Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 41151 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 206(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 137(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41151 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 206(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 137(@300wpm)
I run, not exactly sure where I’m going, just knowing that I need to put some distance between me and the house.
“Hey!”
Someone reaches out and grabs at my arm. It’s not a Colony authority, it’s an Elite kid. Maybe not a kid. Maybe my age. Eighteen or so. He’s got dark hair, dark skin, and gold eyes. He looks like he’s fit and strong. I wonder if he’s about to fight me.
"You can hide in our basement,” he says.
I don’t ask twice. I can hear the electricity on the wall surging from here. There’s no way out and hiding inside an Elite house is pretty much my only option.
He pulls me in a back door and then down a flight of stairs to an underground room painted blue and festooned with various Elite paraphernalia. Paintings and pictures of what I guess must be family.
“My name’s Malik,” he says. “You’re Shah. We all know who you are. You’re the boy who ran away. You’re famous. You’re all anybody talks about, on either side of the wall. You ripped off that transport. Took everything on it. Fucking awesome. Never been a score that big. Ever.”
He’s a fan. I heard I was getting some traction with spoiled Elite kids. I guess that’s true. Never thought I’d have an Elite fanbase, but it just came in handy.
“That’s… yeah.”
“I can’t believe it’s you,” he says. “I want to run away. I don’t want to be an Elite. I don’t even know what the fuck that means. I want to live my life how I want to live it. I’ve saved up all my birthday money.”
“Fucking adorable.” I don’t know what the fuck birthday money is, but the idea of some Elite kid saving up the free money he gets just for existing to run away from the people who give him free money just for existing has to be funny.
“I’m serious,” he says. “I can help you. I have money. I have some connections, and I don’t want to go into the Elite service. I don’t want to run a factory. I want to go out and have adventures. I want to see the universe and do whatever the fuck I want in it. I have enough money to buy a ship. Not a big one, but one big enough for a dozen people to get off the planet.”
“You want to run away and be a pirate?”
“Sure. But I can’t do it on my own. I don’t know what the real world is like. I don’t know what is going to be waiting out there for me. I know if I go out there as I am, I’m going to be eaten alive. But if I have an ally, someone who knows the streets, I might just make it.”
This is the last thing I expected to be confronted with, but it’s also an opportunity. I can agree to take this Elite kid with me, and then I can kill him if he’s a liability. But maybe he won’t be. He seems serious, and there’s something about him I like. He’s reckless, but prepared.
“Alright,” I say. “You know this could mean dying, right? There’s no safety net out there. Once you’re outside the law, you’re disposable to the authorities. They kill for fun, when they think they can get away with it, and on the other side of that wall they can always get away with it. You’re asking me to get you killed.”
“I’m asking you to let me come with you and have the life a real man should have. Adventure. Danger. I want those things. I’m not going to get them here. I’m going to get to run the box factory. I don’t want that life, and I’m not going to get another chance to meet you. So. Now or never, right?”
I like his energy. “Fine,” I say. “Get me out of here in one piece and I’ll take you with me.”
“Awesome,” he grins.
It takes a couple hours for the patrols to die down. Malik uses that time to get his gear sorted. He can only take what he can carry, so he’s got to leave a lot of stuff behind. He gives me some of it, including a brand-new set of leather armor. Says he was given it as a present but it’s too big for him. It fits me perfectly.
“Where are you going, Malik?”
A young female voice pipes up just as we’re leaving the property. We both turn around to see a short girl staring at us with a scowl on her features. She has her arms crossed over her chest and she is not at all happy. She can’t be any older than fourteen, but she’s got a shrewd look in her eye. I heard younger siblings are like that. I wouldn’t know.