Heywood - Beginnings

This damn city...

I knew from the moment I was born how shit life would actually be. I was barely five by the time I watched my parents get 'zeroed' by some cyberpsycho gonk. Tch, as if Heywood wasn't already shitty, it hit a new rock bottom. Now I gotta find a way to keep my siblings from going hungry.

*** (Means scene change)

-Some Alleyway-

"waaaaahhh"

"waaaaaaahh"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I'm hungry too."

The endless sounds of bustle at the end of the alleyway, the occasional zip of the train passing above us. Good thing this is Cali, otherwise, I don't know how we would've survived a winter. I look down at my two baby siblings. How innocent they look, compared to the rest of these nuts. Including me, I guess. I look over to the body of the gang goon on the opposite side of me. Bleeding out from his head with a clean hole right in the middle of his forehead. I take a bite out of the box of Chinese food. His blood smeared all over the sides of the box. A drone flies above, buzzing in all of its empty glory.

"waaaaaahhhh"

"waaaaaahhhh"

"Yeah, yeah. Open up you two."

***

"What? You wanna a job? No way I'm giving a job to some back-alley squirt with no chrome. Come back when you grow a pair huh?"

"What? Do you think this is a charity? I ain't giving nothing to some street trash like you."

A boy in tattered clothes is sitting down on some steps.

"Sigh, looks like another day without food huh?"

--- (Means POV change)

Of course, nobody's going to give a job to some 5-year-old kid off the street. What's a man gotta do to earn some scratch around here? Gunshots ring out in the distance, followed by the sound of a crashing car.

I look up out towards the street, seeing giant men with colorful implants and the American flag parading the streets. 6th Street? Here? I look towards the crashed car. Cartels? Gang war, huh? This is Heywood we're talking about, nobody messes with the Cartels. Almost the next second, NCPD shows up.

"Freeze!"

"Like hell, we will! Let 'em rip boys"

Gunshots ring out the area. Should bounce before I catch a stray. Shit.

***

"Put that thing down kid, that's not a toy."

"I-I know it ain't. Step away from my siblings or you're g-getting a face full of lead. You hear me c-choom!"

I have my Militech M10-AF Lexington pointing directly at some Latino dude's skull.

The man makes a sad expression. Then, a sympathetic one.

"It appears this city had gotten you too. Put the gun down, I'm a man of god. I will not harm your kin."

"How c-can I trust you?"

"You're already smart enough to not trust anyone? That'll go a long way in this city. My name is Sebastian Ibarra, I'm a priest for the Valentinos."

I lower the pistol.

"Names Van..."

"And who are your siblings here?"

"Vincent, and Valerie. Twins. Wait, why am I telling you this?"

"Because you can trust me. You can't stay in this filthy alleyway, kid. Take your siblings and come with me."

The man extends his hand toward me.

I place my own within his.

***

"¡En serio!, ¿por qué Sebastian envió a un niño? - (Seriously! Why did Sebastian send a kid?)(P.S. Sorry to Spanish speakers, I'm using google translate lol please don't hurt me)

"Fuck if I know hombre, kid better pull his fucking weight."

"You even know how to use that thing squirt?"

I look down at the pistol in my hand. Custom made, no serial number, definitely illegal. Well made though.

"I've killed somebody before y-you know..."

"Yeah? Okay then kid, not my problem if you get flatlined here. Sebastian can't protect you out here. Got it?"

I cock the pistol back and here it clicks.

"Yeah... Got it."

"What's your name chico?"

"Van..."

"Van huh? Name's..."

***

It's raining. Hard too. The smell of gunpowder, iron, and death. I look up from my sorry state, with blood coming out of my arms and midsection. A few clean shots, that's all. The bodies of several poor gonks are spread out across the intersection. I look directly in front of me, seeing the guy I was talking to on the way here. He took a bullet for me, right through the head. A giant, gaping hole right in the middle of his forehead. When he fell back, his eyes rolled up looking directly at me. They were scared, scared of dying.

"Fucking Valentinos."

I pick up the pistol next to me and aim it right at the last Scav. Right for the head. Too bad the Scav noticed me.

"Who the fuck are you kid? How old are you anyway?"

The man says as he kicks the gun out of my hands.

"Six? Maybe seven? Like I give a fuck though."

He pulls a gun out of his holster and aims for my head. I look right into his eyes, pitch black with a white 'X' in the middle. What an ugly mug...

"Looks like your time's up kid..."

I close my eyes. Fuck, already? The next thing I hear is a gunshot, with a bullet without my name on it.

"You alright Van?"

I open my eyes to see my savior again. Sebastian Ibarra.

"You're not dead yet, so hold on. Shit, you're bleeding."

Guess the adrenaline wore off; I'm starting to black out.

This damn city... City of dreams of my ass.