Sleepless

By Cameron Corder

16%. Gabe had never been this low before, not since he was a kid. He’d been feeling the side effects for hours now. Weakness in his limbs, sluggish thoughts, heavy eyelids. It seemed as though he’d collapse at any moment.

But he had a job to do.

Gabe gave himself a slap on the face, which seemed to perk him up a bit. He leaned closer to the receiver, straining to hear the police scanner over the sounds of the falling rain. The mucky water in the alley was pooling fast and had already soaked through his shoes. But still, he listened intently. He wasn’t going to let the rain make him mess this up.

Months of planning had come to this. Tracking shipments, placing drop points, prepping the gear. He and his team put the work into creating such a scheme that would take the city by storm, and he’d be there to turn it in to the Boss. Maybe his efforts could be finally recognized in full.

He checked the display on his wrist. 15% now. He sighed, and had to suppress a yawn. He’d have to take a hit once they had the product. It would be good to test it too, before they hand it off.

A blip sounded on the scanner. A woman’s voice came through the static. “10-79, Ricchello requesting backup, Code 2. Over.”

A brief pause before the operator responded. “Officer Richello, confirm location. Over.”

“Lawrence District Hospital. Repeat, Code 2, 10-79.”

The hospital? Gabe had set the adjacent factory to be the target. That way, the hospital would heighten the danger without being directly in it. Maybe the officer was rattled and was giving the most recognizable destination for the backup.

“Ricchello, backup en route. Maintain-“

A thunderous boom rippled through the air. Though dulled by the pounding rain, Gabe could still feel the power of the explosion in his chest. Already black smoke was billowing above the buildings between Gabe and the bomb site. Gabe smirked. Lyla had really outdone herself this time.

The officer’s panicked voice came back through the scanner. “10-80, 10-80,” she said, coughing, “I need backup, NOW. The hospital is up in flames.”

Gabe flicked off the radio; he’d heard enough. He flung the scanner, shattering it on the alley wall. He’d make whoever pay for setting the bombs at the hospital. It only made this operation more bloody than it had to be.

But he still had a job to do.

He pulled a black mask from his pocket, tugging it over his face. Unzipping the bag at his feet, Gabe retrieved his shotgun and pumped it. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to use it, but he had to be prepared, especially for the heroic types.

He left the alley and walked straight into the drug store. There were a few wandering customers, none of whom had noticed him. Only the clerk had perked up and was already reaching for the phone.

He shot once up into the ceiling. Screams erupted, and most fell to the floor. “Attention please,” he yelled, “this store is closed, GET OUT!”

The customers clambered for the exit, leaving Gabe alone with the store’s clerk at the counter. “Come on now,” Gabe said, leveling the shotgun at the man. He pumped it, then said, “You know how this works. Hands up.”

The man complied, and by his expression, Gabe could tell that he wasn’t one of the brave ones. All the better for the both of them.

“Alright, take me to the back.”

The clerk, who was now sweating through his shirt, stuttered. “T-The m-money is here in the-“

“I know where it is,” Gabe said, “You think I’m stupid? Take me to the Rejuveron.”

The clerk somehow grew even more pale. “W-We don’t have-“

Gabe fired into the wall, sending pills and cigarettes flying throughout the room. The clerk had yelped and cowered, but perked back up when Gabe aimed back at him.

“That was the wrong answer. Wanna try again, smart guy?”

The clerk nodded.

“Well? Get on then, take me to it.”

The clerk was able to open the storage door, despite all his trembling. He led Gabe through the tight spaces between boxes until they reached the very back, near the garage door.

And there it was, the Rejuveron. A lovely pallet of crimson relief, neatly packaged up for him. The miracle drug that liberated mankind from sleep. Instead of wasting hours unconscious in a bed, one could take Rejuveron and regain their energy without any side effect. And here was a heap of the stuff, all for Gabe’s taking.

If all the stores the crew were hitting tonight were loaded like this… well, it was enough for someone like Gabe to live like a king for the rest of his life.

Gabe ripped the plastic covering and tore open the top of the nearest box. Reaching in, he pulled out one of the Rejuveron capsules and held it between his thumb and index finger. In the white plastic shell no bigger than a quarter, the red liquid shimmered in the incandescent light. So tiny, yet so powerful. The connectors at either end of the capsule seemed to be in good condition, too. It was the real stuff, alright.

