A pale-skinned boy, Leo, with orange-brown hair walked down a narrow, warm street, with steaming pipes along the brick walls that were beside him.

  There were a few other -rather sketchy- individuals also walking along this tight street, that was dim even with the golden sun bright in the sky.

  The skin on his face was clammy, and he walked with a tired, sluggish gait. His eyes were aimed downward, with his fringe covering his whole upper face.

  Too many thoughts. It was only 28 days until he’d be evicted if he couldn’t cough up any money for the landlords.

  Those damn landlords.

  Giving him all this headache, as a 17-year-old boy still in school, just trying to make ends meet. Make something of himself.

  “Looking for a job is almost impossible in this grim city.” He thought to himself, looking up to the tall walls beside him.

  He’s always wanted success. Life in this dilapidated town is suffocating, depressing, humiliating. How could you not want more? These walls, though, these walls are hard to escape from.

  If you’re at the bottom, you stay at the bottom, and that’s just something you must deal with. The walls of society would box you in, forcing you to accept your place.

  *FWOOSH*

  Hot steam was released from one of the open pipes in the tight wall, making a person that was unlucky enough to get caught in the splash zone curse in pain.

  “Damn these f*cking pipes!” He called out, grunting with anger.

  There’s no space. The walls started to press in on Leo, as if he was being pressed. He was struggling to breathe out of nowhere, feeling the weight of his situation encumber him.

  Leo had to rest on one of the red brick walls, making sure not to touch a pipe before resting. Revealing his phone, he grunted with annoyance to find no signal before rummaging through his rucksack with energy.

  Ripping open a sheet of pills, he popped two of them in quick succession, before taking a calming breath and freezing for a second.

  Lifting back up, he continued his journey, now even more tired and mellow than before.

  The streets were always dense, but upon exiting this street he was met by several stalls of people selling meats, groceries, and other intriguing items. This was the only thing he liked about this place.

  Good food. Good prices.

  Arriving at a public lift, he could see it grumbling and jittering as it lifted.

  This wasn’t any ordinary city but an ‘apartment city’. With several floors of buildings and accommodation, just one of these apartment cities could house millions of people, all with rooms just by each other in the form of a colossal building block.

  To reach the ground floor and exit, one would have to use many of the provided lifts and flights of stairs littered across the massive, blocked city.

  “Dese damn yo-yos gon' finish me, I swear. Why none dese lifts eva get fix up? All dem Ogas jus' chop our money, pocket am!” A man grumbled in the city’s slang, as the lift unsteadily raised.

  “Real talk, brah. The Floor 30 Oga done jacked da rent again—like I’m made o' gold or sumthin'. At dis rate, gonna hafta shadowrun jus' ta eat. Stacklife stressin' me, no joke.”

  [Shadowrun – A risky, off-grid journey through restricted parts of the apartment city, done to smuggle, hustle, or survive.]

  [Stacklife – the chaotic lifestyle of the apartment cities.]

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  'A yo-yo? Urgh, I always get sick going in these, but the stairs aren’t even open now, either!' Leo thought, looking both ways along this narrow street, with a handful of people huddled around the large public lift.

  Without an option, he used the dodgy lift and descended down to the ground floor before exiting the large, dense town.

  The roads on the ground were clearer and slightly wider but still carried that claustrophobic, dirty nature. His steps quickened upon reaching the exit of this town, and he took a deep breath to find the tall, close-together buildings swiftly recede past his periphery and out of view.

  He was opened to a bright, blue sky, with a pure, golden sun illuminating and warming his skin. Even though the sun was directly on him, it was cooler out in the open than it just was.

  Just behind him was a massive, extremely dense collection of buildings. His home. This was an ‘apartment city’. With several floors of buildings and accommodation, just one of these apartment cities could house millions of people, all with rooms just by each other in the form of a massive building block.

  Sighing, he gave it a glance before continuing on down one of the roads exiting from the large area.

