Renegade

She must have known I followed her. There was no other possible explanation. Quela is blind, but she knows when she's being followed and tonight she let me. Does she want me to know what she's been up to or does she not give a fuck anymore? She lost both of her best friends and just killed someone, I suppose it's the latter.

She refuses to acknowledge my presence as we enter a worn down boxing gym. Inside the stuffy room is a few hundred people packed tightly around the ring. I lose Quela in the crowd thinking she led me here to lose me and escape to where she really goes, but I find out quickly that is not the case.

The people around me compact tighter as a brawny guy who looks to be slightly older than me, maybe late twenties, enters the ring. The noise level increases making it nearly impossible to hear someone who could be standing next to you. He pumps both his fists into the air as the crowd chants. About thirty seconds later, Quela crawls into the ring with him which causes the crowd to erupt in more cheering and applause. My ears ring as the girl behind me screams directly into it. I contain myself since I'm about to turn around and knock her out.

A bell rings and the two begin to ready their stances before lunging toward each other. Quela is the first to make contact and wastes no time whaling on the guy. He takes her blows like they're nothing. He lands a solid punch across her face sending her to the other side of the ring. She grips her jaw moving it back and forth. The crowd cheers louder deafening me as I attempt to force my way closer to the ring.

My efforts fall short as I don't make it far enough to see what happens after, but it excites the people surrounding me. I'm shoved backwards as I hear a thud coming from the ring. Someone is down and I don't know who it is. The crowd starts counting, but they only make it to the number two. I haven't seen people this chaotic and rambunctious since the public hangings.

Gabe used to make us go to those in support of our fellow comrades, but it made me nauseous. It was sickening to go to the hangings to watch someone you grew close with or saw every day die before your eyes. I started making excuses to get out of it so Gabe countered by making Phoe take me. Even then, it still never felt right, but I went anyway to be with her.

That's one thing I'm happy they did away with. Although, we never know for sure what happens when one of us goes missing or never returns. The public hangings always gave us some sort of closure, but now we have no idea what happens to someone when they disappear.

I peer up when I hear the crowd counting again. Some start jumping when they hit the number three. The room explodes with cheering and whistling. The referee announces that the winner is Quela which causes the room to get louder. They applaud and push closer to the ring reaching to her like she's a celebrity. She proudly wipes blood from her swollen cheek claiming her victory with honor. She shakes her opponent's hand before disappearing from the ring.

I lean against the glass window as the room dissipates and I'm one of the remaining few people left in the room. Quela hobbles out with her wrist bandaged and a few bruises left sporadically on her body.

"Did you enjoy the show?" She grumbles walking out of the rundown gym reeking of alcohol. I follow after her confident she's going to fall over.

"I didn't see much," I admit, "but the people around me were going crazy. You're famous." She snorts at my comment.

"Oh yeah, they love me," she gripes, "until I lose. Then I'm public enemy number one." She stumbles attempting to turn around and face me. "Nevermind, that would be your girlfriend. It must suck knowing that once Casandra breaks her, she'll never be the same again. Just like you." She takes a few more steps until she sees the expression on my face. She bites her lip and moves toward me. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean --" She cuts herself off. "I'm really sorry." I reach over wrapping my arms around her. She's stunned by my actions, but eventually embraces me in return. She begins to cry into my chest and I allow her to do so. I pull her in tighter hoping it'll calm her down.

"I miss them, too." I whisper to her as I leave a kiss at the top of her head. She moves away from me wiping tears from her face slightly embarrassed. "Let me take you home. I'm parked up ahead." She agrees without a fight.

Quela continually sniffles and dries tears from her irritated eyes. I offer as much consolation as possible, but it only seems to make it worse. I understand how she's feeling, but I know it's harder for her than anyone. Hunter has been missing for months. The reality is he's probably dead and it's difficult to digest, even for me.

