The Collector by David Luna Read Free Book Online Page B

you. He was your rookie and I told you to keep an eye on him.”
    “What if I can’t find him?”
    “Don’t put me in that situation.”
    Neil readies to protest, but instead stands down. He nods to accept the mission, having no other choice, then heads inside.
    Mazer remains at the railing where the four Brigade mugshots taunt him and everything he stands for. Neil may not remember it well, but he sure does. Chaos. Hysteria. Civilization on its last legs during the Water Wars. Society was already in shambles when the nation’s final water supply was split up between all the remaining cities. “Here’s what you get, now ration it yourselves,” they said. “We can no longer help you.” One Nation Under God dissolved into a labyrinth of city-states, each hoarding their given rations for only their own. One city-state up north built an entire underground facility to protect their water supply, rumored to have so much security Fort Knox would be jealous. Thieves and looters have always been an issue with any type of precious commodity, but Leechers became an issue. These are people who would soak up all the water and destroy a city-state before moving onto the next. Modern day nomads without roots in one single location. That is why giant walls were built, to control Leechers from sucking up water in cities they had no business being in. Their horseshoe-shaped barrier is not the first to be built, and undoubtedly won’t be the last. However, implementing border patrols combined with their ominous Wall seemed to work. Rations were tight, but the city was able to provide just enough water to its residents to get by. But just like living paycheck to paycheck, eventually something’s got to give, and what gave were the unkempt deteriorated walls of the Strasburg Dam, and with it, the city’s sole water supply. “So excuse me for getting riled up,” Mazer thinks to himself. But he knows more than anyone else the dire situation they are in – privy to information, statistics, and just how much water the city really has left – and people like Wade and the Brigade are only making things worse.
    Suddenly Mazer’s thoughts are interrupted as it begins to rain. Harsh, polluted acid rain. Mazer allows the water to attack his skin as his attention shifts to a nearby statue of a child, its smile distorted into a haunting cry from years of poison from the sky, silent screaming – a grotesque reminder for why the Agency needs to prevail.
    On the off chance it does rain, the polluted drops bring more trouble than relief. The people in the slums flee for cover to escape the small burns the infected water causes to their skin. Bacteria-filled puddles form as the runoff sloshes the Uncle Sam flyers and other trash about, leaving behind disease infested breeding grounds. And the makeshift aluminum roofs move one step closer to collapsing as the harmful liquid hammers down on top of them.
    Then there are those who try to salvage what they can, catching drops in whatever object is readily available – cups, shoes, a hat – with hopes of purifying the infected filth. In this current downpour, one slum woman scrambles to collect runoff from her leaky roof into a bucket, the liquid nearly jet black. But just as she stands on a chair and gets the bucket into position, suddenly the rain stops, and just as fast as the shower started it’s over. The slum woman drops the bucket to the floor, the brief rain nothing but a sick joke, a false hope further crushing the inhabitants of the city.
    Heartache. Unrest. Despair. While rampant throughout the sectors, these are some of the same elements Neil is about to encounter as he sets out after the Brigade to end their chaos once and for all.
    ******
     
     

Turn Off The Lights
    Have you ever wondered what happens once a volunteer is inside the Processing Facility? Some say that the facility extends deep underground, and the bodies are somehow used to power the city. Could that mean the smoke