Page 104 of The Order

“They told us a lot of things, Kai, none of it was true-”

My brother's eyes flash with apprehension. His hand comes flying across my front, dragging me into the closest alleyway. He slams us both into the nearest wall. His hand clamps down over my mouth, creating a moment of silence for both of us.

Given his frantic behavior, it's a silence I don’t dare try to break.

Eventually, the noise of others fills my ears, breaking my concentration from him and moving to the group of men silently descending the worn walkway. My father leads the group. His knuckles are bloodied, his hands scuffed and torn. My heart races as I think of Fallan, wanting to run out and force him to tell me where he is. Adam’s miserable figure trails behind, cursing up a storm toward the one man who I trust in the group. Xavier’s hands are clean. I can see him fidgeting with something in his pocket as he ignores Adam’s words.

“You let them off easy,” Adam yells toward Xavier, trying to get in his face. Xavier shoves him back a few feet, finally pulling his hand away from his pocket, dangling my necklace between his fingers.

I take a moment to observe the small part of me Fallan had taken, wishing now more than ever it was still in my possession. Had he given it to Xavier? Had he rid himself of it without ever explaining why he took it from me in the first place? Xavier carefully tucks away the necklace, pointing his finger at Adam's chest.

“They didn't deserve punishment just because you’re a sadistic fuck-”

“I’m the sadistic fuck? Should I tell everyone how you keep-”

“Shut your mouth,” Xavier shouts, grabbing Adam's collar, ready to throw the man down to the ground.

“Enough,” my father yells, pulling out the pistol strapped to his side and pointing it between both men.

I feel the air leave my lungs at the sight, reflecting on that night again like a distant fever dream. “Either you both get in line right now and stay silent, or I put a bullet in both of your knees, and you can reflect on your actions together in the med unit,” my dad says, releasing the slide, loading a fresh round into the gun’s chamber. Xavier releases Adam, giving the man one final shove. Adam releases a frustrated grunt, burying his animosity towards Xavier for the time being.

My father lowers his weapon, shaking his head at both men before continuing his walk past our position in the alleyway. The men trail behind him, both staying silent as the trio turns the next corner, finding themselves closer to the main entrance we avoided.

We take the opportunity to leave the alleyway, following the direction they came, looking back as often as we can.

“All these people are dying in the streets while we’ve got unlimited resources in our sector,” Kai mutters, observing each of the feeble citizens who move past us.

Regardless of how tired they look, they take the time to smile at us if their eyes catch ours.

“Why are they allowing themselves to live like this?” Kai finally questions, his curiosities only growing the longer we stay here.

“They have no choice, Kai. No one has a choice,” I say, squeezing my brother's hand.

We find ourselves in a less run-down part of the sector, filled with buildings that seem more up to date. Shops line this part of the sector, busy with the most life we’ve seen so far. Merchants and patrons come and go. Unlike the sleek gray concrete of our sector, buildings here rely on sturdy wooden slabs that have been meticulously carved and fitted together, and a patchwork of metal sheets and salvaged shingles make up the roofs above. By some miracle, the grounds here are more upkept, surrounded by less filth, making the air much easier to breathe.

A group of children run past us, chasing each other with wide, toothy grins. Their shoes are filled with holes, toes threatening to break out and embrace the mud. All of them are skinny, their hands already marked by hard labor. One of the children lingers behind the group, tripping on a log that had managed to slip away from the carts of one of the vendors. Their knees collide with the dirtied ground, skidding across the cobblestone, making their small faces wince. I move to help him up, surprised when I realize Kai is already working to pick him up.

My brother crouches down to observe the child, peeling back the material of his pant leg to unveil a nasty cut. The child sighs, leaning his mangled head of hair into my brother's arm.

Still so trusting.

“You should get home and put something on the cut before it's infected,” Kai says, both of us internally cursing at ourselves for forgetting something as essential as a Cure-All at this moment.

“Silly, you know we don't have any more medicine,” the boy begins, giving a shifty-eyed look to the few Officials lingering near the shops. “They gave it all to the people on the other side of the fence,” he whispers, my contrition growing as I think about the unlimited supplies available to the Untouchables in our sector.

The boy takes my brother’s hand to help him up, brushing himself off with a smile.

“You both are the cleanest people I've seen in this sector,” the boy starts, squeezing my brother’s hands. “Softest hands too,” he finishes, dropping my brother's grasp. Kai's clean hands are now dirtied, both palms caked in a film of grime.

I survey the many shops lining the street, eventually landing on the small bakery in the middle of what looks like the downtown square. If memory serves me well, Hunter works in the one bakery in this sector, giving us the slightest opportunity to figure out where Fallan is. I begin dragging my brother closer to the building, feeling the searing gaze of two Officials as they whisper about our cleanliness, just as the boy had. I pause, looking down at the muddied ground with a large sigh.

“Can you believe what that kid said-”

I crouch to the ground, dragging Kai down letting the dirt coat him. He looks caught off guard, pulling the front of my hoodie as we both hit the cobblestone.

“Pretend we're fighting,” I whisper, watching the Officials pause their walk toward us. “We look too out of place,” I continue, forcing my brother's neck down.

Both Officials smile at the exchange, watching my brother and me silently as they bet on who will win. Kai feeds into it, flipping me onto my back as our clothes are soon covered with dirt. Eventually, I stopped putting up a fight and let Kai win. Dirt streaks his face as we hoist ourselves up from the dirt pavement. The Officials both let out moans of disappointment before walking away once they realized our squabble was over.

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