One Last Evolution

Chapter Three (Maren)

   We dart off into the darkening streets, making quick time out of the city proper into the fringes. We stop once at our cache to pick up the rest of our haul, and go from there to the building.

   I keep a careful watch behind me, but Riley doesn't or can't follow us. It's pitch dark when we get back, so we whistle to let the sentry know we're coming in, and climb through the window.

"Mare!" Berkely crows, when we let ourselves into our room.

"Hey, Berk," I scoop her up, and she rubs her nose against mine affectionately.

"How was your day, Jules?" Ciana shrugs off her jacket and begins emptying the pockets.

"It was good! Annamaria ended up staying behind today, and she taught me some moves with a stave while I was helping watch the little girls. She says she might start an actual class for us younger girls so that we can fight if we have to."

"I want Annamaria to teach me stave!" Teagan exclaims. She flops down onto the stack of pallets, winces, and hops up again to pull a piece of metal facing from a Cybio flare gun out of her back pocket.

"What'd you take that for? It's not going to be worth anything in trade, and we can't use it," I hold out my hand for it, but she pulls back.

"I was talking to Curlew last night, and she says she knows a boy from another clan who was bound to a Cybio armament manufacturer, but he ran away and he knows how to make some Cybio weapons if we can find the parts."

"What clan is he in?"

"Curlew didn't say, but it makes sense because someone like that is someone the Cybio would definitely come looking for, so he probably made her promise not to tell."

"But if he's in another band why did he tell Curlew he could do it? Wouldn't his clan siblings be safer if no one knew what he could do? Because you're right: if the Cybio found out about him they wouldn't stop sweeping the outskirts til they got him."

"I don't know, Mare," Teagan sighs, giving me a you're-missing-the-point look.

"Probably because Curlew is gorgeous and can wrap boys around her little finger," July says, looking up from the intricate braid she's making in Sela's hair.

"Curlew is twelve and needs to behave." I sigh. "And there's no way I would even consider letting you carry a gun. If you were caught, you wouldn't just be killed. They would --" I glance at Sela and Berkely and stop.

"They would what, Mare?" Sela asks quickly.

I shake my head. "Nothing."

   I shove the stack of pallets over and lift the loose board, then heft our basket of stored food out of the space and sort our day's findings into it.

"Ci, I'm going up to give Kentley her ten percent. You can portion out dinner."

I come out into the narrow hallway and glance into the common room.

"Kentley here?" I ask Naylor, who is sitting at a rickety table fiddling with some dice.

"She's upstairs."

"Thanks."

   I continue up the stairs and find Kentley in the main room, where we'd fought off the attack the night before.

"Hey, Maren." she says, tipping her head towards the seat across from her.

"Here's your cut," I say, dropping the bag of food on the table.