Hurried footsteps could be heard rapidly ascending up the stairs of the building.
Two men arrive on the floor that the old man and Maximillian are at, they're winded and noticeably agitated
“There he is! Grab that brat and let’s get out of here.”
“No need to tell me twice.”
The men rush forwards to grab the small figure that had just been leaving the run-down apartment.
“Wa-wait! You’ve got the wrong person.” A deep voice calls out, a voice belonging to Frederik. He flails his legs around helplessly in panic as one of the two men grabs him by the shirt and lifts him into the air.
“What! It was just an old geezer.” One of them shouts in surprise.
“What are we supposed to do? The boss will have our heads when he finds out we’ve missed the kid.”
“Calm down, let me handle this.” The man holding Frederik up responds before locking eyes with the elder.
"And what the fuck were you doing in that flat you old coot. I know for certain that it isn't yours. Don't tell me that you were actually stealing from the people there."
“No no no, sir. P- perish the thought. I’m the neighbor of these people, I was just curious about why the door would be broken in like that…s- so I went in to investigate.”
"Really now? Investigating? That some new slang for theft?” He slams the old man up against the wall, it makes Frederik yelp in pain ”Listen up here you old fuck. We’ve gotten ourselves into serious trouble and if you don’t help us we’ll throw you into the slammer. You know what happens to the people that are caught stealing, right?"
“Yes, I do!" He nods. "I’ll help! Please, just don’t hurt me!” The elder manages to choke out the response despite the painful grip the man against him has on his neck.
“Good. ” The man smiles a toothy grin. “And would you happen to know where the kid of the idiots who lived here is? Is he being taken care of by some family friend?”
“Yes! I do. Young Maximillian right?” Lifting the hand that’s still holding his cane, Frederik points to the apartment he’d just come out from ”He’s still in there. I don't know where he'd been during the middle of the night but he came back home just minutes ago.”
“Well, this is our lucky day then, isn’t it.” The second man comments from the side.
“We’ve still got an hour or two before the boss comes in to check everyone’s progress. Come on, let’s grab the kid and get out of here.”
“Hah Hah, you’ll let me go now, right?” Frederik awkwardly asks the two.
“Not yet geezer.” With the man lightly tightening his grip on the elder’s neck the trio enter the flat.
Stepping over the mess scattered around the floor they examine the place, the main central room that doubles as the kitchen, the dark storage room, the bedroom, the corridor, all of them. They don't find Maximillian anywhere.
“I don’t know man, do you see a kid around here?” he shakes the elder "You didn't lie to us just so that you could escape, did you, you old bastard?"
“Wait! I swear, he’s in here somewhere, I just accompanied him in! Maybe he hid when he heard your shouting. Under the bed perhaps–”
A powerful kick flips the shoddily built bed over, revealing what’s hidden underneath it.
Nothing.
“I’m really beginning to get annoyed by your shit old man!”
“Bu- but–”
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Frederik could not continue speaking as the person handling him suddenly began choking him out.
“Oy, oy! What are you doing man. You’re going to kill him!” The second man calls out.
“No kidding.” Replies the first. “You know what, I’ve been thinking, doesn’t he look like he’s just the right size of a small child? If we were to cover the body with gasoline and char it a bit nobody would be able to tell if it actually belonged to an old man.”
“Are you crazy! How are we supposed to explain that to the boss? Oh, I don’t know boss, the kid just happened to have fallen into a roaring pit of fire, by the time we pulled him out he looked like this." The second man comments in a funny accent as to underline how stupid the idea sounds to him "No way that’s going to work.”
“Well, do you have any better ideas or are we just supposed to head back empty handed? We already fucked up twice and you know what happens the third time.”
Silence.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought, so shut the hell up and let me deal with this. Just stand back and let me do the talking when the time comes, we’ll be fine.”
“Beugh- Bugheaa!”
Hearing what the men attacking him were planning to do to, coupled with the fact that he’s actively being choked to death was more than enough to terrify the elder. With his body flooding with adrenaline, he was able to display a level of strength far above what should have been possible by someone his age.
Reaching for the man’s arms he used his nails to dig in as deep as he could.