  Arriving at his school shortly after, he carried on his day as normal. The pills were keeping him fatigued and slowed his mind. It made it harder for him to focus in school but he didn’t care. It took the pain away.

  It felt much better this way.

  “You okay, Leo? What stuff did those blockies give you? You look like a corpse, man!” A boy asked him as he walked past, poking him on the side of the head.

  Urgh. Not now. The pills aren’t working.

  Leo reached for his bag, only to see it get thrown off the table, and out of arm’s reach.

  “Reaching for more, are you? What an addict!” The boy said again, throwing the bag on the ground.

  This statement was followed by cackles and snickers from the other students sat in this room, who all had their eyes glued on Leo.

  “Get him, Kam!” A boy called out from beside him with laughter.

  They aren’t working.

  Leo began to sweat as his face went red with embarrassment. Should he go and get his bag? Should he leave it there and ignore him?

  It wasn’t going to be very easy to do the latter with all these piercing eyes on him. No matter where he looked up, a pair of disdainful eyes would always be staring back at him. They aren’t working.

  Leo felt great fear upon even thinking of standing up to Kam. He was 6’2, and 210 pounds of muscle. He had jet black hair, and was known for being a strong, athletic sportsman. Even if he wasn’t a fighter, he wasn’t either.

  It would fall to a game of strength and brute, where he would be the clear loser. He was 5’8, and a stick compared to him, weighing a solid 115lbs, 117lbs to be exact. He had endurance and some speed from his football, but that meant nothing when comparing it to Kam’s abilities. He was the main striker of their team, known for his amazing speed and phenomenal strength.

  “Come on, man I’m not gonna act like we don’t all have needs. Come and get the bag, man it’s my fault.” Kam said, with a calmer, more polite tone.

  However, it seemed the crowd looked even more sinister and hurtful as he did this. It was conflicting evidence, and every fibre of his body was telling him not to give in. Kam tapped the bag in his hand, reaching his hand out to hold the bag nearer to Leo.

  Maybe, he was trying to be nice after all. He hadn’t done anything like this before. Usually, he’d predictably pick on how much energy he had, how he looked, what he wore. Today, he didn’t seem to be following any trends.

  It was stupid but he had hope and held onto it. Jabbing his hand out for the bag, it was swiftly swiped away before he could catch.

  Of course.

  “You thought I’d give this back to you?! Don’t be a clown, Leo!” Kam menacingly barked at him, slapping him across the face.

  “No money. No name. No power. No girlfriend. No friend. You have nothing, you are nothing, Leo. Remember that.” Kam said quietly to him, before sliding the bag along his table and onto his lap.

  “Don’t remind him of Kaelynn, Kam!” The same boy called out.

  A beautiful, black-haired girl with a ponytail and hazel eyes started to blush, holding her hand up to shield her face.

  “Oh yeahhh, the love of your life, Leo? Look at her blushing, I reckon you should go for another shot!” Kam said, lifting from his seat to stand right before Leo.

  Not that again.

  Leo’s first love. As soon as she met his eye, he couldn’t take them off her. She was a beauty beyond anything he’d seen before, she was also so pleasant and kind to him. However, it was all out of pity.

  He spent months gathering the courage to finally talk to her and ask her out, only to be slapped across the face. The mark was left on his face for over a week. The longest, most agonising week of his life.

  He did not have to bring that back up.

  The laughter only intensified, but Leo wasn’t left with sadness, or anxiety. This was anger. Fury. Instead of shying away and trying his best to ignore this, he looked up and stared at him with eyes of death.

  Kam stared back, but Leo didn’t look away. There was a slight reddening in Kam’s face as he looked back.

  “What do you think you’re looking at, punk?!” He asked, before the door to the classroom creaked open.

  The students, that were all huddled around random seats in their cliques, rushed to their seats as the teacher entered.

  Their boring lesson continued as usual, with these students acting as if nothing even happened. During this period, though, Leo had only one thing on his mind. Retaliation.