Better.off.dead

The wind was silent. Dark clouds had begun to choke out what little light the evening sun provided. Jack pulled his sister by the arm. They made a mad dash for the derelict three story apartments building on the corner of the block. “Damn it, you don’t need to baby me, “Lucy said and wretched her arm from his grip. She quickly over took him and slammed her shoulder into the rotted wooden door. “Hurry the hell up!” she said holding the door open. Jack hustled towards the entrance. He glanced over his shoulder to see if they were still being pursued. As he ran his foot collided with a large rusted pipe which Knocked him off his feet. His chest slammed into top step of the stairs, his upper half just making it through the door frame. The worn brown messenger bag he held only moments ago flew through the air and thudded against the back wall of the hallway. “Jack you i***t, be careful,” She said and turned to retrieve the bag. She dusted it and checked the contents “You might have broken it more.” Jack took a deep breath to regain all his lost air. He pushed his hands against the cold concrete floor, little shards of glass stabbed him as he stood. As he applied pressure to his leg he winced. “eh.” Lucy swung the bag over her shoulder and turned her attention to her brother. “Can you walk?” she asked and stepped over to him. “Not sure,” he applied a bit more pressure and gritted his teeth. “Jesus, here give me your hand?” she asked and reached out for him. She lifted him up and rested his arm around her shoulder. She kicked the door shut and carried her brother towards the stairs. The dim light in the hallways casted eerie shadows on every wall. Rats scurried bellow over heaps of trash and occasionally the leg of a strung out aging junkie. Lucy leaned her free hand on the wall as she helped her brother up the steps. “Look at these people Lucy, how could it get this bad?” He asked as he turned away from a couple that appeared to have overdosed in the hall. “It’s not our problem, keep moving,” she said and quickened their pace. “Why are we going up, wont we be trapped?” he asked and struggled on. “If things go right we won’t be leaving through the front door anyway.” “And if things go wrong, I suppose we won’t be leaving at all,” he said and swallowed hard. “For once in your life jack, just stop asking questions,” she said and stopped in her place. A small group of people was gathered in the hall conversing. They passed around a smoking pipe, each taking long hits from it. As the two siblings approached, the addicts turned to face them. A dirty long haired man with rotting teeth stepped forward and further blocked their path “Well would you look at those fresh faces, you kids here to score?” he asked and scratched at an open sore on his neck. “No thanks, we are just heading home,” she said and attempted to step forward. he moved aside to let them pass. She walked through the now open path with her sibling. They rounded the corner and up the last flight of stairs to the third floor. “We don’t have much time left, you’ll have to work fast.” “Yeah, yeah I know already,” He said and watched as his sister kicked in the door to the nearest apartment. “Aww f**k, that’s nasty,” She said and covered her mouth. One of the homes tenants was squatted over a bucket relieving themselves. Another stood in the kitchen a smoking pipe in hand. She leaned her brother against the wall and approached the squatted man. She grabbed him by his tattered shirt collar and threw him from the room, followed shortly by the bucket. The junkie in the kitchen dropped his pipe in shock “What the hell is going on.” She grabbed him by his shoulders and head-butted him in the face. She spun and sent him through the door as well. Jack shut the door and fastened the lock. He limped over to the small folding table in the back of the large one room apartment. “Quick bring it here,” He said as he took his seat. She walked over with the bag and cleared the space in front of him. “They weren’t far behind, you really need to hurry,” she said and dumped the contents of the bag out before him. “Just keep watch,” he said and looked over the broken bits of machinery on the table. He went to work in an attempt to fix the shattered device. Several minutes had gone by without much success.