I was staring at my monitor.

'Decrease in population is still growing at an alarming rate. Humanity might not be able to sustain itself if things don't change. Scientists speculate that humanity might completely lose the ability to reproduce by 2180 at this rate.'

Oh... the world's going to shit even more...

I let out a chuckle before I continued scrolling down on the website. A new novel I hadn't read yet was in my recommended and I clicked on it, quickly reading through the synopsis.

'An epic adventure. Our hero is reborn after a tragic death and brought back as an immortal god'

Uhh... immortality... do they even use that in stories anymore?

I clicked away and turned off my PC without even looking at the novel any further. As I was about to throw myself into bed I heard a loud knocking on the door followed by a loud crash.

"Oi, little rat! We've got a job for ya!" Martin's familiar voice sent a shiver down my spine.

I slowly dragged myself towards the door where Martin, dressed in black leather pants, a red shirt, a black leather vest with spikes on the shoulder pads and black sneakers, was waiting.

"Took ya long enough, Acil is waiting downstairs, come on," he said, waving me to follow as he walked out the door.

I followed him, still dressed in a stinking pair of sweatpants, a stained white shirt and ragged looking shoes. Martin walked down the stairs without issue while I nearly fell over due to my overly long and baggy sweatpants.

"You stupid idiot! Who told you to wear stuff you can't even walk in?"

He somehow looked down on me despite standing multiple steps beneath me. I just nodded.

"Now make sure not to fall, we need ya in top condition," Martin said as he continued down the stairs.

When we walked through the front door of the run-down apartment building I lived in the man standing watch glared at me as if I had tried to jump again...

"I brought him, boss," Martin said to Acil, the tall man with blond hair he wore in a ponytail, a cigarette in his mouth and those two green eyes that pierced into me.

Standing by his side, her arms wrapped around him was Hannah. As always she wore her sunglasses but I could feel her eyes piercing me and when she saw me she also gave me an evil but seductive smile. She had a certain charm that could pull you in, no matter how many times she would physically torture you.

"Alright then," Acil said as he casually put out his cigarette on my shoulder, burning through my shirt.

I barely felt the pain... this body was too used to it...

"Your job will be simple, first of all, you need to put on that-" Acil pointed to a black full bodysuit that lay on one of the tables around the courtyard "-put it on and then get in the back of the van.

I walked over to the table and picked up the bodysuit before looking around the area to find a place to dress myself.

"Not like we haven't all seen your pathetic body, just get it over with," Hannah said with an evil grin on her face.

I just looked at her with a deadpan expression before beginning to undress myself. When I was naked most of the people were laughing, except for Acil, who looked as serious as he did most of the time. I began putting on the full bodysuit, which had some holes for the nose, mouth and eyes when I was suddenly hit by something small and cold. I looked to the ground only to see a one-cent coin.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Give us a show!" one of the gang members yelled.

When more one-cent coins were thrown at me I sighed and began swaying my hips a little as I pulled up the full bodysuit. Once I was dressed completely and pulled up the zipper whistling echoed throughout the courtyard and I saw Acil roll his eyes with a slight smile on his face.

I walked up to the van, Martin slapped me on the back of my head as soon as I got back.

"Sure took your sweet time, get in," he said angrily, although there was a smile on his face, an evil smile.

I got in the back of the van and sat down. Martin pushed me aside and sat down next to me, making sure I saw the gun hidden on the inside of his jacket, making me swallow.

"Everyone ready?" the driver, a dark-skinned man wearing a woollen beany asked.

No one answered.

"Perfect," he said confidently as if everyone had answered with a yes before he turned on the van and pushed down on the gas, driving us out of the courtyard through the opened metal gate that was mostly just bars.

The driver drove onto the barely lit street and turned to the right. For a while, we drove straight until we drove past a large sign saying: Allmart – turn right

Around the sign were a few lamps that once made it fully visible in the dark but by now most of them were broken. The driver took the street that led to the right towards the large building a bit further off in the distance. It was a large concrete block with a red rood and a large sign that read: Allmart – The Place for Everything in large white letters that were once illuminated from behind, now only a few of them were.

After a while longer the driver turned and drove into the parking lot of the building. There were some broken cars, an old camper missing all of its wheels, some iron bars, a lot of trash and multiple pristine motorbikes beneath a wooden roof that had been built onto the side of the concrete block that was the Allmart building.

All of us got out of the van and the driver turned off the lights, waiting inside.

"Alright, little rat, your job is easy. Get in there, steal this-" Martin handed me a picture with an open suitcase on it, inside were various drugs and other... questionable medications "- obviously you aren't supposed to be caught. Cause if you are... let's just say what they'll do to ya will be quite the nice ride compared to what we will be puttin' ya through." Whenever Martin talked like that I knew he didn't want an answer or even acknowledgement, he just wanted me to know how it was going to go, whether it was possible or not. "Oh, and be sure to get out of there till around six a clock, any later and you'll have to walk back. And don't even think about running away again, unless you want that to happen to you again- " Martin pointed to my left shoulder, a chunk of it was missing "- we on the same side?"

I nodded.

"Good, then go now little rat, don't disappoint or bite the hand that feeds ya," Martin said, once again making sure I saw the gun he had.

I turned towards the market building and began looking for some way to enter. The only way I saw was to either go in through the main entrance, which would probably just get me caught and, right above the wooden roof that had been built to protect the motorbikes from rain, there was an open window, probably large enough for me to fit through.

My feet almost felt like they moved on their own as I approached the make-shift roof.

_________________________

I woke up, drenched in sweat, curled up into the fetal position, my entire body burning with pain, my head pounding and shaking as if I was cold despite feeling like someone was boiling me alive.

Are you alright?

Ira sounded concerned.

Yes... I'm alright... don't worry.

Was that memory so painful?

No... it's... I... I don't want to talk about it.

Alright...

Now awake, I slowly climbed out from beneath the hollowed-out space between the large roots of a tree. I looked around. I saw and heard danger everywhere. In the shadows I saw their faces, in the wind I heard their voices, making me look around hectically with widened eyes and a fast-beating heart. It beat so fast and loud that I feared some wild creature could hear it... that they could hear it in another world.

I tried to calm my breathing, but it was futile. My body made the decisions now... and right now it had decided that I was to breathe quickly, making me dizzy at almost all times. On top of that, I felt tired, like I had felt every night... or day... or whatever. The roof made by the trees was so thick that I rarely got to see light coming from anything but the orbs hanging from the trees at all.

I suddenly heard a loud roar coming from not too far away. My instinct was to climb to the top of the tree using my magic... but instead, I curled up in fear, with even wider eyes and an even louder heartbeat that echoed through my body as I put my hands behind my head and leaned forwards, resting my head between my knees, a few tears dropping down onto the soft ground I sat on. Only one thought was running through my head.

Please don't find me!

Please don't find me!

Please don't find me!

Please don't find me!

Please don't find me!

Please don't find me!

Please don't find me!

Please don't find me!

Please don't find me!

Please don't find me!

Please don't find me!

Please don't find me!

Please don't find me!

Please don't find me!

Please don't find me!

Please don't find me!