The Illegals

Chapter 7 - Criminal Charges

Serenity 🌸

Charles came running toward me. "Where's Micah?"

I was silent for just a moment. "They got him!" I finally cried, sinking to my knees.

My heart felt like it had been split in two, but it was still beating—actually, it was pounding. My aching heart was pounding so hard that I thought it would just die at any moment. The fresh memory of someone I cared so much about getting shot and taken away felt like a bullet to my own heart. The fear that I'd soon be taken away myself was the adrenaline rushing through my veins. My broken foot was throbbing, serving as a painful reminder that despite my attempts to save us, I had failed. I had failed.

"Serenity, I... what—what happened?"

"Th-they shot him! They shot him, and they... they took him, and they'll be after me soon enough, and-and I don't know what to do!" I sobbed.

I could feel the rough concrete under my knees. I could feel a bitter breeze blowing the hair out of my face. I could feel Charles wrap his arms around me. I could feel the pain weighing hard on my heart.

Suddenly, I could hear Charles speaking to me. "Serenity, I've got a plan. Those guys don't know what's coming!"

Before I knew it, we were cautiously running down the street—well, I wasn't running, but Charles was, and he was dragging me. It seemed safe enough, on the streets. Those guys were long gone—long gone with Micah. I wanted to help Charles, but I just felt numbness and pain and hurt crashing down on me.

"I've got some friends that could help us out, and I'm sure you know some people who could help us out, or at least could use some protection. We can find out where—"

I cut in, pain evident in my voice. "How do you know he's even alive? What was to stop them from killing him... from finishing him off?"

"If they were kidnapping him, they must have some use for him. They wouldn't kill him."

"Charles, they shot him multiple times. I think they're trying to get rid of us."

"Us?"

"Me and Micah and a bunch of others. We're... we're illegal."

There was a long pause, a silent moment. The world stopped, and time hung loosely around us. Confusion grew on Charles's face. I knew that wasn't what he was expecting to hear. I knew that wasn't what he wanted to hear.

"Illegal?"

"We've always been illegal, ever since we were born. I don't know why. I think Micah knew—knows why." I sighed, looking down at my feet.

"So... do you know some people we could round up?"

I thought for a moment and pulled the crumpled paper out of my pocket. There was a short list containing the Illegals who were in the most danger. My heart skipped a beat as I skipped over my own name, looking for people I knew.

"I'm not sure it's safe to call. We've gotta go to their houses."

"And kidnap them?"

"Yeah."

"That's against the law. Are you sure you want those criminal charges against you?"

"I have criminal charges against me from just being alive. Are you ready for it?"

"I suppose I have to be, huh?"

"Let's go."

We stopped just for a moment at Charles's house, so he could grab a better crutch for me. It helped increase our speed. We decided it would be faster to round up Charles's friends first—we were closer to their houses.