STATIC → newt , tmr [EDITING ; VERY SLOW UPDATES]

chapter ii

― ➶ ―

"I don't know what Jorge's gonna do with these kids," Brenda said quietly to Tiago as they headed to the third floor where they had a small shared room. It was more of a hideout, or a safe place they knew the could come to if they ever felt like they needed to. It wasn't much; two thin mattresses, some blankets and pillows, a tall window so that Tiago could keep watch because he liked to protect people. There was a desk on one side of the room, next to a chest of drawers that held a lot of ammo as well as the minimal amount of clothes each of them had. There were a lot of tiny tidbits of what looked like junk to most people situated on the desk. Only the two of them knew that it was all meaningful and important to them.

"I know Barkley wants to either kill them or give them back," Tiago said with a shake of his head. "WCKD wants to kill them, B."

Brenda nodded. "I know."

There was a knock on the door, but just as Tiago was about to yell out 'who is it?', the person on the other side invited themselves in.

"Where the hell have you been?" Kim almost yelled, her voice directed at Tiago. "I've been looking for you for hours, you couldn't find me and tell me you were busy?"

Tiago sighed, dragging a hand down his face before turning to face his ... girlfriend? He wasn't sure what they were; they made-out sometimes, but it had never gone any further than that. Tiago wasn't interested, and he didn't want to hurt Kim's feelings by sleeping with her without feeling anything more than slight aesthetic attraction.

"Sorry, Kim, I was―"

"Busy, yeah, I know that now, you idiot," she snapped.

Before Tiago had a chance to reply, Jorge was standing in the doorway, staring straight at him. "Tiago, I need you to go downstairs and make sure Barkley hasn't done anything to those kids. If they're hurt, come to me straight away. The orders were to string them up, so if anything else has happened ..."

"Shoot him?" Tiago offered hopefully. Jorge gave him a pointed look, which made Tiago roll his eyes. "Not to kill him, just ... maim him ... a little bit."

"No arrows fired, yeah?"

Tiago gave a small pout, but nodded anyway. He grabbed Kim's arm, making the girl look up at him with raised eyebrows.

"You're coming with." Jorge glanced at the girl with narrowed eyes. "She's harmless, Jorge. Besides, she's good with knives. No doubt she has at least three on her right now."

"I've got six, actually."

Tiago nodded. "See? If anything happens, she can just ―" Tiago made whooshing noises, trying to mimic the sound of knives being thrown through the air. The other three in the room looked mildly disappointed, making Tiago's expression fall. "Okay, come on, Kim. Let's go babysit these kids."