Runt

Chapter 1

Hi, my name's Runt. And I am about to tell you the story of my life. But before I do, I might as well tell you what I look like. I have short, black, greasy hair that is usually matted to my head, brown eyes and I am 11 years old. I am short for my age, and that's why they call me Runt. I am a Stealer for the Sewer gang. Basically, before you may ask, there are two ranks in the Sewer gang. You are either a Stealer or a Fighter. Stealers are usually on the short side, and they have to be agile. Their main job is to steal anything that may help the Sewer gang. And then there are the Fighters. They are usually tall and strong. Their main job is to fight off any intruders, protect the Sewer gang or do anything that has to do with fighting.  Well, now that I explained most of the basics of how things work in the Sewer gang, I might as well start with the real story.

I ran through the tunnel, and the only thing I heard was the faint sound of water running and my own footsteps pounding on the cement. I kept my ears open for any noises. I counted to three, then made a sharp turn to the right. I continued to run, and it was hard to see in the darkness. I soon made another sharp left turn, and heard voices. I ran toward the voices, and soon I saw some dim light up ahead. I ran faster, and made the final sharp turn. I then crawled through a small pipe, only about 4 feet tall and 4 feet wide, and after a few moments I came to the base. I looked around and saw the torches on the walls cast fairly dim light around me. Ahead of me I saw two overstuffed couches, and on them was Knuckles and Lashes. Sitting next to them was Baldy. In front of the couches was a table with an old radio on it. The radio was turned on, but put at a low volume, and the three were chatting. I glanced around and saw all the blankets and pillows laid out on the floor. Those were all the beds. I also managed to make out the shape of a couple of suitcases, filled with everyone's only posessions. My hand reached up to the gold chain necklace around my neck. That was my best find yet, and I had claimed it for myself. I then reached down to the sheathe hooked onto my pants. My hand gripped the handle of my knife.

The tradition in the Sewer gang is that as soon as someone new joins, they get a custom knife for themselves.  I took my hand away from my knife and Lashes waved to me to come over to her. She is the leader of the Sewer gang, and the second leader is Knuckles, which is her boyfriend. I ran over to her. She looked at her watch and smiled. She glanced up at me.

"Wow, you ran through the entire sewer section A in just 10 minutes! Good job." Lashes said and smiled approvingly.  She batted her eyes and laughed. She was called Lashes because of her puffy eyelashes. I smiled and nodded. She turned to Knuckles and tapped him on the arm. He stopped talking to Baldy and turned to her.

"Yes?" Knuckles asked. She told him what I had done and he smiled.

"Very good, Runt." Knuckles said and nodded with approval. I smiled and nodded back. Suddenly I head many footsteps pounding outside. Knuckles and Baldy stood up and pulled out their knives. I pulled out my knife and examined it. I had my name branded onto it, just like everyone else's. Lashes stood up behind me and she pulled out her knife, too. She and Knuckles were much taller then me, considering they were the oldest in the Sewer gang. The tradition in the Sewer gang was that the oldest boy and the oldest girl would be the leaders (and they would sometimes be boyfriend and girlfriend). But, once they turned 18, they would be kicked out of the Sewer gang and left to fend for themselves, because they were considered adults.

Suddenly, one at a time, the rest of the Sewer gang crawled through the pipe. So, meet the rest of the gang; Knuckles, Lashes, Baldy, Rat, Lice, Me, Cap, Scrap, Trash, Mute and Pint. They all flooded inside, and everyone started to go to their beds and stuff. Rat, who was put in charge of the raid, brought a sack over to Knuckles.

"What's in there?" Knuckles asked Rat. Without a word, Rat turned the sack upside down and some fruits, a 5 dollar bill, a water bottle filled with cow's milk and a very small piece of scrap metal fell out. Knuckles looked at the loot and smiled a little.

"Good job, Rat. And all the rest of you guys, too!" Knuckles announced and everyone hooted and hollered in agreement.

 So, let me tell you what the rest of the gang looks like (in case your wondering): Knuckles is a tall Fighter/Leader, with brown, spikey hair, and is 17 years old. Lashes is a tall, pretty girl/Fighter/Leader with thick eyelashes and long, black hair, and is 16-and-a-half years old. Baldy is next in line to be leader, he is 16-and-a-half, he has no hair (that's why he is called baldy), he is tall for his age and is a Fighter. Then there is Rat, who is 15 years old, is a pretty short guy, with sandy-colored hair, he is a Stealer and finds rats fascinating. He is actually one of the best Stealers in the gang (besides me). Lice is a tall guy with long, black hair, constantly has lice (but they never spread for some reason), he is 13 years old and he is a Fighter. Then there is me, and then Cap. Cap is a tall (for a ten-year-old), not-as-pretty-as-Lashes-girl, with long, brown hair and always wears the same baseball cap (she calls it her "good luck charm"), is a Fighter, is 10 years old and is obsessed with collecting bottle caps.

Then there is Scrap, who is a 9-year-old Stealer, is on the short side, has abnormally grey hair, (and is a guy), and is obsessed with collecting anything that is metal (especially scrap metal). Trash is a guy who is an 8-year-old Stealer, with greasy blonde hair and is called Trash because when he was a baby he was found in a trash can by Lashes (who was only 9 years old at the time and I was only 4). Mute is a girl who has long, brown hair, green eyes, is 6-years-old and is a mute (which means she hasn't talked in her entire life). Finally, there is Pint, who is a pint-sized baby who is 10 months old, and she has to wait to be 2 years old before she becomes a Fighter or a Stealer. Since her mother isn't here to nurse her, she drinks cow's milk that the Sewer gang usually gets from a nearby building which has a random stray cow in it.

As everyone prepared to go to sleep, Baldy volunteered to take first shift for night-watch. I took off my black, baggy t-shirt and threw it on the ground. I lay down on my blanket and pulled another on top of me. The last thing I remember before falling asleep is glancing over and seeing Lashes feed Pint with the water bottle filled with cows milk.