Tysiff ran away from the murder scene.
Five magazines with a loaded SMG containing twenty one 9 millimeter bullets, truly a bountiful haul for Tysiff.
Not only that, he even got a Glock from his little escapade.
He looked at them excitedly while also watching for his steps. His heart pumped as this was the first time he actually got a gun.
Back when he was still nine years old, naive as ever, he tried to steal guns from loitering gang members. He snuck up from behind and tried tugging the pistol from one of the gang member's pockets, only for him to feel it being taken away.
The man turned around and grabbed Tysiff by the neck and threw him into the concrete pavement before beating him up.
'Good times…' Tysiff chuckled while his eyes reminisced in a dream-like state.
Even more so after what he did earlier.
Let's go back 30 minutes prior…
***
The scorpions were still shooting their guns against the cornered five members of the centipede gang.
After reaching a stalemate with none being able to push the scorpions back or the scorpions getting the five centipedes to get out, Sting instructed Danef to get something to flush them out. The idea was to get a molotov as it was the cheapest, so Danef went to go get it from the nearest base of the scorpion gang.
Meanwhile, Tysiff was crouching down while maintaining a presence that was as unnoticeable as possible.
As it was nighttime, Tysiff was even harder to spot thanks to his dark clothing. And that was by his choice.
With his knowledge of this part of the slums, he intercepted Danef and waited to ambush him from around a corner of a filth ridden street.
And that was that…
Silently stalking the man as he watched behind a concrete wall, he heard the sound of crows flapping their wings, startling both him and Danef.
Tysiff heard Danef curse out loud after instinctively grabbing for his SMG.
"Stupid birds…. Why did I agree to go out alone?" Danef then clicked his tongue. "Well then again, I'll be called a wuss if I ask someone else to come with me."
Tysiff's eyes shone with jubilance.
He could observe it keenly.. the tension pressed down on Danef's heart, his distracted fidgeting, a cloud of wariness and fear mixed with a hint of… anger?
Tysiff could feel it all.
It wasn't a superpower, it was more of an instinctual reading of how someone feels.
Unlike animals who need to be shown signs of aggression in order to understand what you mean, humans can learn what other humans feel through subtle cues.
Tysiff doesn't need to see someone shaking in fear to understand that they're afraid, he can feel it just by observing.
And through his observations, Danef was too distracted and was currently at his most vulnerable.
That was why Danef didn't see him get out of his hiding spot.
Danef was split second late to turn his head when he heard footsteps approaching.. too late to defend against a metal pipe smashing his forehead and too late to avoid getting pierced by multiple nails from said metal pipe.
Such a powerful strike broke through Danef's skull, damaging his prefrontal cortex. He wasn't able to cry out because of the instant loss of control over his body.
And like the cautious one that Tysiff was, he slashed Danef's neck to drain out the blood for good measure.
Tysiff hid the body nearby and left the legs sticking out. Then, he hid somewhere nearby and waited.
It wasn't a meticulous plan, but it was an effective one.
He was excited when he thought that he finally had a gun, only to see that Danef's SMG lacked bullets.
Tysiff blinked twice in disbelief.
"Don't tell me I have to kill another one...."
***
Back to the present...
While Tysiff was still running–
*BANG*
He heard a gunshot not too far away from where he was just at.
That….. wasn't a good sign.
Tysiff looked back, scanning for anyone chasing after him.
The empty sight of diseased buildings with shattered windows in the background while a torn carpet of nausea inducing garbage was laying into the concrete.
His eyes moved left and right, failing to catch a person.
Since there was no one, he immediately chose to hide through a narrow gap between two buildings to remain unseen just in case someone was nearby.
He navigated a complex maze of abandoned houses and rusted metal. The pipes on the sides of the structures have long dried out, but the vermin that lived here remains as something that couldn't be purged easily.
Tysiff had to carefully look at what he's stepping on.
Just now, a large rat squeaked before running away after getting stepped on by Tysiff.
"What the??"
He wondered what the rat was feeding on, but didn't have to wonder for long after getting past another segment of the street.
Tysiff caught a glimpse of a dead man.
He stopped in his tracks.
He opened his mouth slightly, his brain racking itself for explanations.
