PATH

Before leaving, Rika emphasized the importance of packing all the food and water that they could carry. Another rule Rika put in place was the importance of traveling during the day. While it would take longer, it would be safer. Especially since they would be taking all their belongings with them for the trip. They were already an easy enough target for thieves as they are now, but with no home base to store some of their belongings, they would be left for nothing if robbed. For that reason is exactly why Rika emphasized caution on this journey. After rounding up everything and Kain saying a forlorn goodbye to the couch, they set off. Rika pointed out the way, guiding the party along down back alleyways and avoiding empty streets. Rika continuously explained the need to avoid crowded streets due to pickpockets, and empty ones due to thieves. Two days into their trek, they reached the next district of the slums. Apparently, this was the one Kain woke up in. They had never been there since because it tended to be swamped with enforcers. They could handle one, outrun two, but stood no chance against any more than that. Especially since, according to Rika, the enforcers became more advanced and disciplined the further you go toward the capital. Now they had to brave this district in order to reach the capital, Olympus Mons. Rika pulled Kain back before he entered an alleyway. “Watch out!” Rika hissed at him, slamming him against the adjacent wall. Before Kain could form a complaint, the head of an enforcer peeked into the gap of the alley. After moving his body into the entrance, he muttered a couple things into a crackling intercom and left. Letting out a breath, Rika scolded Kain. “Remember what I told you, things aren't as easy anymore. You’re gonna have to be more careful now.” Noticing Kain’s guilty expression, Rika sighed and softened her expression. “Never mind, we weren’t caught anyway. Just keep that in mind and keep moving.” Turning around, she began to walk off. Kain started to follow, but was stopped in his tracks when heard a loud yell coming from the alley Rika walked into. Rika and Kain both froze in fear. The crunching of gravel and broken glass could be heard walking toward Rika as she backed up, getting ready to run. She was stopped by a sharp “Don’t you move.” Kain started to move toward her, but was stopped when she held out her hand. Realizing she had somebody in front of her, she shot that hand into a waving motion. Straightening her posture, she fixed her cap and put a smile on her face. “Sir…nice mornin’ we’re having, huh?” “Just shut up, girl. What are you doing all the way back here?” His voice was deep and gruff, and it had an edge of malice to it. Looking over from the corner, Kain could see in a reflection of the window that the man was an enforcement officer, the same one that peeked into the alleyway before. Yes, there was no doubting it. Their uniforms are unmistakable, that black sleeved jacket and visored helmet a symbol of fear in the slums. Kain remembered Rika telling him that these enforcers were usually corrupt, using their power invested in them to do horrible things. One could be robbed, beaten, killed, or potentially worse. If it was only one officer, they had a chance if they took him by surprise. Kain started to look for any potential weapons around him. The enforcer continued, “You a thief? No one would just use the back alleys for walking.” The enforcer walked closer, causing Kain to back away to avoid being seen. “You know,” The enforcer began to talk in a smoother, lighter voice. “You really do seem like a criminal. I might just have to take you in.” Rika tightened up. She began to back away, saying, “No sir, I’m justa simple girl going to work. I’ll get outa your way now…” Rika began to walk off, but the enforcer stopped her. “Wait, girl.” The enforcer walked closer to her. “I can’t just let ya go. I got a job to do. I’m sure you understand.” The enforcer then looked at Rika head to toe, eyes straying on parts in vulgar ways. “Now…I’m sure we can work something out. All you have to do is have a little fun…” Rika's eyes widened and she went white. She tried to stutter something out, but the enforcer dashed forward and put a hand on her mouth. Before he could say anything, or do anything else, Kain jumped from his spot behind the wall. The enforcer let out a yelp of surprise but was silenced with Kain slamming into him, knocking him against the wall and causing Rika to fall to the ground. Kain was not done. Thankfully, the enforcer's helmet was flung off when he hit the wall. Picking himself off from the ground, Kain kicked at the enforcer’s head. A grunt came out of him, and the force silenced any yelp that he might have managed out. This desperate kick threw him off balance though, and he stumbled and fell over the enforcer’s body. “ughhhARGHH” The enforcer held up his hands to his head in pain. Blood was spurting from a gash in his forehead, causing blood to cover his hands and blind his vision. Kain scrambled to get to his feet, then suddenly his world flashed white. Blood flew from his nose as he hit the ground, head bouncing off gravel. He tried to get up, but was stopped by the enforcer getting on him. His blood dripped down into Kain’s