Asphalt Tribe

August

The weeks of my recovery were filled with sleep, little food, and Mom yelling at me for making my concussion worse. But once I had rested for a full three weeks and felt better, I was allowed to go back to my normal routine. Oh, joy!

Trouble had been visiting me every day. Apparently it took him five years to realize that he was welcome in our room, and he was making up for lost time. It was kind of sweet, how he was so concerned about me. More help than Aria was giving me, anyway. Thanks, girlfriend!

Towards the end of the day I was allowed up, I got out of bed. I had been too tired to get up earlier, and wouldn’t have even moved that day had I realized that Trouble hadn’t come in at all that day. Idiot probably got into trouble. Gotta love names with meaning.

The sunlight streamed in through the window as I got out of bed, casting long shadows across the floor. It was sunset, meaning that it was around seven or eight PM. Damn, my schedule’s gonna be permanently screwed up now. Maybe I’d go clubbing, since I’d be awake all night.

After grabbing a bite to eat in the main house, I scurried into the backyard. Some kids were playing badminton, which for them was mostly just hitting each other with rackets. A few teens were lounging in the sun, and more were no doubt hiding in the woods.

“Bane!”

I scanned the yard, but I couldn’t find the source of Trouble’s voice.

“Yo, Bane!”

I realized with a sickening horror that the voice was coming from above me. I looked up to the roof.

"A little to the left!" he yelled. He paused before adding, "And look out for the power lines." He laughed. "Watch it go down in flames. Bzzt!"

"Yo stupid!" I called up. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Bane! Come on up and see!"

Stomach churning, I scurried up the tree on the far side of the yard, walked out onto a branch, and leapt for the roof, grabbing hold of the gutter to pull myself up. When I got to my feet, I saw the silhouettes of Trouble and what looked like a kite with legs.

"What is that?"
"My new flying machine," he said proudly. "Built it out of sticks and leaves from that monster banana tree back there. You know, the one with leaves bigger than your head? I had Mom sew them together and I put them on a frame. Isn’t it awesome? Like, shazam!"

"Hi Bane!" yelled Aria from where she stood on the roof, holding the flying machine. "I'm gonna be the first to test out this new ride, ain't it great?"

I walked closer. She had a leafy contraption strapped to her back, her arms strapped to the underside. The whole thing looked like a big triangle. She waved her arms up and down and I saw that the side moved like wings. The whole thing was maybe four or five feet wide.

“She's gonna jump off the roof and fly over to those trees there" said Trouble. He pointed to a tree across the street. "Then she's gonna land on that big branch there and sorta glide down."

"Aria," I said, "that thing's made of leaves. You're what, a hundred and twenty pounds? That thing won't hold you! That thing wouldn't hold Stacey!" Stacey was the newest addition to the Tribe. She was still a toddler and all brown curls and blue eyes. She also weighed maybe thirty pounds.

"Aw, Bane, just look at this thing! It'll work perfectly! See, I flap my arms like a bird and I flies. It's simple!"

"Aria, if it was that easy, we'd have been flying without machines ages ago. Haven't you ever heard the story of Icarus?"
"No. I don't got time for listening to that old crap like you do."
"Well, it's a story about a boy who tries to fly. He invents this pair of wax wings."
"Did they work?"
"Yeah, they worked. Only problem was that he flew so high up that he got too close to the Sun. The Sun melted the wings, and the next thing you know... SPLAT!"

"Aw, Bane, that's just a story. 'Sides, old Iracus didn't have us. We got the power of ingenuity, baby!" She gave Trouble a high five. "Now if you'd excuse me, I gotta be off. Trouble, you got any more instructions?"

"Um, yeah. Just watch out for the tree branches and the power lines. This thing took me all day to build and I don’t want to see it wrecked.”
"I thought you were going to watch TV with Sear all day and eat us out of house and home," I said.
"Yeah, weird thing was, I couldn't find him after I got the snacks. So I put my brain to good use!" He nodded proudly. "And now we're going to see it in action. You ready to go?" he called to Aria.

She ruffled her new wings affirmatively.
"And lift off in three... two..."

This can't end well.

"ONE!"

Aria leapt from the roof, her powerful legs kicking off and propelling her into the air. She soared gracefully for a moment, like a hawk leaping into flight. Then she started to plummet towards the roof again. Frantically flapping her wings, she tipped head over heels and face planted onto the hot black shingles.

Aria's muffled scream faded into the distance as she slid down the roof face first. As the screams started to die down and she started to slow, she hit the gutter. From there, it was like watching a slow motion film of a doomed train plummeting over a cliff. Her bare feet finally disappeared and we heard a sickening THUD on the walkway below.

Trouble and I watched in stunned silence, unable to believe what we’d just seen. After a couple of minutes, he spoke.

"It... didn't... work," he mumbled, shock in his voice. "How couldn't it work? I built it! I even tested it out. My plastic army men were fine."