Tysiff lowered himself to get a closer look at the corpse. He sighed in lamentable silence once he fully recognized who it was.
"Ukas."
He smiled.
The body belonging to Ukas looked like how one would expect someone from the slums lived.
His eyes were pale gray, his face was riddled with dirt and the skin under his eyes were terribly wrinkled. He wore a tattered gray cloth around his head like a hood, covering his sleeves and pants.
Ukas looked to be around the age of 30 as seen with his height. The cause of his death was glaringly obvious due to the bullet hole in his forehead.
His body was starting to decay, releasing a terribly putrid smell into the air. When Tysiff looked at his arms, there were scratches and torn flesh after being gnawed on by rats.
His left hand was missing, a bloody trail showed where it could have gone.
Following it with his eyes, Tysiff saw a hand with its bones sticking out.
Apparently, the rat that he almost stepped on was eating it.
Tysiff smiled self deprecatingly.
His smile showed his teeth grinding against each other as a trail of tears started to fall down from his eyes.
"Well isn't that…. fucking great."
He sucked in a deep breath and rubbed his eyes using his forearm holding the Glock.
This man right here, was the man who helped Tysiff in his lowest.
As of now, he had long forgotten how old he was.
The only thing he knew was that he was eight years old when he ended up in the slums.
New Timelessland is terrible at managing the homeless population. Instead of helping them, they actively drive them out, often beaten by authorities who exercise their power wrongly.
One can still beg in the cities for food or money, but they should be quick on their feet or else imprisonment will be the end of them.
Although prison might not sound bad compared to starving in the cold streets, deaths are frequent in badly maintained prisons, causing mass discarding of dead bodies in the Timeless Slums.
So with no other choice, people willingly go to the Timeless Slums for at least a chance to live.
Ukas was the one who helped Tysiff learn the ropes around the place.
He taught him where to get food and water, what places to avoid, gangs to be wary of antagonizing or coming in contact with, prime areas for scavenging tools, clothes, equipment, and other supplies.
Recently, the violence between the Scorpion Gang and the Centipedes grew very volatile.
They were slowly fighting over territory, bringing in a lot of collateral to the homeless caught in the crossfire.
That was why in Tysiff's area, there was no one except him. The rest evacuated a long time ago.
Tysiff figured that it would be better to stay close to the fighting because he knew that it was a chance to get a gun. Ukas warned him not to, but Tysiff refused to listen.
Ukas was supposed to be away with the other homeless people, so why…
"... Why the hell are you here?"
Tysiff's eyes reddened.
He knew that Ukas probably went for him.
With no one else in the Central Area, what was the point of going here?
***
— Tysiff's Nest —
A scrawny boy with disheveled black hair, wearing a dusty black shirt and baggy denim shorts that reached his knees, laid down on a foam mattress.
He was looking at the five magazines and guns that he managed to loot.
Tysiff wasn't in the mood to move. His eyes remained bleak and forlorn.
Seeing a dead body wasn't out of the ordinary. Tysiff saw many of those already..
Seeing the dead body of someone who you knew… wasn't as easy to digest.
Eventually, he fell asleep.
***
"Hey kid! Are you alive?"
Opening his eyes, the malnourished kid struggled to fight against the sun's glare, no tears came out to protect his eyes due to dehydration. He saw the blurry figure of a man casting a shadow over his body.
Regardless, he managed to open his mouth using the remaining strength in his body.
"Yes… do you know…. where my mom is?"
The man shook his head.
When the kid got a better look at the man's figure akin to a visage, he managed to identify his features a lot clearer.
The man had long dirty black hair, crooked teeth, short terribly shaved chin hair and was looking at him with squinted eyes. He wore a black piece of tattered cloth as a hood, some pants and a sleeved shirt.
His bag with a strap worn around the shoulder seemed to be filled with metal objects just by judging from the sound, kind of like… tin cans or something similarly flat.
"Here, take some of this." The man reached into his bag and gave him a bottle of water.
The boy sat up with shaking arms and uncapped the bottle. He began drinking the water with desperation written in his eyes.
When his thirst was quenched, he passed the bottle back to the man.
