Coal

Vero doesn't know his own age. He has lived in the alum for as long as he can remember. Living like a rat, hiding and stealing people's stuff.

However, now he's living like a genie pig after he got abducted by Frankie's gang. They put him to work on their narcotic packaging.

At first, he resists the gang members and tries to find a way out, but after he gets beaten up repeatedly, his spirit dissipates.

Moreover, the narcotic packaging job doesn't have any safety measures, so these kids working here got addicted to it by accident. They also double as product testers. Some of them went insane from overdosing.

Vero is on the verge of overdosing. At this rate, he craves the product and his mind can't concentrate. But even in this state, Vero still has a burning hatred left within him, but his body can't resist the narcotics.

Vero is sharing a room with other kids. They are cramped up in a small room filled with filth. This is a room they kept all the people working on narcotics in, to separate the workers from spreading the addiction to the gang members.

This creates an environment that facilitates narcotic-addicted people. Every day they feed you with a nutrient pack laced with their new product to see the reaction people will have if they're hard addicted. If people go insane and overdose, they would throw them out into the wasteland.

Vero hasn't reached that level yet, but it's fairly close. His brain requires some narcotics to function now.

"It's mealtime for your dog. Come out and eat! "

The kid with spikey hair walks by and drops a nutrient pack laced with fresh narcotics. The people in the room rush to grab and eat them up like wild beasts, including Vero.

This is Coal, one of the young gang members tasked with feeding the workers and tormenting them. The most obedient subject is the most submissive one.

"Also number 15, come here!"

"..."

Coal smiles while ordering Vero. He takes great pleasure in torturing people, especially Vero, who initially tries to fight back. Now he seems like an obedient dog in Coal's eyes. He slams Vero's head to the ground the moment he gets close.

"I told you many times to crawl to me like a dog!"

"Ugh."

"Oh, you're defying my command?"

He then stomps on Vero's head again with his feet. showing his dominance over all the workers there. He then kicks Vero's stomach. The impact sends Vero flying like a ball.

This causes the fragile body that didn't get enough nutrients to suffer a major injury. But this doesn't satisfy coal yet. He then kicks Vero repeatedly until Vero's body can't respond to the kick anymore.

"This is the fate of a people who resist our orders! Bear this in mind when doing something! Oh, and tomorrow we will be "on an escort request". We will keep it exciting by announcing it tomorrow, so, stay tuned! "

The gangs always bring in new people. Usually, it is people that can't pay their debts or kidnapped people. This kind of practice is very safe in slum cities. As long as you don't offend someone big, you can get away with anything.

People dumping is frequently used to keep the gang population of workers in check and to screen out some overdose victims. They usually perform these by hiring escorts and leaving people out in the wasteland.

Leaving the overdosed people in the slum will cause them more problems. Even though most people in the slum don't care about a case like this, the O'ruma city police do. They often come out of the city walls and check on Slum City to crack down on the narcotics cases.

In O'ruma city, the narcotics are selling like hotcakes in the teen demographic. Due to high expectations from parents in their academic life, they broke down and had some fun. It's highly illegal to own or use narcotics in O'ruma.

Yet 60% of the teen population in O'ruma have come into contact with some kind of addictive drug once in their life. This problem was so severe that O'ruma city had a serious crackdown multiple times, but with minimal results. The body dumping method is one of the reasons why they can't track down the narcotic importer.

Vero sleeps tight, knowing that they will probably send him out to the ruins tomorrow.

/////////////

"Wake up your dogs! This is an exciting day! You can't afford to be lazy! "

Coal came into the room with a big smile while all the drug addicts cowered in fear. Even if they were not sane anymore, their instinct still wouldn't choose death.

"Guys, don't be like that! It's just a relic escort at the Dumo tower. We don't intend to leave our dogs behind. It'll all be a little happy accident! Anyway, the number I call, please step up! 89,14,5,15 "

Vero knew that they would call him this time. For some unknown reason, Coal hated him to the bone. Vero doesn't know why either, but this lets him predict this outcome. He has been planning an escape for some time now. Finally, he gets to use it.

Vero follows Coal outside along with other workers. They are instructed to stand still and obey the gang members' commands. He hasn't been outside the facility for a while now, so a breath of slum air is considered fresh compared to the narcotic-filled room.

They stop at a building in the slum and wait for a truck to arrive. Coal is here alone. This is his chance! Vero strikes Coal with a fork that he smuggles from the gang members.

This is his best shot at getting freedom! The fork closes in on Coal's neck. Vero swung it full force, hoping to kill Coal in one blow!

"What are you playing?"

He asks playfully while holding Vero's hand. It turns out that the drugs he was taking against his will had a far greater impact than he had anticipated.

"HAHAHA, are you serious!? In that state, you're attempting to kill me!? Even if all five of you assaulted me at once, it still wouldn't be a fair fight. Oh, my god! I can't believe you actually went through with this plan! The drugs must have some effect on your brain, HAHAHA! "

Coal quickly restrains Vero with a swift motion. It looks like they trained him in some CQC, but that information doesn't matter for Velo, anyway. He got pinned to the ground and endlessly assaulted. A kick and punch that balances just enough for Vero to survive.

"Let me tell you something, number 15! The nutrient pack that you've been taking also contains frisk drugs that make your body weaker than even a normal slum kid! Normally you would easily feel its effect, but being on narcotics 24/7 really does some magic to your body. "

Coal gave a dominating smile, sending all the workers chills. He then beat Vero until he coughed up a pool of blood again, getting the message across that he's the one in control.