Hospes

Part nine

Before the man's fists could connect with Ruth's face he was tackled to the ground by Zaían.
Once they hit the ground Zaían and the man started rolling around on the ground, trying to get a good hit at eachother.
The man tried to jab his knife at Zaían, fortunately he dropped it as Zaían manager to pin him to the ground and land a hard punch.
That victory was short lived, the man managed to shove Zaían off off him and they continued to roll in the dirt.
"Stop it!" Ruth shouted. "This kid is a liar."
"Ruth." Kaí said.
Ruth turned around. "What?"
"She's making a run for it."
Ruth snapped her head around.
Mari was now running straight ahead. She had run a good distance, it would be hard to catch her.
Beyond the carpark lay countless buildings, all tall and vast. Still not collapsed.
Once Mari went into the city it would be almost impossible to find her.
Ruth cursed to herself and started running after her.
The carpark was a good place to run, it was hard to run in the city because the ground was never flat and it always had plants growing in it.
The carpark however was not covered in deprise, it was flat.
Kaí ran beside her. "Thats a fast kid."
Ruth trained her eyes on Mari who was now almost to the streets. Despite how fast they ran the distance between them was only slightly smaller.
Ruth pushed her body to the fullest. She wasn't letting a child outrun her, especially one that helped make her a slave.
They no longer ran through the car park, Ruth's feet landed on the uneven gravel.
Up ahead, Mari ran through the building, she turned left, past a half collapsed skyscraper. Part of the skyscraper still stood, the other half had fallen onto another building that still stood.
She followed Mari, she turned the corner and went into the alley.
The alley was small narrow and long, old graffiti covered the brick walls. It was dark, the tall buildings blocked the sun from reaching the ground.
Mari was up ahead, not so far away. Surprisingly she was no longer running she was crouched over the ground. It looked like she was trying to open something.
Ruth ran forward, Mari looked up and for the first time she seemed to be genuinely scared. She pulled harder.
Eventually the door opened up, as Ruth got closer she realized it was an opening to a sewage system. Mari was trying to escape into the sewers.
Mari crawled inside.
"No!" Ruth called out. She didn't want to chase Mari through the sewers.
She didn't know what was worse, being underground surrounded by the dead or being underground and being surrounded by old shit. The sewers weren't in use but the things they carried still had to linger.
Mari was climbing into the sewers.
As a last ditch effort Ruth jumped forward and grabbed Mari by the collar.
Mari trashed out, trying to escape into the sewer.
Ruth grabbed her as hard as she could but the kid was strong.
Mari managed to scratch her in the eye, Ruth doubled over in shock and started pressing her fingers to it.
Mari then stood up and turned around.
She jumped in.
Before she could fall, Kaí caught her.
He slowly hoisted her up as Mari started screaming. "Let me go!"
Despite her trashing, Kaí managed to get her out.
He lightly shoved her to the end of the alley which was now a dead end.
Ruth and Kaí stood in front of the sewers entrance which was now out of reach to Mari.
Mari stood at the end of the alley. Ruth expected her to look frightened but instead she simply scowled.
She spent the next 10 minutes trying to get into the sewer hole. She tried shoving and attacking so they would move out of the way. Ruth was defensive to all her attacks, it felt wrong to slap a child though  somtimes she was tempted.
Eventually Mari lost her energy and sat on the ground in defeat.
"What do you want?" Mari said.
Ruth frowned. Now that she had Mari she didn't know where to start.
"Why are you doing this?" She finally asked.
Mari scowled. "Doing what? All I'm doing is sitting down."
Ruth's e Toye twitched. This kid was testing her morality. "Why are you lyng to people about your mom being hurt and then sending them away to become slaves."
Mari looked at Ruth like she had asked the stupidest question imaginable. "Because we need workers, obviously. Besides, all the people I lie to are stupid anyway at least now they are contributing to something."
Ruth ignored the fact that this child had basically called her stupid. "Yes but why? Why do you need workers? What are you making?"
Mari rolled her eyes. "Idk, but people like it. My friends have it all the time."
Ruth assumed that the grown men that had abused her were Mari's 'friends'. "So wait, they like eating leaves?"
Ruth had reached her wits end. Out of everything, she didn't expect to be a slave that grew salad.
Mari rolled her eyes again. "Ugh, no. They grind the leaves up and snort it through their nose."
Ruth toke a slight step back. She was such a an idiot. How had she not thought of this before? It was so obvious. Out of everything she never suspected drugs to be harvested. She didn't know why.
Mari glared at Ruth. "Anyway it makes them happy and I like seeing my friends happy."
