Red - A Warriors Fan Fic

Where next?

 You were at Queenie's crib; A girl you had met a year or so ago. She was good for parties and not much else if you were being honest. Drinks were being handed around and the music was bumpin'. You still had the bottle of brown stuff in your purse; you didn't know what it was, but you were saving it for something good.

You lounged on the sofa, looking around at the people talking. None of the boys here were bad, they looked too clean. You looked over at Queenie who was chatting up some boy, while a couple in the corner was swapping spit. You had enough of this scene so you got up, grabbed a cup of something from the table, and took off.

The moon was shining high above the Warriors now. The cemetery was located on a sloped hill, and below them was an iron spiked fence, a highway, a narrow river, a long stretch of lawn sloping upward, a line of apartments houses a half mile away, and, between the houses, elevated tracks on which a string of brightly lit trains rattled. "All here?" Fox whispered. A firework blasted off in the distance and lit up their group of brothers. They began to count off. "There's me." Said Swan. "Fox." "Snow." "Cochise." "Ajax." "Cowboy." "Rembrandt." "Vermin." He said last. They all sat silent for a moment. "Where's Cleon?" Swan asked. "Fuzz must have got him." Cochise said. "Did you see him get busted?" Swan turned to him . "I seen him, then he weren't there no more. I was hauling ass." Cochise breathed hard.

The boys looked at their feet solely for a moment. "What are we going to do now?" Cowboy asked. "We're going back." Swan said. Everyone looked in bewilderment. "Mind telling us how? Fucking Coney Island must be fifty to a hundred miles from here." Vermin chirped. "It's the only choice we got." Swan said. "Yeah real simple." Cochise started. "Except that every cop in this city's lookin' to bust our heads." They all stood quiet. "We got something else to think about." Swan said. "Yeah, what?" Vermin asked. "The truce, is it still on?" Snow joined in. "If it aint we're gonna have to bop our way back." Vermin looked anxious as ever now. "Shit I wish we was packed." Cowboy muttered. "If the truce is off, anything could hit us between here and that train." Swan begun. "If you get separated, make it to the platform at Union Square, thats where we changed trains." He finished. Everyone nodded. "I only got one question" Ajax spoke up finally.

"Who named you leader? I got as much right to take over as you." He challenged. "It was Cleon's choice. Swan's war chief." Fox defended Swan. Ajax smiled mockingly, and took a step towards Swan. "Well right about now, Cleon's most likely got a nightstick shoved halfway up his ass." He said. "Shit, I bet you can't even find the subway." He laughed. "Maybe we oughta talk about this later huh?" Swan looked at Ajax hard. "Well what's wrong with right now? I wanna be war lord." Ajax took another step forward. Swan stood defensively. He couldn't let Ajax talk this way to him. He was the father now. "Make your move." He threatened. Ajax looked him up and down studying him. "Hey Ajax, lighten up" Cowboy hissed. "Big boy, Swan's war chief." Vermin joined in. Ajax looked to Cochise as a possible ally. He shook his head. "Ah, fuck it." Ajax grumbled. "Let's move." Swan ordered.

The cemetery ended above a street. There was a drop of about twelve feet, and Swan sent Rembrandt to see if there was opening in the fence line so they wouldn't have to climb over. No one was walking along the street; only a few cars went by. If they jumped from higher up, people in the cars wouldn't notice them. He returned.

"There's a spot over there. It's three times my height, but it seems longer." Rembrandt said. He led them to it. "Why so high man? We'll get hurt jumping." Cochise said. "If we jump from any lower they could see us." Rembrandt answered. "No. We take the smaller jump." Swan commanded. He led them down to the lowest part; The twelve-foot jump. "You first Rembrandt." Swan said. Rembrandt gave him a look, and started to climb the fence. Once he had made it over the fence and dangled off the cement ledge, he jumped. He turned and ran across the street into the shadows of sidewalk trees. Ajax went next. He didn't lower himself. Instead, he grinned and jumped down, showboating across the street. They went one by one, Cowboy last. Being one of the shortest of the group, he fell forward on his palms, scraping them.