In Case of Rejection

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Dusty stumbled backward, letting out an agonized groan. The room erupted in commotion. Matthew ran forward to catch him, and the boy fell back into his arms, a tumbling boulder of momentum. He scanned the boy as he fell to the floor, his eyes searching for the wound. He found Jason's slash went from Dusty's shoulder across to his collarbone in one long swipe. It was skin deep, and blood glittered in little red bulbs in a line. But Matthew knew that if Jason had been off by a mere few inches...

Matthew stood from his crouched position alongside Dusty and lunged at Jason, his mind a flurry of angry thoughts, fear and pain.

Meng screamed as Matthew locked his fist into Jason's jaw, sending the boy sprawling backward and into the countertop again. Matthew's fist ignited with burning pain as he pulled it back, and he clutched it tightly in his other hand. The knife clattered to the floor off to the side. Next to the feet of the boys in the corner. Matthew's mind flooded with frustration, and he couldn't believe that he wanted to do it again.

"I'm okay, Matthew! I'm okay!" Dusty was yelling over the commotion, and Olive was watching Matthew with terror in her eyes.

"He's fine, Matthew," Olive urged, readying herself to stand to get to Matthew. Matthew just shook his head and looked at his feet, suddenly embarrassed by what he had just done, and more so by the thoughts that were telling him to do it again.

Jason was standing again, a small stream of blood trickled down the corner of his mouth. He wiped at it with the back of his fist, smearing the red across his chin messily. He sniffed.

"I'm sorry," Jason said, stiffly. He sniffed again, and walked to the booth. He sat back into it with a thud, and he wiggled his pinched nose. He put his head into his hands and sighed heavily, the only sound. Meng went to him and put her hands down over his shoulders from behind, giving them one long squeeze. She didn't look at Matthew, but just kept her eyes on the back of Jason's neck. 

Matthew had acted on impulse, but all the same, he felt bad. Jason had a knife, but Matthew felt like he was in the wrong.

From the depths of the Arcade just beyond, the taller boy, the one with the dark, deep set eyes, picked up the knife. He set it on the counter softly, away from everyone. He took a step back, still facing the group. He stood in front of the smaller one again, in a way that made Matthew cock his head to the side.

Matthew felt his chest relax as he watched them. The taller one was watching Matthew now. Matthew approached him, and he stayed in place, chest squared with confidence Matthew hadn't detected prior.

"What's your name?" Matthew asked. The older boy raised his eyebrows, loosening up slightly.

"Roger," he said, sticking out a wiry hand in Matthew's direction. Something about him felt familiar to Matthew, in a way he couldn't yet place. He figured he'd seen him at school, one way or another.

"And this is my brother, Isaac," he said, giving a nod to the kid behind him, who at a second glance, looked remarkably similar to Matthew. The room swirled around them all, and for a moment, Matthew was worried he might collapse. His knees gave slightly, but he held himself up.

"Your brother?" Matthew asked.

"I'm sixteen, he's fifteen," Roger said, reaching back to pat the kid on the arm. The younger kid looked paler than ever.

"No one ever found out," he said, immediately after, answering the question most of them had already formed in their minds. Matthew looked at Isaac, and felt something stir in his chest when the boy smiled at him.

"How?" Matthew asked, alarmed when Olive suddenly held onto his arm. He hadn't heard her come up, but he was happy now that she was there.

"Never mentioned it to anybody, and nothing ever happened. I think we were just lucky," Roger said. "I've heard horror stories."

"Right," Matthew felt his chest heave with sorrow, and he took a deep breath to hide his emotion. Roger moved, barely, and Matthew wondered if he could tell. Just by looking at him.

"Does he talk?" Dusty asked, coming up to the other side of them. He was holding a hand up to his chest, over the cut, a rag pressed over it to keep it from bleeding.

"He's just a little scared, that's all," Roger said, motioning Isaac, who edged a little further behind him.

"I get it. We're all scared," Matthew said, locking eyes with the boy now. He looked back at Matthew with a piercing glare that made Matthew feel miles away. He knew this boy. Or maybe he just wanted to feel like he knew him.

"What were you both doing here before my friends got here?" Matthew asked.

"We live in the apartment next door. Just by chance that we ran in," Roger said. "We just barely got away when they were taking people out of the apartments."

Dusty hung his head slightly with the words. Matthew figured they must've lived in the same building, and Matthew made a mental note to ask Dusty about his own situation.

"Well you're here now. We'll be hiding out here until it's safe to move," Matthew said.

"What's the plan? Really?" Dusty asked, looking at Matthew. Matthew's mind was full of plans, loose ideas, but none of them really made much sense. He didn't want to give it all away yet either. He was worried about any inflammatory reactions.

"It's unlivable outside, but we're safe here. I say we hide out for a while. Figure out where to go from here," Matthew said, looking back to Olive as he said the words. She gave him a knowing glance.

"Where do we go from here? It'll all be a pile of ashes in no time. Where will we go? We'll either burn up, starve, or die some other awful way," Dusty said. The sharpness in his tone made Matthew irritated.

"Or go with them," Jason said suddenly, somewhere beyond. Matthew peeked at him over his shoulder and watched the way the boy rubbed his jaw, like it was growing sore by the minute. Another pang of guilt shot through him.

"Brick Sanders said they're working to rebuild Sector 18, not destroy it," Matthew started. Jason chimed in again, skeptical and harsh as usual.

"What makes you trust him?" Jason asked.

"Come on, Jason," Meng pleaded.

"I don't know if I can trust him. But I don't think that he was lying about that. Why go through all the trouble if they could've just burned us down in the first place?" Matthew asked.

The Arcade went suddenly still around them. The sound of the fire outside crackled through the room, and everything felt blissfully quiet.

"What, so we cooperate, then? Let them take us?" Dusty asked, indignantly. Matthew started to shake his head.

"No, we don't cooperate," Matthew said. He looked in Olive's direction with the next few words.

"I have a plan, but it's going to take some extra hands. If you would all like to, you can join us," Matthew started. Jason barked over him.

"Who is us?" He asked.

"Matthew and I," Olive said. Jason scoffed again, a sharp exhale. Matthew turned to face him.

"You don't have to come. It's dangerous, anyway. But things are moving fast around here, and we're running out of options," Matthew said. Dusty shifted the rag over his shoulder and grimaced. He looked at Matthew with a stern look, one that told Matthew he was interested. More than that... Dedicated.

"What do you have in mind?" The tall boy asked.