Trekking across the district to get back home sucked, not because of the occasional Antithesis patrol, but because I was soooo tired at this point. It was a miracle that I made it to the alley without any issues. Before I went to the door I handed my CAR to Bandit and sent the bears out on patrol. The last thing I needed right now was to explain myself to everyone, and spend the next few hours keeping the kiddies from touching weapons. I had dealt with enough terror today as it is.
I called the basement that I squatted in, along with a few others, the Burrow. It was hidden down a blind alley, and it was a comfy place, at least compared to other places I’d stayed in. The most important feature, however, was the solid steel cellar door which we could secure during the occasional gang war, or incursion. Nearly everyone in the district had a bolt hole or hiding place, when trouble went down you could only hope yours was more secure than your neighbours. Who knows how many of them survived a model three bashing them.
Fortunately it looked like the door had survived unscratched during the incursion, unfortunately it was this same feature that was preventing me from getting some sleep right now. I briefly considered blowing the door open, before calling Alan.
“Teddy?”
“Alan open the door”
There was a pause, “What?”
I felt the corner of my right eye twitch, “Open the door so I can get in or I’m going to smother you with a pillow the next time you go to sleep”
“You’re outside? Shit.”
I could hear movement below, there was a sliding noise, and the door popped open. Finally.
If I had to describe Alan, I would call him a lanky idiot. He was around six foot, had sandy blond hair, and a habit of annoying me. I didn’t hate the guy, we grew up together, but he overreacted every time there was a gunshot and alert in the area. It kept the squirts alive and drove me nuts. Now he stood in the entrance.
“Holy shit Teddy, where have you been.” He paused, actually looking at me, “You look like shit”
I gave him a smile which didn’t reach my eyes, “Gee, thanks Alan. You want to get out of the way? I’m fucking exhausted and you’re standing in my way.”
He grunted, but stepped aside. Halfway down the stairs I stopped, “You hear from Marcus or Jeni?" I asked in a half whisper.
He turned away, no contact was a bad sign, but it wouldn’t be the first or last time someone disappeared. I patted him on the back, “Don’t worry about it until this Incursion is over, Marcus knows what he’s doing, most of the time. He’s probably just stuck somewhere just like Jane.”
Alan slammed the steel bar back down to lock the door while I took the last few steps down, back home. It wasn’t exactly glamorous, no more than ten feet wide and thirty feet long; we made do with what we had. Cloth dividers were hung down from the roof to create rough dividers. The back had a series of mattresses for people to sleep on, the front had a table, a few chairs, a storage cabinet for nutriblocks, and a couch. My couch. Mostly because I was the only one short enough to sleep on it comfortably. I guess one of the kids could have slept there, but the beds were more comfortable, I'd feel guilty if one of them had to sleep there instead of me. Besides, it was always safer having one of the eldest being closest to the door, you never know who, or what, might try to get in.
I couldn't use the couch right away anyways, it was occupied by the most adorable member of our group.
“Teddy!” The little girl pretty much launched herself across the room when she saw me, her long dark hair trailing behind her, a weathered frog plushie in her hands. I had to brace myself or risk getting knocked over, then I gently embraced her. “Hey Issi.”
Isabelle was the youngest, out of our group. Jane found her wandering the markets a few years ago, abandoned, just like the rest of us. She was only five now, not quite old enough to learn a job, but soon one of us would have to teach her. She looked up at me, “Alan said you were being a moron, running around with the baddies out there”
I heard Alan freeze behind me, he knew he’d screwed up. I just patted Isabelle’s head, I’d deal with Alan later. “Don’t worry about it, I know how to take care of myself.” The girl nodded.
The other figure in the room hadn’t moved since I arrived. Head down on the table, eyes closed. Eddie was eight, and not a people person. Alan had been dragging him around teaching him how to be a courier, so the boy had been constantly exhausted the last week. Considering everyone had been locked inside all day I couldn’t understand why he’d be exhausted now, I would have to ask Alan about it later.
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I took Issi’s hand and walked over to the couch. “I’d love to hear about your day, but Teddy is really tired right now. We’ll talk in the morning, okay?” The girl was pouting, but she still nodded. It reminded me of my own childhood after Karen and Angelo found me. I remember them being constantly exhausted, doing whatever it takes to put enough food on the table for everyone. I didn’t understand then, I do now.
