62 Reek

He fucking did it. I don't even want to ask how he managed to convince not just the rest of the Hornets, but the damn Fire Nation at that. Fucking miraculous. Of course, Janick didn't buy it, even when Miro held the fabric right up to his face. Everything he, I mean she did now, I saw in a whole new light. I started to notice her physique more now than before. Her facial features almost began to distinguish themselves as that of a woman's. It was creepy. I was sitting down, packing up my belongings for tomorrow.

"I'm not buying that bullshit" Janick said. "Are you?"

"Yes. Why shouldn't I?" Miro replied.

"Because the Hornets would never agree to something like that. They're fucking killers?"

"Everyone's a killer in this street, but look at the fucking paper, Janick. Green!"

"For fuck's safe, do you seriously trust Luke. He's a fucking Hornet!"

"He had a chance to lead a Hornet army right up our ass, but he didn't."

"Obviously they're waiting until we're all tucked up and cozy to come in here and slaughter us all. We can't trust this bullshit!" he exclaimed as he grabbed for the green paper, tearing it in half.

"Alright, genius. What do you suggest?"

"That we attack them right now!"

"Oh yeah! With our professional army and whatnot. Are you being serious right now?!"

"We cannot trust them. They'll kill us the second we poke our heads out."

"You're being paranoid" Miro said.

"You're too naïve to realize that these Hornets are killer."

"You know what? Screw this. This conversation's over. We leave tomorrow and that's final. We're putting this shithole behind us once and for all."

"But- "

"Over!"

She walked off into the sewers, leaving Janick behind.

"Motherfucker!" he exclaimed, kicking his bedroll on the ground. "Can you believe this shit?"

"I think it'll be fine." I replied.

"You seriously trust those Hornets?"

"No. I don't trust those Hornets, but I trust Luke. I trust that if the Hornets didn't go ahead with it, he would warn us, tell us that there would be no peace. That's what friends do. They warn each other, they help each other."

Janick laughed. A cruel, mean laugh. "Hell, Reek, you're more naïve than Miro is. I see where you get it from now."

He walked off to his own corner of the room. He was refusing to pack up any of his belongings while the others got their shit together. He would probably rather get left behind than leave this city. Honestly, I wouldn't mind that. I liked Janick and all, but he could be a bully at times, just an ass to everyone around him. I don't think it would be any terrible loss for the Rats if he got left behind.

A few hours later, a crawled up into my bedroll for the last time in these sewers. I took it all in. The dampness, how cold it was, not like autumn weather was helping, and just how it felt in here. It was a feeling I always felt. That nervousness. That fear. But this time, it was a good anxiety. A good nervousness. It was wondering we would do with our lives out of this city. What we would do. Who would we be. All that stuff. Then I wondered about Citadel. Who would replace us. I was naïve, but I wasn't an idiot. I knew that the turf wars wouldn't end the second we left, no. There would be different gangs. Different people. Maybe better, maybe worse. Who would find these sewers? Who would find the Hive? Who would step where we stepped? Do what we did? If lucky, nobody would. Hell, if we were really lucky, the Earth Kingdom would come up from beneath the ground this very moment and take over the city. They would free us from poverty, feed us, keep us safe, but that was childish imagination speaking. That wasn't the real world we lived in and I had to grow up to see that. I turned over on my side to see if this angle would get me falling asleep quickest. Everybody was asleep save for Janick and Miro who were talking at the far side of the room. I couldn't hear what they were saying from where I was, but I could still see them.

I saw Miro put a hand on Janick's shoulder, probably trying to calm him down about the whole affair. They were deep in conversation and it looked heated, but quiet at the same time. Then, it seemed to cool down. The hand gestures slowed, and the air of the room felt far more relaxed. Miro turned around, waving a hand to say goodnight when Janick put a and on her shoulder, turned her around, and kissed her. I was damn glad Luke told me about Miro earlier today or this would've been one hell of an awkward situation for me. They parted, then continued again. I was wondering if I should turn away, if maybe this was creepy for me to be watching, but they took care of that for me, Janick grabbed Miro by the hand and led her out of the sleeping room, somewhere else. Soon after, I heard the sound of the sewer grate being raised for the pair to exit. Where they were going, I couldn't say. I wanted to laugh to myself, thinking about how uncomfortable I would have felt had I seen this a night before. I was damn glad Luke was around. Except he wasn't. I would miss him, but still, was glad we could part on better terms. I don't want to think about how we would have next met had this plan not have been a thing. I rolled over onto my other side, praying it worked better now.

I let my eyes close. And let sleep take me.

But sleep didn't come. Footsteps did. I opened my eyes and they were still coming. I figured of course it was Janick and Miro, but it was cautious, like it was trying to avoid being heard. Slowly, I rolled back onto my other side, looking towards the entrance of the sleeping room. But of course, it was false alarm. Janick came in, went to his corner of the room, and even packed some of his things. I saw him pack his knife into his bag, but nothing else. Still, it was a start. Janick lied down on his mat and just like that, was out like a light.

I was still waiting for Miro to come back. I waited a good 10 minutes. Then another. Then another. She always slept in the same room as us. Nothing changed. I thought maybe she had to use the bathroom. I didn't know how girls did it, but it could've been longer than boys. But then, after 10 more minutes, she still wasn't back.

