- Doomsday - Volume One: Gods and Monsters

Chapter 76: Battle for Junkertown Part. 2

(AN: Okay... definitely going to be a three part-er... Also, what the hell are the little koala laughing things? They don't show up on pc where I do most of my writing, but I downloaded the mobile app recently and found a few that had been placed throughout my story (I had to do a small treasure hunt to find them all). Is it just another way to comment, and if so, why doesn't it show up on pc? Besides that, enjoy the chapter as always!)

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[A few minutes earlier...]

"I have a plan."

Rose let the issue drop, whether or not she thought it was the best idea for them all to be together at this moment, it was [Y/N]'s final decision and he usually didn't budge once his mind was made up. Yet, she wasn't stupid, there was clearly something more to it, something he wasn't revealing, and that something was important enough that not even she was to hear about it. News of traitors in their midst wasn't new, there had been whispers for a while, even before they had arrived at Junkertown, but this unknown factor could easily become their undoing. Perhaps [Y/N] feared that revealing the information would fall upon malicious ears, using it against them, and in that situation it made sense, but why not clue her in on the plan, did he still not trust her? No, that wouldn't be it, they had travelled about for too long for him not to trust her by this point.

Could it be her friendship with Odessa? It wouldn't be a stretch, the girl had loose lips, having a hard time keeping her mouth shut most of the time, if by some circumstance the two talked about the 'special mission', the potential for her to reveal it unwittingly had real harm. If that was the case it would be unfortunate, but she understood the thinking. In such dire times they needed any advantage they could find and if the enemy somehow caught onto their plans, with the odds too heavily stacked against them, any chance of winning would be dashed. Looking around herself, she did notice the Junker teen was nowhere to be found, amongst the twenty or so marching towards the main gate. They had only just talked after leaving the meeting, if not only briefly, somehow she had managed to sneak away without any notice.

'Sneak' was a loaded term, it suggested she did something or was purposefully trying to leave, pushing away those more accusatory thoughts, they already had a rebellion to deal with, she didn't want to come to terms with her sole friend betraying them. The atmosphere was chaotic and volatile, with guards running amok and regular civilians worried, if she were to have wandered off in the middle of such discord then going unnoticed wasn't that farfetched. Throwing about claims of subterfuge at random, or for slight inconsistencies wouldn't help them here, and certainly not towards those closest and most loyal. However, upon saying the word 'betrayal' aloud in her head, a few small discrepancies made themselves clear to the assassin, trained from youth to pick up on micro actions and movements. Small gangs of people, cloaked and hiding themselves, stood idle by alleyways, pretending to not care about the events at play, if one wasn't paying attention it would certainly be easy to miss, but analysing her surroundings was her specialty.

It was strange, there was a good chance it was nothing, but in this specific situation it seemed to stand out more, as if things were all lining up one after the other. Rose shook her head, letting out a quiet sigh, over analysing everything wouldn't do anyone good, and if the revolt was as severe as the gunshots ahead seemed to indicate, she'd need to be fully focused on the current matters at play.

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However, while the assassin attempted to distance herself from these thoughts, Odessa couldn't help but feel like something was weird, wandering slowly through the dingy back alleys of the Junker metropolis. Leaving with the rest of the group, a subdued whispering caught her attention as the others went to deal with the rebellion, two of the members quickly walking in the opposite direction, keen to get away without much notice. The pair from the back looked completely different, a physical representation of night and day. One stood tall, wearing a stiff hat, lanky and thin, the other was closer to the ground, more rotund and circular in shape, waddling away from the scene. She wasn't clear exactly who the duo were, she barely knew anyone in the city past their names, so it wasn't surprising, but the unfamiliarity especially for a duo appearing in an official board meeting seemed suspicious.