Inside the ‘Basement’ night that had yet to open, a muscular teenage boy who had seen better days was busy walking through. He dragged his feet across the floor and had eventually approached one of the workers in the club who wore a suit.
“I finished my delivery.” The teenage boy reported.
“Good, just sit at the back and wait for the others. When they’re done, you can leave the place.” The man instructed.
Listening to the orders he had been given. The boy walked through the set of double doors, and took a left turn, entering what looked like a break room for the staff, only that it was completely empty at the moment.
In fact, for the last few days the nightclub had been emptier. Fewer people would come in, and he could only assume it was because something was going on outside. Eventually, sitting down at the sofa, the boy leaned back and suddenly kicked the table.
“Sh*t! How did I even get myself in this situation! It all happened at that damn supermarket!” The frustrated teenage boy cursed his own situation. After a strange turn of events, Gil found himself working as a transporter for the Underdogs.
As had become the norm for him, he was thinking back to everything that had happened that day. There was one person who had changed everything, Kirk, the Underdog’s Altered. He and his Cheetah Squad had managed to completely overpower the grey colour gang members. They all had been beaten badly, Gil especially, and after he woke up, the teenager had found himself in the nightclub.
He hadn’t been the only one who had been abducted, though. Most members were from the grey colour gang, though some red colour gang members had been there. Honestly, Gil had believed that to be it, regretting his choice to drop school and join a gang.
They had been warned that they would be attacking Underdog territory, but the original plan had been to get out of there long before they would get to the scene. Unfortunately, nobody had expected the Underdogs to send out their elite forces so quickly, just because the black colour gang got their butts kicked.
Around twenty of them had been spread out on the dance floor. They had then been brought in and surrounded in a dance room by the Underdogs members and Kirk watching over them.
One member had tried to make a run for it, but before he could get far, his face had met the Altered’s sole, hitting him back on the ground and no one else had tried anything after. After a long while, he had finally arrived, the leader of the Underdogs, Damion Hawk.
He walked in with great confidence and smiled at them all.
“Welcome to our humble home!” Damion shouted with his arms open wide. “Get all of these wretched souls a change of clothes and some food. They must be hungry, and make sure their wounds are patched up.”
Everyone at the time had looked at each other in confusion, including Gil, but the members of the Underdogs didn’t need to be told twice. They had immediately started treating them well and bringing them cooked meals.
Most members had been cautious at first, afraid it might have been poisoned, but Gil had dug straight in. If they were going to kill them, there would be no reason to do it in such a roundabout way. No, this man had something else planned, Gil could tell.
For one week, they had been trapped there, getting food twice a day, taking bathroom breaks under the supervision of the Underdog gang members. On the eighth day, they had believed the same thing to occur, but this time Damion came in once more.
“Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed our hospitality for the past week. As you might have noticed, no one has come for you. Not the other grey colour gang members, nor the red colour gang members, and not even the Grey Elephants themselves.
“You’ve been used, and now that there’s nothing more you can do for them, you’ve been discarded… But you see, here at the Underdogs we’re different! Loyalty is number one! As long as you wag your tail like a good dog, you’ll get rewarded.” Damion explained with a grin.
“Now I’m going to give you all the choice. Most of you are still young. High school and University students with families that have to be sick and worried about you. They might even think you
are dead after what happened that night.
“We all make mistakes in our youth, and it’s important we learn from them, which is why I will give you a choice. Those of you who wish to leave this place, raise your hand, and those of you who wish to join us sit still. Those are your two options, no questions allowed!”
A lot of them looked at each other, obviously wanting to ask some questions, but the crazy look in his eyes made them afraid to do so. They had learned that whatever this man said was the law in this place, so they would have to give him an answer soon.
In the end, a few of them raised their hands. This experience had opened their eyes that the life of a gang member wasn’t for them. In the past, colour gangs were experts from real gang warfare. They would just be used as pawns and nobody was really bothered by them.
However, for Gil, he was wondering, something just didn’t feel right, and in the first place if he was let go, what would he even do? Go back to the grey colour gang, who had lost in this fight? No, that wasn’t a place for him. He had dropped out of Westbridge to rise up the ranks, to get somewhere in life.
In the end, Gil didn’t put his hand up, but around one third of them did. Since the decision had been made, Damion turned around, and it looked like one of those in suits handed him two objects, two small axes.
Immediately, without hesitating, he leapt forward and struck at the first person he could see who had raised his hand. Of course, quickly seeing this, there was panic and many people tried to flee, a lot lowered their hand, but like some possessed demon Damion cut them down. The gang leader had seemingly remembered each one who had raised their hand, leaving everyone else alone.
That scene was ingrained in the minds of all the survivors, and they understood why Damion talked about loyalty. They were now part of the Underdogs, whether they liked it or not, and if they even thought about betraying him, they all knew what fate they would suffer now.
Gil didn’t care, this was life for him… the only thing he didn’t imagine was the next day, he would be told to work as a transporter.
—–
Eventually, the doors opened, and the other teenagers entered the room. Gil had seen them a few times; they were the other transporters that would be used.
‘Damn it, I have to get out of this job somehow.’ Gil thought.
It was then that he could hear shouting from one of the other rooms.
“YOU STILL CAN’T FIND HIM?!” A loud crash was heard after.
“I’m sorry, Sir, but we really are doing our best! There are thousands of kids in Slough. We have nearly nothing to go by other than his green hair. He must have dyed it a long time ago, maybe he outright cut it off.
“Even if he hasn’t, there are so countless punks that fit his description! It’s impossible, Sir, we’ve been going around everywhere looking for him!” Another voice tried to explain their failure.
“What’s that all about?” Gil asked as they all could clearly overhear the shouting.
“The Boss is pissed because they can’t find one of the old transporters.” One of them explained the situation. “That kid that came before you, and apparently he stole one of the packages he was delivering. It seems pretty important because they’ve been looking for him ever since. He was a strange guy that Greeny G. He would always try to talk to us.”
“Greeny G?” Gil replied.
“Ah, his nickname. You know how no one knows each other’s real name here? He went by G, but because of his green hair, the Boss kept calling him Greeny, so Greeny G.”
Hearing the description of the said person, an image appeared in Gil’s mind. It reminded him of a certain teenage boy that he had gone to school with.
‘G… for Gary? No it couldn’t…’ A smile appeared across Gil’s face as he remembered the look Gary had given him down the hallway that one time, it was a stare as if he wanted to hit him. ‘Hah, does it even matter if it’s really him or not? I think I just found my way out of these stupid deliveries!’
*****
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