Zenji’s legs hung over the rafters of the gang’s hideout, a musk of dust and body odor wafting up to settle there with him. He held a small kull fruit in his hand, a large bite taken out of it; a recent spoil of the last raid the gang made. Well, it wasn’t a real gang, but a food gang, something that was all too common in Tokeyama. Everyone has to eat, right? Some just had more to eat than others and that’s where Zenji came in.

He was a member of a small food gang ran by Slickknot, a raggedy thin man with a mouth of iron. He was fair, but brutal when he didn’t get what he wanted. Zenji had joined up five or so years ago. Zenji had forgotten exactly how long. When his mother died, Zenji had no where else to go. So, how does a now-orphaned kid with no life experience feed himself?

Follow the crumbs.

That’s how a lot of those like him made it, a vega, short for some other word for hopeless or something.

Zenji heard someone calling his name below. He looked down to see his friend, Beni, waving him down. The next raid was supposed to start soon.

Raids happened pretty frequently, but there were some rules that had to be adhered to or the food gangs would actually turn to violence. Those kinds of gangs were only rumor in Tokeyama, or at least that’s what most people thought. They moved in the shadows, even deeper in the dark than Zenji’s gang. At least we don’t kill for what we take, Zenji thought. A pretty face came to mind, whom he had grown to like. Kids sometimes disappeared too…the darker places of Tokeyama preferred to source their entertainment from cheaper places and food gangs inadvertently provided the harvest. She was really nice to me, too, Zenji thought.

Food gangs seemed to stick to some level of honor more strongly than other groups. So, stealing food in certain areas was crucial. Zenji’s food gang was in a prime spot for shipments of supplies to a local barracks. This was a usual target and made for good food hauls.

Zenji brought his thoughts back to the hideout and jumped down. It wasn’t as far of a drop, but the blood in his feet shot up his leg, making it tingle.

Other kids moved about in the hideout, bringing in new food hauls, or just sitting around. Those were the younger ones. The older you got, the higher the requirements that the kids had to steal. Zenji was getting to the point that food gangs often kicked out the kids. Younger kids often had it better when they were caught stealing, and they were also smaller, more useful to the food gang. They didn’t have much use as the kids got older, grew taller, and could be tried as criminals, maybe even killed by a soldier who wasn’t feeling as charitable.

So, the older kids had to work hard and smart. They tended to band into smaller groups that would steal food together and share the hauls.

Zenji walked over to where Beni called him over, waving as he neared.

“Caught daydreaming again?” Beni said.

“Do daymares count?” Zenji said, laughing.

Beni waved him forward into the alleyway outside the hideout. That’s where a lot of the older kids tended to hang out, especially before a raid. A few other kids in their group came over to join them. Zenji had never bothered to learn their names. They had only recently joined up to his group and he didn’t want to have to miss anyone else.

Zenji planned to get out of the gang soon. On his own terms.

That’s the thing about food gangs, too. They were “secure” but came with downsides. Beatings were often by higher-ups and life in general was rough. It’s not like there was a lot of good places to sleep or pee. The corner of rear, as they called it, was the only good place to go, and it wasn’t that far away from where they slept. At least there was a window above it, so most of the smell left out that way.

Despite all of that, some might call being in a food gang worth it, but Zenji had another reason.

He felt deep inside him a need to do more. A drive to be better and change things. Every night, Zenji would lie awake for hours before falling asleep thinking, feeling that there was something for him to do in this world. And that feeling constantly reminded him that it was not in the food gang.

So, he was going to get out.

Food gangs have a somewhat interesting honor system. Part of that was the ability to leave the food gang without issue, save they never return.

That involved picking a fight with the leader of the food gang. The two fight, then if the kid wins, they chose either to leave and get out, or to take over the gang. Most tried to take control of the gang, hardly ever wanting to leave, but Zenji had it in his mind to get out. So, he was going to beat Slickknot.

He didn’t think it would be that difficult. Zenji was tall, fairly well built, too. Slickknot was a little taller, but scrawnier. The only way Slickknot had stayed in control was his abusive tongue. He would squash people even before they asked for the fight. He had already tried that on Zenji and failed, but the whole gang knew now that they would fight eventually. Zenji had finally gotten a time set out of the man. He wasn’t really a man, but in a way he was. Zenji wasn’t sure how old Slickknot was, but heard he was twice Zenji’s age. He wasn’t so sure about that himself, but he was definitely a lot older.

Slickknot was called that because of his long, nasty hair that he balled up at the end with all kinds of grease and stuff to make a weapon of it. Whenever he had to fight, that’s how he won. His knot had gotten quite heavy and hard, usually enough so to knock out the kid.

Zenji was pretty confident a win was in his favor. It had to be.

That pretty face returned again to Zenji’s mind. Elie. She was such a nice girl, one Zenji, truth-be-told, had grown closer to than he wanted to admit. A year ago, when she was taken and his other friend was killed in the process, he knew he was meant for greater things.

Zenji was going to get out and find a way to make the darkness go away. He wanted to be the safe light on the street that all who needed it can bask in the security it provided. Zenji had heard girls taken by that gang didn’t last long, which hurt more than he thought it would. Elie was gone and he knew that. But, if anything, that made him want to get out even more, to change Tokeyama, and maybe even all of Control for that matter.

Life was cruel, and he wanted to make sure everyone knew. Then, he was going to change it.

If he could just make sure to not get hurt on this next raid.

“Zenji?” Beni said, right before he slapped him.

Zenji glared at Benji, holding his face. Beni was a friend, but sometimes he got under Zenji’s skin. He could be kind of annoying sometimes.

“Did you have to slap me?!” Zenji growled.

“You are always dazed lately.” One of the other boys said.

“Yeah,” Beni said, “like always. What’s on your mind? It better be the raid. This is supposed to be a big one.”

Zenji only nodded. They took that as an end of the conversation.

“These alleys here,” Beni said, pointing at the dirty stones,” are where we come out and climb the cart.”

“There’s lanterns there.” Zenji said. “Two more allies down and we’d be better off.”

Beni glared at him. “Slickknot gave me command.”

“And he wants me gone without a fight.” Zenji said. “Let me guess, he told you to go down those allies?”

“And if he did?” Beni said.

Zenji huffed. “Thought so. He wants me caught, and he probably doesn’t care if you are either. I’m going up two more allies. You guys are free to be distractions if you like.”

Beni reddened in anger. He did that sometimes. But he calmed down, glared at the other boys who were laughing, then sighed.

“Fine. It’ll be better that way anyway.” Beni said. “We climb the cart, then slice the tarp ropes and grab as much as we can.”

“Why don’t we bring bags?” Zenji asked.

Beni frowned then said, “Because they would likely be too heavy for anyone else but you to carry.”

Zenji nodded, then said, “I’m bringing a bag. I have a much higher quota than you all do right now.” Zenji was about a year older than the others, but his quota was also inflamed by Slickknot.

“You do what you want,” Beni said. “I’m not going to bring a bag. I can’t get caught again.”

“Fair enough.” Zenji said.

“We should be going.” Beni said. “It’s getting late and the sun will set soon. We need a little bit of light.”

The others moved off, getting things ready for the raid.