Status: Inconsistently updated, so don't really depend on this one having a new chapter very often.
What Doesn't Kill You
Prologue
I walked lazily to the next counter and jumped it. It’s the food court, there has to be some food, somewhere. Right?
I sighed and threw another empty fry basket out. I have two choices: raw potatoes, or frozen meat. Ew.
I was about to hop over the counter when I heard an alarm go off. I ducked down. That wasn’t me. It totally wasn’t me. I’ve been trained to sneak around like this since I was 9. Six years of stealth. Someone else was here.
I peeked my head above the counter to see cops, rushing around. Two of them. Well, that was fast. Especially in Gotham.
“You told me the wires couldn’t be tripped!” One of them shouted. Uh-oh. We have some dirty cops, here.
“When I worked here, they were broken! They, They must have fixed them!”
“Shit,” the first one said. I tried to pull myself closer to them from behind the counter. They were whispering now, and, well, I’m a curious person. I tried to slide on my jeans, grabbing the counter and pulling. The cash register fell hard against the ground, narrowly missing my head as it crashed open.
Shit luck. No money. I crept behind the grill, trying to slide under a little counter where they wouldn’t be able to see me. Cops are stupid, right?
“Who’s there?” they called out.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” the second cop said. The first cop slapped him upside his head.
“We’re not dealing with a child, here,” he said. If only they knew…
They looked around. “Man, I don’t see anyone,” the second, and obviously dumber, cop said.
“You’re right,” the first one said. “Maybe they went the other—wait.”
I felt a tugging on my leg, and my head hit the counter on my way out. He lifted me up by my collar.
Well, shit.
“Well, whose the baby?” he asked me.
“Amy, and if you don’t let me go, I’m telling everyone it was you that broke in and stole stuff,” I said bravely to him.
He laughed and looked to his friend. “Well, look at her, figuring us out. How old are you? Thirteen? Fourteen?”
“Fifteen.”
“And you’re already living on the streets? Well that seems like proper motivation to want to rob a jewelry store. You needed some money, right?”
My face fell. “What? I didn’t…”
The other cop laughed along. “Breaks my heart to see them turn bad at such a young age.”
He set me down, leaned me over the counter, and handcuffed me. He read me my Miranda rights as he jostled me around. “Such a shame to put such a beauty behind bars,” he said. I sneered. “Respect your elders,” he said, simply, with a laugh in his voice, even, and backhanded me. I spit in his face a mixture of blood and spit.
He wiped it off and lifted me up by my collar again, so I was eyelevel with him. “Pull that shit again, and I’ll have you locked up until you’re getting letters from the AARP.”
I rolled my eyes. “Are you kidding me? That wasn’t even good,” I said. He grabbed my jaw with his freehand and forced me to look at him. My face jutted out in weird angles.
He opened his mouth to say something, but smiled instead, and moved my face around. He kissed me on the lips, before throwing me to the ground. I hit my head and started fading out.
“Officers 379 and 588 calling, we have apprehended the thief in Gotham City Mall, we have her in custody. We’ll be bringing her in shortly,” he said into his walkie talkie. I weaved in and out of consciousness until he kicked me in the stomach. I slid across the floor and knocked back into the counter, and everything went black.
I sighed and threw another empty fry basket out. I have two choices: raw potatoes, or frozen meat. Ew.
I was about to hop over the counter when I heard an alarm go off. I ducked down. That wasn’t me. It totally wasn’t me. I’ve been trained to sneak around like this since I was 9. Six years of stealth. Someone else was here.
I peeked my head above the counter to see cops, rushing around. Two of them. Well, that was fast. Especially in Gotham.
“You told me the wires couldn’t be tripped!” One of them shouted. Uh-oh. We have some dirty cops, here.
“When I worked here, they were broken! They, They must have fixed them!”
“Shit,” the first one said. I tried to pull myself closer to them from behind the counter. They were whispering now, and, well, I’m a curious person. I tried to slide on my jeans, grabbing the counter and pulling. The cash register fell hard against the ground, narrowly missing my head as it crashed open.
Shit luck. No money. I crept behind the grill, trying to slide under a little counter where they wouldn’t be able to see me. Cops are stupid, right?
“Who’s there?” they called out.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” the second cop said. The first cop slapped him upside his head.
“We’re not dealing with a child, here,” he said. If only they knew…
They looked around. “Man, I don’t see anyone,” the second, and obviously dumber, cop said.
“You’re right,” the first one said. “Maybe they went the other—wait.”
I felt a tugging on my leg, and my head hit the counter on my way out. He lifted me up by my collar.
Well, shit.
“Well, whose the baby?” he asked me.
“Amy, and if you don’t let me go, I’m telling everyone it was you that broke in and stole stuff,” I said bravely to him.
He laughed and looked to his friend. “Well, look at her, figuring us out. How old are you? Thirteen? Fourteen?”
“Fifteen.”
“And you’re already living on the streets? Well that seems like proper motivation to want to rob a jewelry store. You needed some money, right?”
My face fell. “What? I didn’t…”
The other cop laughed along. “Breaks my heart to see them turn bad at such a young age.”
He set me down, leaned me over the counter, and handcuffed me. He read me my Miranda rights as he jostled me around. “Such a shame to put such a beauty behind bars,” he said. I sneered. “Respect your elders,” he said, simply, with a laugh in his voice, even, and backhanded me. I spit in his face a mixture of blood and spit.
He wiped it off and lifted me up by my collar again, so I was eyelevel with him. “Pull that shit again, and I’ll have you locked up until you’re getting letters from the AARP.”
I rolled my eyes. “Are you kidding me? That wasn’t even good,” I said. He grabbed my jaw with his freehand and forced me to look at him. My face jutted out in weird angles.
He opened his mouth to say something, but smiled instead, and moved my face around. He kissed me on the lips, before throwing me to the ground. I hit my head and started fading out.
“Officers 379 and 588 calling, we have apprehended the thief in Gotham City Mall, we have her in custody. We’ll be bringing her in shortly,” he said into his walkie talkie. I weaved in and out of consciousness until he kicked me in the stomach. I slid across the floor and knocked back into the counter, and everything went black.
♠ ♠ ♠
Someone make me a layout.