"Really? Did they come with parachutes? 'Cause I don't think they'd survive the fall. Or did you simply forget that humans aren't made from a durable plastic?"

Trouble just stared at the edge of the roof, slowly shaking his head. In the backyard, I heard someone setting off a firecracker. It shot into the air and exploded right behind us. Trouble tumbled down the roof to join our friend on the ground. Neighbors were starting to stare now, throwing open their windows and calling to their families. Why was it that humans are so eager to witness each others' demise?

I heard people on the ground.
"Hey, what happened here?"
"Are they alive?"
"I knew this house was full of freaks!"

I bolted to the edge of the roof and jumped off, landing neatly on my feet. Aria and Trouble lay face down on the sidewalk, moaning.

"Hey, Trouble," I whispered. "You still there? You alive?"

Slowly he sat up, a very confused look on his face, as if he had no clue how he got onto the ground. I leaned down next to Aria.

"Yo, Aria," I said quietly, "get up. Trouble made it alive, so can you." Although he didn't necessarily make it without brain damage. How much of a difference brain damage would make I wasn't entirely sure of.

Aria lie there for a few more seconds before lifting her head. She looked around, and, seeing Trouble sitting up in a dazed stupor, got to her feet. Her face was scraped up, as well as her arms and legs. She gave the crowd and I a blank stare, then opened her mouth. You could feel the crowd leaning in to hear her.

"THAT WAS FREAKING AWESOME!!!"

She kicked Trouble. "Come on, man, get up." He didn't get up, just sort of tipped over onto the ground. Now I was starting to get worried.

"Trouble?" I asked. "You okay? Are you there, buddy?"

Finally he stood up. I expected him to say something along the lines of "oh... my... God" but instead he started spouting gibberish nonsense.

As Trouble babbled on, I turned to the crowd.
"I don't know what he's saying," I told them, "but I think it means something to the effect of 'go home and leave us in peace'." They stared at me as though they were amazed I could talk. I started shooing them away. "Well, go on! Go home! Get out of here!"

"Show's over, folks!" hollered Aria. "Now get outta here before I kick all your asses." She took a menacing step towards them. The crowd dissipated pretty quickly after that.

After the final onlooker had disappeared into his house, Aria kicked Trouble in the shin.
"Come on, man, now it's just stupid."

His eyes finally focused and he looked at us.

"Moo," he said before scurrying into the house.

"Yup, no new damage," I said to Aria.
"Totally normal," she agreed.

Crave

“I’m telling you,” snapped Sunny, “it’s impossible to get food! Any food!”

“All you have to do is steal it!” shouted Screech, a gloomy girl a year younger than me. They were standing a few yards away from me. We were bathing in the river in the woods near the house.

“There’s nothing to steal! I’m serious, the market is empty. There’s no bread, no fruit, not even crackers. And even what there is, they’re guarding it really bad now. You can’t take anything without getting spotted.”

“Not if you know how to steal,” I muttered.

Sunny approached me.
“What did you say? You’re one to talk, freak! As if you never get caught! At least I’ve had the brains not to get caught!” She smirked. “Or are you just too much of a wimp to run fast enough?”

I glared. “I may be short, but at least I’m not a blondewad like you!”
“Yeah, well you’re fat!”
“My abs are solid muscle! I could beat you in a fight any time! Come on, let’s go right now!”

“Oo, I’m so scared!” Sunny feigned fear.

I raked my nails across her face, and she shrieked. Sunny tried to grab for my hair, but it was too short, much shorter than her blonde locks. I drove a fist into her stomach and she collapsed in the shallow river. Putting a foot on her chest, I growled.

“You want more?”
“You-“ She spit out some water. “That wasn’t fair!”
“Life ain’t fair, bitch.” I put my weight on her stomach for a second, then turned and grabbed my clothes. Slithering into my shorts, I watched her stand, sputtering.

“I’ll get you for this!” Sunny growled, not looking very sunny at all. I just sneered at her and left. Fat chance of that.

“And then I beat her up, and it was epic,” I boasted to Aria later. She high-fived me.

“Street freaks for the win, right?”
“Hell yeah! Hey, I’m gonna go get something to eat. You coming?”

“Ah, can’t I just lie here? I’m too lazy to move. Get me something, ‘kay?”
“Sure.”

In the main house, where we kept all the food, I found Trouble in the kitchen.

“Whatcha doing?” I asked him as he closed the fridge door. He turned to me, arms full of bags of chips and soda bottles.

“Sear and me are gonna pig out in front of the TV for the rest of the day. It’s too hot to go outside.”

“Yeah? And what are the rest of us going to eat? I want dinner tonight, you know.”
“Relax. I put something in there.”

As he left, I opened the fridge. Trouble had left a packet of popcorn on the top shelf.

“Popcorn doesn’t go in the fridge, you retard!” I yelled. “We don’t even have a microwave!”