His parched throat regained some moisture, allowing to speak more clearly.
Seeing that the boy recovered somewhat, the man sat down on the ground and asked,
"What's your name?"
Feeling apprehensive, the boy observed the man closely as he answered.
"Tysiff."
The man was expecting a full name, so he tried to inquire further.
"Tysiff? Alright.." He nodded, "Where did you come from? Why are you sprawled up here in a dangerous place like this? And what's your last name?"
Tysiff was stumped.. He scratched his head in confusion.
When he tried digging deeper into his mind, it was incredulous that there was nothing relevant that he could find.
Where he lived, who his relatives are, who he was, he couldn't even remember past memories about himself.
It was as if everything was erased about him.
And yet… he could remember that he had a mother calling out to him.
He couldn't remember her face or who she was, but he could feel the loving warmth from her voice calling out to his name.
Or at least, what he believes his name was.
"I…. I don't know."
The man looked equally as puzzled. "You don't know?"
Tysiff shook his head. "I can't remember anything."
The man could feel that he bumped against an uncomfortable dead end.
He looked around the slum borders and sighed before turning back to him. "What about your mother? Do you remember her?"
"No…" Tysiff began to look irritated.
He grasped his hair with both hands, clearly stressed out of reason. "Why? Why can't I remember? What happened to me?"
"That's no good, no good at all." The man muttered to himself.
Tysiff's movements became even more erratic, he was now scratching his head using his nails with increasing intensity.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Stop that!" The man then grabbed both of Tysiff's arms.
"It's okay, calm down."
Tysiff looked at him with unease, still trying to grapple about his identity.
"If you can't recall anything for the meantime, come with me, you're going to die if you stay here."
Tysiff looked at the man's eyes, they were filled with certainty and a sense of wisdom.
With no other choice that he sees that he could take, Tysiff calmed his breathing down and no longer resisted.
The man let go of his grip on Tysiff's arms and lowered them gently.
He then stood up.
"You must be hungry. Don't worry, I have friends who can give us both some grub."
The man offered his hand to the kid who couldn't stand up by himself.
"Thank you mister.." Said Tysiff as he accepted it.
"No need to be so modest. Also, call me Ukas.. calling me mister makes me feel old." The man named Ukas laughed afterwards.
Tysiff replied in a meek tone. "Okay…. Mister Ukas."
Ukas clicked his tongue and turned to look at his back. "I told you, didn't I–?"
As he looked back at the boy, he noticed him grinning widely with a… manic smile.
Ukas chuckled inwardly.
"... You have the time to joke around? That's not something I see all the time.. keep that spirit burning."
Ukas then beckoned for Tysiff to follow him, to which he did.
The border between the Timeless Slums and the nearest city is a saddening sight.
Anyone would be able to see the lights from tall buildings at night, the busy cars and glowing billboard screens. The city was free from the infestation that fills the slums.
What's worse is that they were enclosed by large concrete walls, almost telling them that they weren't welcome in the city.
Wire fences were installed around the area too. From time to time, garbage trucks would dispose of their contents freely at the border. They wouldn't go too deeply inside knowing the danger very well.
It wasn't hard to spot rats skittering on the ground, feeding on the bits of leftover food from restaurants.
Tysiff's mood slowly grew gloomier.
The border was still populated by some people. He could see homeless people dressed in heavily stained rags that were almost forming a layer in the cloth rummaging in the piles of trash for food.
Then, he saw a group of men different from the rest.
They were slightly muscular, well dressed or at least.. cleaner to look at. They had no fear of irresponsibly flaunting their guns. Not only that, their sleeveless jackets exposed the scorpion tattoos that they all had like it was a medal to be proud of.
One of them glared at Ukas, who promptly averted his gaze.
"Don't look at them Tysiff.. It's better not to provoke them."
Tysiff walked closer to Ukas, almost hugging his leg.
As they got deeper into the slums, that was only when concrete structures started to come into view after the endless mountains of trash departed.
Tysiff saw what used to be houses, restaurants, banks, shops and malls that were now wrecked, chewed off by large chunks and almost beyond recognition if it weren't for the signs that littered the ground.
Even more homeless people could be seen walking in the streets carrying what he could only assume to be food.
