1000 words a week – kickoff

17-03-2013

“Dear readers, it has been a while hasn’t it? I have been away for a while because of personal issues such as exams and failed to pick up the trail afterwards. But as every hobby, soon or later you will always come back to it somehow. This time it was because of a great class about writing I found on youtube (link will be given later). No not the stupid online cours ´be a writer within a week´ kind of course, but a real one. A real class with real people recorded in really bad quality. Because somehow universities think it is a good idea to record their marvelous classes in low definition. Either Way, it is a great class which inspires you and teaches you how to set up a great novel and forces you to keep writing every day. He even sets a goal for each week and encourages you to post it on the web. One of the great things is that so much of what he talks about is relatable. You recognize problems you have and gives great tips on how to NOT do things and how to find your specific writing style. But enough about my absence and fascination… On to writing now!”

“Halt! International police! Don’t move or we will need to open fire!” She froze for a second and looked behind her. Shit, this fast?! She must have triggered an alarm somewhere on the way here. She quickly pulled the plug and started running towards the window she came in. BANG! A shot was fired and just missed her shoulder while she dashed sideward. “Second window it is!” She thought. Another bang. The window shattered and the glass shards cut her arms and legs on multiple places. She didn´t even notice since the adrinaline was pumping trough her. Kling! The metal staircase on the outisde of the building made a lot of noise at this time of the day. The streets were mostly quite by midnight. She decided to run upward and heard the cops landing on the same plane she was just moments ago. More gunfire. Luckily all the bullets were stopped by the steps. Her heart skipped a beat and she gasped for air. She runned like the wind and skipped most of the steps. At corners she swinged along the rail and threw her body sideways. She was just fast enough to keep the bullets just a few centimeters behind her back. She could see the end and the roof was getting just meters away. Just two more floors and she would be on fimilliar terrain.

The roofs had always been her home. Well since she had started to get into this kind of ´Job´. It had just been a month or two. She couldn´t remember. Time nor date had ever mattered to her. She lived in the moment, which was for her own good will. The past was something she liked to avoid as much as possible, to emotional. And the future was bleak and uncertain. Both things which would get in the way of doing which she did best. Running.

All she did was running. From her dad, from her brother, from society, form the government, from the police, but mostly from herself. She had been lost before, trapped in a hole she could not get herself out from. The lack of perspective didn´t help her either. Like the last moments in a well you couldn´t clib out of. Slowly losing the light trough the wrinkles of the water. Losing hope of ever being able to see the surface. With no life energy left to struggle against gravity and no air to burn. She quickly shook her head and tried to swing the thoughts out of her head. She jumped from the last five steps and rolled just in time to dodge the deadly barrage. Recovered and dashed with steps as big as roads. Sideways, left, left, right, left. She switched back and forth, as she had learned form Blade. Her mentor and partner in crime. Technically he was her boss, but he had-since the beginning-been more like a dad and a friend. She could still hear his voice shout while she trained on their special obstacle course. “Keep moving girl! A moving target is more difficult to hit as they are moving as well. So keep jumping randomly and switch routes as much as possible. Keep changing your patterns, become unreliable and you will become invincible!”

“Damn it shoot her, got damn it! I want her in custody!” The seemingly commando shouted to his troops. Coundn´t help but chuckle a little. She knew the techniques worked, but it never amazed her to what extent. What she couldn´t figure out is why they wanted to get her so desperately. Most of the time they would just give up and let her go. But something was different from the other times. It couldn´t be the thing she downloaded was it? No, the apartment she got it from was to damn dirty and most of all, it was a squat. The old residential building had been empty for a while now. At least, that is what Blade told her. Plus, the computer was not exactly high tech or anything. No, something other was happening but she couldn´t lay her finger on what it was.

Her focus returned to running as the edge of the building was inching closer and closer to her. Her eyes focused all over the roof to find a way out. An old electricity wire came in her view, but waited to walk towards it. As it would be too obvious. She went the opposite direction for a few seconds and turned suddenly toward the edge again. Pushed her foot against the ground, kicked herself in the air against the radiator and jumped over the fence. Changed her angle mid-air and reached out for the cable hanging in front of her. “AAaaaahrghhh!” Threw her body forward and almost missed.

ZZzzzzzzzzzz, the zipping noise of the woven cable flying past her gloves made her a little bit relaxed. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly to get her heartrate down to preserve precious energy. Glanced back for a bit and watched the leader of theirs hit the fens with his fist out of frustration. She wanted to wave, to add to the humiliation, but couln´t miss a hand on the cord. The ride was almost finished and she braced for impact. Let go and gripped by gravity started to fall. As she hit the ground she curled up and put her downward motion, into forward motion. She skyrocketed forward and eventually slowed down to a jogging speed.

She made it. Again.

Her earpiece ringed and answered the call. It was Blade.
“Hey girl what is happening? The popo´s chat is going haywire in your region. Something about a girl jumping of a roof and flying along the powernet? That wasn´t my girl was it?” He asked playfully.
“You know me, I could never do such a thing, not with my kind of training.”
“Hey, why does this always end up with you insulting my totally flawless training program?! Anyhow, did you get it?”
“Hey, where is your faith in me?”
“Humpf, true. So, what about all that buzz in your area. Did you piss somebody off?”
“I was hoping you could fill me in instead. So you are as lost as I am?”
“I am afraid so, found nothing on the radio. The ting was practically silent before it went nuts. Well it doesn’t matter right now. I am just glad I didn’t lose another one.”

Since a few weeks, things had gotten pretty bad for us couriers. Popos got a whole lot more violent. They started to use real bullets instead of rubber or stun guns. And when something goes bad, people die. Just one dead end is enough. We had lost a few rookies, good ones two, last month. Things just got turned for the worse. Never had I been caught so fast, as if something had leaked. Food for thought.

“Hey, why don´t you just take the rest of the day off? Come back to the nest and take a break. It has been a rough day for everyone.”
“Uhuh” I answered half listening. It just couldn’t stop bugging me.

……
(to be continued)