Trouble came back into the room, arms still full.
“We don’t?” he asked. “I’m confuzzled. We had popcorn yesterday.”
“Yeah, because your idiot friend brought it over. You’ve lived here your whole life and you never knew there was no microwave?”
“Guess not. Hey, wanna hang out with us? We’re gonna play shooting games and watch cartoons.”

“I got better things to do,” I told him, though I secretly wished I had the guts to hang out with him and Sear. That would be crush heaven. But no, I wasn’t brave enough for that. I scanned the countertop, where there was usually fruit and bread stolen from the market. It was empty. Maybe Sunny was right. “Hey Trouble. You been to the market lately? Word is there’s nothing there.”

“Oh, yeah. Place is empty. Only place with food is the stores. But I think they’ll bounce back soon. This stuff never lasts that long, right?”

“Yeah. Right.” I hesitated. “You know, I think I will hang out with you guys. May as well.”

A week later, the hunger gnawed at me. It gnawed at everyone. We’d been caught off guard by the food shortage. Couldn’t go to the market; there was nothing there. Couldn’t go to the stores; there wasn’t enough money. There was never enough money to go around. Sure, if you were lucky you could get a few bucks pick pocketing, but not enough to feed the whole Tribe. Maybe if you saved up that money for a while, you could scrounge up enough to buy a used TV to replace the one with the cracked screen, or to buy a cheap radio. But none of us could keep from using it for that long. The temptation was too great. And now we were paying for it.

Let me tell you, I doubt you know how it feels to starve. I was already too skinny; everyone in the Tribe was. I was used to going a day or two without anything but a few berries or crackers. But that meant that I had less fat to last me, less initial health. It felt like my stomach was a gaping pit, like I was about to keel over at any second. And, oh, I was tired. So tired I could barely move. I think I stayed in bed for a straight day.

“This is getting bad,” moaned Aria. As if I didn’t know that already. We were lying on our beds. The August heat was only making things worse.

“Shut up. I already know it’s bad. What we gotta think about is how to get out of it.”

“The only way out of it is to go buy stuff. An’ we can’t buy stuff. We gotta wait it out. Either that or die.”

“You can’t live forever without food. Especially not when you weren’t living well to begin with.” An idea struck me. “I’m gonna get money.” I sat up in bed.

“How? You got no job.”
“I can go to the black market. Sell some stuff. Do some work. Someone’s bound to pay me.” I hauled myself out of bed, a bit wobbly on my feet, but gaining my balance back quickly. “Wanna come?”

“No thanks. I’m too tired.”
“I’ll bring you back some food if I can get some.”
“You do that.”

After I grabbed my backpack, I climbed gingerly onto the awning, not wanting to lose my balance. I could see the silhouette of someone walking down the street in the evening sunlight. I slithered down onto the porch, wading through the crowd of hungry cats, and ran toward the figure.

“Hey!” I called.

The person turned around, and I saw his face. Shadow. You know, that boy I saw at the club that I think is kind of cute? I skidded to a stop in front of him.

“What’s up?” I panted. Even the short run had worn me out.

“Going to the market.” Shadow blinked at me with his big dark eyes. God, he had the biggest, widest eyes I’d ever seen on a boy, giving him a perpetually surprised expression. It made him look childish when he was happy, terrifying when he was angry, and scared out of his wits when he was shocked. “What’s up with you?”
“You’re going to the market? As in, the black market?”
“Yeah. I’m gonna sell some knockoffs.” He reached into his backpack and pulled out some little cartoon character figurines. They looked like official toys, but I could tell that they were knockoffs.

“Don’t you think it’s kind of wrong to trick people like that?” I asked.

“Nah. They never know the difference. They just go on happily thinking that they got the real thing. And really, isn’t it the thought that counts?”

I snorted.
“Whatever. All I know is I was heading there too. Let’s go together.” I started walking.

We walked in silence down the street for a while, enjoying the last bits of sun for the day.

“So what are you selling?” asked Shadow. I looked up at him. He looked genuinely curious.

“Fabric,” I told him. “And I take orders for clothes people want made. Then I come home, make them, and bring them back to the market. If they show up, I get paid. If not, free clothes.”

“You seem to really love that,” said Shadow. “Sewing, I mean.”

“Yeah, I love it, but I can’t quilt or anything. I can just make clothes.”

“More than I can do. I can’t fight. I can’t help people. I can’t even carry on a conversation.”

“You’re doing pretty good with this one,” I said, smiling. “How long did you go to school for?”

“Right up until I joined the Tribe a couple months ago. Why?”

“Well you’re… how old? Sixteen? You’ve got at least a tenth-grade education. You have a chance at making your own way when you get older.” I sighed, looking up into the sky. “Me, I left school when I was in fifth grade. I’ve got the basics, but without a high school degree, no one’s gonna want me.”

“We want you,” he told me. “The Tribe wants you. Trouble wants you.”

“What was that?” I tipped my head to the side.

Shadow looked shocked. He bit his lip, as if debating whether he should keep talking or run away.

“Nothing. It was nothing.”
“Oh, it was something.” I elbowed him in the side.

