Chapter 13: Outside the City

That day changed Leo for better or maybe for worst, he was sent to prison to face punishments that were fit for his crimes and he went with no intention of trying to escape. During Leo's first month in prison he was quiet and obedient and so everyone took advantage of him. Other prisoners saw how obedient he was, like some sort of loyal dog and so they used him. They started off with light requests like sharing his food, asking him to help with their chores, but each time they slowly grew greedier. Leo didn't protest to their request and so they started ordering him to hand over his food and to complete their chores and then slowly they started to beat him for no reasons, taking pleasure of his meek state. Some of the guards who saw the outcome of the situation and the prisoners abusing Leo, but they paid no attention to the fights or even tried to stop them. They felt delighted watching the prisoners fight sometimes. There are times when the guards host a gambling session betting on those who they thought would win. For those who knew about Leo's records thought it must be all a lie and that he was taking the place of the real prisoner and would be handsomely rewarded after serving their years. To them Leo was too weak to have commit such serious crimes, a push over, a dog with a collar with multiple leash. He never fought back or complained, taking whatever treatment that was given to him, the beating, the shame, the torture, everything. As Leo stayed there he slowly gathered his thoughts and fed his mind anything to forget the side of him that led him to his demise. Sometime during the third month in prison Leo managed to escape and not a single soul understood how it was possible. That's when they all realized that Leo was a very dangerous person and they needed to find him quickly.

Upon escaping prison Leo killed six security officers and twelve prisoners. People were going missing at the prison a few weeks earlier, but when Leo went missing they found a disturbing note written with human limbs as it read 'Playtime'. The gruesome scene of the dismembered limbs sent fear in everyone's mind who witnessed the message, two guards vomited and others did their best to keep their composure, but it was evident that they too had faltered. Blood streamed from the limbs as they hurried to clean the mess that could be wiped from the floor, but never their minds. A mess that would probably haunt them for a very long time. They informed the higher ups of what happened and even they too were shock as it was the first such things had ever happened and so they tried everything to keep the situation quiet. There was no clue of Leo escaping nor was there a clue that pointed to where he might be as they could only hope for him to make a mistake. To Leo there was no such thing as happiness and that happiness was only a test one was given to show how strong one was, and with that he failed as he found happiness and accepted it, but after losing it he felt pain, a feeling he did not quite understand. With conclusion Leo decided that if there was a next time where happiness was being given to him he would prove that he was stronger than before.

When Leo escaped he settled in the outskirts of the city which was not a pleasant place, but like everyone else we only talk about the best part of things. Beyond the borders there was nothing but piles and piles of trash, while Leo was there he still felt like his heart was drowning, a tight feeling, a feeling that was suffocating him, turning into frustration. When frustration reached a boiling point he slowly started to wreck anything in sight and was slowly becoming like the man who his father was, but a father he never wanted to be. As days passed he felt a slight comfort in the destruction he caused and it kept growing, growing like an addiction. Unlike the first time he was given happiness, but now he thought he would be doing the giving and that his actions were now his happiness. Breaking things that no one wanted wasn't enough, it made no difference, but breaking something everyone wanted might and with that he set his goal to the city. He caused lesser mischief at first, but he always felt unsatisfied and so with each problem he caused it became greater than the one before. Slowly Leo made himself known.

One afternoon as the sky looked overcast as if it was about to rain Leo set a grand plan in motion. He placed bombs in one of the apartment buildings and placed gas in the vents, not far from everything he stood on one of the highest building that would grant him full display of what was about to happen. Everyone who was in the building detected gas as the alarm started blaring off. The firefighters received a notice but when they arrived it was already too late. They tried escorting everyone out of the building, but they knew it was a losing battle when one of the men informed the presence of a bomb and that there was no time left. Leo stood on the building with his hands in the air as if he was worshiping some god or praying for something as he slowly counted backwards.

"3..2..1", he counted backwards and upon saying the last number one of the windows from the buildings shattered and it was accompanied by a huge explosion that took the lives of more than half of the people who lived there.

