his head, he stepped forwards, dropped his gun and threw up.
Kneeling down beside him gently, I was suddenly pulled into a shaky embrace. I hate hugs though. But he was a sobbing mess and so I put my hate of human contact aside for my... Friend?
I'd said 'friend' before without even thinking about it but I'd only known this kid a day! How could we be friends? Ah God, he was growing on me...

When we finally got back onto the pitch, the Scavengers had cleared a path for us and we walked through like kings. That was until I stopped in the middle with an announcement to make.
"Now, one of you filthy motherfuckers have my dog. You're going to give her back to me. But if she's dead..."
I pulled the gun from my belt and shot the nearest Scavenger in the stomach. They dropped with a yelp.

It was then that a tiny dirty child came forward with an unmoving Lion in her arms. They lay her down at my feet before shuffling away hurriedly.
Kneeling down, I put a hand on Lion's side, the fur matted with blood.
"Lion?" I begged, a lump forming in my throat. "Lion?"
She gave a small whine before moving slightly to lick my hand, her breath coming out in small labored bursts.
She's alive. Oh thank fuck, she's alive!

Raising her into my arms as carefully as I could without hurting her or my broken fingers, gun still in hand, I turned back to my audience and growled "You- You psychopaths, you will no longer kill for your food. You will learn to survive on other resources. If, after I've left, I even hear whispers about you hunting and hurting animals or people, I don't care what your reasons, I don't care who you are, I. Will. SLAUGHTER. You."
And with that we were gone, a whisper on the wind in the still early dawn.