“Ow! Nothing! It was nothing! I didn’t mean it!”

I huffed in exasperation.
“Look. Either you tell me now or I ask Trouble about it later, ‘cause I know I heard his name in there.”

Shadow looked at the ground, avoiding my gaze.

“I said…” He paused. “I said Trouble wants you!”

A wall of silence passed between us. My heart twisted.

“That’s what I thought you said,” I mumbled. “You mean, he likes me?”

Shadow just nodded. He wasn’t looking at me, and his face was going red.
“How do you know? Did he tell you? You’re roommates, right?”

“Yeah, we are. He was talking to Sear while I was in our room, and then Sear said something, and then Trouble smacked him and said that I didn’t know. So I asked what I didn’t know, and he made me promise not to tell and he’s gonna kill me!” His voice rose in fear on the last part.

“Ah, he won’t kill you. Trouble’s harmless. Stupid, but harmless. Tell you what, I won’t tell him that I know. That way you won’t get on his bad side.” As confused as I was, I felt a pang of pity for Shadow. He was obviously the type of person who normally avoided confrontations, and was out of his element here.

“Oh, Bane, would you? Will you really not tell him?”

“Swear upon my life. Don’t worry.” I paused. “Are you really so stupid that you didn’t think of how I would react to that?”

“I didn’t think-“
“Yeah, you didn’t think. It’s generally a good idea to think before you say something like that.”

“Shut up.”

We entered the small section of forest at the side of the road. Through the trees, you could see the abandoned barn where the market was located.

I couldn’t stop thinking about Trouble. How long had he liked me? How much did he like me? What the hell did he think was attractive about me?

I was so busy thinking about that that I didn’t notice when I had to jump over a ditch. I tripped and screamed, landing face-first in the mud. Shadow reached down and helped me up. I brushed myself off.

“Damn, I twisted my ankle.”

“You’re just a magnet for injuries, aren’t you? First the concussion…”
“And now this.” I sighed. “Damn, I’m stupid. So busy thinking that I didn’t pay attention. Idiot.”

“Don’t talk like that. You had a lot on your mind. Nothing wrong with that.” He raised an eyebrow. “You okay to walk? Because you look like you’re in pain.”

“No. I think I’m okay.” I gingerly set my foot down. Pain sliced through my foot. “Shit, that hurts! Not okay. Definitely not okay. Now what?”

“Want me to help?” asked Shadow. “Maybe I can help you walk. Do you still want to go to the market?”
“Yeah. I need money for food. If you could help, that’d be great, but I’m not sure how…”

Wordlessly Shadow put my arm around his shoulders. My heart gave a little flutter. I wasn’t used to being this close to a cute boy. When I looked up at him, he looked just as uncomfortable as I felt. Avoiding my eyes, he started walking. I limped along.

I had to admit, the support from Shadow was helping, but… God, he’s so close. I wasn’t this close to Sear when he and Aria carried me back from the mall. I hadn’t had to lean against him. But my head was on Shadow’s shoulder and I knew I was blushing bright red. I stumbled and he put an arm around my waist to catch me. I couldn’t help yelping in surprise.

“Sorry!” he cried. “I… I didn’t… I wasn’t…”

“S’okay,” I muttered. “I was just shocked, that’s all.” My heart was pounding a mile a minute, though I could tell if it was from the pain and shock or from the boy holding me up.

We reached the edge of the forest. The trees opened up to an abandoned farm. The barn wasn’t too far off, but in between us and it was an old graveyard, probably for the members of the farming family. I tensed up.

“I can’t do this,” I whispered.
“What? Why?”

“Dead people. I’m terrified of dead people. And I just can’t stand walking over them and… normally I jump across the gravestones, but with this ankle… And we can’t go around, because of the fence…” An iron fence ran along the edge of the woods.

Shadow bit his lip, thinking.
“Okay,” he said. “There’s got to be some way around this.”
“Like what? I can’t jump across. You can’t carry me across, I’m too heavy. And we can’t go around.” I sucked in a deep breath. “I’m going to do it. I’ll walk across.”

“But if you’re afraid-“
“Then it’s best to conquer my fear. Let’s go.”

Shadow led me across. I could tell he was avoiding us stepping on any burial plots, which helped, but my skin was still crawling. I felt like crying, and all my previous thoughts about Shadow and Trouble were gone. My breath was coming in short, fast spurts. Dead people dead bodies scary corpses dead dead dead dead dead. I felt my hands start shaking.

We rushed across the cemetery and as soon as we stepped through the iron gates, I let go of Shadow and bent over, hands on my knees. I was panting hard, and I felt like puking.

“Are you okay?” asked Shadow. “Can you breathe? Are you all right?”

I closed my eyes and nodded, taking deep breaths. As suddenly as the fear had started, it disappeared. I stood up.
“I’m better now. Let’s go.”

Shadow looked bewildered at my recovery, but helped me resume walking. The fields, normally filled with waves of knee-high weeds, were barren and dry. Eventually we reached the old, gray barn that held the black market.