Tysiff covered his nose after getting a whiff of the polluted air.
"What happened here?"
Ukas looked at the concrete buildings with a distant expression. "Are you familiar with the war between West Timelessland and East Timelessland?"
Tysiff shook his head.
"I thought so, but all you need to know is that the result of that war is this.." Ukas presented his hand towards a fallen stone obelisk.
The stone obelisk was plated with black marble, with a carved message saying, "Nostin City Founding Memorial"
Tysiff looked at the obelisk for a moment before moving on.
"Is that why everything looks exploded?" Tysiff was currently looking at a stadium in the background with large holes and missing sections of the walls.
He could only imagine what kind of explosives were used to bomb the place.
Ukas was used to the atmosphere of the terrible scenery and affirmed. "Yes, that is exactly why."
Soon enough, they became a part of the homeless crowd. But calling them homeless would be quite an insult as every abandoned structure here is a house. It would be more appropriate to call them residents.
Tysiff noticed that they were going in the same direction as the residents. He even saw metal barrels burning with flammable trash show up quite often.
The residents were enjoying the warmth and some were cooking their food using them.
He looked up and saw more of them living in structures that were at least three stories high. Some were hanging their clothes, some were eating their meals and some were using their scavenged items for a specific task.
It was thriving despite being in such a place.
Ukas smiled and nudged Tysiff to get his attention.
"Impressive tenacity huh?"
Tysiff ingrained the scene before him in a reverie before regaining his senses to nod. "Mm.. all of you are very good at living here."
Ukas pointed around him to which Tysiff followed with his eyes accordingly. "We are a community, we survived by relying on ourselves.. Some of us here even chose this as a life worth living for."
"Although I don't agree with that, I get why they would think so." Ukas added.
"Why don't you go back to the city if you don't like this place?" Tysiff asked questioningly.
Hearing that, Ukas changed his expression, his eyes growing a little dull. "There's nothing back there for me… I tried for several years."
Tysiff felt the bleakness of that statement and was tongue tied. "Oh… I'm sorry I asked."
Ukas shrugged. "Don't be… But looking at you right now, you don't seem disgusted at us here eh? Tysiff?"
Shaking his head, Tysiff surveyed the area with a rather unique perspective.
"No one here feels disgusting. It's cool that you all are doing your hardest to live… I think."
Ukas raised an eyebrow.
Then, he placed his hand on Tysiff's head.
"Yeah, you get it." He smiled, proud of the boy's way of thinking.
The two of them reached what could be said to be the remains of a fire station from the looks of it.
The roof was crooked, but the pillars holding it up were still holding on defiantly, refusing to collapse.
Tysiff managed to see the inhabitants clearly.
Three adult men were outside cooking food. It was quite aromatic even though in the slums, you have to make the most of what you have.
Using a makeshift furnace or… stove? made of stone to prop up the pan and wood as fuel, the three were able to cook strips of meat.
Ukas whistled in amusement upon seeing this.
The three turned their heads at the same time and sighed upon seeing that it was just Ukas.
A man with a large burn mark on the left half of his face stood up with a smile and approached Ukas with a handshake.
"Ukas, you're finally back… Did you get the stuff?" Said the man with a warm gaze.
"Tomas, you doubt me too much.. Of course I did." Ukas took his sling bag and crouched down before taking the contents of the bag out.
Inside were cans upon cans of food.
Astounded, the man named Tomas held his fist to his mouth as if to blow smoke out of it.
"Where did you get this?" Said Tomas while pointing at the cans. His body expressions were quite whimsical and exaggerated at times, like he's always pumped with energy.
"Same question about that meat you guys have." Ukas grinned.
Tomas turned his head to the direction of New Timelessland.
The sunlight was falling on his face, causing him to squint. "Ah, it's discarded from a butcher's shop. They said that it was going to go bad tomorrow, so the man just gave it to me out of good will."
"That's more peaceful than my encounter. I took these from a parked truck in a warehouse.. I stole some of them." Ukas responded nonchalantly as if stealing was a normal thing for him.
But it really was.
Tomas clicked his tongue, his posture immediately tensing as he put his hands on his waist. "Ukas, you shouldn't have.. What if you got shot?"
