The violent burst of gunfire shattered Gloria's vision of her son's future.
Inside the pink SUV on her right, the driver hoisted up a heavy machine gun with gold-plated casing and aimed it straight at the black corporate sedan on her left.
The trigger was pulled, and bullets spat out like tongues of flame while gleaming brass casings flew from the chamber and clattered onto the road.
Ratatatat. Ratatatat. Ratatatat.
The rounds smashed through David's side windows and the A-pillar, then slammed into the doors and glass of the black corporate sedan across from them.
Acting on instinct, David threw himself backward, trying to avoid the hail of fire as he watched countless bullets rip through their windows and strike the corporate car.
Bullet holes and spiderweb cracks spread instantly across the right side of the sedan, but even those powerful rounds still failed to punch through the vehicle's armor.
Their old car, however, could not take that kind of heavy fire at all. The front end had already been shredded to pieces, nearly ruined beyond recognition.
Then, all at once, the black sedan on the left surged forward.
The Animals SUV floored it and went after it.
A musclebound giant standing through the roof of the pink SUV roared in fury and raised a red RPG launcher onto his shoulder.
"Don't let that corpo scum get away!"
"That corpo ride's armored!"
"Just watch!"
"Show 'em what Animals do, brothers!"
David saw both vehicles pull ahead.
The huge man on top of the pink SUV shouldered the launcher and fired directly at the corporate sedan.
But just as the rocket shot out and was about to hit, the company car made a bizarre turn and slammed on the brakes, barely dodging the blast.
The rocket exploded not far ahead, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
The suddenly braking sedan lost speed in an instant and rammed into the SUV's front left wheel from behind.
Boom!
The collision caused the taller SUV to flip violently. It rolled through the air, smashed into the pavement, and exploded in a burst of fire.
The wreckage of the SUV hurtled straight into Gloria's path.
"Mom!"
"Hit the brakes!"
Gloria yanked the wheel with all her strength and stomped the brakes, but the car no longer responded.
The front end went straight into the wreck.
David's eyes widened as the flaming metal came crashing toward them.
Then came another deafening impact.
Boom!
The world spun.
His vision went black.
When David finally began to regain consciousness after the crash and forced his eyes open, he found himself hanging upside down in the overturned car, trapped by his seat belt.
His mother, Gloria, had been thrown out onto the road and lay unconscious nearby.
Fire surrounded them on every side.
The flames spread farther and farther, crawling toward her.
David used every ounce of strength he had to try to free himself and save his mother.
But he failed.
The blazing heat and burning fuel were closing in on him too, and with his injuries, he could not save himself, much less her.
For the first time in his life, David felt utterly helpless.
All he could do was pray that someone would come help them.
And just as that desperate hope reached its peak, a metal-hulled AV dropped rapidly out of the sky and landed in front of him. Two medtechs in green Trauma Team gear jumped out and hurried over.
"It's Trauma Team... we're saved!"
David finally let out a breath.
A sliver of hope returned.
As long as Trauma Team treated them in time, his mother would definitely survive.
The medtechs, fully armed, crouched in front of David and scanned him for identification.
"Not a client."
"The woman isn't one either."
Those cold words shattered his hope.
David watched in disbelief as the two Trauma Team medics turned around and walked away, showing no intention of helping either of them.
"Wait!"
Trauma Team replied, "Our primary responsibility is ensuring the safety of registered clients. City body disposal can handle these two."
"What the hell? Wait! You're just leaving us here to die?!"
"Mom! Wake up! Damn it!"
"Come on, get up! Get up! Damn it!"
David used the last of his strength trying to force himself free, but his lower body was pinned in the crushed front section of the car and would not budge.
"Mom!"
The sea of fire crept closer and closer to Gloria.
David sank into total despair.
A flood of emotions surged into his head, and with how much blood he had already lost, his consciousness began slipping again.
Then suddenly, he heard footsteps drawing near.
Someone had come up beside him.
He forced his exhausted eyes open and could only make out a blurred silhouette.
Still clutching at his final shred of hope, he raised a hand toward Gloria lying in the flames and muttered weakly,
"Please... save my mom..."
And then, like a switch being flipped, everything went dark.
On the second floor of a dimly lit underground clinic, David sat on an old bench and stared at the sign above the mechanical door.
Surgery in Progress.
After receiving basic treatment for his wounds, David was left outside the operating room in his torn Arasaka Academy uniform, waiting for news.
When the light above the operating room finally went out, the surgeon stepped through the door.
The man wore only an apron over his upper body, with a green mask and dust cap covering his face, making him impossible to identify.
He walked over to David while still looking at the electronic tablet in his hands. His thick arms, covered by long protective sleeves, kept tapping at the screen as if calculating the final cost of the operation.
"The surgery was successful, but she's still unconscious and hasn't regained awareness yet. We'll keep her under observation for a few days."
"Can I see her?"
"No. The cheapest package doesn't include visitation."
"I see..."
"Here's the bill. Sign for it. I also brought your mother's belongings. Payment must be completed within three days."
David stared blankly as the doctor handed him his mother's bundle of belongings.
Everything that had happened so far could only be endured. Accepted.
"This is why everyone in Night City buys insurance," the doctor said before turning and walking back into the operating room.
David sat there on the bench, holding his mother's things in both hands, staring ahead in a daze.
After a long while, he let out a long breath, hugged the bundle tightly, and got to his feet.
At the clinic entrance, he turned around and looked back once at the run-down place. The old red neon tubing on the sign crackled weakly, showing only the word Clinic. Everything before that had long since gone dark.
David walked through Night City's neon-lit streets. At night, the city looked even more unreal, even more dreamlike.
When he looked up toward City Center, giant ad holograms speared into the sky, while the dim blue-green streets on either side of him felt like an entirely different world.
He made his way back to Megabuilding H4 in Santo Domingo.
As usual, he headed to his apartment door and prepared to open the electromagnetic lock, only to see a floating laser projection flash to life.
"Entry Denied. Rent Overdue."
David kicked the metal door hard, then turned and crawled home through the ventilation duct.
He knew he could not give up yet.
His mother was still waiting for him to pay her medical bills.
After getting back home, he tried every possible way to raise money.
He sold whatever he had left, basketball chips, game chips, anything he could find, only to realize none of it was worth much.
David spent the entire night scrambling, calling everyone he could think of, reaching out to every possible contact he had.
He still could not come up with enough money for his mother's treatment.
With nowhere left to turn, he contacted the ripperdoc who had sold him the pirated upgrade software and asked how much one kidney would fetch on the black market.
After running a full diagnostic, the ripperdoc was surprised to find that David's physical condition was far better than normal.
The price he quoted was almost exactly enough to cover Gloria's treatment costs.
David agreed without hesitation.
But the ripperdoc told him that if he waited a bit longer, there was a chance they could find a compatible recipient, and then his kidney would sell for an even higher price.
David could not afford to wait that long.
He decided the surgery would happen tomorrow.
Right now, the only thing that mattered was saving his mother.
Even after spending the whole night running himself ragged, David still insisted on changing into his school uniform and going to class at Arasaka Academy.
He could not risk being ordered to withdraw again just because he skipped school.
His mother had already endured too much for him.
(End of Chapter)
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