Ever since I became a member of the Tribe, I have loved the black market. It’s not nearly as bad as it sounds; many of the people are trying to make an honest living. They’re just too poor to handle stalls in the market and get a license to sell things there. So they come to the black market where you can sell stuff for free.

Dull stalls filled the barn. Each stall was crudely built from wood, sometimes with a tarp draped over the top. The stall-keepers were all thin people with hardened gazes, people who knew what the tough life was like. I waved to a woman I knew, a potter named Daea, and she gave me a weak smile from behind her work table.

We headed to the back corner of the barn. It was quieter back here, though you could still hear the shouts of stall owners hawking their goods. It was also the place where most of the “normal” people entered, the people who weren’t there for knockoffs and drugs but for semi-serious business. I settled into the chair behind the counter of the Tribe’s stall and started pulling things out of my backpack. Some needles, a measuring tape, a few different colors of thread. I put my foot up on the chair next to me. Then I realized that Shadow probably wanted to sit down. I glanced up at him.

“It’s fine,” he said, waving me off. “You need to rest your foot. I can stand.”

It wasn’t long before my first customer came along. She was a teenage girl dressed in all black, with purple and teal hair.

“Are you the girl who mends clothes?” she asked, sounding quiet as a mouse.

“That would be me. What do you need?”

The girl reached into a bag and pulled out a black velvet skirt. I immediately saw that the hem was coming undone, and there was a small rip on the side seam.

“Can you fix this for me?”
“Of course! Just set it down here. Now do you want to wait while I do this or come back tomorrow? It won’t take long.”

“I’ll wait here.” She laid the skirt down on the counter as I threaded the needle with black thread. I started on the hem. The rhythmic motion of my hand calmed me, blocking out the chaos in the old barn. It was only a matter of minutes before I was done. I looked up at the girl, who was having a conversation with Shadow.

“Here you go,” I chirped. “All fixed.”

She held up the skirt and gasped.

“This is amazing! You can barely see the stitches!” She dug out a few crumpled bills from her pocket and set them on the table. “Is that enough?”

I examined the bills. They amounted to twenty-five bucks.

“This is fine. I’m glad you like it. Have a nice day.”
“You too!” She scurried off to a jewelry-maker’s stall.

“She was right,” said Shadow. “That skirt looked brand new. How do you do that? I can’t do anything with my hands.”

“Well,” I said, smiling, “I’ve got small hands. Put out your fist.” I held my fist next to his. “See? I’m tiny.”

“No kidding. How tall are you?”
“Five feet even. I wish I were taller, but I guess it can be an advantage.”

It went on like that for a while, me mending and Shadow selling his cheap knockoff toys. Eventually, a snooty-looking woman showed up. She peered down her nose at me.

“And I assume you are the sewing girl that my friend recommended to me?”

I nodded, feeling a wall go up between me and her. I was already pissed off and she had barely said a word to me.

“You don’t look like much,” she scoffed. “Little more than a street rat, it seems. Ah, well, I need someone to make this dress and I need it cheap. Tell me, girl, what would be the charge for a dress? I already have the material and the thread.”

“Depends on the dress,” I told her, sitting up a bit straighter. This could mean big money. “Are we talking a sun dress or what?”

“Oh, no. I want an evening gown.” She reached into her bag and plopped a pile of material on the counter. I picked it up and gasped. The fabric swirled and undulated in my hands – or at least it seemed to. It looked like water, forming little waves and whirlpools and currents. I came to my senses and realized that it must have been digitized – a popular concept these days was flexible LED screens woven into clothing, and that was probably what this was. But I was still in awe.

“I would like this made into a gown that looks like this,” the woman said, slapping a sketch down on the table. It showed a standard evening gown, with an upside-down V cut in the skirt. “Can you make this?”

“Sure,” I said, trying to sound confident. I wasn’t about to lose my cool in front of this woman. “When do you need it by?”

“My party is tomorrow at seven. I’ll need it by six PM tomorrow. How much would that cost?”

“I suppose around sixty dollars. So if you’ll just give me that now-“

“No. You will be paid upon the completion of the dress. If, that is, it is satisfactory.

“I get paid now or you get no dress,” I sneered. “That’s the deal.”

The woman glanced down at me. I glared up at her.

“I could always find someone else, you know.”
“Yes, but they all charge upwards of a hundred dollars. I doubt you want to spend that. Do you honestly think that I’ll take the money and run? It’s not worth getting arrested over sixty bucks.” It totally was, but I wasn’t telling her that.

“Don’t worry, maam,” Shadow chimed in. “I’ll make sure that she’ll finish the job.”

The woman gave him an intrigued look. Apparently she was willing to trust cute boys more than intelligent girls.

“And who, may I ask, I you?”
“I’m… her brother. And I’ll be sure to tell our parents that they should punish her if she doesn’t finish this job. Come on,” he added, flashing her a winning smile. “You can trust me.”