Gabe checked his watch, seeing that he was already down to 8%. One hit of this and he’d be good to go for another ten hours or so. He felt an itch and had the urge to plug the capsule in that very moment, but he refrained.

Instead, Gabe pocketed the capsule and turned his attention back to the clerk. He flicked the shotgun’s barrel to the big garage door, and said, “Open it. Now.”

The clerk squatted, fumbling with his keys as he worked the padlock. “You’re n-never going to get away with this,” the man said, licking his lips. He pulled off the padlock, and slid open the door. “The cops’ll be coming soon.”

“Cops are busy at the moment, don’t you know,” Gabe said. “Go get the jack for the Rejuveron.”

As he scurried to obey, Gabe leaned out into the rain and whistled hard. Not too far off, a white truck started to back up towards the store. Gabe was glad that Lyla had been paying attention this time.

The clerk didn’t need Gabe to tell him what came next; he merely loaded the pallet into the truck, and hurried back into the storage room.

“Alright, you can go now. And I recommend getting far, and quick too.”

“W-Why’s that?” he stuttered.

“Hm, don’t know,” Gabe said as though in deep thought. He pulled a smaller bomb from beneath his coat and flicked a switch. He threw it into store, then shrugged. “Just a feeling, I guess.”

While the clerk ran down the alley, slipping as he did so in the mud, Gabe opened the passenger door to the truck and climbed up into the cab.

“Got it all?” Lyla asked eagerly.

Gabe pulled off his mask and threw it onto the truck’s dashboard. “Yup,” Gabe said with a yawn.

Grinning, Lyla drove forward and down the alley. Not a minute later, an explosion from the drug store rattled the truck. That took care of that then.

Gabe rubbed his eyes. The itch for Rejuveron returned, and without a second thought Gabe pulled out the capsule and popped it into the port behind his ear. After two beeps, there was a soft hiss, and relief flooded his head. He sighed, sinking deeper into his seat.

“Is it good?” Lyla asked.

“Oh yeah, it’s good,” Gabe said with a smile. He checked his display. It was already passing 30%, and as it rose he felt more and more alert and energetic. “Not a moment too soon too, I was already below 10%.”

“Jeez, Gabe,” Lyla said. “Doing that on a job? That’s dangerous. You could’ve passed out at any moment.”

“Yeah, I know,” Gabe said. He almost shuddered at the thought of falling asleep. “What are you at now?”

She checked her wrist. “56%.”

“Ah, good,” Gabe said.

“Unlike you, I never let myself get below 20%.”

“Really? Seems like a waste of Rejuveron.”

Lyla shrugged. “It’s a thing. I can’t feel comfortable being so low.” She shifted in her seat. “Not after I fell asleep that one time.”

“Oh right, back when you were kid right?”

“Yeah.”

“How did that happen?”

“Must’ve been around ten years old when I was playing outside in the forest behind my house. Catching bugs and scaring birds. You know, kid stuff. Anyways, I didn’t pay attention to my watch, and by the time I remembered to check my watch, I had already hit 5%.”

“Didn’t you feel the symptoms?” Gabe asked. “Shouldn’t have warned you?”

“I don’t know, I was playing, man. Guess I got caught up in exploring and all that. But when I saw that, I thought that I could sit for a couple minutes, you know, to get a little back? Well, sure enough, I had gotten real comfortable and before I knew it, I was out. Didn’t wake up until my mother had found me, about four hours later.”

“Four hours?”

“Mmhmm,” Lyla said.

“What did it feel like?”

“It didn’t feel like anything.”

“What do you mean?”

“You just close your eyes one second, and boom, it’s four hours later, just like that,” she said with a snap of her fingers. “When you wake up though, you feel so slow. Almost like coming down from a night at the bar. Sure, my level went up like 40% or whatever, but it took a long time to feel normal again.”

“Jeez.”

“So yeah, keep your level up,” Lyla said. “I mean, it seems like you wanna go to sleep with how close you get to it.”

“Ha ha, good one,” Gabe mocked, turning his eyes to the street. The Rejuveron was in full swing, bringing him back to full alertness. It was hard to imagine not having access to such a wonderful cure for sleep. Despite what some people said about it, Gabe was thankful for it. Though, he had to admit that not all of its societal effects had been positive.