I assist Quela out of my car and across the street to The Tunnel. The nights are starting to get chillier which saddens me that summer is almost over. Quela clutches her side grunting with each step she takes. I try to walk slower, but it seems to make things worse for her. She whispers a soft thank you as we enter The Tunnel.

Not long after we enter, we come face to face with an out of breath Gabe. His eyes are wide and more alert than I've seen them in a long time. He grabs a hold of my shirt and drags me into the office. Quela shuffles in shortly after us and slumps into Hunter's desk chair. Gabe throws me into my chair and points to the computer screen. I scan the contents not sure what to expect.

"We're okay. We're getting out of here now. Not sure of our exact location, but this should help you track it down. See you soon. - Hunter and Phoe"

"Son of a bitch!" I shake my head not believing it. Gabe reaches over me and taps two keys on the keyboard and the location of the building they're being held at appears in front of my eyes. He's already traced it. "SON OF A BITCH!" I exclaim nearly jumping out of my seat.

"I just got the address. You have perfect timing." Gabe says resting his hand on my shoulder.

"What's happening?" Quela leans forward on the edge of her seat.

"It's Young and Detope." Gabe says grabbing his keys. "We're going to get them."

"I'm going, too."

"I don't think that's --"

"I don't give a fuck what you think. I'm going." Quela forces herself up and out the door. "Let's go, slowpokes." She barks already opening the backdoor. I shrug running past Gabe who just rolls his eyes.

Quela situates herself in the backseat for the drive while Gabe takes the wheel. She holds my hand the entire ride sending all her nerves and excitement into me. Gabe religiously follows the GPS to the middle of no where making us think that it was a hoax, but it doesn't feel that way. Gabe pulls the car over and parks. He sighs as though he's giving up. I roll my eyes and force myself out of the car. Quela follows my lead and leaves Gabe in the car alone. I walk into the woods with Quela on my heels.

The sun is starting to rise which gives me better lighting. Quela stops and begins whipping her head around. She's smelling the air with a crooked smile on her face.

"You smell that?" She asks reaching for me. I take a deep breath and catch a whiff of a smell that is a little too familiar.

"Something is burning." I respond trying to decipher which direction it's coming from.

"It has to be your girl." She takes off in the opposite direction.

I chase after her afraid she's going to run into something. I grab onto her to slow her down and take the lead. I tell her to yank me if we're no longer going the correct way. We stop dead in our tracks when we hear a car honking. We pant unsure if we continue toward the fire or the car. Quela begs we keep going, but I suggest we go back in case Gabe is in trouble. She sighs admitting that I'm probably right, but I reassure her we'll return after and she agrees to go back.

We take off the way we came and hopefully toward where the car honks are coming from. Quela starts to slow down no longer running off of adrenaline and begins to feel the aftermath of that night's fight. She grabs onto her side and comes to a halt. I stop a few paces ahead of her checking back to make sure she's okay. The horn echoes through the woods again and I begin to feel slightly uneasy about it.

Quela catches her breath and starts to walk again. We take our time the rest of the way which seems to be easier for her. I help her along until I can finally see the car. Gabe's car door is opened, but it looks like him in the driver's seat. There are several people surrounding the car which makes me pause. Quela feels my hesitation, but continues onward without me.

"Quela?" I hear a quiet deep voice which I haven't heard in a long time. Quela charges toward it faster than I've seen her move today. "Quela!"

Hunter runs up to her wrapping his arms around her. I charge toward them not believing my eyes. Hunter removes Quela's blindfold and stares down into her eyes before kissing her for the first time. I watch with a smile on my face. Fucking finally. I step a little closer and they part. Hunter wipes tears from Quela's cheeks and holds onto her. He looks in my direction and extends his hand to me and I slap it and lean into his shoulder trying my best to avoid hitting Quela.

"I didn't think we'd see you again." I admit feeling better knowing he's alive.