“Well…” The woman looked uncertain. Then she sighed. “Fine. I can’t afford a higher price, I suppose.” She fished the money out of her purse and set it on the counter. “There. My measurements are on the back of the sketch sheet. I will be here at six PM sharp tomorrow. Good day.” She shot me a final look of loathing before trotting off. I watched her leave.

“So you’re my brother now?” I said to Shadow, who shrugged.

“Hey, what did you want from me? It helped you get the deal, didn’t it?” He looked through a gap in the wall of the barn at the dusk outside. “It’s getting late. How about we get out of here?”

“Roger that.” I planted my sore foot on the ground, hoisted my backpack onto my shoulder and stood up. My ankle didn’t hurt as bad now, but I was still limping.

“So now what?” asked Shadow. “Do we go to the supermarket or what? Actually, I’ll go. You’re hurt; you shouldn’t have to walk around.”

“No. I’m coming with you. Otherwise I won’t get the food I want. I’m not that weak.”
“But-“
“You trying to say I’m weak? Please. This is nothing.” We stepped out into the field. “Now if I broke my ankle, then we’d have a problem. Besides, if worse comes to worse and I can’t walk, you’ll just push me in the shopping cart.”

“I don’t get a say in the matter?”
“Nope. I’m in charge here.”

Shadow, seeing that there was no point in arguing with me, dropped the subject.

By the time we came out of the supermarket – TastyKakes in tow – night had fallen. Rain poured in buckets. We had crossed into enemy territory. I led the way, traipsing through the alleyways on red alert. Even on a hurt ankle, I moved fast, and I was conscious of Shadow falling behind. I didn’t care, to be honest. I just wanted to get home and get some food in my family’s stomachs.

“Where are we?” whispered Shadow as we walked into the light of the streetlamps. “I don’t think I’ve seen this place before. God, did you get us lost? You better not have gotten us lost. If-“

I whirled around to face him.
“First of all,” I told him, “there is no ‘us’. Not if you act like this. You trust my ability or go home by yourself. Second, you will quit your whining now if you don’t want to get caught. We are on enemy territory – do you understand that? You gotta act like you own the place. And third,” –I glanced around at the unfamiliar street – “we are not lost. Now keep moving.”

“Only if you get out of my face and let me walk.”

I hissed like a wet cat and turned away, trying to keep my temper in check. I was hungry, I was drenched, and I… oh, I don’t know. I can only hang around someone for so long. Trudging along, I wondered if I’d ever get home. Maybe it would be better if I stayed out here and didn’t go home. Maybe it would be better if I wandered in the dank, dark city forever. Then I wouldn’t have to deal with…with everything.

I was jolted out of my thoughts by voices up ahead. A group of gangsters was making their way toward us. I ducked into an alleyway, but Shadow kept walking, oblivious. Idiot. Well, that was his problem.

“Hey, look at the shrimp!”
“What’re you looking at, punk?”
“Hey! Isn’t this one of them Tribe kids?”
“Yeah, why’s he on our turf?”
“Let’s teach him a lesson.”

Oh shit.

A wave of pity washed over me. Shadow really didn’t know any better. I had to help him. I jumped out of the cramped alleyway, prepared to fight. The gangsters – there were maybe six of them – had surrounded Shadow. One of them had him in a headlock. The rest were jeering and taunting.

“Hey!” I barked. “Let him go!”

They all turned to me in one collective movement. I stared into the eyes of the leader.

“I said,” I growled, “let my friend go!”
“Aw yeah?” The group walked approached me as one. “What’re you gonna do about, bitch?”

“That depends. Do you prefer to have your neck snapped or your skull smashed?”

This got a round of raucous laughter from the group of boys. They held on to Shadow, who gave me an urgent look. A run-while-you-still-can-and-leave-me-here look. I shook my head, just a little bit, just enough so that he knew I would get him out of this.

I surged forward, aiming my fists at the lead gangster. He shoved Shadow forward, and we crashed into each other. By the time I’d recovered, we were surrounded.

The teenage boys who had formed a circle around us started walking, prodding me so I couldn’t slip out the back. I put my head down, hoping a plan would come to me.

“‘Let my friend go’, huh?” said Shadow, looking amused. “I thought we weren’t friends.”

“Rule number one: never explain yourself. Presentation is half the fight.”
“Whatever you say.”
“Look, can we think about something important? Like how to get out of this? You’re supposed to be the smart one, remember?”

The smirk left Shadow’s face.
“Yeah, well I’m also the scared-out-of-my-wits one,” he whispered. At least he had the sense to lower his voice for that one. “You think I’ve ever been in this situation before?”

“Neither have I. But at least I’m trying to think of something.”

“So what’re we gonna do with them, boss?” I heard one of the younger gangsters ask. He looked a little younger than me, maybe fourteen, and he asked the question with hesitance in his tone.
“We’re gonna kill em, dumbshit. Now shut up and keep walking.”

