The Legendary Junkmaster

The day passed slowly as Jason worked away at dismantling various pieces of machinery. He silently placed everything that he managed to wrangle free into his pack without caring about what kind of value it might have. His mind was so lost in itself that he failed to hear the heavy footsteps approaching him from behind.

Harry stared at his grandson aimlessly working away on the nuts and bolts in front of him. The old man gave out a sigh of relief that Jason was ok, but he was also concerned. His grandson had put himself in danger by leaving the security of their room. Also, he was not even in a fit state by looking at things to be aware of any threat creeping up on him.

Harry took a few steps forward and placed a meaty hand on his grandson's head. He gently ruffled his dark mop of hair as he continued to watch him work. When Jason did not react to his touch, Harry let out a weary sigh.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Harry's voice was laden with guilt. He incorrectly assumed that his grandson had been traumatised by Raymond's apparent death. Worse yet, it appeared to Harry that Jason had gone through a gruelling fight with the Banka to protect him when he was unconscious.

Jason remained silent. His ears had gone deaf to anything that might provoke him to come out of his current state of self-pity. Harry felt exasperated at Jason's lack of response. He had never been an easy man to get along with, so he did not have much experience dealing with situations like this.

Harry eventually took Jason's chin in his hand and forced his grandson to look at him, "Are you listene…"

Harry paused mid-sentence as he took in the sight of Jason's new bright blue eyes. The area around them was red as fresh rivers leaked their way down his cheeks. It took Harry a few moments to finally understand what was really going on.

"Oh, son, I'm sorry," Harry said with a heavy heart as he wrapped Jason in a tight embrace.

Even this rare show of affection failed to bring Jason's mind back from the brink. Harry felt lost as to what he should do. With Jason remaining unresponsive, he could urge him to trail after himself. Harry ensured that Jason's pack was adequately secured to his grandson's back before leading the zombie-like shell back to the room they had spent the night in.

He gently got the boy to sit down in a corner while he went through the process of skinning the Banka. It was too good of an opportunity to let go of just now. Besides, they would clearly need the credits if Jason required some kind of medical attention. The job of skinning the beast was long and bloody. Harry had to roll the creature over to entirely remove its pelt intact.

He huffed as he rolled the Banka pelt up and secured it to his own pack. He spared a lonely, sad look for his grandson sitting in the corner before securing the haul to his own back. Harry took a few careful steps towards Jason and took him by the hand. It did not take much for the old man to guide his grandson up onto his feet before leading him out of that place.

While searching the factory earlier for Jason's whereabouts, he had stumbled upon an unlocked side entrance on the ground floor that led outside. This saved him from the hassle of attempting to lower Jason out of the hole they had used to get inside in his weakened state. As they stepped out into the bright sunlight, Jason finally reacted.

His hand shot up to protect his eyes from the glaring sun as he was reminded of the constant pain in his head. Jason let out a soft moan as the light aggravated the pain he was suffering from. Harry slapped him on the back when he noticed that his mind was not completely broken.

"That's a good boy! Feel! I don't care what it is, as long as it's something that reminds you that you're still alive!" Harry eagerly said out loud.

Jason's hand felt the warmth of Harry's grip once again as the grizzled veteran scavenger led him towards the bridge. This would be the tricky part. Jason still had not fully come around, so guiding him across the twisted beam would be dangerous. Leaving him on this side while he sought out help was out of the question as well. Who knew if grandson would get it into his head to go for a wander!

In the end, Harry opted to toss their heavy packs across by himself, just like Raymond had done on their journey to the industrial area. A few things might break, but that was a loss he could live with. The packs landed on the other side with a satisfyingly heavy thud. Harry turned to look at his grandson before letting out a mild groan.

Takin Jason's arms in one of his hands and his legs in the other, he lifted the boy up and lay him across his broad shoulders. Harry's tail moved to wrap around Jason's waist as an added measure of security. This time Harry moved slowly across the beam as the river calmly flowed beneath them.

Even with the extra weight that he had to bear, Harry had no difficulty in smoothly crossing to the other side. It only took him a few minutes to rescuer their packs before he once again took Jason by the hand. As he turned in the direction of Highrise, he suddenly cursed underneath his breath.

He quickly led Jason out of sight as he kept a wary eye on the group of figures he had keenly spotted moving at a quick pace down the road towards them. 'I can't let them get their hands on our loot!' Harry had pegged them to probably be a group that raider scavengers for their gains.

Harry continued to murmur a few choice curse words as the group failed to veer off in another direction. He could only watch from behind their bush as the group came dangerously close!

"RAYMOND!" Harry yelled as he jumped out from their hiding spot in disbelief.

Right there in front of his eyes, the friend that he had already considered to be dead was staring back at him in bewilderment!

"Harry, you old bastard! You're alive!" Raymond beamed as he rushed towards him.

It was then that Harry noticed that Raymond was missing his lower arm on his left side. The little stub that had been left behind was wrapped up in a thick fabric. Whoever had done it certainly knew their stuff. There were no signs that the material was hiding an open wound that was bleeding.

The two men embraced each other tightly as the three others accompanying Raymond watched on with an awkward expression plastered on their faces. After a few moments of their touching reunion, a woman with what looked like hedgehogs quills growing out of her body stepped forth.

