Mutation (4)

The horrifying howl caused them to pause for a moment as they waited for its echo to disperse. The three of them shared an unpleasant look on their faces. 'Yeah, that's just my luck. We came out here to avoid that thing!' Jason cursed as he continued to study the broken windows of the factories.

Harry had the same idea as his grandson. His gaze continually shifting from one building to the next. Searching for any sign that would indicate which factory held the Banka's den. After a tense pause, Harry finally let out a long-winded, heavy sigh.

"Ray, as you can see, shit just got complicated," Harry began with a solemn tone. "I won't blame you if you want to back out now."

Jason threw a horrified look at the old man! Nervous sweat began to trickle down his spine. 'Oh, come on! You fucking geezer! Is landing a good score really all that you think about!' Jason began to panic slightly. His breathing became ragged at the thought of creeping around these old buildings while a predator was lurking.

"Hey, Harry, you're not serious, right?" Raymond swallowed a lump of saliva as his gaze shifted from his long term friend to the buildings that now looked remarkably like a death trap. "I mean, you've got the kid with you and all…"

Jason felt a spark of hope ignite in his heart. 'Surely gramps will listen to him. Right?' Jason's eyes shifted between the two old veterans. Hoping that his grandfather would listen to reason. His hopes were soon dashed with Harry's next words.

"Listen, Ray, I appreciate the concern you're showing. But he has to find some courage sooner or later. Our work isn't glamorous. It's filled with risks every single day. If I back off now, what kind of man is that teaching him to become?" Harry's soft voice gradually became a growl as he reached the end of his sentence.

Raymond stared at the burly short man, a look of hesitation was evident on his own face as he tried to make up his own mind. With a sigh of his own, he turned to look at Jason, "Sorry, kid, you'll have to put up with me for a little while longer."

"You're coming with us?" Jason replied as his heart skipped a beat. He could not believe that this guy had chosen to face the danger alongside them. It made Jason feel infinitely more reassured to have him with them.

"Yeah, I can't let your crazy old gramps face this alone. Besides, I still owe him one." Raymond let out a soft yet sad chuckle.

Harry tore his gaze from the factories to stare at Raymond's raging face, "Thanks."

Jason felt moved by the sincerity that his gramps displayed in that single word. There was no roughness to the word as he uttered it. To be honest, Jason was actually shocked that his grandfather was capable of showing gratitude of any sorts!

"Now that we've got that out of the way. We have a decision to make. My luck seems to be as good as shit today since I picked out this spot." Harry grumbled as he raised an eyebrow at Raymond. "What do you think?"

"Hm, yeah, I'll pass. Can't have you guys holding me responsible if I pick out the one where the Banka has holed up. Let the kid decide."

Jason stared at them in disbelief. 'You're really going to make me do it!' Jason's nervous sweat returned as he fiddled with the straps of his backpack. His eyes had a lost look about them as he took in the sight of each factory. 'There can't be much of a difference between them. Right?'

In the end, Jason pointed to the closest factory on the left side of the road. His reasoning was simple enough to understand. It meant that they would be closer to home if they had to make a run for it!

"Seems like we have a winner," Harry grumbled as his gaze followed Jason's trembling finger.

"From here on out, we'll resort to signals. No talking allowed!" Harry's gaze fell on his young grandson in particular. "Keep your work quiet, so we don't attract the Banka's attention. Only yell if you absolutely have to! Let's move."

Their boots crunched the dirt and grass beneath their feet as they moved towards their target. They kept a low profile and used the overgrown trees and bushes to mask their approach. They kept their senses sharp, continually scanning their surroundings for any signs that they had been discovered.

Harry appeared confident that they avoided the Banka's detection so far as he eased himself closer to the wire fence surrounding their chosen factory's perimeter. He deliberately picked out a spot where the wire had decayed enough to leave a hole that all of them would be able to pass through.

Before making the crossing, he signalled to Ray and Jason to take cover. His beady eyes took one final scan of the factory's grounds, making sure that he had not failed to miss something important. A few minutes passed before he gave the signal for the all-clear. Jason sighed in relief as he crept out from behind the bush he had chosen.

He watched on as his gramps wrapped his tail around his own waist like a belt before making the crossing through the fence. Raymond seemed slightly more nervous as he kept glancing around. Once he appeared confident for himself, he followed Harry to the other side. The two men did not bother waiting for Jason as they darted off to the side to find cover.

