Free The Collector by David Luna

potholes before spilling over into the clogged sewers.
    Wade shields himself as he rushes to take shelter beneath the stairs of the elevated SectorLink platform in the slums. As he pauses to dry off, his pocket beeps. It’s his PDA notifying him of a new post by Quado on his RSS feed, BETRAYAL WITHIN THE AGENCY. Wade glances over the article, knowing the news leak is about him and his actions, when suddenly his PDA goes out: NETWORK ERROR. UNAUTHORIZED USER.
    “That’s it,” Wade thinks to himself. The Agency knows what he’s done. He hopes that doesn’t mean Jimmy was discovered; that maybe Loraine was smart enough to hide him in a location the Collectors would never look. Better yet, he hopes Loraine packed up her family and fled rather than staying in that dainty shack. He’s no fool though and he knows the odds of their survival aren’t very high. At least he bought Jimmy one extra day with his loved ones. That’s all anyone can ask for really – just one extra kiss, one extra embrace, one extra moment to spend with a loved one as we all battle against the ultimate limited resource connecting us: time.
    Wade takes solace in knowing that even though the Agency is now onto him, at least Paiton is back at her bungalow in Sector A where she’s safe. To his knowledge, the Agency isn’t even aware of the link between them. They were careful never to be seen together; never to leave a trail connecting one to the other and putting the other in danger. As much as he wanted to share his secret with Neil, a secret he feels should never have to be kept quiet in the first place, Wade bit his tongue. It’s now only him who has to be careful when out in the open like this, thank goodness not Paiton – or so he thinks.
    As Wade continues to wait for the acid rain to lighten, he thinks back to all that’s happened over the last twenty-four hours. It’s been a whirlwind. After solidifying their plan to escape to the island in the bay – home to the abandoned reactor as well as the former military base and forgotten helicopters – he and Paiton returned to her bungalow and shared the most passionate night yet in their relationship. Seeing her vulnerable eyes stare up at him while he held her in his arms only strengthened his resolve to succeed. Then, while she stayed back to pack their things and prepare to leave, he rounded up everything worth value – mainly jewelry and trinkets – and headed to the only place he knew that might accept these kinds of illicit items as payment. Even he only just learned of this place’s existence while out on assignment with Neil: Inna’s antique shop. With any luck, not only would the man at the counter not recognize him from when he was there earlier with Neil and Jimmy, but he’d also hopefully have what Wade was after and be willing to trade.
    Wade never caught the man’s name at the counter of the antique shop. If he did, he would know it was Damian. All he remembers is Damian favored one side over the other as he walked with a limp, and expressed constant bitterness towards the very notion of life in general. However, just as he hoped, Damian did have what Wade was after and additionally was willing to trade for it.
    “This is nice,” Damian commented upon seeing one of the silver pieces of jewelry. “They think keepsakes give us hope. Allow us to hold onto memories. My old partner had one similar to this.”
    Wade knew keepsakes were banned, and after hearing Damian reminisce, he understood why the Agency would do such a thing. But he remained silent and allowed Damian to muse out loud as they continued with their trade.
    “It hasn’t been used in a decade. It might not hold up,” Damian warned.
    “It has to,” Wade responded.
    Wade repeats these same words to himself as he treks on foot from the SectorLink station towards the West Bank of the polluted bay. “This has to work. This has to work.” He knows with his limited time, he only has one chance at this.
    He