My stomach churned. I’d been in life-or-death situations before, but it was usually an equal match. Now I was outnumbered and outpowered. All of these boys, even the youngest one, had at least four inches on me, and huge biceps to boot. I turned to Shadow.

“See?” I hissed. “This is why we need a plan. You any good at fighting?”

“I’m okay, I guess. But… that’s not your plan, is it? You have a better plan, right?”

“That’s Plan A. Plan B is to die a horrible death without putting up a fight. I don’t know about you, but I’m going down fighting.”

“But…”
“You heard them, right? Do you honestly think I’ll stand for that?”
“Why do I have a feeling you’re going to save yourself and let them take me?”

I let out a bark of laughter at that, drawing the attention of the gangsters. As soon as they decided it was nothing important, I continued.

“I’d never do that! Why would I let them kill you?”

Shadow looked puzzled at that.
“Wait… so now all of a sudden you do care about me?”
I sighed.
“No, man, I pity you. When it comes to this type of thing, saving you is the equivalent of saving a four-year-old. Besides, you never leave a man behind. It’s Tribe policy.” I picked my head up and looked around. “OK, see that white building up there? When we get there, I’m going to scream. That’s your signal to start attacking these guys. Make sure to make as much noise as you can. If we’re lucky, the people inside will come outside because of the noise and they’ll call the cops.”

“But then we’ll get arrested?”
“We won’t get arrested because we won’t get caught, genius.”

I glanced around, taking in the scene of the slums. The white-painted sheet-metal house was coming up on the right.

I let loose a battle cry and kicked the leader in the back of the knees. As he crumpled to the ground, I ducked to avoid a man’s hand swooping past my head. I landed a karate chop to the leader’s neck.

Someone grabbed my arm. He started to swing me around, trying to run me into the wall. I broke free. Putting up my foot to stop my crash, I used the momentum to jump onto his back. I bit his neck. Blood. Time seemed to slow down as I looked around.

Shadow was being beat down by two other guys. The others had fled. He was hunched over like a turtle on the ground, their fists pounding against his back. I was about to yell for him to fight when he jumped up, catching them off guard and pushing them into the wall. From where I was clinging to this guy’s back, I nodded quick approval before jumping off. The leader and the other one ran towards me. I screamed.

The door to the house opened. A young woman stepped out.

“What’s going on out here?”

I grabbed my backpack and ran, Shadow following closely. We rounded the corner and didn’t stop until we were well into our territory. I collapsed against a tree, panting hard. Shadow flopped down next to me, sprawled out on the ground.

“That…was… terrifying…” I panted. Shadow nodded in agreement.

Slumped up against the tree, I dug through my backpack and pulled out some saltines. I offered them to Shadow but he shook his head. I just shrugged and gobbled them down.

“I could just fall asleep here, I’m so tired,” I moaned. “At least under this tree it’s dry.”

“You’re going home even if I have to drag you,” said Shadow. He didn’t look ready to go himself, lying on his back and gazing up into the branches of the tree.

“Why do you care whether or not I get home?”
“Because there are people who need you there. Because you’re their only food source right now.”

“Ah, screw it. Aria and Trouble can get food themselves. They’re just too lazy. Why don’t they go out into the forest and gather berries or something?”

“It’s not Trouble I’m worried about. It’s…someone else.” He blushed and turned away. I scooted closer to him.

“Ooh, sounds like somebody’s got a crush,” I said, a smile creeping onto my face. “Who is it?”

“Not telling! That wasn’t supposed to come out like that! I didn’t mean that…”
“Obviously you want me to know. Otherwise you wouldn’t have said it. Come on,” I added, remembering what he’d told me about Trouble. “You’re obviously not good at keeping secrets. You can’t even talk about her without your face going red.”

“Sh…Shut up.” Shadow stood up, suddenly finding new strength. He leaned with one hand against the tree and gave me a questioning glance. “You coming or not?”

“Too tired. Don’t want to move. Do the math. I’ll be fine. I like sleeping outside,” I told him. “Nice and airy out here. And Aria snores. It’s much quieter this way.”

“Come on.” He grabbed my hand and started to drag me across the ground. Pine needles dug into my back and I yelped.

“Okay! I’m getting up! God, I didn’t think you were serious.” I hauled myself to my feet. “There. Happy?”

“Very. I’m also glad that I didn’t have to literally drag you home. You’re heavier than you look.”

I looked up at his face. It showed no signs of joking. Sighing, I started to walk.

“I don’t know whether to be happy I don’t look heavy or infuriated that you had the nerve to say that.

Chapter

“Food!” cried Trouble. “Huzzah!”

“Huzzah?” I gave him a please-tell-me-you’re-joking look. Even when he was half-starved, my friend was like a hyper little hamster. The image of a Trouble-hamster made me chuckle.

“Yeah, huzzah. You got a problem with it?” He bit into a chocolate ice cream bar. “Oh, God, I love this stuff!”

“Are you going to be on a sugar high for the next few hours?” I asked, suddenly suspicious of his motives.