I ruffled Issi’s hair, “Thanks kiddo”. I laid down on the couch and was almost immediately asleep.
**********************
I was awoken by gunshots, a lot of gunshots. Pulling the time up in my Augs I saw that I’d been asleep for barely three hours. Part of me wanted to scream, the larger, rational side of me wanted to avoid waking everyone else if possible.
I had to whisper to avoid bothering everyone, “Nyx…”
Evelyn.
“Are there rubber bullets available for the Blackpaw?”
There are.
“Then please provide a couple clips for each of the bears, then get them to politely encourage the gangs to go fuck off. I can’t believe they couldn’t even wait one FUCKING day before fighting over territory.” I clamped my mouth shut, took a few deep breaths, and tried to calm down.
It’s done.
“Thank you. I’ll have to add ‘deal with the gangs’ to the list of all the other shit I have to deal with tomorrow.” I rolled over and tried to fall back asleep.
************
I’m normally a light sleeper, but I managed to sleep through Alan getting the kids up and ready for the day. I did manage to drag myself out of bed and over to the table when everyone sat down for breakfast.
Issi was humming happily, Eddie was picking tiny pieces of his nutriblock off and eating it piece by piece, Alan was staring. Rude.
“What’s with the clothes, I didn’t notice last night but those aren’t the same duds you left with yesterday. How did you manage to find another stupid hoodie with bear ears?”
“It’s one of the few perks of my new job killing aliens.”
Alan’s eyes narrowed. “You’re a Samurai now?”
The children’s eyes snapped to me, nutriblocks halfway to their mouths. Alan looked at me in doubt, Isabelle and Eddie in admiration. “That’s sooo cool Teddy,” Eddie said.
“No it’s not,” I replied. “I have to fight alien monsters, and if I don’t people may die. I don’t even get paid for it. It’s bullshit.” I usually tried to avoid swearing around the kids, guess I wasn’t awake enough to filter myself yet. Fuck.
Isabelle dropped her Nutriblock in surprise, I managed to catch it before it hit the floor and handed it back to her.
“Is it really that bad? Are you going to get hurt?” she asked, tearing up. Fuck, now I’d screwed up and upset her.
I petted her on the head, trying to calm her down. “No, I’m not going to get hurt. Look at me now, I’m perfectly fine after fighting them all night aren’t I?” the little girl looked me up and down, then nodded, “We don’t lie to you kids about how bad things are here; Maybe I can make things a little bit better!” I didn’t lie to them about the district, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell them the truth about getting injured.
Issi nodded again, sniffing a little, a tiny smile on her face. Nailed it. I glanced over at Eddie, he’d already lost interest and went back to his nutriblock.
“Don’t worry about me, I won’t do anything stupid. I’m just going to work on making things a little safer around here.” This time Alan scoffed. I shot him a death gaze, he could doubt me all he wanted, just not in front of the kids.
“Anyways, I’m going to head over to the Shelter and see if I can figure out how to clear up the Antithesis and make it safe for everyone to go outside again. Maybe I can figure out how to fix up the shelter and make it safer for everyone in the district in case this happens again. Doesn’t that sound good?” The little girl nodded, enthusiasm returning to her face.
“Alright, then I better be off. You two behave for Alan.”
I started walking out, waving over my shoulder, when Alan grabbed my shoulder. “You’re insane. More so than usual. You’re just going to say something like that and leave? What if something happens?”
I shook off his hand, then pulled him down closer to me so I could whisper. “I spent all day yesterday fighting fucking aliens, and they’re still all over the district. Most sane people won’t leave their houses right now. If I don’t do something it’ll be days before it’s either safe, or the Antithesis re-establish themselves.” I stood up straight. “Besides, I’m going to leave you some protection outside. Just look after the kids, and lock up after I leave. I’ll call you later”
He stared at me for a long moment then nodded. I let him go up first and remove the bar, that thing was fucking heavy. I stepped out into the alley and looked around.
“Nyx, call the bears back. Dusty stays here, just in case.”
Got it, are you actually heading to the shelter?
“I am”
Then you should stop by Leah’s place and explain why you disappeared yesterday.
I stumbled, realisation dawning on me. “Oh shit”