Scat had been confined to the room for two days; hunger gnawed at his insides. The scraps of food tossed into the room by one of the goons was barely enough to feed a toddler. It did little to dull the ache in his stomach.
He wasn’t alone. Other boys shared the space, each of them quiet and trying to avoid attention. The only times the door creaked open were for three grim purposes: to march them to the bathroom, to force them into chores, or worst of all to drag one of them to the gym.
The Central gym had become a place of dread. No one wanted to be chosen. The Goons never explained, never asked. They simply pointed, and the unlucky boy was taken.
Those who returned, if they returned, came back limping, bleeding, broken in body and spirit. Eyes dull, ribs bruised, sometimes unable to stand on their own. The silence afterward was always the loudest part, boys staring at the floor, pretending not to see, knowing it could be their turn next.
Scat didn’t cry. Not yet. But fear was settling deep in his bones, and hunger was only one of the many things eating away at him.
The Central Goons had grown bolder in recent weeks. No longer content with intimidation alone, they had begun snatching boys off the streets, anyone small enough to drag away, anyone without someone watching. The boys taken were forced into hard labor on the Central Campus, their days filled with hunger, cleaning, and obeying. The unfortunate were thrown into savage warm-up fights, nothing more than living punching bags for Xavier Boulder’s goons to train on.
At that moment, Scat had just reached his bike. The trade was done, the precious medicine secured. He was ready to return to Bear Country, to save his friend Tony.
Scat didn’t see the two Goons until it was too late. He tried to escape their grasp but failed.
Scat murmured his thanks as they stepped out the backside of the mall, the sharp afternoon light catching the dust in the air. Sam handed him the medicine without ceremony, her face calm, unreadable as always. She had covered the rest of the trade with the pharmacist, a quiet favor, but not a small one.
“Meet me at the market plaza tonight,” she said, slipping her hands into her coat pockets. “I could use your help with a little distraction… and maybe picking a few pockets.”
She paused, just long enough to let the next words carry weight. “I hope this medicine helps Tony.”
Then she turned and walked away, leaving Scat standing with the bottle in his hand.
Sam, Queen of the Gutter Rats, felt a flicker of irritation toward Scat, though she knew he wasn’t to blame. She hadn’t warned him what the pharmacist might demand in trade. The man was unpredictable, sometimes picky, other times needlessly cruel. Scat, unaware of the risks, had laid everything he owned on the counter: every last coin and a battered old pocket watch, his hands trembling slightly as he hoped it would be enough.
Scat was desperate to find medicine for Tony. The old mall was a ruin, collapsed ceilings, shattered glass, and the smell of rot hanging in the air. No one went there anymore, not unless they were out of options or out of their mind. People said only the desperate or the doomed walked through its doors. But Sam insisted it would be fine. They were going through the back way, a more direct route to the pharmacist.
Sam, the so-called “Queen of the Gutter Rats,” had more than earned her title. If something needed to be found, bartered for, or quietly stolen, Sam was the one who could make it happen. Scat was desperate, Tony was sick, and antibiotics were his only hope. There was only one person Scat could turn to. Sam listened, considered, and nodded. She could help, but it would cost Scat dearly. They’d have to go to the mall and deal with the pharmacist.
There’s trouble in bear country.
Scat came running down the admin hall before sunup this morning yelling at the top of his lungs. “Get up, Get up. They took our fuel. They took our fuel. “
I jumped off the couch and tackled him in the hallway. “Ok, Ok, Ok, we get the point.” I yelled back.
By this time everyone residing in the admin hall was awake and standing in the hallway. Sleepy eyes everywhere and no one was in a very joyful mood.
Scat tried to squirm out of my hold. “Tony, …Tony’s hurt. They beat him up.”
Tony is our engineer. He lives in the basement. He has been my friend (sort of) since before the world turned upside down. We didn’t run in the same circles, but we had several classes together. He always asked my opinions on homework assignments. I used to wish he would ask me out on a date. Unfortunately, he was dating a cheerleader. He isn’t very socialable these days, but he is very good at fixing and maintaining whatever we break.
I ordered Scat to stay put in the admin hallway and grabbed some muscle. When I say muscle, I am referring to Matt and Jonas. We headed toward the basement.
The basement was a mess, and Tony was slumped against the far wall holding his stomach, bleeding from his head, and his left eye was swollen shut. Tony made an attempt to open his good eye as soon as he heard us coming. He adjusted the way he was leaning against the wall and let out a cry of pain.
“I tried to reason with them.” Tony spit out a mouth full of blood. “They took all of our fuel. Oh Geez! I hurt.”
Tony said it was Central. I honestly was not surprised. They have been giving us trouble for ages.
The Central Bobcats were from the East end of Lafayette Blvd we lived on the west. We were rivals in football, basketball and volleyball. Our bands competed against each other in competitions before the world was turned upside down. The big difference between central and us is that we are not a bunch of thieves and bullies. The leader of the Central bobcats is a former high school wrestling champ. He is mean and leads by fear and regularly has his goons beat up people for fun. The kids call him the hulk after the comic book character. He doesn’t barter for what he needs. He has his goons take what he wants.
The Scat holding a first aid kitMatt and I leaned over to help Tony onto his cot. I told Tony he shouldn’t have tried to stop central from taking what they wanted. Just then, Scat ran up behind me holding a first aid kit.
Scat is such a tiny little guy. I yelled at him for leaving the admin hallway. He gets into more trouble.
Scat glared back at me. “Tony didn’t try to stop them. They beat him up afterwards.”
I looked at Tony and he just nodded in agreement.
At that moment, Matt and Jonas both blew a gasket and started ranting a raving about getting even. Love these guys but they get hot under the collar fast and don’t always think things thru…
We have some big guys in Bear Country, but we are not a match for the goons at Central.