“Aaargh! This piece of shit is clawing my skin off.”
In a moment of sheer brilliance the attacker decides to remove one of his arms from the old man’s throat and use it to push against his face.
It has the effect one would expect, the elder bites down on the arm, tearing into the man’s pinky finger.
“Fuck! Quit just standing there and help me get this animal off me!”
At those words, the second man springs into action. He grabs the old man by the teeth, one arm on the lower jaw and one arm on the upper, try as he might though, even using all of his strength, he is unable to relieve the pressure exerted on the first man's pinky.
That is until with a sickening crack, the elder’s jaw gives out. The flesh on the sides of the head that is holding up the mobile lower jaw is ripped in two like a weak piece of paper, revealing the bone and flesh underneath.
“Motherfucker! he bit my finger off!” The first man shouts as he angrily kicks the elder's head, a kick so forceful that it sends him sliding across the room's floor. Not done, he approaches Frederik and begins angrily stomping on his head.
“Fuck. Fuck you! You. Piece. Of. Shit!”
Enraged, he doesn't stop stomping on the head even after it gives in with a crunch. Each word shouted out quickly followed by an angry stomp on the head.
By the end of the ordeal the head resembles a watermelon crushed flat, as opposed to something that once belonged to a human.
“Here, I brought an aid kit.”
“Gimme that.” The kit is quickly snatched away.
“Come on, we still have work to do. Grab the body and let’s get out of here. Wrap it up in something to disguise it.”
“Of course.”
The second man takes the sheets next to the mattress and wraps them around the body. Following after the first man the two make their way out of the building
----------------------------------------
‘That bastard sold me out!’
Unbeknownst to the two intruders there had been a fourth person in the room. One that had seen everything that had transpired from start to finish.
‘Serves you right! You deserve the rat's end that you got for selling me out like that.’
In the corner of the room, Maximilian reveals himself, removing the dirty blanket that had been covering him.
Disdain and anger could be clearly discerned from the expressions on his face as he stared at the blood and brain matter spread on the floor.
“Fuck you!”
Max kicks the remains, splashing the room with a bit of blood and scattering flesh. He nearly topples over as he loses his balance from the effort.
‘Calm down…stop thinking about it and just get to business. I have to be quick, those two might show up again.’
He hugs the blanket close for a few seconds before folding it and stuffing it back into his sack.
‘Thank you, Rags.’
Walking to the now flipped bed Max reaches his hand between the mattress and the framing, grabbing a handful of cash.
‘Those idiots didn’t notice the money that spilled out when they flipped the bed over’
He hastily stashes away his family’s savings, not caring if the banknotes get wrinkled or not. After making sure that he’s gotten everything from under the mattress he goes back to the room with the broken table, finding a still intact stool.
He drags it back to the bedroom and places it in a very specific spot in the room. He climbs on top of it and tiptoes so that he can reach inside a crack in the wall.
‘There we go.’
Inside the crack he pulls out another stack of cash which he pockets as well.
‘Next…’
He enters the dark and dusty storage room, the place where they keep their food.
Rations are so bulky. I can at most fit four inside before my sack overflows.
‘I’ll take two… along with that medkit. Best to take the medkit even if I don’t know how it works, I’ll figure it out. If I get injured here I’m basically dead without it. I’ll take whatever medicine I can carry as well, If I get seriously sick it’s just another game over.’
After a bit of rummaging around the dark room he manages to find the medicine.
‘This will be a problem. I can’t read.’
“Fuck.” Max feels the need to exclaim audibly how much of a problem it is. His underdeveloped high pitched voice makes it sound a bit comedic.
‘Doesn’t half of the medicine produced have a disclaimer stating something like - don’t use it on children under seven years old. Especially the medicine that will actually heal you like antibiotics’
‘And I’m somewhere around two years old.”
Max silently looks at the bottle of medicine he’s holding in his hand, deliberating. 'It will just take space in my sack without really doing anything.'
Ultimately, he decides to take the medicine as well.
Having salvaged whatever he could, he leaves the building, covering himself up with a mask and melting into the morning crowds.