"So you'll help them enslave and abuse people?"Ruth asked.
Mari shrugged. "Whatever, those people are losers anyway. Besides it's not just my friends that will be happy, lots of other people are paying for the blue powder. We're making lots of people happy."
"So let me get this straight, your besties are  dealing drugs while using slaves to harvest them?" Kaí asked. He was now leaning against the wall, not bothered to stand in front of the sewer hole. Mari could run past him right now and she could make it.
Mari nodded. "But it's not bad or anything, the workers are weak parasites. They wouldn't do anything meaningful with their life anyway."
Ruth stepped forward. "Listen-"
"Fuck off you cocksucker! Once my friends come looking for me it's over for you!" Mari shouted.
Kaí shoke his head. "That's not very nice to say." He then started wagging his finger at Mari.
Mari stuck out her tounge. "I don't care! She is a cock sucking whore!"
Ruth had never heard a child know so many swear words.
"And why is she a cock sucking whore?" Kaí asked innocently.
Mari started blinking quickly. "I-I don't know she just is!"
Kaí's stepped forward. "Hey kid, what's your name? Mary is it?"
Mari frowned. "No! It's Mari! And only my friends call me that."
"Ok." Kaí held up his hands. "So Mary here's the thing-"
Before Kaí could finish his sentence Ruth heard someone run into the alley.
She turned around and saw it was Zaían, he had a black eye and his knuckles were bloody and bruised.
Ruth expected Zaían to glare at Mari when he saw her, maybe even yell or shout. Instead he cast her a sympathetic look. Ruth didn't know why.
"Wow, how long did you spend beating up that ginger guy." Kaí asked.
Zaían looked at him. He then started speakiing and making fighting motions. He started punching and kicking the air and then continued talking.
Ruth guessed that even if she spoke the same language as him she still wouldn't be able to keep up. The guy talked fast.
Zaían pointed to his black eye and made another punching motion.
Kaí just stood there and nodded.
Zaían continued to rant for another few seconds before he stopped to take a breather.
"Glad you got all that out of your system." Kaí said.
Mari stood up. "How can you understand him? He's not even speaking correctly."
Kaí turned towards her. "I speak his language I guess."
Ruth didn't know why he was lying but she didn't question it. She needed to get more information out of Mari.
"Who do your 'friends' sell this blue powder to." Ruth asked.
Mari shrugged. "I don't know, some guys in a boat visit every week. They're pretty cool, they give us stuff like water and food and they even built a cell towers for us."
Ruth blinked. Food, water, electricity. These guys didn't even have to work, Ruth had to worry about this stuff every day.
Mari was now starting to become more calm. "They'll be looking for me soon, then you'll be in trouble."
Ruth frowned. She turned to Kaí. "What are we going to do with her?"
Kaí ran his hand through his hair. "We could give her back, we have the information that we need."
Ruth shoke are head. "Then they'll know me and Zaían are still alive, what if they come for us."
Kaí glanced at Mari. "Will you tell them that Ruth is still alive?"
Mari scoffed. "Ruth? That's such a stupid name."
Silence passed in the alley.
Mari looked at Kaí. "What?"
"Will you tell them?" He repeated.
Mari nodded. "Ya, obviously." Realization then dawned on her. "I meanded no I wouldn't."
Kaí raised his eyebrow. "Meanded?"
"I mean meant." Mari said quickly. She looked slightly embarrassed.
Kaí turned back to Ruth. "So that's our answer, she going to rat you out."
Ruth thought back a few nights ago. When a man was shot by those men. It was before she knew who they were, or what they did. That couldn't be her.
Ruth put her head in her hands. "Kaí what are we gonna do?"
Kaí sighed. "We don't have many good options on the table here, if we give her over to her friends they'll know you're still alive and could possibly come after you.
If we keep her, then they'll go looking for her, also she's not very good company."
Mari stuck out her tounge. 
Ruth sighed. "Ya, I don't know."
She looked over at Zaían. He hadn't spoken since his long rant nobody understood.
He was looking at both Ruth and Kaí, trying to understand what they were saying.
He then started speaking again. Nobody understood him but he was passionate. He continued to point at Mari while he spoke.
"No Zaían, we can't shove Mari in a meat grinder." Kaí said as he shoke his head.
That comment made Mari's mask slip. Her confidence started to waver, Ruth could see her face turn anxious.
"Y-you can't do that! My friends need me to help them get workers!" She shouted.
Ruth stared at her. That comment had made her decision.
"We have to keep her." She said.
Kaí blinked. "What?"
"You heard her, those leaf growers need her to get workers." Ruth said quickly.
Kaí shoke his head. "I don't think they are completely reliant on getting their workers from some five year old."
