Twisted City Read Online Free PDF Page A

before that. His
mother had been a whore, a dope whore, and he’s the result of an episode of
that whoredom. Growing up she never showed him much love, an occasional very
inexpensive gift or the briefest of hugs was the extent of her affection for
him and those were only issued out on holidays and birthdays. If she remembered. She started doing hard drugs when he was
eight years old and any affection he once received from her soon vanished not
long after. And then things started to go south really fast. The only meal he
could count on was school lunch. The cabinets at home were
always empty and rarely ever was there anything in the fridge and
eventually the fridge itself disappeared, a good refrigerator equals a good
bump. If he got hungry he fended for himself. When he outgrew his clothes he
got himself new ones. It didn’t take long for Mongoose to learn the art of
thievery in order for him to get what he needed and wanted. He quit going to
school altogether, what’s the point when the only reason he kept going in the
first place was to get that one meal anyway and that lost its appeal once his
extracurricular activities became lucrative. He stayed on the streets all day,
every day, stealing and hustling all the while ducking and dodging the local
fuzz. The only time he came home was to crash, if he was unable to crash out
somewhere else. His mother never questioned him about his whereabouts
 and he never bothered her and her tricks as they came and went. He
brought food home for his mother, knowing she wouldn’t bother to get herself
any, and although she often asked him for money he would never give her any,
knowing what she would do with it. They never had to worry about the rent; she
was nice to the landlord so the landlord was nice to her.
    And
then the world started to crumble and along with it came The New Disease. It
spread like wildfire. It wasn’t long until his mother got infected, and with
what the ravishing effect of the drugs had already done to her mind and body,
it took no time for the disease to kill her. During the time it took her to die
he never once cried and when it was over he wrapped her body in sheets and kept
her in her bedroom, where she’d taken countless men before, with the door
closed and sealed off with duct tape to keep the putrid smell trapped in. He
stayed locked inside that small apartment with his mother’s decomposing body in
the other room as the city outside tore itself apart. When he felt it was safe
to come out he took his mother’s stiff and shrunken corpse to the building
garbage shoot and shoved her through and for the first time in a long while he
stepped back out into the city.
     
    Surviving
now not only means to simply steal but it also means having to do it with a
violent edge if need be. Although Mongoose has hurt people
before, killed a few in fact, he will first try to find a way of surviving
without getting physical with someone. But if there is no other way
around it then he certainly won’t be the one holding the short end of the
stick.
    He
tells Max that he needs to stay put. Max is a half chocolate pit bull and half
red haired chow. During one of Mongoose’s ventures of the city he found Max
when he was just a pup roaming aimlessly around all by his lonesome. Not
wanting to leave the little pup, helpless and defenseless as it was – these
days dogs and cats are an endangered species – Mongoose took him in, named him
Max, and he’s been a loyal friend ever since.
    Mongoose
rubs Max’s head and again says “Stay,” pointing a finger for good measure this
time.
    Max
gives a little whine, letting his friend know that he
disapproves but will obey.
    Mongoose
hunches down and moves out from behind the crumbled wall of a building and into
the street. The group is on the opposite side of the street headed east about
sixty yards from where he is. He closes in on them for about twenty yards,
moving and hiding behind the wreckage of vehicles and large debris and