Slowly, I slipped out of my bedding. I stood up to my feet, using my bedroll to muffle the sound of my feet on the stone-cold floor. I didn't bother putting my footwraps on. I paced my way through the mass of sleeping boys, taking care not to step on anyone of them. I looked at Janick as I came short of his corner to enter the hallway. He was fast asleep. He almost looked happy. I was nervous. Nervous about why Janick looked happy. Nervous about where Miro was and if she was okay.

I approached the latter that led outside of the sewers. It was open. I had heard it be opened, but not closed. I hadn't even thought about that until now. I looked behind me to see if I was being followed. I wasn't. I started my way up the later, each individual rung feeling especially cold against my bare feet. I lifted the sewer grate just to make some more room for me to squeeze past. I pushed myself out, and eased the grate to the stony floor, inch by inch. Still, it landed with a sound far louder than I would have liked, which was unfair as I wanted no sound. I looked down the alley both ways to see them empty.

"Miro?" I whispered. "Where are you. Are you out here." There was no response. I chose the way that led deeper into the maze of alleys rather than just going out on the street. If Miro had gone out to piss, I would think she would want more privacy. I heard girls were like that. I was walking past a pile of garbage when I felt myself step in something wet. At first, I thought it might be urine, but when I tried to raise my feet, it stuck. I turned and saw that along the niche in the alley, where dumpsters were usually stored, there was that same dark liquid splattered against the wall. I came closer, the weird liquid still sticking to my feet. The smell nearly overtook me, becoming more and more foul as I came closer. One of the dumpster was locked shut. One, wasn't, but I saw something sticking out.

At first, I thought it was a tree branch. It looked that way. When I touched it, I realized it wasn't a branch. It was a hand. "Miro?" I asked, the words getting caught in my throat. I opened the dumpster and there she was, a line of thick red blood going across her neck. Some of her clothes were off like she'd been undressing when she was killed. But there she sat, dead.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry, to pass out, but I closed the dumpster. I turned around and walked away. This isn't happening. This is a dream. Just get back in bed and you'll wake up. You'll be outside of Citadel and this'll all be over. I climbed back down the latter, not bothering to close the sewer grate behind me. I couldn't change anything in my dream or I wouldn't be able to come out. I walked back through the halls. I walked past a sleeping Janick, with the same grin on his face and crawled back into my bedroll.

I closed my eyes and opened them. I tried a second time and a third, pinching myself, doing whatever I could to wake up from this nightmare. I rinsed and repeated the same process until I could feel my eyes watering and the same patch of skin I'd been pinching go raw. Miro was dead. Janick killed her. Janick killed Miro. I knew that. I shouldn't have known that. Now he'll kill me. Other people will know he killed me and he'll kill them. He's going to kill us all. No. It's still just a dream. I can still wake up. I didn't wake up from the nightmare. There was no way of waking up from this nightmare. But Miro did. She found a way. She was awake now. I was still here. In this nightmare. I looked back to Janick, that same grin of his face. I knew it was him. I wanted to kill him, but I couldn't. He would hear me. He would know. And he would kill me. He would tell the rest some lie about the Hornets attacking and killing us both and they'd believe it because while Miro was the mother of this family, he was the father. They would follow him and there was nothing I could do to stop. I would follow him, and there was nothing I could do to stop myself. I had nothing else anymore. I finally fell asleep, crying into the straws of my pillow.

I don't think I even fell asleep. I just opened my eyes. They were still hurt from the night before. When I woke up, the entire mass of the Rats was murmuring amongst themselves, asking each other questions I couldn't individually make out when Janick walked into the room.

He had a hand shielding his eyes from the crowd until he wiped them and stood up to face us. He meant to look like he was hurt. Like he had maybe been crying. I wasn't the idiot here this time. I wasn't the naïve one. I was the only one here aside from Janick who knew what this was.

"Miro." He said, pausing to catch a bullshit breath. "Miro is dead."

The crowd erupted in murmurs and some cries and a hell lot of questions all aimed to Janick.

"I. I don't know when this happened, but, when I woke up, she wasn't here. I went outside, and-and the Hornets killed her."

His voice was losing the sadness, losing the misery and the fake crying. It was starting to grow into something else. Something accusation, something angry, something dangerous.

"Those cowards, those Hornet assholes led us to believe we could put all this bloodshed behind us. They told us this was over, that there didn't have to be any more bloodshed, but they lied to us! They killed the only person in this city who ever cared for us! And now, they expect to walk into the hands of the Fire Nation, so they can go on murdering, raping, and burning whatever the fuck they please!"

He had the crowd. They too had left the sadness and sobbing behind. This wasn't a funeral anymore. This was a rally. This was the beginning of something dangerous. Something that would get people killed.

"I don't think so! They think they own us! They think that they can do whatever the fuck they want and get away with it! Fuck that shit! We're going to show them otherwise. We're going to kill them all!

And as that cheer went up, I realized that Janick was wrong. He called me naïve before for trusting people, but now, I was the only sane one here. The only one who wasn't going to follow this madman to his slaughter. I didn't cheer, but I did march. I marched when he left the sewers with all 15 of his remaining Rats, armed with swords, bows, spears, some explosives. He was marching to war and at this same time, Luke believed we were leaving this city for good, leaving for a better life, but we weren't. We were marching on him and his Hornets for war. As we walked through the alleyway to access the main streets, I found my exit and took it. I ran.

I took different alleys, I took the small roads and ran. Ran as fast as I could until. They would be on the grain road. That's the road they always would open. I ran and ran and ran. I knew where I had to go. I just prayed I could get there quick enough.