face, blinding him. The enforcer landed another punch on Kain, and his head lolled. Kain leaned his head to the right and spit out blood. “I’M GOING TO KILL YOU! I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!” The enforcer screamed at Kain, lifting the collar on his jacket and screaming at him. The enforcer reared his fist back for another punch, but was stopped with a kick to the head. The enforcer fell back off of Kain screaming as more blood flew onto the wall. “AUGHHHHHHH!!!!” “Kain, are you okay!? Kain!?” Kain opened his eyes and saw Rika shaking him, a worried expression on her face. “I’m…fine…” Rika helped Kain to his feet. She was about to say something when the enforcer interrupted, yelling obscenities at the two while jerking at the gun on his belt. Kain dashed forward and cocked back a punch aimed at the enforcer. As soon as the enforcer freed his gun, Kain’s fist knocked into the enforcer’s mouth, spraying blood and teeth from his face. With a thump, the enforcer’s body hit the ground. Kain stood there, mouth bleeding, and turned to Rika. She had a scared expression that twisted her face, but eventually softened when Kain went to hug her. This surprised Rika, as it had been a while since any friendly gesture of this kind had been shown to her. After spitting blood, Kain shakily asked, “Are…you…okay?” Rika’s eyes welled with tears. If Kain wasn’t there, there’s no telling what might have happened. Kain had just saved her, put his life on the line for her. This gesture of kindness showed Rika something important. Sniffling, she pushed Kain away and shakily said, “Yeah…I’m okay.” In the eyes of Rika, Kain was truly her friend. Their moment was interrupted by the sharp beep of the intercom. Rika’s eyes widened. The intercom had been recording the entire time, most likely to alert other enforcers if there was an incident. They had just fallen into a trap. “We need to go, Kain.” Kain’s eyes also widened in response as he nodded his head. He ran over and picked up the backpack. Rika pulled him to go, but Kain shrugged her off. “Rika, we need to protect ourselves. I’m going to grab his gun.” Rika shook her head. “Kain, we don’t have time. They’ll be here any minute! We have to go!” Kain jogged over to the unconscious enforcer and grabbed his gun. After slipping it in his jacket pocket, Kain ran back over to Rika. She puffed up her cheeks and pouted at him. “Honestly, you're so stubborn! Enough fooling around, we gotta go!” After pulling Kain out of the alley, they heard the footsteps of enforcers coming into the alleyway, yelling for support for their unconscious comrade. By the time they checked the other side, the duo was long gone.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

A few weeks passed since that incident with the enforcer. Since then, Kain and Rika’s journey had been quite smooth, with the exception of having to steal food and water a couple of times due to their dwindling rations. Another discovery made in this time was that the gun was unusable. Kain figured this out when one night he tried to examine it. “So, how does this thing even work?” Kain and Rika were huddled together in an abandoned building in a named district of the slums. This district was called “Acres”, due to it being one of the most well off districts in the slums. This area resembled a city, tall rectangular buildings without any color making up the brunt of this area. There were paved streets, and people drove automobiles on those streets. Even more surprising was that here, there was trade and influx of materials from the capital. These luxuries usually came from special trains that arrived in industrial areas around Acres. Despite all this luxury and normalcy, Rika warned Kain to not let his guard down. While this place was nice, it was still the slums. So they sat there on the outskirts of Acres in an old toll building, fiddling with the gun that Kain swiped off of the enforcer. “Here, let me see.” Rika held out her hand and Kain tossed the gun over. Rika caught it, then examined it. The gun had a sleek black design with copper wires leading up to the top, showing a small screen. Rika felt around for a button to release the magazine, and once found she pressed it. Nothing happened. “What?” Rika mumbled to herself, wondering how to work the thing. When nothing else happened, she tried to pull the trigger. It would not budge. “Ughh, this stupid thing must be broken.” She closed her eyes and sighed. Suddenly a beep resounded from the gun, causing Rika to look down. Displayed on the small screen was an “X” It seemed clear to Rika now, the reason why the gun wasn’t working. “Kain, this thing will only work if an enforcer is using it. You basically just swiped a lump of high-tech metal.” Rika threw the gun back over to Kain, who fumbled to catch it. Kain furrowed his brows and slipped the gun back into his jacket pocket. “Hey, I was just looking out for us. This gun could seriously be the difference between life and death if another one of those enforcers comes looking.” Rika looked at Kain with a defensive expression, holding up both hands. “I wasn’t accusing you or anything, calm down man.” Kain sighed and turned around to lay down. “I’m just tired, okay? Didn’t mean to come at you like