"Back at you." He says squeezing Quela. No way he's letting her go anytime soon. I peek over his shoulder trying to see if Phoe is over there. "She wasn't with us." Hunter draws my attention back to him. "She was knocking out the last guard when I escaped with the others. I thought she was right behind me, but when I turned around she wasn't there." I rub my temple shaking my head.

"I-I don't understand. What the hell happened?"

"I wish I knew, man. She got us all out though. Some of them are pretty messed up." He motions to the people standing around the car.

"We'll take them to the hospital to get checked out." I head toward the car with Hunter and Quela following after me.

We pile the six escapees in the car. It's a tight squeeze, but we can make it work for a ten minutes drive. I assist the last person in the car before I look back to Gabe who is ready to take off. I plead for a few more minutes, but he shakes his head.

"She's quick, Fierce. She would've caught up to them eventually." He sighs. "We gotta get these people to the hospital. I can't wait here forever. So get in."

"I had no doubts that you'd give up on me so quickly." I know that voice. "Didn't take you long to give up on Hunter, either. I guess since we're all expendable. It doesn't really matter to you." Phoe comes up from behind me. Her eyes fall on me for a second, but she quickly focuses back on Gabe. She grabs onto him forcing him out of the car and onto the ground. "You asshole!" She leans down and punches him. "You knew about her and you let her get away with that bullshit. Do you know the damage you caused? Do you know what your neglect of the problem has done?" He stares up at her wiping blood from his nose. "You let her waltz around The Tunnel like she was one of us. You let us get close to her. I trusted her with a lot of private and personal things. Take a guess what she did with that information." She punches him again.

"Detope!" I aggressively yell at her grabbing onto her arm, but she rips it from my grasp.

"Guess!" She screams which sounds like it destroyed her throat in the process. Gabe stares up at her afraid to answer. She takes a step back appearing as though she is now just realizing what she's done. I gently place my hand on her shoulder to calm her down. She accepts the gesture as she pants running her bloodstained hand through her hair. She looks back at the car leaning forward to peek inside. "Everyone make it?" She quietly asks Hunter which he returns a nod. She glares back down. "You and me are done." She spits at the ground, brushing passed me and into the back of the car.

I follow after her as we sit face to face in the trunk. Gabe climbs back into the car which has fallen silent. We drive away quickly. Phoe won't look at me. Instead, she keeps her gaze out the back window of the trunk. I study her checking to make sure she's okay. Her shirt is stained red on her left arm and she has markings across her face in the same colour. Other than that she just looks worn down. Nothing else looks wrong and I'm grateful for that. I wish she was a little happier to see me.

When we get to the hospital, we make sure everyone is cared with gently and carefully. Most of them are frightened and terribly destroyed. I'm surprised we were able to get them all to come with us. I guess because they were with Hunter and he trusted us, they knew they could trust us, too. But I thought they were going to run once Phoe showed up and announced Gabe as a traitor to the traitors.

Gabe holds a rag to his bleeding nose while keeps his distance from Phoe who is pacing in the hallway. Mae attempts to check her for injuries, but she stubbornly declines. Watching her move back and forth makes me anxious. I lean over to get some answers from Gabe, but he refuses to talk to me. I sigh forcing myself up and over to Phoe. She pivots and sees me approaching her. She shakes her head at me.

"No." She walks away from me. "I'm not talking to you about this." I chase after her.

"I know you're pissed but --"

"No, Fierce." My mouth falls open knowing how hurt she is since she neglected to use my first name. She whips around and shoves me away from her. "Just back the hell off." She stalks away.

Mae pops out from behind the wall and looks back at me. I shake my head walking back into the waiting room. Mae hesitates before she follows after Phoe. Getting her to talk will be a miracle, but she might have a little more trust in Mae than me right now. I don't blame her at all. I wasn't there for her, in fact, I probably made things worse for her. I lean my elbows on my knees and rest my head in my hands. There are so many things I did wrong and things I would do differently, but this is where I'm at and now I have to deal with the consequences.