At the beginning of its introduction, Rejuveron allowed people to use their sleep time to go out and have fun, rather than wasting the night away on a mattress. The night crowds were just as big as the daytime ones, if not bigger. People felt as though they were given a third of their lives back from the clutches of sleep – because that’s exactly what had happened.

But, of course, not everyone used that extra time for partying and relaxation. No, instead, they got another job. Some even finding the time for a third. All too quickly that became expected of everyone. Going the extra mile was suddenly a requirement, even from those who couldn’t afford the ever more expensive drug that enabled it.

But that was why Gabe, Lyla, and the Boss were in the business of knocking off Rejuveron. Take from the rich, sell to the poor. They were so desperate to get their hands on it that they didn’t have to mark it down much. Whatever they couldn’t pay in cash could be made up in favors and loyalty to the gang. Sure, that could be seen as taking advantage of them. But neither he nor the poor he helped had created this system; they were just trying to survive in it.

Gabe turned back to check on the cargo through the cabin’s window. The Boss would be proud of tonight’s haul. The biggest one in the gang’s history, if Gabe wasn’t mistaken. Gabe smiled at the thought of the Boss shaking his hand and congratulated for his hard work. But, for fear of being distracted, he pushed those thoughts aside.

Because he had a job to do.

“Alright,” Gabe said as they entered the warehouse district. “Circle around the back there first before you pull into the drop off.”

Lyla raised an eyebrow. “You think we got a tail?”

“No. But with a score like this, you can’t be too sure.”

Lyla circled around and wandered between the large warehouses until Gabe was satisfied that they weren’t being followed. After that, then proceed to the drop-off point, which was in Warehouse 19. If everything had gone according to the plan, all of the separate crews through the cities should have come back here to unload the cargo and meet with the Boss.

He grinned. The Boss would see that Gabe was someone worth keeping at her side.

With one final check of her surroundings, Lyla backed into Warehouse 19. When properly situated, they left the truck and made their way through the shipping containers.

The Boss was standing around a can fire, holding out her hands to absorb its warmth. Two gang members stood a distance away, forming a perimeter around their leader. Upon hearing their approach, the Boss turned to greet Gabe and Lyla.

“The stars of the hour,” the Boss said, holding out her arms. “Fine work tonight. Very fine work.”

“Thank you, Boss,” Gabe said with a wide smile. He looked around the meeting spot. “Where’s the Rejuveron? Did it all make it here?”

“Had some of the boys take a load of it back to a more secure location. With a score like that, it’s best to take extra precaution.”

“That’s good,” Gabe nodded. “Didn’t mean to doubt you or anything, Boss.”

She put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. I’d be saying the same if I were you.” The Boss jerked her head to the fire. “Now, come over here. We should discuss your future in our little organization, and see what other schemes you can cook up.”

With a surge of pride, Gabe took a step forward when a rattle behind his back caught his attention. He turned in time for a BANG and flash of blinding light.

“Go, go, go!”

Gabe tripped on something and went tumbling to the ground, palms to his eyes. His eyes burned, but he could hear sounds of boots on concrete. What was happening?

Gabe was pushed onto his belly with a knee digging into his back. A sinking feeling hit as he realized that it was police raid. But how did they find them, even after everything they did to be careful?

“Stay back!”

The Boss. No, without her…

“Handcuff her.”

“Get your-“

There was a meat smack, followed by the cinching of handcuffs.

Gabe regained his sight just in time to see them drag away the Boss. “No…” he managed to say, despite the jabbing knee.

An officer crouched down to look Gabe in the eyes. “We got you, punk. You make me sick, blowing up a hospital like that. Disgusting.”

“That wasn’t… part of the plan,” Gabe grunted.

“Shut up.” He stood, motioning to the officer on Gabe’s back. “Get him out of here. Then we head to the hideout to clear the rest out.”

The officer pulled his arms around to his back and secured him with a set of handcuffs. She yanked him up from the ground. “Come on,” she growled as she led him to a police car.

All the planning, the preparation… All of his work dashed to pieces on what should’ve been the night of Gabe’s rise to infamy. He sighed, accepting his fate, and listened as the officer read him his rights.

—

Officer Ricchello pushed the man into the back of her squad car. Though she was glad to have the supposed mastermind of this operation in custody, the weight of the bombing left her saddened. She slammed the door, desperately trying to push the image of the burning hospital out of her mind. She thought about hanging back here and letting the rest of the officers take care of the work. She shook her head, then turned back to head inside once more.

Because she had a job to do.