2. The Mortal Confrontation

Cough!... Cough!...

A coughing sound could be heard from time to time, fading across the desert. Looking over, one could see a miserly young man lying on the ground, his body twitching from time to time due to pain. He had a distant look in his eyes, as if lost in memories of the past.

' Shot to death, huh... Come to think of it, when did it all start again? Thinking back, my memories are rather hazy. The earliest I can recall is still that great life and death battle, that took place within the slum's garbage dump. After all, it should be my first battle of survival. I can still proudly recall my heroic image fighting the enemy valiantly. What's it been, about two years now...?'

He thought, as his eyes gradually drifted away towards the distant sky.

It was about two years ago. He had just recently escaped from the locality where he lived. His parents had been recently killed, gunshot by the gang of local debt collectors.

'Hmm... Guess I had them at some point. Why were they indebted again? Well, who gives a damn anyway, it must've been their addiction or something. Come to think of it, guess my drug addiction could be considered an inheritance, son of a ...' Cough! Cough!... Cough! Cough!...

.....

Well, back to the battle that had been mentioned. It occured during the time he had fled from that gang of debt collectors, escaping to the neighbouring territory. He had run with his stalk of drugs, after all those were the life and blood of an addict. But there was still a serious problem at hand.

After a long night, as he woke up the next day, he was still a bit traumatized. After all, if he would have been captured, his fate was determined to be worse than a dying dog. As a drug addict he would have had no value being sold, he definitely would have been exploited for labor.

However regardless of his mental state, now he had to solve the most urgent issue at hand. After all he had just woken up and had yet to do what needed to be done the most. Looking around, he spotted a relatively large garbage dump at a corner. There were a few beggers sleeping nearby. With a gleam in his eyes, he sped to the dump, falling down and rolling over along the way.

.....

Cough! Cough!...

'Come to think of it, that was the site of our mortal confrontation. That was clearly the most dangerous enemy I ever faced. Till today I think what would have happened if I had lost.'

'Heh, heh, heh... it was also ever since then that I had the courage to do stuff that others were hesitant about. In short that was my starting point in life. Damn, its getting me all sentimental for no reason'

.....

As he said, this was the time he was met with his most brutal, yet memorable battle. Reaching the garbage dump, there it was, holding down the thing most precious to him. Looking over his heart ached, as a stream of anger rose in his heart. "Damn it! Let's calm down... calm down... I shouldn't get so emotional." He said, consoling himself.

Their eyes met. Both of them looked at each other, determination flashing across their eyes. This was the first time they had met, yet somehow both of them knew this was their worst enemy ever.

Grumble...

Sid looked down at his grumbling stomach. Running like a dog all day long, worrying about escaping, he had accumulated a lot of fatigue. He was now hungry to the extreme.

His hunger had caused him to lose focus at this critical moment. In a moment of carelessness, he heard the sound of footsteps across him. He knew, the enemy had started to move. Regaining his focus once again, he looked up, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

"You damned dog, you f*cking wanna run away with my food. You think this young master is called an expert for nothing, huh?" He cursed atop his lungs, as he readied himself for a sprint. Arching his back, he gathered momentum into his legs, leaping forward with a kick.

Thud... "Ouch! Dammit, that hella hurts."

With a low growl, the dog jumped to the side in a hurry, yanking one of it's ankle as it fell down. Well, atleast it had doged the kick of that wretched human. It quickly regained its balance, limping away at the fastest speed.

"That son of a b*tch..." Sid cursed, looking at the limping dog, that was getting far and far away. His vessels almost popping out from his forehead, his eyes bloodshot from anger.

He searched for a while, before coming across something decent to throw over. "Damned dog, just you wait, I'll make you feel the dread of being locked down by a master's gaze." He picked up the can, shouting still. With practiced movements he quickly took a stance, ready to throw at any time. His arm arched a smooth curve, as the can flew out of his hands.

'Clunk...' there was a sound, Sid looked over with a smug face. The tin can had already hit the electric pole at the roadside, bouncing over at the ground.

Sid: [●_●]!#%&$...

His heart turned cold. But in the next moment as if a miracle had happened, the can bounced over repeatedly reaching infront of the limping dog. Running with all it's might, the dog had no time to react. It limpingly stepped over the can, causing it to lose balance, as it fell over with a thud.

Sid ran over excitedly, not giving it a chance to recover. Looking at the pitiful dog, it was as miserable as it could be. But, would he care, he was a miserable soul too.

.....

Squatting beside the dog, Sid looked at its pitiful state. "What are you gonna do eating this bread. Looking at you, you'll be dead soon anyway." He said, as he greedily stretched out his hand to snatch away the bread from the dog's mouth.

His expression was excited, after all it was an entire peice of bread without even a speck of mold over it. Even for an experienced, master scavenger like him, it was a luxury to be had.

But, in the next moment his expression suddenly darkened. Looking over at the dog, it had a mocking expression, as it struggled to swallow down the bread in its mouth. It looked like it knew the end of it's life was near, if it couldn't have this last meal then no one could.

"Damn this son of a b*tch." Sid cursed, speeding his movements, as he snatched the bread from it's mouth. Despite that, there was no joy in his expression, rather his rage erupted to the extreme. The dog had already bit half the bread off, swallowing it with emotions, a mix of satisfaction and bitterness.

Sid's heart bled from the loss. In a fit of anger he kicked the dog to the ground, further kicking him to the roadside. Looking at the half dead dog, his anger calmed down somewhat.

He stuffed the remaining bread in his mouth, returning to the garbage dump to scavenge further.

.....

'Well, that were some refreshing memories. It's fun reminiscing about the past every once in a while. After all it's not always that such major events occur in one's life. The only thing that could compare would be the moment I was shot to death, afterall that was the first time my expertise had failed me.'

He thought, once again his eyes drifting to the distant skies, recalling the events that led up to his demise. His heroic tale, or so to speak.

.....

"It seems like I won't need to arrange for cash for some time, it will be a while before the stalk runs out. Lets walk a bit more before hunting for money."

After emerging victorious in his mortal confrontation, he walked forward, hoping to escape further to some territory far away. After all, there were businesses and gangwars occurring everyday. Gang members frequenting neighbouring territories was quiet common.

If he wanted to earn money, going to a faraway territory was a must. Afterall, he had his addiction to feed as well. Although he used the cheap kind, it was cheap in name only, for a poor soul like him it was still worth some flesh. For now it seemed like he had enough stock, but in reality it wouldn't be long before he runs out, he had to prepare, for when that time came.

His mood was unexpectedly refreshing, it didn't seem like he had gone through a crisis, losing his home just the day before. It might have been partly because the lack of attachment he had with that so called home, but his extreme adaptability to any situation was definitely a plus.

And so, with his thoughts scattered all over, he walked forward.