Ukas shook his head while sorting the cans on the ground. "Highly doubt it. I can't be shot if I put my mind into it while escaping."
"Those words are going to bite you back one day…" Tomas looked down and sighed.
From the corner of his eye, he saw someone hiding behind a rusted metal drum filled with garbage. Tomas pointed at what seemed to be a child and asked Ukas, "Oh and who's the kid?"
Ukas turned back and saw Tysiff meekly hiding in the shadows.
He beckoned with his hand, "Ah, Tysiff what are you doing back over there? Come here."
Tysiff looked at Tomas with uncertainty in his eyes then at Ukas.
His gaze lingered at Ukas' disheveled face before gathering his courage to step out from behind the drum.
Tysiff stopped short of Tomas the moment he was adjacent to Ukas' side.
Ukas patted him in the head and laughed lightly. "He's a bit shy.. This kid's name is Tysiff and I found him about to die from the border. I was thinking we could keep him."
"Ukas…." Tomas groaned while pinching his nose bridge. "We're not running an orphanage here, can you see our situation?"
Ukas glanced at Tysiff before looking back at him. "If no one fed me when I was starving back then, I wouldn't be here as well."
Hearing his tone, Tomas retracted. "That's not what I meant, it's just that you should be aware that there's a limit between being generous and needlessly selfless."
He groaned, knowing that Ukas wasn't one to be easily swayed with words.
Out of a sudden, Tysiff spoke in a meek yet barely steady tone.
"Please don't be mad at Ukas."
Not expecting the kid to talk, both Ukas and Tomas stared at him.
"Hm?"
Tysiff almost stepped back after being suddenly stared at. But he stood his ground and tightly knit his eyebrows as he tried to speak out towards Tomas. "I will work here for my food, I won't cause trouble for any of you… Just, let me stay here."
Ukas placed his hand on Tysiff's shoulder. "You're not troubling anyone."
Tomas seemed to like Tysiff's answer and shrugged. "Heh, at least the kid has some self awareness. Teach em' about the inner workings of this place and maybe I won't throw a fuss about it."
He took some strips of meat from the pan using tongs, placed it on a plate and left to go inside their shelter.
Giving Tomas one long look, Ukas put his attention back towards Tysiff. "Sorry about that… Tomas just doesn't like new people."
Hearing his voice, Tysiff looked at Ukas' eyes.
He could sense that he felt a mix of worry, concern and happiness..?
Since that was the case, Tysiff shook his head. "He doesn't seem mad at me. Just worried about something…"
A flash of surprise flickered on Ukas' eyes for a second.
He grinned. "You can tell?"
Tysiff nodded.
"Good." Ukas then counted the cans and checked if he missed anything.
After that, he shoved everything back into his bag, stood up and beckoned for Tysiff to follow him inside the shelter.
Tysiff stood in his spot like a pole.
With a light tug on Ukas' sleeve before the man could fully leave his arm's range, Tysiff reminded, "Ukas.. I'm still hungry."
"Ah, almost forgot… Don't worry." Ukas cleared his throat out of embarrassment and called out, "Denver! Feed this kid right here!"
A bald, strong looking man with thick arms and wide shoulders near the furnace groaned.
"No need to shout…."
The man named Denver took the plate sitting next to him and used the same tongs that Tomas used. He picked up five strips of meat using it and put them carefully into the gray plastic plate.
He then stood up and walked towards Tysiff.
Offering the food towards the kid didn't fit his appearance given how he looked like the brawny guy who only knew how to punch. Though, it was charming in a way, like a gentle giant.
"Here, be careful because it's hot."
Tysiff stared at the food in front of him and then at Denver. He didn't hesitate and grabbed the plate gently with quivering hands.
"T- thank you.."
"Don't thank me, thank Ukas for saving you out there." Denver turned his back and walked towards the furnace.
Tysiff used his bare hand to grab a strip of meat.
It was really hot that he immediately pulled back the moment he made contact, but he still licked the juices off his fingertips.
Interrupting his focus, Ukas spoke out to him, saying, "You can eat that inside…
"... Like what Tomas said, you need to learn how to live out here, and I'll teach you."