The Runaways

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Kicker unzipped his bag. "This bag is huge. All I have is a shirt and some pants in it, along with my new strings. I picked this thing up near a train station a few years before I got to Darktown. Just put it all in here and dont worry about it." After the bag was filled, Kicker continued forward through the city. After a few more blocks, they arrived to a dark dead-end alley. Trash cans lined the back wall and there was a small neon sign over a door that flashed "DRINKS"into the darkness. Two haggard men stood underneath it, swaying and smoking cigarettes.

Kicker walked past the two of them, lifting up his guitar and asking with a smile, "You guys ready to hear some good jams?" One man grumbled something low and incomprehensible while the other slurred, "Yeaaaah ah amm. WOOOOHHHHH!!!!" Kicker laughed and held the door open for Axel and Red to walk in. "As soon as you go in walk along the wall to the far door and go in." Kicker handed Axel the bag. "See you guys in a little bit."

Kicker walked to a spot in the room that had been cleared. There was a single stool next to a table with a glass of water. Kicker sat down and took a sip before launching into a fast paced, blues rock country jam. His foot tapped the floor and his head rocked to the driving rhythm. His face contorted to each with his hands and his eyes closed in a trance as he felt and played the guitar that seemed to be an extension of his soul.

((OOC: this is what I thought it would sound like. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfODdLZuvBI&list=TLQiaJY8tXYXI))
 
Axel slung the bag over his shoulder and scaled the wall as instructed, trusting Red to be right behind him. The room at the end was small, but not unmanageable. After setting the items down, he moved back out into the bar to watch Kicker in action. He'd only seen him play once before and that was when they'd first met.

"Think he's gotten any better?" he called over his shoulder at Red.
 
Red followed behind Axel. It was hard to see where she was going in the dimly lit room but she tried her best to keep up with him. Once he had placed Kicker's stuff in the specified place, Axel turned back and walked into the bar area again. Red followed and found them seats at a table in the middle of the place. She tapped her foot to the song the Kicker was playing. This wasn't exactly her type of music but she enjoyed it. Red nodded at Axel's question. "Oh yes! Lots better." she said. "What do you think?"
 
Axel nodded in agreement. The guy had talent. That much he agreed on. He couldn't help but nod his head in time with the rest of the crowd that wasn't too drunk to keep the room from moving or too consumed in their misery to even remember to breathe.
 
Red went back to listening to Kicker play. His music was lively just like him. Red really enjoyed listening to him play. After a little while longer of sitting and listening, Red became thirsty. "I'll be right back." she told Axel. Red made her way to the bar.
 
Axel nodded and grabbed a stool near the end of the bar and got comfortable. It was then that he really noticed the people who were sitting around the bar. Most of them were men and maybe one or two were female -- not counting Red, of course.

He caught the tail end of a conversation that immediately caught his attention.

"...after that, he could just get away scott free."

Interest heightened, Axel tuned in. After a moment or two he realized that they were talking about hypothetical heists.

"I highly doubt he could just escape like that," he piped up. The three others that were deep in the conversation cast him a skeptical look. Axel smirked. "The security at Martin's is too sophisticated for a lift like that unless he had someone working on the inside. And even then there are tight measures amongst the staff members."

"What do you know?" the one closest to him challenged.

"A lot more than you think," Axel grinned.
 
It didn't take long for the bartender to give Red a drink free of charge. She had almost perfected the art of flirting. Because when you're a girl and a runaway it comes in hamdy more times than not. She was glad it had worked tonight. She smiled sweetly at bartender before walking away and rejoining Axel. She noticed that he had started up a conversation with some people close by. So she grabbed a seat beside him and took a sip of her soda.
 
Kicker finished up his set just as some of the more inebriated patrons began to file out the door. He took a deep breath and set his guitar to lean against the wall. He spied Axel and Red sitting at the bar near a group of men but before he could make his way over, Bill, the owner of the pub, descended on Kicker like a hawk. "What's the big idea Kicker? Why are there two underage kids sitting at my bar? What would happen if the cops showed up in here and saw that?" He threw his stubby arms into the air. "I'd be shut down! Thats what!"

Kicker waved his hands. "Hey! Calm down Bill it's alright. They're with me. I need you to let them stay with me in the store room for a few nights." Bill snorted. "A few nights? What is this look like, a boarding house?" Kicker laughed. "Naw man. Just give us a few nights fo find somewhere for ourselves without having to sleep in an alley. Come on Bill." With a heavy sigh, Bill gave in. "Alright. Fine. Take 'em in the storeroom and keep it down. I'll find something for them to do tomorrow." As Bill walked away, Kicker made his way to the bar to sit with his friends. He asked the bartender for a beer. "You know I shouldn't be doing this, but you played well tonight. Take it," the bartender replied before handing him a cold beer.

