"To Kill A Runner" Chapter one "Down & Out" (Cyberpunk fiction)

Jarome sparking up a cigarette an orange glow around his skinny brown fingers as he stepped on to the small apartment's sloping porch. A house that had been standing sinse the late eighteen hundreds and has not seen very many updates to the power grid or the plumbing system. A few moments went by before the heavy wooden door opened and there stood Adam. In a pair of sweat pants Adam stood in the doorway. Jamal did not expect much from his junkie friend Adam. Blaze red eyes and yellow-green teeth the young man seemed to neglect shaving and also didn't care to dress himself properly for company but Jamal didn't phone ahead anyway.

" Aey... who is there .. Jarome ? Did you bring food man ? "
" No nigga I don't have any money, you know that . Can I crash here for a few nights ?

A huge grin peeled across Adams face as he opened the door and stepped out of the way of the door threshold.
letting Jarome in the squat house for his select few junkie friends.

"I don't know man, I need some food. .... Ya come in. " Adam gave him a cross bodied hand slap and patted his back in a small greeting handshake. " you got anything good for me. we could trade.. ? "
"Yah, I was at the bar earlier in the night and I swiped some phones "
"Ha ..... stupid drunk bitches lose everything. though i wish you got some wallets bro "

A sharp voice of a female interjected from behind the glow of her computer screen " good its about damn time you brought me something we can make money off of" Britney in the corner of the only other room besides the kitchen and toilet shower closet sized bathroom. Sitting on a sleeping bag and right next to her home made ground drone. She had her VR goggles over her eyes and typed casually.

" So you got some thing for me ? " Jamal asked as Adam nodded and pulled out a 45. caliber glock pistol. The square profile of the slide made it unmistakable. The filed off serial number made it untraceable, then handed him three empty magazines.

"I guess your paid up on this then, It's an old Lone Star relic but it does the job. " then turning to Britney " Do you think you can have these phones jail broken and reset to factory settings by morning, I need more cash for the Jazz to keep flowing. My synth smoke is what pays the rent."

With a thumbs up she reached out still sitting. Jarome walked over past the hole in the drywall and handed the drawstring bag with the phones.

"When we fence them to Maj in the morning he will want clean phones. we make more money if he does not have to do that part himself. " Adam sat on his low to the ground mattress and picked up the pipe sparking and inhaling a beep breath of synthetic smoke.

"you know we would be getting a lot more profit from your Spike if we didn't smoke so much, and if any of you small timers wanted to leave this shit hole I could set up an offshore bank account with about 10 tax returns going to one offshore account. I found some tax documents on a public library computer last week. " Britney spoke softly as she plugged in the first phone and ran her started testing numerical passwords.

Jarome chuckled and nodded " I think that's a better idea then selling Jazz to all these young heads Adam. Hey sweet heart how do you see with those things over your eyes. "

"I saw you before you even walked up the porch steps ." she swiveled her screen showing split screens of security camera feed from the street corner surveillance cameras from up the block.

"ok... ok .. good look" Jarome responded disassembling the glock and taking back his draw string back pack cleaning the parts and filling the magazines with shells from a few small cardboard ammo boxes he had left in his bag. getting out oil and a brush scrubbing his new firearm clean. "when do you want to call your suppler tomorrow, Adam?" he spoke while multitasking the and reassembling the field striped fire arm.

"well we need fifteen hundred for the next batch, I sort of owe him for some Better Then Life chips he fronted me."

Jarome yelled " What THE FUCK, " while Britney shook her head still with luminescent blue glow over her eyes while typed a new key stroke. " I wouldn't have to steal all these cell phones every night if you didn't plug your brain into that shit. I really don't have a problem with you smoking the Jazz but BTLs.... "

"shut up listen doesn't your suppler has that white van ?" Britney fliped switched the feed on her goggles like she was following something "

"Yah, Zack and Kami why ?"

"because that white van is pulling up now, what should we do " she said pulling off her goggles and showed a night vision feed of the van parked outside, doors sliding open and two guys come out .

Jarome pushed a loaded magazine into the handle of the gun and stood up looking nervous, pulling the slide back and cambering a round then stood by the door off to the side by the wall. Adam also got up and got in front of the door ready to speak through the door nervously checking the deadbolt and making sure it was locked.

"Why do you rack up so much money owed to these Triad fucks"Jarome whispered as he shut the lights off too late. A loud Authoritative pounding sounded on the door.

"Time to pay up scumbags" a man spoke in a heavy Chinese accent and then they heard something that made them all shake. the loud sliding sounds of two shot guns chambering...