While Leo was on the roof he was spotted and when the cameras zoomed in they caught the face of a man smiling as if he was insane. First Leo had a still expression, but then a small voice in him echoed for him to smile and so he did, but at the pit of his heart this was not what he wanted. He just wanted to live the rest of his boring life quietly, but that was no longer the case. Leo's actions were unpredictable as he didn't have a plan at hand. Leo carried out his plans whenever he felt like it and so as they tried to predict his next move it was impracticable. He was well known to the public and even so worldwide as his information was continuously broadcasted around the entire country. Due to catching Leo was proven difficult higher officials hired special agents to handle the matter, but even they too found out it was a struggle. Leo was wondering around with the highest bounty on his head of 3 billion dollars, but no one was able to catch him even though he was spotted during the events of his actions, whether on site or off site Leo's methods of fleeing were remarkable. Leo's action changed to a carefree outgoing person, a personality of a child, sometimes he would disappear for month before returning and the higher ups would only breathe a sigh of relief for the break he gave. As years passed Leo was never captured, it was like catching water with a net. Leo was the most dangerous criminal during the first two years as he killed many, many were bedridden for life and others even lost limbs and their lives would never be the same. Leo had done more than thirty billion dollars worth of damage during his time and everyone wished for him to be captured so they wouldn't have to go to bed fearing death. The years when everything was at it's worst as everyone was scared and no one knew where to go as they didn't understand Leo's action, but everyone understood one thing and that was he was having fun, simply playing around. Two more years passed and Leo hardly made any appearances, the most he did was to hack into the huge televisions that were displayed airing around the city and performed goofy behaviors, even though a lot found him funny they would always remember that he was a treacherous person and could strike anytime.

Leo lived on the outskirts of the city that was abundant and forgotten by many, the place where people went to live alone or abundant whatever problems they had in the city. Because of the population the usage of things were a lot and disposing everything wasn't easy. First they went far from the city and dug holes to dispose the garbage but that wasn't enough and so far from the city there were places that were called disposal lands, because the garbage didn't bother anyone in the city they didn't pay attention to it. Focusing their attention on the economy and improving their life standards. They simply swept the problem under a mat and trampled over it never, having a second thought. The problem that they were ignoring was their greatest threat, but no one ever expected it that mere garbage could be their downfall. In the disposal lands it was made up of trash, hidden secrets, criminals, people who abundant the city life and even children that were throw away. The disposal area was dark, gloomy and eerie as if even the sun had shun them and refused to cast light upon them. An immense stench constantly occupied the air, but to the home landers that wasn't new nor did it bother them, but to new comers the smell was unbearable and life threatening. The air around and within the disposal land was heavy as it was filthy and unfit for breathing. For those raised or born in it grew accustomed and for those who were new suffered as they felt their lungs struggling to find air, choking and coughing up blood, bleeding until they died. The lucky ones survived the worst stage and adapted to their foul lives. Because of the unpleasant environment many diseases were created spreading easily and because they had no doctor people dying daily was a norm. Seeing bodies laying lifeless being swarmed with flies as their larva ate away the flesh was an ordinary sight.

Anyone who resided in the disposal lands lived in make shift houses and fought every day for survival, small dispose trucks would hover about the garbage hills and dropped the trash there and the people who waited for their arrival would fight over whatever resources that interested them. For those who didn't know thought about leaving and would like to know where the flying trucks came from, but they would never know. Some thought the flying trucks were like gods or messengers of a god. Sometimes people from the disposal lands would praise the garbage trucks that hovered. Leaving from the Disposal area wasn't much of a good idea either, as there were security protocols when entering the city and because they couldn't provided valid documents the only place they might end up was behind bars. Their were those in the city that specializes in forging fake identifications and documents, but for those who lived in the disposed lands wouldn't be aware of such things. Those who wished to find a better place or know where the flying trucks came from set off on the journey, but never return and for the lucky few who managed to return never spoke of leaving again.

Leo was a good person in his own strange way even though he had turn his heart stone. He would lend a helping hand to those who couldn't help themselves especially to the children as he knew what it was like taking care of himself at a young age. Leo had a mother who only came home to sleep and a father that he feared when he returned home. At times Leo would observe the people in the disposal lands and wondered how could some of them smile and be happy even though their lives seemed miserable as they wallowed in the waste of others and could die at any moment. There were times the flying trucks dumped garbage on the people below and for the ones who died were said to be sacrifices for the gods, that they were giving their lives up in return for resources for survival. Leo smiled at all the circumstances of things because he told himself to smile, not because he wanted to, but because he thought he had to and so he slowly lost what it felt to genuinely smile and that's how he drove himself to being a maniac. The only thing that felt genuine to him was destroying as he felt weights being lifted from him, or maybe he was adding more weights and because it had become so heavy he could no longer tell whether his shoulders were light or heavy. To Leo he was hoisting the shackled burdens that weighed his shoulders and that's what he enjoyed, his own mental state of happiness and peace.