Kicker pressed the cold glass to his temple and leaned over to Red so he didn't interrupt Axel's conversation. "So what are we talking about over here?" he whispered to her with a smile.
 
Axel couldn't help the grin on his face as George, the man in the middle, went red in the face from more than just the intake of liquor.

"That one's a fake," he went on.

"Why would there be a fake in such a renown museum?" Keith downed his shot and ordered another one. He seemed to be able to hold his liquor best out of him, George and Benson.

"Because I've been there," Axel shrugged. "And because there's six copies of the damn thing across three consecutive states in the immediate geographic area. Chances of it being a replica is pretty freaking high."

"I call bullshit," Benson chimed in.

"Then you'd better carry that last fifty to your wife before she kills you," he chuckled. Benson seemed to pale a little, immediately reaching into his pocket. He pulled out his wallet and looked inside, eyes wide.

"It's go--," he began but was cut short when Axel flicked the square-folded bill across the bar.

"It's right there." This was just too much fun. He'd lifted that fifty almost the moment he rose to shake the man's hand almost fifteen minutes earlier. Too bad he doesn't know it's counterfeit yet. "You should keep better track of your person," he said. Green eyes took in the dawning realization on their faces.

"That's how come I can tell you it's a fake," he continued. "If good ol' Benny tries to spend that fifty, he's going to jail."

"Gimme that," Keith grumbled, holding it up to one of the lights over the bar. "It's fake!"

Axel gave the man a thoughtful look. "And how long have you had that on you?"

But of course he couldn't keep up the straight face and he guffawed loudly, sliding the real fifty-dollar bill across the counter. "I think, if a painting had been somewhere for that long it's been forgotten to the point that it can be switched and no one would notice. Go on home and think about that, okay?"

It didn't take long for them to file out of the bar, either.

Axel watched them leave, then put a suspiciously fat wallet on the bar. He looked over at the bar keep and called out: "Hey, man. George's going to be back for this soon. So keep it for him, alright? You're great," he added without waiting for an answer. With a mischievous glint in his eye, he looked over at Kicker.

"Interesting group of guys, right? Nice playing, by the way..."
 
Kicker raised his bottle and smiled before taking another drink. "Cheers." He glanced at the wallet Axel had snatched from the man. "Well that wasn't very nice. What were those three schemeing on?" Kicker pulled up a stool next to Red and sat down. "I talked to Bill. You guys are fine here for a few nights. He might have something for us to do tomorrow though." As he finished his beer, he sat the empty bottle on the bar and leaned against the hard wood surface.
 
Axel shrugged. "To be honest, I trashed their conversation. They were all into old art and stuff and Benson didn't believe that the Picasso in Murray's Museum was a fake." Axel leaned in and whispered none-too-softly: "To be honest, he was right." He grinned wide and settled back onto his bar stool. "But the other ones are pretty damn good copies."

He yawned and let his chin fall into his palm. "Billy boy's a good man," he commented.
 
Red turned to Kicker. "You played well tonight. Not really my choice in music but i liked it." she said smiling at him. Red was happy to hear that they could sleep here. Even if she had to do some manual labor she wouldn't complain. A roof over her head a soft spot to sleep was like gold in her book. Red yawned and took another sip of her drink. "Not very to trick people you know Axel." she said. Red shook her in mock disappointment.
 
Kicker grinned. "Tsk tsk Axel. Not polite at all." He stood up from the bar and stretched before walking over to the corner to retrieve his guitar. As he walked past the two at the bar, he laid his hand on Red's shoulder and pointed at the back door to the storeroom. "The storeroom is back there you two. Just go back there whenever you're ready to crash and remember to close the door."

Kicker entered the storeroom and set his guitar next to a bed made of flour sacs. He reached into his bag and pulled out the fresh set of strings. Slowly, Kicker began unwinding and replacing the strings on his guitar. He maintained a fierce concentration on threading the strings and winding the knobs until each string rang like a bell. When he finished, Kicker set the guitar against the wall and laid back on the makeshift bed. "I wish I had a cigarette..." he sighed as he thought about Chuck and his little gang of street kids.
 
Axel followed the other minutes later and tossed an entire unopened box at Kicker. "Ask and ye shall receive," he joked.

