Chapter 31: Collateral

Several months ago: Sector 1- Thrice Inc.

Even though the far wall was made entirely of glass and let through the bright light of neon signs and glowing tracks, the office still felt so dark, “So there you have it. All you have to do is make me all the money that your brother lost back- with interest of course. And aren’t I just the best?” Mr.Black’s voice was both soothing and menacing, “I’ve given you the perfect job to ensure your success.”

The girl was almost completely covered by the darkness of the room. She sat in a poor wooden chair with her hands curled into fists on her legs, “But this job-” her voice was shaky and nervous, she might have been about to cry.

Mr. Black slammed his fist on his desk which startled the girl, “Do you or do you not want to save your brother? Because if I don’t get back my investment- I will take it from his flesh,” he let out a sigh and quelled his anger, “It will be easy enough- just 4.7 million in drug money. That sounds easy. You already work in MRPA so you have the supplies. And thanks to mutants selling their personal doses there is already a market for “Free”, now you just have to broaden it.”

The girl in the chair was shaking in fear. Normally she might have felt anger toward her brother, or sadness or despair- but the only emotion she could feel, the only emotion that seemed to radiate from her soul- was fear, “Ok.”

Mr.Black immediately turned around in his desk chair to look out of his large wall-window. His assistant, Chihiyo, took this cue to speak to the girl directly, “You can come with me now.” Chihiyo had a smile that under normal circumstances would have seemed sincere and warm- but to the girl it was cold and snake-like, “We are going to need a small piece of collateral, to make sure you won’t run away of course.”

The girl simply nodded, her body was too overcome with fear to dare and speak to Chihiyo. She forced her body to stand and began to follow Chihiyo through the large wooden doors that she had come through what felt like an eternity ago.

“Oh,” Chihiyo’s voice was not the same sweet tone that she had used to address the girl, her voice was darker and coarser and aggressive, “Mr. Black, she is here to see you.”

Akumako wasn’t fazed in the slightest by the intimidating atmosphere. As she walked by the girl; however, she recognized her almost instantly- but remained silent as she closed the wooden door to the office.

“What are you doing to her?” Akumako said as she turned to face Mr. Black.

He turned around in his chair, “It’s nice to see you too-”

She sighed and began to say her usual introduction with a voice laced with dread, “Hello Uncle, I have come to give you the results of my last test.”

Mr.Black nodded- his demeanor was more friendly and playful now than it had been with the girl only moments ago, “Now, as you were saying?”

“What is Chihiyo doing to that-”

From outside the office there came a blood curdling scream and cries for help- from a girl.

Akumako’s body instinctively turned toward the screaming and lurched to help- but her body was suddenly frozen, “Let me go!!” she struggled against the invisible hold that Mr. Black had placed her in.

“My child,” his voice was smooth and soothing, “There is always a need for collateral in deal making. You yourself know exactly what collateral means to me. That girl is important to me...and her collateral is more important,” he released her from his grasp and she obediently stood before him, “Now, what of your latest testing?”

Down the Hall

Chihiyo’s hidden room was the size of a broom closet. Every wall had shelves from floor to ceiling that were crammed with dusty books; empty jars; jars filled with eyes, hair, and unrecognizable parts; old rusted tools; and hanging from the wall was a full-sized doll with dark brown skin and hair shaved close to its head. The rest of the room was taken up by a patient's chair and just enough room for Chihiyo to stand beside it.

Chihiyo stood over the body of the girl that had passed out in pain. She placed a large white cloth over the girl’s eye that immediately soaked to a bright red. Paying no mind to the blood now dripping from the girl’s face, Chihiyo closed the newly filled jar tightly, “Thank you Mary,” she looked through the glass jar into the murky gel, “Perfect.”

Present Day- Sector 21: The Wasteland

Raj was running as fast as he could, but they were catching up. It was a group of 5 hunters: the hunters of the blood tipped spears.

Raj was a journalist. He knew it was a dangerous job, but since STAM had just recruited a new agent from Sector 21, from this group of hunters, he wanted the story. He wanted to write the story of the barbaric hunters and how one of them was now given a license to kill. Raj had known how unwelcoming of outsiders this village was- or maybe gang was a more appropriate word.

He had been in the small village of tents for 30 minutes asking questions and getting short answers, if they bothered to answer at all. Then the head of the hunters saw him, Chief Reikokuna. He wasn’t the tallest of the villagers, but he was the widest. He wore ripped denim pants covered in the orange clay soil and blood stains. His chest was bare but a cloth, most likely a shirt, was draped over one shoulder. His bamboo spear rested over the other.

Wanting to get an interview with the Chief, Raj began to walk toward him and waved to catch the Chief’s attention. The Chief stared at him with a sharp gaze. He suddenly screamed a deep, raspy scream. The entire village stopped moving- Raj included. All eyes were on Raj. The Chief’s grip on his spear tightened and in a swift motion he threw it at Raj. The spear grazed the side of Raj’s arm and he yelped out in pain holding his now bleeding arm.

Everything was silent for a moment before the Chief sniffed the air twice and screamed once more, this time louder and with a distinct rhythmic pattern. The Chief started running toward him and Raj ran away from the village as fast as he could.

Maybe he had been running for only 5 minutes, but Raj’s heart was racing, his legs cried out in pain, but he couldn’t stop. He feared if he stopped he would be killed immediately. Another spear suddenly pierced the ground in front of him and Raj fumbled around it, the hunters closing the small gap between them.

He didn’t know if he would be safe, but he saw the boundary line for the village’s territory. Hundreds of spears in the ground hoisted the heads of hunted mutants. The flesh ripped from their bodies from the neck down. Their skeletons dangled in the wind beneath the rotting heads. It was a clear message that Raj had overlooked.

But he wouldn’t make it to the border, at least not alive. The Chief’s spear pierced the back of his knee and pushed through popping his knee cap from it’s socket. Raj screamed and fell in the harsh dirt of the desert. He cried and screamed, “HELP!! HELP!!”

The hunters gathered around him and Raj pleaded and screamed.

The Chief looked at Raj and scowled, “Change!”

Raj looked up at the Chief, his vision going in and out he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“CHANGE!” the Chief screamed again.

Raj gasped for air but only breathed dust. He squeezed his eyes closed and prayed to any God or for anything to save him. But then he felt more spears stab into his body. He screamed and cried but the stab wounds were not deep enough to kill him, just enough to break him.

Against his own will, his body began to morph away from his human form. Small jellyfish-like arms pushed out from his entire body like thick hairs. The stabbing stopped.

Raj could hear the cheers of the hunters. The Chief had known Raj was a mutant; he has smelled it.

The Chief slammed his chest twice and the cheering stopped. He stood beside Raj’s head and used his spear to roll Raj on his back so that he could see.

Raj looked up at the Chief and begged for his life.

The Chief smiled down at him, “Mutant’s are not life.” He held his spear against the windpipe of Raj’s neck and pushed through it in one swift motion.

Three of the hunters began to clean Raj’s body to prepare it to be hung with the others. The Chief stood behind them with his second in command.

“Chief, it seems that your son has been accepted.”

The Chief nodded, “Kenji’s been preparing for this for a long time.”

“Finally you will have your revenge. This country should be yours. Blue is too weak to cleanse this land.”

“In due time. Kenji will not fail us.”