that.” Rika nodded and yawned, laying down herself. “I get ya. I’m beat myself.” After getting some rest, they woke up that morning and continued their journey. Rika suggested they take a train to cut down on some walking distance. After sneaking into a train yard, Rika read out a map. “It says here…the next train to the Garden is…in a couple of hours.” Kain nudged his way beside Rika. “What’s the Garden?” Rika looked over at Kain and explained, “The Garden is practically part of ‘Mons. It’s the best district of the slums, right outside of the capitals walls. It’s basically the outer ring of ‘Mons, if you will.” Kain nodded in understanding. Rika gestured over to a worker loading boxes out of the train. “That’s probably where all this stuff gets shipped from. I know the elites at ‘Mons would rather shrivel up and die than interact with us barbarians in the slums. Ugh, it gets on my nerves. Seriously.” Rika walked over to a wall and sat down, leaning on it. She turned her head and looked out at the street. “You know, I’ve never seen such clean streets. All the tech here too, I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s really amazing, ya know?” Kain walked over and sat beside her. “I can’t remember a lot of stuff, but the only things I’ve seen since waking up here was…well, it was pretty bad. Just seeing all this stuff around us, I get how amazing this is.” Rika nodded her head and smiled. Rika had only heard about such things from her parents back when she was little. Rika always had missed the stories of her father, an enforcer assigned to multiple districts of the slums, and even the capital once. Rika was sure her father wasn’t like all the other enforcers that she encountered. No, he was sweet and gentle, kind to her and Rika’s mother. There were times when they would sit huddled together like she and Kain are right now, and listen to the amazing tales of floating buildings, flying objects, and luxurious streets that her Father spun for her. She would always sit there, her and her Mother, leaning in ever closer when her Father told such stories. Now, Rika felt like she was honoring their memory by coming and seeing the magnificence told in her Father’s stories. Rika turned away from Kain, tears building up in her eyes. For hours, Kain and Rika sat there, watching the spectacles in front of them. They were only roused when a loud noise signaled the train’s departure. Scrambling to their feet, they ran into a large cargo box that could barely fit both of them. They had scouted possible options when they entered, but this was the only one that presented itself. They would have to make due with the uncomfortable conditions. One by one, workers loaded boxes onto the cargo truck. When it came to be their turn, they were unceremoniously thrown onto the train, causing Rika and Kain to bump into each other inside the box. “Watch it!” Rika’s forehead had just hit Kain’s nose, causing him to rub it with one hand. “I can’t help it, idiot!” “Then get offa me!” “I’m trying! I’m trying!” Eventually they found their way out, causing them to spill onto the train’s floor. Rika landed on Kain’s stomach, resulting in a loud “Oomph”. Kain pushed her off and scowled. “Rika, you're so heavy.” Rika stood up, rubbing her hurt backside. “Well, screw you too!” Grumbling, Kain sat down against a wall. Looking up, he asked her, “How long are we going to be in here? We don’t have much food, and I’m already hungry.” Rika waved her hand dismissively. “Only around two days, we’re fine. I heard about trains like this from my dad. Apparently, they use magnetism or something to float and go really fast. So calm down, we’re not going to be here long.” Kain snorted at her. What caused him to be so restless was the fact that the capital, Olympus Mons, was so close. Kain had come to a conclusion that whatever he would be looking for would be there. Once he got in, he was a step closer to bringing “Kain” back, fulfilling his goal. To remember who he once was, Kain would do anything. Kain would fake his way through the upcoming Holy Selection, he would find out who he really was, and he would eliminate anybody who got in his way. “Yo Kain, what's with the tough expression, huh?” Kain looked up to see Rika twirling her cap in her hand, her curly red hair loose. “Look what I found!” Rika motioned for Kain to come, and pointed at the ground. A cot lay in front of them, packaged and wrapped in plastic. “Looks like I’ll be sleeping in style tonight!” Rika gave Kain a cocky look and pointed to the ground next to the cot. “And you…you’ll sleep on the ground, heh…heh…wait!” Before Rika could react, Kain dived on the cot. He quickly spread out and looked up at Rika with a smug expression. “Nah, I’ll be using this and you will be using the floor.” Rika’s smug expression was broken, replaced with frustration and anger. She pointed at Kain and yelled, “No fair! I found it first, then you took it! Get OFF!” Kain just looked up at her and shrugged his shoulders. Taking off his jacket, he folded it over himself as a blanket. “Rika, goodnight~” Rika stamped her foot and kicked the cot. “You JERK, I’ll remember this!” Laying down beside the cot, Rika turned over and grumbled about Kain being “Unfair” and “A jerk”. Eventually, they fell asleep.