With a grunt he plopped down in one of the close corners and eyed the guitar thoughtfully. It had been quite some time since he'd laid his hands on an instrument and a damn long time since he'd lost himself on the bass. His father had loved playing -- he'd seen the man go hours without stopping. It was a damn wonder he didn't get carpal tunnel. His green eyes moved away from the instrument and his reached up to undo his pony tail, letting his hair fall free. It had grown over the time they'd been separated and he'd toyed with the idea of cutting it and taking the time to grow it out again. He pulled the entire mass of hair over his shoulder; it had gotten to back-length, now -- and began to braid it so that it wouldn't get tangled through the night.

Afterward, he divested himself of his shirt [to keep it clean, so he likes to say] and reached for a flour sack to rest his head.

"I apologize in advance, but i do not regret, if sleep happens to be damn good and I end up snoring. But if I do start, just kick me and I'll stop. Just ask Red. It works."
 
Red yawned and placed her drink on the bar. She looked around and finally noticed that Axel and Kicker had left. Red had been deep in thought and didn't notice the other two leave. However, she did notice the strange looks she was getting from some of the people in the bar. Their gazes made Red's skin crawl. It reminded her of those days when she still lived with her parents. Red shook her and headed into to the back room where she found her two companions. Axel was already sleeping on a flour sack. "Good night Kicker!" she said before grabbing her flour sack and placing it beside Axel's. Since they had been traveling together for so long Red had gotten used to sleeping close to him. She closed her eyes and soon drifted off to sleep.
 
Kicker looked up and grinned happily when Axel threw him the unopened pack of cigarettes. "Yes! Thanks man your a lifesaver!" He leaned back against a shelf and let his eyes droop. Just before he fell asleep, Red opened the door and walked in before telling Kicker goodnight and drifting off to sleep next to Axel. Kicker looked over at the pair and felt a twang of jealously pull at his heart strings. Kicker had only known them a year or so and had only spent a month or two with them before the raid in Darktown but still, they were his only friends. He had been alone his whole life and had always craved the companionship that Axel and Red seemed to share.

He sighed deeply before standing up and making his way through the bar to the alley outside to smoke, stopping to put a few apples and bags of mixed nuts into his pockets.. Outside, the sky was clear. The moon shined brightly down on Reacher City. This city was almost twice the size of Darktown but just as cramped and dangerous. The western end, the end where they were now, was mostly made up of looming residential apartment buildings with a few stores and pubs scattered between. Kicker lit up a smoke and walked down the alleyway to the street where he headed south through the dark city. Before too long, tall buildings gave way to old houses, ramshackle huts and cramped, crowded tents. He had entered the Reacher City slums, a place filled with gangs, thieves, and all sorts of lowlifes. The stench in the air reeked of chaos and despair. Rats ran across the dirty streets scavenging for a meal. Homeless people young and old stood huddled around barrel fires in tattered clothing, half starved from months or even years of malnutrition. Most street kids who came to Reacher City ended up here. Many were forced into gangs in order to survive but the growing populace in the crowded slum wasn't helping matters. Kicker finished his cigarette and lit another. Young children and old men saw him coming and approached him with their hands extended. "Please give us some food." "I need something to eat!" Kicker went from group to group handing out meager portions of food that he could get from the bar. He couldn't stand to see the people suffer as they did.

Once he ran out of food to give away, Kicker turned around and headed back to the backalley pub where his friends slept. He stopped just outside of the door to finish his smoke before going back in to sleep on his makeshift bed. Disturbing images from the Reacher slums flashed in his mind making it difficult to fall asleep. Kicker tossed and turned on the floor before finally falling into an uneasy slumber.
 
Red woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. Her neck was a little sore from sleeping on a lumpy sack but she wasn't complaining. Red was just happy to be inside. She looked over and saw that Kicker and Axel were both still asleep. Axel was snoring loudly again. Red kicked him like she usually did and he stopped almost instantly. She reached over and picked up her bag. Red quickly snuck out of the room and searched for bathroom. She found one down the hall where she vaguely remembered Kicker pointing it out. She entered washed herself before changing into a pair of jeans and tshirt. Red couldn't do much with her hair. She also noticed it was way past time for her to get a hair cut. Putting that thought aside she put her hair into a ponytail and left the bathroom in search of food.
 
[i'll delete this later. but i'd love it if kicker's post would go up and then axel rolls into the fray]
 
(should we just continue without them? i'd like to get back to this roleplay.)
 
[aight, your move. getting ready for work and won't be on all day T____T]
 
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