Silco x Reader

Eight

"What the fuck..?", laying on the floor, eyes squinted, you let your hand slide under the bed of a patient and wiped a good amount of the blackpowder into the open. "Holy shit, the stench is deadly..."

With her brow furrowed, Maria stood next to you and kept glancing under the other beds.

"Here's more.", she pointed to a pile under the bed of a patient who had to be restrained because of his withdrawal symptoms. "But... Samaritan what is that exactly? Rat poison?"

You shook your head and removed the pile as quickly as possible. You could find it all over the room, black powder mixed with the smell of acid. One spark and everything would blow up.

The thought made you nervous.

"Tell the others to be sure to extinguish all the candles.", you grabbed a broom. "Nothing hot should come in contact with the powder."

Concerned, she looked around.

"Should we move the patients somewhere else?"

You paused. Your eyes wandered over the beds, from patient to patient. It would have been better if they could have gone somewhere else, even if only for a few hours.

But the hospital was overcrowded, there was too little room for those who were already there. Rearranging them would mean chaos. And the risk that some patients would forget themselves.

District D was reserved for the more serious cases, those who were not only aggressive but also a danger to others. If these people broke out or something went wrong then all would be lost.

Your eyes narrowed at the thought.

"That bastard...", you growled. "So that's your plan..."

Confused, Maria tilted her head.

"Samaritan?", she asked.

You quickly shook your head.

"Nothing. I was... just thinking out loud. We have to get rid of everything. As fast as possible."

"And the patients?"

"We can't move them. That would be too risky. Keep them calm, do what you must to prevent chaos. Go and tell the others. There's something I need to check."

Jumping up, you rushed to the door that led into the garden.

Rain poured from the grey sky.

A breeze stroked over your skin. The touch of the cold, dirty water, mixed with your warm body send shivers down your spine. It felt like your head was steaming.

"Jinx?", you called into the open. "Kids, where are you?"

But even after waiting and listening for a few moments, nobody answered. You called for them again, name by name.

Still nothing.

"The hell?", unease grew inside, you walked through the small area and checked for the gaps that the kids liked to hide in whenever they had done something stupid.

But the garden remained empty.

Confused, you let your eyes wander over the roofs.

Sometimes they played catch on the houses next to the hospital. Actually, they shouldn't, otherwise the neighbors would complain, but it was hard to forbid children to do something if you didn't keep an eye on them every second.

Carefully you stood on a box to get a better view. The wood creaked protestingly under your weight.

But even the roofs were deserted. Only some seagulls and rats were fighting for a few crumbs of hard bread that was already starting to rot.

And in the distance you couldn't hear any voices either. The children seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth.

Unsure, you frowned. A shiver crawled down your spine but it was hard to tell if it was the cold rain or the feeling that somebody was trying to grab your neck from behind.

Your eyes jumped back over your shoulder to check if anybody was there.

Nothing.

"I'm getting paranoid.", you mumbled and pinched yourself to ensure that the tiredness did not trick your senses.

The pain was as real as it could be but somehow you wondered if it was still nothing but a dream.

Suddenly something caught your attention. A small thing moved in the corner of your eyes. There was a shadow hiding between the roofs. It stopped for a second, looked in your direction.

When your (E/C) eyes connected with those of a little boy, you blinked in surprise.

Hastily it retreated into the shadows, giggling and ran away.

"Tov?", you asked, puzzled by its strange behavior. "Tov! Stop right there!"

Following him, you climbed onto the roof. The poorly constructed buildings screamed under your weight but you had little time to be concerned about it.

For a child with short legs, he was surprisingly fast. It was hard to keep an eye on him as you jumped from roof to roof, careful not to fall and break your neck. With quick steps, Tov jumped from a higher roof to a lower one, climbed over a plank to another roof, and glanced back.

When he noticed you following him, he seemed surprised and jumped away.

Gasping, you stopped and wiped sweat from your forehead.

So, this is how it felt like to grow old. A little running and climbing and you felt like the air was burning in your lungs. Maybe it would be good to start doing more than sit for hours at a time and occasionally take a nap.

Catching your breath, you made your way to the dark corner of a house where Tov had disappeared.

Giggling filled the air. Soft kids voices whispered to each other. They sounded like they were having fun.

A small blue braid appeared in the dark.

With narrowed eyes you stopped.

"Jinx.", you said and threw a glance around the corner. "Is that you?"

Struck by surprise, her blue eyes widened. A smile appeared on her face.

"It's you!", she sounded relieved to see. "You found us."

With an unsure smile on your face you squatted down to throw a proper glance into the hideout. A surprised sound escaped you as an entire army of little heads appeared.

"You're all here?", you noted, checking every single face one by one.

Jinx nodded.

"We're playing hide."

You frowned.

"Okay... But why?"

The kids looked at each other, unsure, before they looked at Jinx.

Raising an eyebrow, you demanded an explanation.

"Jinx?", you placed a hand on her head. "I won't be upset, I promise. Just tell me the truth, because this seems... strange."

Biting her lip, she shrugged.

"Silco didn't want them to get hurt.", she mumbled.