Let's All Just Blindfold The Poor, We Must Remind Them What's In Store

The Break In

Today was the day. Kathrine and her boss were still m.i.a, but Crutchie's birthday was rapidly approaching. If he turned 18 while he was still at the refuge, he would be taken away before the boys could even get to the front gate.
They got the support from Queens, but not Midtown. Those boys said they would help when Brooklyn did, which was a fair bet.
But now, with 40 boys - no Kathrine, no Spot and no Revolution - they were ready.
It's been two weeks since they visited Spot. Since then, they've taken their time to perfect the plan. And they were going to wait until Kathrine returned to go through with it, but they had no idea when she'd be back, and Jack couldn't bear the thought of Crutchie being there even a second longer than he had to.
The plan was that Race would take Albert to the refuge, and pretend to turn him in. Then, Albert would cause a fuss and distract the workers there, so that the coast was clear when Jack and a few other boys would climb through the back window to get Crutchie
David and the rest of the boys were on standby, incase anything went wrong. If it did, Jack or Race would give a signal and they would have to use brute force to finish it out.
Hopefully that wouldn't have to happen, but they had to be careful.
Race shifted nervously. Albert could get seriously hurt because of this, they all could.
He felt his friend's hand on his shoulder. "We'll be fine. It's for a good cause, yeah?"
Race snickered, "yeah, it'll be worth it when I see Crutchie again."
Albert noded. "Ready?"
He wasn't, he was nowhere close to ready. But he didn't have a choice. "Lets go."
The refuge was huge. It loomed over them, it looked like a monster. The refuge was always in Race's nightmares, he was there long long ago, before he was even known as Race. He was always cheery, he pissed off Snyder on purpose and made the other boys laugh, but it was just to hide his terrified truth.
And his reckless behaviour there caused him to be Snyder's least favorite, resulting in a few more bruises than the others would receive. But that was ok, because at least he kept them happy.
He pushed open the door, dragging Albert behind him. "Anyone home?" he called through the looming doors, when a tiny woman was walking by.
"Who are you?" she asked in a panic tone, no kids were allowed outside of the building.
"One 'a the lodge boys, I gotsa kid with powers ova' here!"
"Oh, oh my wh- where are the police?"
"They's was nowhere to be seen, I had to do all tha dirty work!"
The woman studered - she was skittery, she probably hadn't been working there very long.
"H- hold on just one second." she said, quickly making her way out of the room.
Albert let out the breath that he was unaware that he was holding. "This isn't gonna work Race, she's gonna call the cops."
Race shook his head, "no - if we leave she will."
They heard the clicks of heels on the floor. Two people were coming towards them. Snyder burst into the room, and the woman was standing just behind him, looking as fearful as ever. Race gulped, he didn't expect to see the man himself. He just prayed that he was unrecognizable with how much he'd grown.
"Youse the warden aintcha?"
The man nodded. "You said this boy has a talent?" he asked, looking over at Albert.
Race nodded, barely able to stop shaking. Snyder took a step forward. "No smoke is allowed in the building sir."
Race froze. "Oh well, I'll be outta yer hair soon enough."
"What did you say your name was again?"
"I.. I didn't."
"Then please, enlighten me."
Albert was the only person who knew that Race had been to the refuge (as far as he was concerned) and he was almost certain that Snyder didn't just let him go out of the good in his heart.
Albert broke into a sprint down the hall, it was stupid and he didn't think it through, but it was a distraction.
Snyder yelled at the woman to chase after him, but she was left a confused stuttering mess. He huffed and ran after Albert, leaving the Race stunned and scared for his friend.
-
Jack was standing on the fire escape that led to the highest room of the refuge, it was dark in and out, and he could barely see. There were outlines of boys laying in beds, some sitting on the edge, but the candles were not lit, meaning that the coast was clear.
Jack knocked on the window, getting the attention of one of the closest kids. The boy crawled over to the tiny window and slid it open. "Jack kelly?" He asked, with a raspy deep voice. Jack gulped. The state of this place had somehow gotten so much worse. "Yeah that's me." he shook the kid's hand. "Hey I tell ya what, I'm looking for a kid - Crutchie? He's blonde, almost 18."
The kid thought for a moment. "Oh. Yeah, I know him. The kid with the crutch?"
"His name's Crutchie aint it?"
The kid shrugged. "I'll get 'im for ya."
Jack turned and gave a thumbs up to Romeo and Finch who were waiting right behind him. The refuge was always on a tight lockdown, but Jack knew every possible exit. There was a slim break in the fence that they managed to get through, a perfectly timed sneak behind the front guards, and one shakey, rusty fire escape that led to the only window that would open. It was almost too perfect, like they were counting on Jack to break in. But it had been like this for years, this is how him and Francis escaped together, this is how he instructed Race to escape when he was ready, and this is how they would escape with Crutchie.
