He looked at the watch on his wrist. The slightly glowing shorter arm pointed at the nine, though concluding from the darkness that was already taking over the sky, he could tell the evening was gradually bleeding into night. He took another hit on the remains of the cigarette in his hand before throwing the left-over bud on the floor and stepping on it to erase the last glow of it. Yet immediately he stopped in his tracks. It was a bad habit he wanted to get rid off. With a long sigh he bowed down to pick up what he had thrown down just mere seconds ago. Before he could turn around and go back inside the rundown building, he stopped again. Right next to the filled trash cans that were already spilling over, there was something. Usually, he didn’t pay the unusual trash bags any mind, but this one was in a far too familiar shape to ignore it. It was something that did not belong here, nor anywhere else that wasn’t a crime scene, a hospital or a morgue. A body bag. The same black plastic, with the same plain zipper running down the middle. Quickly he approached it, kneeling down in the corner which was hidden by the shadow so he didn’t draw too much attention to himself from the non existent pedestrias. He had to decide fast. If he opened it, he had to act depending on what he found. It wasn’t safe to just report something like this to a police station either as they could be involved too. Everyone in this neighbourhood was corrupt in some way or another, he was not an exception. If he didnt decide to open it though, he would betray his own, probably more twisted than actually just, sense of justice. It could also have the same outcome as opening it anyways. There were probably people watching the bag or taking notice of the activity here the entire time so either way just noticing the bag was a danger to him. Fuck it, he thought. With that he stood up again and bowed over the bag, hesitantly taking hold of the metallic zipper... One, two. With another deep breath he opened the bag and stared at the insides. It was merely a boy, small stature, probably in high school. He wasn’t filling the entre bag though, as he was laying on his side, his pale looking arms embracing his knees softly. The other half of the bag gave of a foul odor. There were mouldy cardboard boxes with pictures of pizza and other take out on it. Empty cans of energy drinks, beer and other beverages along with other smelly garbage was packed inside like it was just a regular trash bag. Almost immediately he turned his head and felt bile rising and his eyes watering from the stench of Ammoniak that also exited the bag. He pulled up the collar of his jacket to cover his nose and turned his head back to the body bag. With the smell slightly muted, he could now take a closer look at the bag without being distracted. Inhumane, was his first thought. They killed such a young boy yet they didnt even pay a little respect to the body and put it into such a humiliating state. All the boy was wearing was a pair of shorts, his almost transparent body exposed to the disgusting garbage in the bag. His skin looked dirty, though he couldn’t tell whether there were bruises as well. It wouldnt be surprising. Not so slowly but surely he inspected the body. There were multiple bones broken in both his arms and his left leg, but contrary to what he had first believed, the fractures were not post mortem to fold the boy into the position he was in. His position looked natural, calm and not strained at all. The fractures were caused before his death. Now that he had seen what was in the bag, clarity returned to his mind. What should he do now? One thing he was sure of was that he didn’t want to leave the body of the boy in the same bag as the rotting garbage. Sure, the boy didn’t smell the stench but it just felt wrong to leave the boy in there. As he made up his mind, he rolled up the sleeves of his tattered old jacket cautiously. He started to take out the trash from the body bag. He retched involuntarily, but he had made up his mind to get everything out. When he was finished, he shifted his attention to the crippled body. Carefully he took hold of his fractured arms as to not further damage them and placed them next to the boy and finished pushing him into a straightened position. Continuing to look at the boy, he felt his heart sink further with every breath. The boy was too slim for his height. He had probably been starved for a long time, maybe that was even the cause of his death. His ribs were easily discernible from one another and could almost be identified in their colour through the pale skin. At that moment he noticed something he couldn’t have seen when the boy was still laying on his side. Slightly, just very slightly his ribcage was moving. He crouched down further to get a closer look. At first, he thought it had just been his imagination but then it happened again. And again. And again. His ribcage expanded, then settled back down in a slow but steady rhythm. He felt his breath catching as he continued to stare at the rhythmic movement.  For minutes he couldn’t break away, his stare fastened upon the body. Then it clicked. Within the blink of an eye he had zipped up the bag again and picked it up with swift movements. He practically ran to the stairs, his muscles hot from the sudden movement, but the adrenaline kept him on his feet. Another second and he conquered the stairs, opening up the door to the first apartment in just two more seconds with the key that was still stuck in it. He felt his arms trembling yet he kept the bag securely in his arms until he reached the bed in the only seperate room of the apartment. At leadt it didnt have another door to open though. Carefully he placed the bag on the soft fabric, ignoring how dirty the bag still was. Slowly he opened the zipper again, afraid he had imagined the movement after all. With his breath still uneven from the running and his eyes restless, he confirmed it again and again before finally finding the courage to even touch the body again. It didnt take him long to find the place below the boys jaw he was looking for. There was a pulse! He sighed in relief. But at the same time, he felt his mind wander. What could he even do to treat the boy? 

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.