Chapter 1 - Consequences

[Jeremy]

In a city like Chicago, the streets are filled with violence and fear. Every corner you turn could be your last. Cops and Gang members put it all on the line every night at each other's throats. The lines have become grey, and no one knows who the side of justice is and who is criminal.

On a night much like most nights, a bunch of Gang members is chasing down a Kid, not much older than 17 years old, through the back alleys of the city. Gunshots are ringing through the air like church bells. Bullets zipping by the Kid bounce off the walls and fences as he bobs and weaves his way through the alleyways.

"Come back here" yells a member of the Gang. The Gang members pop a few shots off and miss shooting up a dumpster. Angrily he yells to the other two members, "cut him off by going right up ahead."

The two members look at the guy and nod in agreement, and take off in that direction.

The guy left standing there grinds his teeth and pursues the Kid. After running up ahead, it seems as he has lost the Kid in the alley behind this manufacture of boxes warehouse. Then from behind a dumpster, he hears Kid yell out to him.

"I will never forgive you guys for killing my father."

"Oh, I remember who you are now," replied the Gang Member. "You're that cop's son we killed awhile back."

"Yeah, and you're that Scum bags right-hand man Jeremy" snarled the Kid.

"I'm no one's lackey anymore. I run things now," said Jeremy. "Why don't you come out, and we can settle this like men." Jeremy slowly walked down the alley, looking behind each dumpster and trash pile.

The Kid sprang up from the trash pile. Jeremy just walked by and tackled Jeremy to the ground. Jeremy's handgun goes sliding over to the right next to a back door.

While punching the Kid in the face, he yells, "Get off me, you bastard." After about four punches to the front, the Kid releases his hold on Jeremy and gets kicked away.

Jeremy noticed when he was knocked down, the Kid accidentally head-budded him busting his lip. "You busted my lip, you little bastard." He spits on the Kid and says, "What you thought you could come into my territory and take me down all by yourself?"

Gasping for breath, the Kid notices his left eye starting to swell. He looks up at the Gang member as spit mixed with blood lands on his forehead. He looks away, wiping it from his face.

As soon as he looks away, Jeremy takes this chance to quickly come over to start stomping on the Kid. With each stomp, he can feel ribs crack and blood forcefully eject from the kid's mouth. Just as he was about to start stomping on his face, the two members from before beckoned to him from down the alleyway next to the road.

"Hey boss, the popo is on the way," yelled the bigger guy.

"Yeah, we just saw them around the corner. They're coming this way," said the other guy.

"Damn, someone must have heard us popping off a few rounds and called," said Jeremy. Pausing for a second, he didn't care about cops around the corner. He cared more about teaching this Kid the streets are killed or be killed.

"Hey, you two get out of here. I will finish this punk and meet up with you guys down by the Pop's Gas."

Both members nodded and headed off down through an adjacent alley away from the road.

"Now, what do I do with you" Jeremy looked down at the kid, disgusted. Just as he was doing this, he heard the sirens go off. He turned and looked back toward where his two lackeys were standing to see red and blue lights heading this way.

"Shit, they got over here fast."

Through this, the Kid tried crawling away toward the warehouse. With broken ribs and a beaten-up body, he could barely walk. His one good arm, he pulled himself away slowly, inch by inch. Then a spotlight from the Cop car blinded Jeremy and the Kid.

"Put any weapons down and your hand up" yelled from a microphone.

"Tchh," Jeremy responded, putting both hands up, not paying attention to what was going on behind him.

"Put down the weapon or will shoot."

Jeremy wasn't holding a weapon till he realized they were not talking to him. He slowly turned around to find the Kid pointing a gun at him. Jeremy's eyes were screaming, "You don't have the balls."

"This is revenge.." and the Kid fired off a shot from the gun he picked up as he forced himself to stand.

As the Kid's gunshot resounded through Jeremy's ears, he heard an additional shot and a wound appear on the Kid's left shoulder. Knocking the Kid to the ground. Jeremy, stupefied at the scene, felt blood trickle from his forehead over his brow and down his face. Then everything went black as he fell backward.

[Dr. Stevens]

At a hospital a few miles from where the shooting occurs, the halls are constantly packed every night and day with people with injuries of all sorts because of the violence in today's world. One of the top doctors of this hospital is talking to an officer from the crime scene.

"This Kid has too transported ASAP."

"The Kid needs more time to recuperate before being transferred," pleaded the Doctor. "I was here when his father was killed, and I don't see why he has to go."

"No killer gets a trial anymore. They are all shipped directly to the island." The cop looked down and said, "It's not my choice. I did a few patrols with his father also. His father shouldn't have been there that night."

"Can you put off taking him at least a week or two before taking him?"

"If I do that, then he won't have time to be briefed about the island and just be dropped there."

"That is better than dropping him a temporary jail with broken ribs," disputed the Doctor.

"Dr. Stevens, the kid, waking up," said a nurse walking out of the room the Kid was in. Dr. Stevens excused himself away from the police officer and proceeded into the room.

Looking down at the Kid, he saw he opened his one unswollen eye, and the Doctor spoke, "Don't worry while you are here at my hospital, I will take care of you." As he finished saying that, the Kid's eye closed, and he was unconscious once again. Dr. Stevens pitied this boy and looked out the room to see the police officer finish up his assessment with the nurse and started to walk out. He walked out to speak with the nurse.

She looked at him and said, "the police officer said you doomed this Kid by not letting him get proper training in his allotted temporary jail time."

"I can't send a half-dead patient to jail, even if it might get him killed on that island."