Fall From Justice | Book 1: Libera

Blood on the pavement: Part 3, Old bones

In a dark and cramped apartment in Section A, a silhouette of a man sat in a crusty and old chair, the sound of the television playing out echoed off the walls as it played the news of today.

"Bastard deserved to die...", his deep and gravelly voice grumbled out, his voice sounded aged and hoarse, like his vocal cords took a beating and were put back into his throat. The man got up and walked over to a small table that had a bottle of whiskey sitting on top of it, cigarette butts littered its surface, scratch, and burn marks were engraved into its design. The lamp that hung above the table illuminated in the dark and revealed the appearance of the man, he was old and gruff, his grey hair was cut into a comb-over, his skinny but lean muscular build was covered with a tank top that was smudged by blood and dirt.

His tired and stern eyes stared at the bottle of alcohol as he poured the light brown liquid into a small shot glass, the T.V behind him continued to play before he walked over with his glass of whiskey and turned it off, taking the glass he brought up to his lips and drank the rough tasting drink. He coughed slightly then took a look inside the empty glass. He made his way to a light switch, turning it on, the light spread throughout the room and revealed its poor state. Glass bottles and trash littered the ground, some bottles were broken but most of them were still intact. He started walking around his place trying to find another bottle of whiskey while kicking some of the bottles on the floor.

After a while, the old man concluded that he ran out of alcohol. He pressed his hands on his forehead and took a deep breath. He then violently threw the table of empty bottles towards the wall, creating a mess. Shortly after he calmed down, the old man fixed his table then walked to a dusty coat rack. He reached out for an old, beaten up leather jacket. The jacket had a huge burn mark on the back and some faded patches of flags. On the front was a faded burnt out name that vaguely reed the name Johnny. He dusted off the jacket right before putting it on. The jacket fitted him so that it outlined his figure perfectly. After some minor preparations, Johnny opened the door and stepped out of his apartment and made his way downstairs.

When Johnny arrived at the first floor of the apartment building, he quickly glanced over at a fat middle-aged man behind a desk talking to a younger woman. The man was repulsive, he wore a shirt with a giant grotesque stain on the front along with a disturbing grin. The woman he was talking to had her head turned away from him with a nervous and uneasy look on her face. Johnny just looked away and continued to walk, but then the middle-aged man noticed him.

"Hey, Lanis, your rent is due today!" the middle-aged man barked as he ripped his attention away from the young lady and he looked at Johnny.

"You'll get it when you get it, so calm your ass, Pig." The woman that Pig was talking to chuckled slightly. Pig rose up from his desk and quickly rushed Johnny, his heavy and lumbering stride was audible from even from a mile away.

He grabbed Johnny's shoulder and slammed him against the wall before he yelled, "Let me rephrase that you pile of ash and bones, the rent is due. NOW. So if your wrinkly ass doesn't give me my money this second, I'll kick your ancient ratty bones out of this complex, and don't you ever call me Pig!" Still keeping his head down, Johnny gripped Pigs' hand and starts to slowly crush it, forcing Pig to kneel and cry out in pain.

Slightly annoyed Johnny grunted and grabbed Pig by the scruff of his neck and pulled him close, "Now, we've been through this every goddamn month and I'm getting too old and tired of this crap. So let me repeat myself, you'll get it when you get it, so shut your fat ass, before you get a dislocated jaw. Pig." Johnny slowly released his grip and walked out the door.

The city, Libera, was once a gigantic metropolis on a continent in the middle of the Pacific ocean, a man-made continent that was formed from the remnants of the old world. After its completion, Libera, was established and it became a thriving place of technology and peace, but even for a metropolis, peace never lasted. Crime fluctuated and had risen in the passing years, so much so that Libera was split into three sections.