"I'm 8 and a half!" Mari shouted.
Kaí stuck his tounge out at her.
Ruth tapped her foot on the ground.
"Yes but still, I think she makes it easier for them, nobodys going to find a child suspicious. Either way, if we give her back she's going to help them take more people." She turned to look at Mari. "Besides, we can learn more stuff from her."
A small part of her also didn't want to hand Mari back to these grown men that enslave people. She knew Mari was complicit but she was also a child.
"Look great, but I don't want to take care of her." Kaí said.
Ruth sighed. "Ya, I honestly don't know what to do. But we can't give her back."
Suddenly Kaí snapt his fingers, he was no longer leaning against the wall. "We don't have to take her. Someone else can."
Ruth blinked. "Who?"

Ted stared at them, this was the first time Ruth saw him slightly taken aback.
They all stood infron of his warehouse.
It has been hard to get Mari to walk all the way to the city center. She finally stopped struggling after a few minute.
Ted dropped his can of beans on the ground and let out a loud burp. "So, this child is helping to enslave people?"
Kaí and Ruth nodded.
Zaían was standing behind a now tied up Mari. She seemed to be the most afraid of him.
"And you want me to keep her around so she doesn't run back to these people?" Ted asked.
They nodded again.
Ted shoke his head. "There's no way I'm doing that."
Ruth put up her hands. "Look I get that it will be hard to feed her and you could be in a lot of danger but-"
"People will think I'm some pedo! I'm not doing that!" Ted shouted.
Ruth toke a step back. That had never crossed her mind, it was a fair point.
Kaí looked down at Ted. "You already hang out with us and nobodies called you a pedo."
"You guys are 13 not 5, and that's different. I'm here as a mentor figure, I guide you through life." Ted said. He was now leaning against his car. "You kids would be dead if it wasn't for my wisdom."
Ruth folded her arms. "Yes, because taking kids out in the middle of the night to get shrooms is wise."
She had almost forgotten that but now she remembered.
She never had time to process that situation but just saying it out loud made her angry. If it wasn't for Ted they wouldn't be in this mess in the first place.
Ted held up his hands. "I never told you guys to eat the shrooms, Kaí did that on his own."
Kaí stiffened. "Can we just forget that."
Ruth put up her hands in surrender. "Look,  we give her to you for 2 weeks max, during that time we will warn other people about whats happening. Then you can let her go, we just need more people to know whats going on." She glanced at Kaí. "Then you can let her go."
Ted frowned. "I don't know, I hate kids."
"This problem is bigger then you." Ruth said.
Ted groaned. "So, we let people know what is happening, then once we let her go people will be prepared."
Ruth nodded. "Exactly."
She wasn't even sure they would come for her, she never was a good worker anyway.
"So do we have a deal?" She asked.
Ted yawned. "Do I have to talk to her?"
Ruth shoke her head. "Just feed her and try get some information out of her."
Ted frowned. "So I do have to talk to her?"
"Only to get information." Ruth said.
Ted sighed. "You owe me a lot."

It was getting dark. Mari wasn't too pleased about her predicament.
They quickly left Ted to deal with her after they drank some of his food and water. Which he didn't notice.
Ruth walked through the city, the buildings towered over her. She remembered this path, they would be back at the restaurant soon.
She hoped that the girl was still there, she had been so focused trying to catch Mari that she completely forgot about the girl she left tied up in an abandoned restaurant.
Ruth tried not to be too worried, she was unconscious for a very long time, she was probably still asleep.
They all walked in silence.
Ruth noticed that Zaían and Kaí walked closer together then they had before.
When they first meet the avoided each other like the plague so if they were walking 2 meters apart that was progress.
She hoped the tension had died down between the two.
Ruth had been kicking a rock through the streets, she would pass it to Kaí and he would pass it back.
Once it was kicked to where Zaían was walking.
Surprisingly, he kicked it back and the rest of the walk was them passing the rock back and forth.
The restaurant was up ahead, Ruth left the rock lying on the road and quickened her pace. The orange paint was hard to miss.
Kaí walked beside her and started whistling.
Ruth ignored it.
She stood in front of the wooden door and pushed it open. It opened with a loud creak.
The room was how they left it, tables still scattered the floor and Kaí's carving on the counter was still there.
Ruth walked across the wooden floor and turned the corner.
Nothing had changed, the tables were still shoved to the end of the room, the hard wooden floor was still the same.
As Ruth looked around she suddenly felt something weigh on her shoulders.
"Kaí." She said.
She didn't need to say anything, the only thing that was different about this place was that Avati Glen was gone