"Does this mean the jobs been cancelled?" She asked with an unpleasant tone.

Harry blinked at the plump woman in confusion, "Job? What job?"

"Ah, right! Where's the kid?" Raymond hurriedly asked his friend once he noticed Jason appeared to be missing.

"He's right over there, behind the bush." Harry jabbed a thumb over his shoulder towards Jason's rough position. "Now, what job is she talking about?"

"When the Banka was preoccupied with trying to pry open that door you guys hid behind, I managed to slip away," Raymond had an embarrassed looking expression on his face as he replied. "It took me a while to sell the goods in my pack to gather the credits to hire these guys to come and rescue you."

Harry shook his head at the thought of all of those wasted credits! Still, he was grateful to Raymond for making the right decision. Almost anyone else would have written them off as dead and kept the credits for themselves.

"I'll be sure to give you a cut from our earnings." Harry solemnly swore in response before turning his gaze on the mercenaries. "Yeah, it looks like your job has been cancelled. Sorry to break it to you, but we're perfectly fine!"

The quill covered woman stared at him with an unpleasant look. They had been looking forward to earning a decent score, but now they would have to make do with just the deposit that Raymond had paid. Still, it was easy money, so they could not really complain. The woman groaned as she had a few words with the other two that come along.

After settling things between themselves, they headed off back towards Highrise without even saying a word of goodbye. That was just what Harry had been hoping for because he did not want anyone else besides Raymond seeing Jason in the state he was in.

Raymond gasped as he saw the empty look in Jason's eyes as Harry led him out from his hiding place. Just like Harry, Raymond took note of the change in colour in Jason's eyes. He immediately understood what he was looking at.

"The boy's got MDS." Raymond shook his head sadly.

MDS or Mutation Depression Syndrome was quite common amongst those that developed a Cosmetic Mutation. Too many young kids had their minds broken when they discovered that they were nothing special in the wide world.

"He'll snap out of it! You'll see!" Harry growled in response.

Raymond just responded with an apologetic yet understanding expression. His mind raced to think of a way to help his friend's grandson. Eventually, an old memory surfaced. "You could always try taking him to see Dr Cree."

"That quack! Are you kidding me!" Harry responded with a forcefully, angry tone.

"Look, I know you guys have a history. And I've never poked my head into it, but just think about it. Her skills are genuine, and she just might be Jason's only hope right now."

Raymond's response curtly cut off any argument that Harry could think of. Dr Cree was the last person he wanted to see in the whole world! However, right now, his treasured grandson needed his help.

"Fine! I'll admit you have a point!" Harry swallowed his indignation for the sake of Jason's mental health. "I'll take him straight over to her clinic as soon as we get back to Highrise. Hopefully, she won't charge too much!"

Raymond raised an eyebrow at Harry's little outburst. All sorts of thoughts began to run through his mind. As far as Raymond was aware, Dr Cree had an excellent reputation for offering her services on the cheap as it is. So did Harry mean that she would charge more just because he was involved? Or did the geezer have a falling out with her because her prices were not low enough for his standards?

Whatever the case may be, it was not important right now. They had to focus on getting Jason back to town as soon as possible. The longer MDS had to take root in someone's mind, the less likely the chance became of being able to cure them. Raymond wasted no time in lending a hand by throwing Jason over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Even the added weight of Jason's pack did not seem to bother the burly man as he set off at a casual jog.

Harry wheezed along behind him as he kept his eyes focused on Jason's face. He could only hope that not too much time had passed since his condition had kicked in. It took the two veterans of the scavenger scene a little over two hours to reach the town gates at their current pace. It was a little after noon by Harry's reckoning, which meant there was no traffic to queue up in to gain entrance to Highrise.

The guards on duty quickly waved them through without sparing a glance at Jason and his unresponsive attitude. Just about every guard had seen similar things before, so they knew it was nothing worth them worrying over. Once they were safely within the walls, Raymond set Jason down on his feet as he gestured towards both harry's and Jason's packs.

As Raymond struggled to catch his breath, Harry quickly removed both packs and passed them over to Raymond. He knew what his friend had meant with his gestures. He was offering to deal with selling their goods while Harry focused on getting Jason to Cr. Cree's clinic.

"Make sure you get a good price for that lot!" Harry urged Raymond. After all, there was no telling how expensive Jason's medical bill might come to.

Taking Jason by the hand yet again, Harry led him through the meandering alleyways towards where he remembered Dr Cree's clinic being located at. A few people shot curious glances in their direction as Harry shouted at them to move out of his way! If this had been on the other side of town, then Harry would have quickly found a blade being jammed into his back for talking to the local inhabitants of that area like this.

Eventually, the pair exited from the latest alleyway into a clear space. This area lay between the town walls and the high-rise buildings situated on the edge of town. Standing smack dab in the middle of these two structures was a large, makeshift wooden building. For whatever reason she had, Dr Cree refused to live in the ruins of the old-world. Even if it would do a better job of keeping a roof over her head.

Harry led Jason over to the clinic before letting go of his grandson's hand. He took a few deep breaths as he steeled his nerves to approach the door. The few short steps that led up to the clinic's entrance creaked as he placed his weight on them. With another deep breath, he balled up his fist and crisply knocked on Dr Cree's establishment.