Chapter 1: meet the gang
Max slipped through the side streets, avoiding suspicious looking people out of caution. He made sure to check behind him at every corner. Taking long, silent strides through the inner slums of the city, he used his time to consider the night’s events. The failed – and laughable – attempt at robbing him played over in his head. Crime rates in the red zone were increasing while the blue zone stayed nice and even at 0%. Not that you could tell from outside – nobody bothered to keep track of crime, let alone police it. He looked up towards the skyline to see the massive wall looming into the sky. Guards patrolled along the top of the wall, stopping anybody who was crazy enough – no, stupid enough – to try to scale it. The only way out of the slums, the ‘red zone’, was to be a resident of the luxurious blue zone. The outer city that encircled the veritable prison yard that housed the poor – housed being used loosely, of course, as you couldn’t walk for five minutes at night without encountering at least one homeless person – and the only way to reside in the blue zone was to have money. It was a vicious cycle. The rich got richer while the poor got poorer. Just how those fat cats liked it.
He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. There was no point in dwelling on what he couldn’t change. At any rate, James would probably be happy with Max’s latest acquisition. His only regret was that he hadn’t been able to find what he was looking for. The red zone at night was a hotbed of shifty characters trying to offload trinkets onto anyone with a wallet. He looked up, having reached his destination. Max raised his hand and knocked on the door. After a while, a knock came back from the other side. He then knocked twice and waited. The door opened to reveal a very tired looking girl. She had long brown hair that, at the moment, was a bit messy and deep blue eyes which she rubbed sleepily. She was beautiful – Max thought so, anyway.
“Hi Sam. I’m sorry I’m late.”
“What time is it? What happened? Are you ok?”
“Uh, it’s like 1 AM or something. And I was mugged, but I’m ok.”
“Mugged?” The girl suddenly straightened, alert now. She leaned in to inspect Max. “Oh, you’re bleeding!”
“No, I’m fine. It’s not my blood, I fought him and I won.”
“That isn’t like you. You’re usually really careful.”
“I… uh… used my daily.”
At this the girl sighed and turned, muttering something about wasting powers on muggers. Max really liked Sam. The reason he’d gone out so late was to try and find her a gift. Had he known that the search would have turned out to be futile, he’d probably have given the mugger his wallet. He should have, really.
“I’m sorry if I worried you.”
“You should be sorry that you wasted your daily!”
“I…” What was he going to say? That he didn’t mean to waste it? That he was out trying to buy her something? That he loved her? “…Sorry.”
“What’s the point of having a daily ability if you’re going to waste it before sunrise?”
She was right. Max knew he had to be more careful with how he used his power. He could only slow time once a day, after all and only for a few seconds at that. Sam had a more interesting ability. Once per day she could implant a thought in someone’s mind. They would suddenly get the thought and think that it was their own. It was the perfect ability for someone like her, though. So shy outside of her social circle, it seemed fit that she would have an undetectable, unnoticable power. Max wished that he could help Sam. Samantha, so delicate and shy, lacking in confidence. He wanted to hold her, tell her how great he thought she was, that she didn’t need to be so quiet and reserved. He wished that she could be like this all the time. To tell the truth, the way that she cared about her friends was kind of cute. Nurturing, in a way, if not bossy.
“That reminds me, where’s James? I have something for him.”
“He’s asleep. Like I was before you interrupted me.” She suddenly looked remorseful, like she regretted that last part. “I’m glad you’re okay,” she added quietly before turning and heading into her room, closing the door behind her. Max knew he wouldn’t get any sleep that night. His conversations with Sam were often confusing to say the least. Did she like him? Did she think of him as merely a friend? He shuddered, whether from the cold or the thought of never being with that cute, quiet girl, he couldn’t tell. Either way his mind was racing, going over every line of the exchange and analysing it, probably over-thinking it. He walked to James’ room and knocked on the door. It opened immediately.
“Yes hello Max It’s great to see you again what took you so long oh well never mind come in I have something to show you I’ve been working on it all night hey do you want some coffee?”
“Uh, okay?”
“Great come in.”
Max entered the room. It had the distinct smell of gunpowder hanging in the air mixed with coffee. Spare parts for different weapons lay scattered on every surface and thewe were at least 3 empty coffee mugs scattered around the room.
“How much coffee have you had?”
“Thirty two cups.”
He said it so casually, like it was one or two.
“Oh… I see. Are you sure that's-”
“Quick come here It’s taken me all night to finish what do you think?”
Max walked over to the table. A normal looking pistol sat there, making him wonder what James had done to it. He helped himself to a can of cola, cracking open the top.
“NO!”
BOOM!
The room filled with smoke causing both Max and James to launch into a coughing fit. They desperately scrambled for the door, temporarily blinded by the white flash that had filled the room moments ago. James crashed through the door and the smoke rushed out into the hallway. Eventually the ringing in Max’s ears subsided and his vision gradually returned. He looked up at James – he didn’t look happy.
“Do you have any idea how long that took me to finish?”
“Al-“
“ALL NIGHT!”
“I’m sorry! I had no idea that-“
“That was my secret weapon Max you never know when you’re going to need to surprise bomb someone!”
Just when Max thought he was beginning to understand the inner wokings oj James' minde, he pulled something like this.
“Well, here, I got this for you,” Max started, reaching into his pocket.
“It’s going to take me all ni-… What’s that?”
“It’s a revolver. 2-inch. You wanted one, right?”
James seemed to have forgotten about the can bomb. He took the gun and was now going over the it very intently. He studied it for a while.
“Where did you get it?” he asked, not bothering to look up from the gun.
“A guy mugged me. I took it from him.”
Either James didn’t hear him, or he didn’t care. He seemed mesmerised by the revolver. After a while he looked up.
“Thanks,” he said.
“Don’t mention it. Hey, I’m going to head off to bed.”
“Okay man but you know where to find me.”
With that he was gone, back inside his room, door closed, most likely tinkering with some gadget or other. Max started towards his room, physically and mentally exhausted. Maybe he would get some sleep after all.
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