Brothers in Concrete and Steel
Two meaty, gloved
hands lifted open the door to the storage unit, exposing its contents to the
freezing blizzard. The light above the door was burnt out and the clouds
covered any natural moonlight. It didn't matter to Kazuo if he could see what's
inside or not, he knew exactly where and what he was looking for.
"Director, don't you
think we should be doing something else about now?" Protested a scrawny, black
cat. "It's freezing out here and we all just -"
"Quit your whining
and get this stuff loaded in the van!" He smacked the cat upside the head.
The cat rubbed the
back of his head. "Yes sir," he said half-heartedly.
The cat and his
fellow subordinates, an elephant, a fox, a bull shark, and a Clydesdale horse,
reluctantly complied to their orders. Despite that they were all taller, and in
the case of the elephant, bull shark, and horse, bulkier than Kazuo, they did
not want to disobey him. They knew he would do anything to keep his tight leash
on them.
They loaded up a
moving van with everything in the storage unit: two large, steel drums each
with two valves and a meter, several blue, plastic barrels filled almost to the
brim with liquid, three racks holding some configuration of clear, rubber tubes
and various chemistry glassware, a heavy, black duffle bag, and a seemingly
endless supply of boxes, each weighing nearly the same: heavy.
No one said a word as
they worked.
Kazuo stood there in
his large, black trench coat that covered his suit underneath, his heavy, black
boots, and his ushanka, smoking as he observed them. His subordinates only wore
their dark purple coveralls; their digits, faces, and tails had to fend for
themselves in the cold. The only sounds were the sounds of them loading the
van, the howling wind, the snow crunching under their feet, and Kazuo sniffling
his snout as it ran because of the cold.
When the van was
finally loaded, he tossed his cigarette to the side before getting into a
shiny, black SUV that was leading the van.
As he got in the SUV,
he turned to the cat in the driver's seat, then to the fox in the back seat.
"You boys took too long." He gestured ahead. "Now drive."
The SUV headed out of
the storage locker facility, followed by the moving van.
* * *
The freezing winters
were something Teódulo regretted about immigrating up north to the States two
years ago. Growing up in a tropical region near the coast didn't exactly prepare
him for this brutal weather; his naturally thick skin insulated him so much and
neither did his dark purple coveralls. When he started working for Takenaka
Technologies at one of their factories of the Midwestern branch, he never asked
to be a slave to this greedy pig.
He, his coworkers
Alan, Marty, Skiddles, and Bud, and this slave-driver were the only survivors
after the factory collapsed during the attacks on Axeford. Director Kazuo was
coincidentally finishing up moving his main office here when everything went
down to hell. His direct presence has only made it more so.
When Teó and his
coworkers finished loading up the moving van, he got in the driver's seat while
Marty and Bud sat next to him. Alan and Skiddles entered the shiny, black SUV
in front of them along with Kazuo.
Teó let out a long
sigh as he stroked his slicked back, black hair. "Why'd we end up getting stuck
with this sonofabitch?!" he said in his Latino accent as he started up the
moving van. He leaned back, but suddenly stopped. "Gah! This fuckin' fin gets
in the way all the time!" he complained as he looked back.
"Hey at least you're
not stuck in the same car as that son of a bitch," said the elephant, "I feel
bad for those little guys."
"Think of it this
way," assured the Clydesdale, "that shrimp's probably going to drop dead any
day now. Between the amount of candied death sticks and stress he goes through,
his heart's just gonna give up and quit on him. Then we won't have to deal with
that asshole ever again."
Teó gave a half
smile, still looking at the road ahead. "Wouldn't we all love to see that day,"
he said with a slight chuckle. "Still, I agree with Marty. I feel bad for Alan
and Skiddles."
"Well, there's not
much we can do now," said Marty, "Let's just keep complying to Kazuo until an
opportunity presents itself."
"Or if he drops dead
on his own," interjected the Clydesdale.
"Yes Bud, or if that
happens," Marty sassed as he turned slightly towards the horse.
Bud rolled his eyes.
The three of them
never said much else for the rest of the trip, and none of the knew where they
were Kazuo was taking them. Teó just followed the SUV as closely as he could,
so as to not separate from it.
Their journey took
them through the storage locker facility to its exit, past what was once their
previous place of employment. The aged manufacturing facility Teó has come to
call his second home now lies dormant and hollow. His coworkers may have just
viewed this place as a necessary evil, and from the looks he noticed on their
faces as they passed by they could've cared less about what happened. But for
Teó, it was where he found his real family.
The SUV led them out
of the company property and down one road that lead onto a highway none of them
recognized. They then got off the highway and went through what looked like an
entirely different town. After nearly three hours on the road, they soon found
themselves at an old, abandoned movie theater and an empty parking lot.
It wasn't all that
big, but it has seen better days. It's concrete corners were eroded with age,
and it was missing half of one of its square columns at its entrance while the
other three were chipped in various places. The drab cream and brown colors
from the bricks and concrete were so faded they were almost completely white.
On one side of this ancient construct, brown, dry vines still clung to the
building; the sudden winter has not been kind to them. Any windows were now
boarded up with plywood as well as the doors. Running through the door handles
was a rusty chain with its padlock completely rusted off and lying on the
ground. There were no other noticeable doors or windows other than an emergency
exit.
The black SUV slowed
to a stop in front of the movie theater and the moving van followed suite.
There were no surrounding buildings or trees near the empty parking lot or
theater preventing the brutal blizzard from obstructing their view.
Everyone got out of
their vehicles, just barely keeping their stance from the strong wind. Teó and
his comrades felt the icy snow beneath their feet, almost instantly numbing
their paw pads. Kazuo was the only one wearing any footwear.
"Whaddya guys
standing around for?! Get everything unloaded and set up!" Kazuo barked at them
after getting out of the SUV. He then headed towards the abandoned theater.
"I'm gonna turn that
asshole into bacon when I get my hands on him," Teó whispered to himself.
Marty put a large
hand on his shoulder. "Just do what he says. You know what he can do to us if
he senses any rebellion, right?"
"Maybe for you guys,
but I have nothing to lose...at least, not anymore," he replied. "I know you guys
want out of this as much as I do."
Marty started heading
to the back of the van along with his other comrades. "Just help us get this
shit unloaded so he doesn't yell at us again, ok?"
He gave an
exasperated sigh and then complied to his orders.
I just want to get you guys out of this mess too; you
guys have been like brothers to me since I came up from Honduras. You're all I
have now.