“You betcha. And you know what that means!”
“Random babbling about ninjas and stupid shooting games?”
“No, silly. It means that this is the perfect time to test out my new flying machine.”

“You do know that you’re the only person in the Tribe who isn’t dragging right now? Why is that? Have you been eating someone else’s rations again?”

“No. I learned my lesson last time, when Mom threw that beehive at me. No, it’s pretty much my job to be happy, so here I am! Except it doesn’t pay well. Wonder why?”

Because it annoys the general population greatly. We were walking through the forest behind the houses. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, leaving blotches of light not unlike a camo pattern on the ground.

“So where did you steal this from, anyway?”
“I didn’t steal it!” I scoffed. “Stealing is for lowly street children.”
“Which makes you…what?”
“Psh. I’m a lowly street teenager. And I earn my food! Sometimes. I went to the black market with Shadow yesterday. Got some sewing jobs.” And he told me your secret, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.

“Really?” Trouble scampered up a tree like a squirrel. He perched on a branch and gazed down at me. Now that I thought about it, there was a certain… gentleness in the way he looked at me. Like… I don’t know. I’m just going to stop talking now. “Why was he there?”

“Selling knockoff toys. I think that’s kind of wrong, but hey, to each his own.” I sprung up and grabbed a hold of the branch, swinging up to sit next to him. “But then we were walking home and some Mecros attacked us. Because somebody was a dumbass and walked right into them. I tell ya, Shadow’s nice and all, but he’s kind of absentminded. Which is ironic, since he went to school longer than any of us.”

“Wait, they attacked you?” His tone was filled with concern. “Did they hurt you? Did they do anything to you? Are you alright?”

“Nah, they barely touched me. Luckily someone came out of their house and caught them before it got too-“

“I swear, I’m going to find them and make sure they never hurt anyone again! I’m gonna-“

“Trouble. Are you listening to me? I’m fine. Nice to know that you care, but… not necessary.”

“Are you sure? ‘Cause I-“
“I’m sure.” We climbed further up into the tree.

“Oh. Anyway,” Trouble chirped, “let’s see if this thing works.” He scurried out of my sight.
“Where is it?”
“I stashed it at the top of the tree!” he called down. “Now get up here!”

At the top of the tree was Trouble’s latest contraption. He held up a huge sheet of plastic with the handlebars of a bike attached to the bottom. Balancing on a thin branch, I looked at him expectantly.

“What are you waiting for?” he asked. “Grab hold of the handlebars and jump!”

“Hell no!” I cried waving my hands. “This is your dipshit invention. I am not testing it out!”

“Well I’m not!” he called over a gust of wind. I grabbed onto a branch for dear life. “I’m not risking my life for this!”

“So you risk mine? Forget it, we need someone… someone we don’t like. Someone we won’t feel guilty about.”

“How about Sunny? We hate her.”
“Someone who’ll actually do it.”
“I know! How about Shadow?” he suggested.
“Nah, he’s nice. I’d feel guilty if we killed him.
“Well, who else will do it? Sear’s too heavy, and Aria isn’t going to try it again. I already asked her. And Mom’ll be mad if we kill a little kid. Shadow’s light. Besides, we’re roommates. He’ll agree to it.” And with that, he started to climb down, graceful as a block of lead. I was beginning to think that if he didn’t kill himself by trying to fly, he’d kill himself by falling out of the tree.

“Wait! I thought we were just joking!” I called.
“I was dead serious! See ya in a few!”

“You really want me to do this?”
“You already agreed to it!” shouted Trouble. “You have to!”
“I didn’t known it was some freakish daredevil stunt! Why don’t you do it?

“Look, just hold on,” said Trouble, shoving the glider into Shadow’s hands. He shoved the poor boy off the branch.

Even with the wind partially drowning out his screams, watching Shadow fall was a terrible sight. The wind caught the glider and it slid forward at an alarming speed. With a deafening crash the glider flew into a tangle of branches. Shadow gave a cry of pain as he swung forward from the caught glider. He slammed into the tree trunk and fell to the ground.

By the time Trouble was done gaping, I was halfway down the tree. Shadow was lying on his back in the dirt. He slowly got to his feet and started cursing Trouble out.

“Why is it my fault?” Trouble cried. “It’s Bane’s fault, too!”
“Hey!”
“You pushed me out of a freaking tree! That was all you!”

I’d never seen Shadow like this. He was just one of those people who never got angry. Either he was really hurt or Trouble had pushed him over the edge. He had a talent for that.

Shadow stood with one hand against the tree. His body was riddled with cuts and forming bruises. He lifted an arm and cringed.
“Either I broke something or that is one bad bruise. Either way, I blame you.” He glared at Trouble again, glanced at me, then sighed and hobbled away.

“Nice one, stupid,” I muttered to my friend. “Now your roommate hates you and your glider is broken.”
“Do you think he’s hurt bad?”
“How would I know? Depends how hard you pushed him.”
“Shut up. Let’s go talk to him.”