But , this time Jack almost wanted to be spotted. Just at the last second, to really show Snyder that he hadn't given up after all these years, and that he would be coming back soon with a revolution.
Eventually, the boy returned with Crutchie.
Jack lunged forward, through the window and engulfed him in a hug. A held each other tightly, Jack thought he would never let go. And he didn't want to. He wanted to stay in Crutchie's arms forever, in his comfort. He wanted to pause time for forever, to endlessly feel his warmth, his arms squeezing so tightly around him, his hair brushing against his face.
But if he ever wanted to speak to Crutchie again, they had to go now. They could hug a million more times when they were safe. Jack pulled away to see Crutchie with tears in his eyes.
"Youse did forget about me" he said with immense relief and joy, and Jack's face dropped.
"Crutch I would die and rip off my arms before I left you behind."
the blonde boy sniffed and laughed, "a little dramatic are we?"
"You have no idea.'' Jack replied, helping him out of the window.
The kid behind Crutchie had already left, and most of the other boys in the room were asleep. Jack couldn't get them now, but he knew that once Katherine returned, they would destroy this damn place.
-
When Jack, Crutchie, Romeo and Finch made their way back down the ladder, they immediately regrouped with Davey.
And after checking on each other, Jack saw Race sitting alone.
"Hey Dave, take Crutchie and the rest of the boys, and go home."
"What about you?"
"Just gotta wrap up something', I'll be fine."
David noded, and ushered the rest of the boys out. They were glad they didn't need to make a scene and possibly get killed, but they also complained a bit that they didn't get to do much.
Instead of leaving with the boys, Race began to walk towards Jack. "Albert's still in there."
"I noticed. What happened?"
Race looked like he was about to cry, or completely break down in front of him. "He just. Ran. Cause Snyder was comin up to me, I guess he thought it would help but, everyone just started chasing after him and I just.. Had to leave cause I had to save face, what else could I do I- oh god he's gonna die it's all my fault-"
"Race, Race, hey. Calm down, it's ok. Take a deep breath, there you go."
Race clearly needed to talk that out, he looked much calmer now.
"Listen. I'm gonna go get Al- I'll be fine race. I's dealt with Snyder before, this is no different. Go catch up with Dave."
Race shook his head and grabbed his friend's arm. "No, no Jack I can't leave the botha youse I can't."
Jack rested his hand on top of Race's. "We're gonna be fine. I promise."
-
Albert was running, sprinting around corners, ducking under broken doorways and jumping over papes and clothes and other random shit that was scattered all over the floors.
Everytime he turned back, there was another man chasing after him, the numbers kept growing and growing, until he eventually found himself back at the entry hall.
He was panicking, his heart wouldn't slow down and his breath was getting caught in his throat. These men could kill him if they wanted to, and he was almost defenseless. Almost. He hasn't used his talent in years, but what else could he do? He was in a corner at this point, holding his hands out, as if energy would burst out of them. But nothing happened. His arms were shaking. The doors were shut tight and the floor was solid concrete, there was no way that his plants would respond to him from here. He was royally screwed.
But just as the man started closing in, Jack burst through the door. He started shoving and punching through them like a wild animal, and it filled Albert with a newfound confidence. He pushed his way towards Jack, and once he was face to face with the boy, he was shoved towards the door. "Got outta here! Go find race, I'll be right behind ya!" he shouted, and Albert wasn't stupid. He trusted Jack with this, so he slammed out of the doors and ran as far as his legs would take him.
His legs took him out of the entrance, into the wet grass, over the same area in the fance that they entered in, onto the gravel, into the road. And then he stopped. Race and the others were long gone, they must have been successful.
He pumped his fists in the air in celebration. They were all ok. Well, so he thought. He fell to the floor, it felt like he'd been running for years. And Jack saved him, it's only common courtesy that he should wait for him so they can return home to smiling faces together.
-
Once Albert left, the men got a lot more angry. Jack didn't want to use his powers just yet, after all these years he's almost forgotten how to control them. But it was looking like that was the only option. After all, there were at least five big burly adults against one starving kid. And sure, Jack had some muscle on him, and yeah, he was good in a fight, but everyone has their limits. He was down on the ground, he put his hand out and pushed out one last burst of energy, when he felt the sting of cold metal against his skin. He opened his eyes and let out a short breath, he was handcuffed. And Snyder had returned, he was now looming over him.
His ugly mug filled Jack with rage, with energy, and he tried to electrocute him, to shove him over with wind, soak him with rain water, anything. But nothing happened. His hands felt dry and shaky, and his eyes were now big and fearful.
"Good luck with using your powers kid, those cuffs are made especially for freaks like you." He growled, grabbing the chain of the cuffs to pull him to his feet. "You're coming with me."