Elysium: City of Dust

Scrappers

Bits of rock and sand hit the back of my calves. The world rushed past me on either side in streams of color. My legs burned as I squeezed my way between two buildings.

"Stop!"

I glanced behind me to see my pursuers hot on my tail. I leaped over a wire fence, hearing one of my ankles pop on the landing. Before I could feel the pain, I shot back into a sprint. Who would have thought that one loaf of moldy raisin bread would cause me this much trouble? I turned another corner, nearly skidding into a group of trash cans leaning against the sandstone walls of the alley.

The sound of multiple feet behind me smacking against the dusty ground was barely audible above my own heart pumping. The alley thinned. Every step I took echoed off the stone walls around me. The sun beat down from above as sweat dampened my dark brown hair and tank-top. I glanced back for a brief second, but sweat blurred my vision. All I could see was a muddle of colors and light. Twisting back around I barely had a second to register the wall looming before me.

I slammed into the wall. Pain exploded in my left temple as my head made contact with the solid stone concrete. I lost control over my body. My two legs betrayed me as they crumpled like paper beneath my weight. Stars danced before my eyes as I tasted the gritty metallic taste of sand and blood. My ears rang, my head throbbing from behind my eyes. Luckily, my makeshift backpack took the brunt of my fall, but it didn't make the impact any less painful. Air ripped through my body with each ragged gasp. Get up! They're still chasing you, dummy!

The fuzzy stars faded from my vision, revealing the crystal blue sky above me. I felt breakfast coming up and turned onto my side to expel the contents from my stomach. Panting, I rolled back so that I was facing up. A single desert cloud crossed the patch of thin blue sky I could see between the angles of the buildings. Suddenly an ugly boney face blocked it from view.

"Watch out for that wall there, Morwig," he sneered down at me as two other men joined him in my line of vision. I glared into his slanted brown eyes, fighting the urge to vomit again. I had dealt with this guy before. He had a morbid sense of humor. He once killed a litter of puppies in front of their mother merely because he was bored and had nothing else to do. Even though I've known this guy since my childhood, I've never asked for his name, nor do I care for it. A creature like him doesn't deserve one.

"Better luck next time Morrie," he laughed shaking his head in mock sympathy, "you should really just stick to begging."

I snarled, spitting the saliva that had built up in my mouth at his smug little face. He jerked back, wiping his face with his hand, and landed a hard kick to my ribs.

"pull her up," he barked at his two comrades. The two men yanked my arms above my head. I winced, my ankle throbbing, as dumb and dumber propped me up. I almost passed out again, the warm fuzzy darkness coated my thoughts like butter. Bone face stepped up to me and snatched my chin, smiling cruelly at my weakness.

"Morwig, you should have known better than to run from your own kind." His hand slowly traced a line down my neck to my bare shoulder. Fear cleared my head. I fought back a shudder and stared at him with what I hoped looked like confidence instead of sheer terror. Oh great, now I'm gonna get raped over a moldy loaf of raisin bread. He leaned in until his lips were right above my ear. I instinctively jerked my head away, but one of the thugs grabbed a handful of my hair and forced my head back.

"Us scrappers need to stick together," he said, his hand grasped the back of my neck, "and all of us gotta share what we can." I took a slow breath and smiled sweetly at him, then kneed him in the crotch. He screamed and fell to his knees cursing.