Dogtown

Well I've finally decided to post this story after Damien wouldn't leave me alone. He really was starting to get on my nerves so here he is...I'm really not sure where this story is headed but i need a bit of a break from 'destiny' and this is just the ticket....although knowing me it'll probably spiral out of control...



Damian was a rebel. Damian was tough, he never admitted weaknesses and he took advantage of other’s weaknesses. He lead his gang of street punks on raids of local stores and always managed to outfox both the security guards and the police. He took no prisoners and would sacrifice any of the residents of Ghetto if it meant his gang could escape. He was ruthless, courageous, strong and rebellious. He had sold his soul to the devil, or so his allies liked to whisper amongst each other when they thought he couldn’t hear. Still, they followed him because they believed Damian would save them. They were sure that Damian would rule Ghetto some day and they would be at his side when that happened; ready to share in the riches. Damian was destined for great things.

Damian was angry, scared, lost, hurt, troubled and unworthy of their loyalty. Yet, they followed him, and they trusted him, but only so long as he showed no weakness, only as long as his current vendetta against the world lasted. Like a pack of wild dogs they would turn on him and show him no mercy, as he had shown them none; and so Damian was afraid.

Damian has always been afraid.

He can’t remember anyone he called “mother” or “father” all he remembers is the gang. The people who took care of him as a child have long since vanished: they are either in jail or dead. He doesn’t even remember their names, only a vague glimpse of faces. Now, he wonders if any of them were his parents, but there is no one to ask. So he hurts, and he hurts the world in exchange; but he can never show weakness.

“Yo! Boss!”

Startled from his depressed musings Damian looked up from the magazine he was pretending to read, “What?” he snapped.

The young punk shifted, uncomfortable under the harsh glare directed his way, “Theo, and his gang are on the prowl again. He’s headed for the Station. Rumor is, some bigwig’s in the neighborhood. Thought this’d be a prime time to strike the PoliceHQ. Make Theo’s bunch look bad, at least. Maybe get them cleared out of here for good. At least we should see what’s up and clear any names that are in the system.”

Damian didn’t answer. Instead he gazed thoughtfully out the broken window onto the city. That was all you could see here, buildings in various states of disrepair, as far as the eye could see. And if you walked all day in either direction, that’s still all you’d be able to see. Ghetto was the name of this place. It was pretty much lawless even though the police still patrolled the streets. Security guards were pretty much freelance bodyguards and bouncers, more a show of strength than any sort of law enforcement and were as likely to kill you as look at you. The police were little better, but only if you were caught in the act of a crime. The Security could only be swayed with proper ID or money, things most residents of Ghetto lacked. A “bigwig” meant an official of some kind from Upcity here to audit the city and it usually included a “Purge” which involved anyone who didn’t have proper ID or money or a good hidey-hole; being rounded up and deported to a workhouse or the army depending on their age and physical fitness. Damian’s gang had neither money nor proper ID and their hidey-hole was only good as long as they were certain the police didn’t know of it. Usually they made routine raids on the station but lately there had been a lot of activity there and they hadn’t been able to risk it. With a Purge on the way though they had to act fast.

He cleared his throat and smirked as the kid jumped, “Yes, good work Lex. We need to work quickly though. Send Caliston, Sam, and Mo to Police HQ and tell them to hack into the system and erase any info on us. Send Meg and Charlie to Station to eavesdrop and I will go with you, Ally, Marcus and Vince to Witticker’s for some fake ID’s just in case.”

Lex beamed at the rare complement and scampered off to do as he was told. Damian frowned; Lex was the youngest member of the gang and therefore had to run errands for the rest of them. That he had heard the rumor and been the one to come to him with the idea was unlikely. Probably Meg had discovered that Theo was on the move and had sent Lex to relay the information because Lex thrived on compliments and Damian rarely had the opportunity to give them to him. It just wasn’t in his nature to throw complements around. The boy probably wouldn’t last long in the gang anyway. He was the only member of the gang to have proper ID but he was a runaway and so would be sent back to his parents if he were ever caught with that ID. So he would need a disguise as well as alternate ID because that would turn suspicion of kidnapping on whoever was with him and the fake ID’s wouldn’t hold up in a court case.