Jason steeled his nerves and chased after them, cursing them under his breath for leaving him behind! The area on the other side of the fence was a vast parking lot. The ruins of a few cars and even a truck littered the area. Jason took note of how some weeds had broken through the solid concrete and crept over the old vehicles' body. Giving a semblance of life to the dead looking landscape.

His chest was rapidly rising and falling as he tried to catch his breath. He slammed his back up against the factory wall next to his gramps. Harry nodded at his grandson before signalling up above their heads. Jason traced the direction he was signalling to with his own eyes. The second window up from them had utterly caved in!

It was evident that Harry was signalling that the hole would be their point of entry. Harry slid over to a broken drainpipe that fixed onto the wall. Its path just so happened to pass over the top of the hole that he had signalled to. Jason held his breath as the pipe let out a groan as Harry tested it with his weight.

Harry waited for a few minutes to see if the sudden noise alerted any creatures that might be lurking in the area. When nothing but silence replied to his cautiousness, he felt confident enough to do the climb. Harry wrapped his meaty hands around the pipe and planted his feet firmly on the wall.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he began his ascension. He used his tail in combination with his hands to keep a solid grip as he climbed ever upwards. Whenever he had to shift his weight a little too much, the pipe would let out another groan that echoed slightly. Every time that this happened, both Ray and Jason would quickly scan their surroundings.

Just because there had been no reaction the first time, that did not mean they would be that lucky with every subsequent noise that they made. Jason's worries went unfounded as nothing stirred within the ruins. In the time that Jason had been scanning his surroundings, Harry had completed his climb and smoothly transitioned into the hole in the wall. Disappearing from Jason's line of sight in the process.

Raymond and Jason anxiously awaited for harry to reappear. They slowly counted down the minutes as they prepared to retreat and abandon the old man. It was an unspoken rule amongst scavengers to presume that someone had died if you lost contact with them for more than ten minutes. This was because of how quickly a situation could change when exploring the ruins of the old world.

Jason hated this rule since he did not want to abandon the only family that he had left. However, he knew that if he did not follow it, and his gramps was fine, he would receive the beating of his life from the old man. Although it seemed like overkill, Jason knew that his gramps only did it to teach him a lesson that he should never forget. It was solely done because he cared too much for his grandson's well being.

This world was a cruel place. Parents no longer had the time to try and be gentle and persuasive in educating the young. If they did not learn these valuable lessons quickly, they would find themselves in an early grave.

Just as Harry's time was about to run out, his beaming face peered out of the hole. He was wearing the widest smile that Jason had ever seen, like the metaphorical cat that caught the canary. Harry quickly lowered the end of the same rope they used to cross the bridge to the duo. Jason noticed that Raymond's expression had become one of excitement upon seeing the look in his friend's eyes.

'If the two of them are acting like that, then gramps must have found something good inside!' Jason could barely contain his own excitement at that thought. If they got a good haul, then they would not have to risk their lives again for quite a while!

Jason eagerly followed Raymond's lead as he began to climb up the wall using the rope. Their own journey was a lot shorter and quieter than Harry's had been. Before long, Jason pulled his body up inside of the hole. Rolling over on the floor of the room, he gasped for breath. His eyes began to dart back and forth, trying to evaluate the worth of the junk in the room.

He was disappointed to see that there was nothing unusual about the room to his own eyes. He had seen similar rooms before. There were a few rusted filing cabinets, decaying papers scattered around the floor and a desk that held a dusty computer. Of course, none of them knew what a computer was or what it did. They just recognised it from the others that they had seen and taken apart.

Jason slowly climbed to his feet and spotted the door to the office, laying on the floor. It was covered in dust, so it must have happened a very long time ago. Jason smiled as he thought about his own door back home. He cast an appraising eye over the hinges that were still attached to this one.

'They're in pretty decent condition!' Jason smiled like a predator that had cornered his prey as he shuffled towards the defenceless door while drawing his screwdriver from his tool belt. The two old men graciously waited for him as he stripped the hinges from the door and slid them into his backpack.

With a happy look on his face, he nodded towards his gramps to show that he was ready to move on. Harry smiled as he led the way out of the office. A soft metallic sound echoed as his boots stepped onto the metal walkway suspended over multiple production lines. When Raymond and Jason joined him, their eyes shone with greed.

'Its never been touched!' Jason thought as he scanned all of the machinery…