Children's Games: A Story of Modern Consequence

Chapter 28

~Joshua~

Joshua walked beside Cedric, matching his pace perfectly. They both wore similar clothing; cargo shorts and a loose fitted T-shirt to try and blend in with the rest of the population. They needed to look as different from the gun-wielding criminals that everyone suspected had broken into the council buildings the previous night. It was already common knowledge that there had been a staged suicide of one of their very own soldiers.

The streets they walked down were sad and dreary. Anxiety seeped out of the pedestrians in the form of sweat, and everyone seemed to cling to each other to find comfort, despite the heat that beat down on them. Everyone spoke in hushed whispers, and no one offered any smiles to the passing pair. It followed them all throughout Fimiston in their rounds.

Joshua couldn't blame them. The way that 'Rosie' was handled was completely barbaric... but even then, he found himself struggling to come up with another way out of that situation. Not presenting her murder to Emilia like a gift would have been a start, he thought bitterly. It had completely freaked her out and prevented them from a smooth escape. He didn't blame her, just their whole system. Even if she had gone through with it, it would've still been Dominik's kill, Dominik's fault.

But he tried not to think too much about that. The captain had given them instructions to simply observe the mood of the people and listen out for intel relating to potential suspects. Everyone else stayed in the house, and it made Cedric especially proud to be one of the only ones going out. He was less than thrilled about having to go with Joshua though since they had never exactly bonded.

Cedric had begun to put less and less effort into hiding the fact that he disliked Joshua. Every time he spoke up, Ivan rolled his eyes or exchanged a hushed whisper to whoever was next to him. The smirk or glare that followed suggested that these shared words were distasteful. Joshua didn't have a clue what he had done wrong, and it made him anxious that Ivan knew more about his secret activities than he led on.

But nothing made him happier than the fact that Dominik didn't think the same things. Joshua had overheard a conversation with him the day after Maria... where he voiced his concerns for Joshua's allegiance, given his involvement in the failure's situation.

"I think it's safest to get rid of Petyr as well. She's definitely said something to him. The next thing we know, he'll be on his way to slitting our throats in our sleep!"

"Ivan, I will not hear of it. He completed all his tests, all the procedures, and isn't betraying us now. Maria was...different. Trust me. He will not get out of this. Maria..."

Dominik hadn't been able to finish his sentence as he scrubbed the bloody mess from his body, aggressively refusing Ivan's helping hand.

"Hey!" Ivan shouted up at Joshua, crouched at the top of the stairs to the basement. Joshua froze, from fear as much as from numbness. They both stood in alarm, the air growing tense as Dominik slowly turned.

"I thought I told you to come back here ages ago." Dominik was red and sticky, anger rising at his loyal subordinate.

That was when the sleeping watches started, kept completely hidden from the other members in Unit 352.

So even though their official task of the day was to observe, and do some food shopping along the way, Joshua's task was to get to the bottom of Ivan's insatiable hatred for him. Though he still hadn't decided if getting Cedric to like him was actually important, or if he shouldn't care anymore. Getting his trust could help me in the long run though... eight days left.

Joshua snapped out of his worried thoughts and realised that they were entering the Meat Strip. He eyed the five men in dark suits and sunglasses standing in front of the back door to the meat shop. He grimaced at the weird exchange that they were about to go through in their weekly appointment with them.