Within half an hour Lex, Ally, and Vince were gathered in the room, ready to go. Lex was practically bouncing on the spot with all the pent-up energy a thirteen-year-old could muster. Ally and Vince had their heads together discussing plans in case of emergency. Vince’s hand brushed gently across the slight swelling of Ally’s abdomen as he told her to be careful. Then, Marcus entered the room rolling his eyes both at Lex’s antics and the Lover’s hushed conversation. Finally Damian stood and walked out of the room. The others followed just as silently.

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Crouched on the roof of a high-rise Meg peered through her binoculars at the Station below her. Charlie was almost in position as a hot-dog vendor just outside the building.

Charlie was the most diverse member of the group. He already had many different ID’s and disguises set up for situations like this. Meg was just good at climbing and not being seen. They made a good spying team and Damian had paired them up as soon as he became the most senior gang member when Garth died. Garth had been much older then the rest of them, and his death had almost crushed the gang. But Damian was an even better leader despite his youth; he was only eighteen for Chrissake!

Meg herself was sixteen and not going to be leader until after Vince (18, few months younger than Damian), Caliston (18, few weeks younger than Vince), Ally (17), Marcus (also 17 few months younger than Ally), and Charlie (who had just turned 17). When that happened there would only be Sam and Mo (who were twins and 15) and Lex to lead unless they recruited some new members. The gang was smaller than Meg could ever remember it and full of too many young members.

Her headset crackled, “Hey there ladybug, I’m setting up a hotdog stand here so you’d better fly away so you don’t bother the customers.” Charlie’s usual method of code involved speaking with bugs, plants, or the golden retriever he kept for his blind-man guise. It never failed to make Meg laugh.

“Do you see them Charlie?” replied Meg, “can you hear them?’

“Hotdogs! Come and get your Hotdogs!” Charlie cried, “Ah you officers look famished! Why don’t you stop for a hotdog? I’ve got soda too!”

Meg giggled and picked up her binoculars. There were about fifty police officers in front of Station, about ten stopped in front of the hotdog stand.

“Sorry sir we can’t stop now we’re meeting someone but perhaps on our way out?” a quiet high-pitched voice that Meg’s binoculars identified as belonging to a short overweight man. She stifled another giggle. The overweight man turned hopefully to another taller man in the captain’s uniform as he finished his sentence.

“I doubt we will have time on our way out either Officer Huckman.” The Captain said in a deep raspy voice. Meg thought he sounded like a burnt out rock star.

The overweight man sighed disappointed, “Well then, may I stop for one on the way out Theo? I’m famished.”

“Perhaps, if there’s time.” conceded Theo, “Please called me Captain Perry while we’re on duty, Officer Huckman.” The Captain then proceeded to enter the building with the rest of the officers falling in line behind him.

Meg waited and watched. Charlie’s hotdog stand was fairly busy as there were many people bustling around at Station. Charlie loved his hotdog stand disguise because it paid the bills, so to speak. He asked questions of many customers and they managed to gather that the officers in the building were meeting with more than one person. In fact, there were quite a few people the customers referred to as “bodyguards”. After an hour or so the officers marched from the building flanking about twenty men in pristine white uniforms and followed by Captain Theo and another man wearing a bright red uniform.

“Guardians?” Meg gasped, “We’re getting fucking Guardians!!” she stood up and backed away from the edge of the building looking for a way to enter and not draw attention to herself. “Charlie you’d better stay right there for the rest of the day so as not to look suspicious and then you’re not going to be able to use your hotdog stand disguise for a while. I’m going to find Damian. This is bad. This is really bad. I’ll keep you posted okay Charlie?” not waiting for a response she changed the channel on her headphones to blare old rock music and hid her binoculars in her backpack. Glad that the building she had chosen was an apartment complex she swung down onto a balcony on the opposite side of the building from Station. Double glad the residents of this particular apartment weren’t home she opened the screen door and made her way down and out of the building, acting like she lived there.

okay i do have chapter 2 written so i guess i'll post that as well...