Hollow Veins

Chapter Thirty Six; Ask For Help

They continued walking. Finally the trees cleared. The was a deep slope, spreading far and wide. Salem rested at the bottom. The city was huge. The building ran on and on for miles. Ari could see the mountains far off, cresting behind the city. If she looked closely, she could make out the ridges and cracks spread across the streets. Like some giant had ran it's finger nails through it. Prince summed it up with a whistle. Jasper put his hands on his knees. "We should probably see if we can find a less steep way down." He glanced at Jaden. The latter grunted in annoyance. Alice raised her eyebrows at him, "Well you're not sliding down." Jaden sighed. Prince shrugged. "It might be fun. Just slide all the way to those crevices and..." He made a splat noise. "Wee," Aaron said, flatly. Jaden smirked. Ari looked around at them, "On a scale of one to ten, what chance is there of Prince dying?" "Yes." Jasper smirked. Prince gasped in mock offense, "I thought I could trust you." "Cry about it." Ari grinned. Prince tilted his head. "Watch me." Ren shook her head. "Prince, no." "It is too late." Ari rolled her eyes. "Drama queen," She sing songed. Aaron groaned, "Ok, ok, you're both pretty." He pushed between Ari and Prince. "Let's go now."

They made their way down the slope. Crouching, adjusting and shifting themselves to keep their balance. It was slow and uncomfortable work. At least the weather had cooled as it reached evening. They were all and little tense from earlier. After what felt like hours they reached the bottom, stumbling down the rumble and grabbing each other for balance. "Well that was-" Prince wiped his forehead, leaving a trial of mud, "interesting." Jaden was crumpled next to him, heaving. Ari kneeled next to him. "Are you ok?" He nodded but still looked pained. She opened a bottle of ibuprofen. Only two tablets left. Ari and Jasper shared a look but didn't say anything. Jaden looked a little worried but took one. Jasper and Ari both stood a bit back from the others. Prince looked at them then at the bottle. He exhaled quietly. The last thing he wanted was for the others to see worry from him. Prince watched as Ari walked past Jasper to get a good look at the streets. Roads like long fingers, snaked in and out of the city and disappeared in the distance. The buildings seemed to touch the sky. Sever crevices cut roughly into the ground ahead of them. Prince heard faint echos. Screeches. They were out in the open. Ari seemed to notice this as well. She walked backed to Jasper and whispered in his ear. He looked back then said something to her quietly. Ari gestured at Jaden then at the buildings behind her. Jasper pushed his hair off his forehead. He stood there a second then nodded. Jasper walked back over to them. "We need to find a spot for the night. We just..." His voice trailed off and his eyes settled on Jaden. Jaden looked up. Sweat still ran down his face. His eyes were red which made his glare a little scary. Jasper put his hands up. "I am not calling you weak. But you are hurt." Jaden didn't lose the glare. Jasper sighed, "Whatever, let's just go." They all got up and grabbed bags. Jasper spun on his heel and said as they started walking, "Jaden if you need help, don't play the 'I'm fine' card. Ask for it."

The screeching got louder the farther they walked. They avoided several gaping holes in the the streets. Some buildings had tipped, crashed against each other. There were long tears in some, leaving piles of rubble slumped next the buildings. The whole place seemed to be holding it's breath. On it's toes, waiting to come crashing to the ground. Eventually they found a sturdy, shorter building, less likely to collapse. There was smashed electric Ari raised her eyebrows at Jasper. He nodded. "Best we'll get. it's getting late." The door was locked but Jaden stepped forward and pulled a small box from his backpack. He examined the size off the lock then extracted two tools from the box. He fitted them in the lock, twisting, pushing, and adjusting them, until the lock gave a click. Jaden looked back at the others. They were staring at him. Jaden raised his eyebrows questioningly. Ari narrowed her eyes. "Where'd you learn that?" He shrugged then signed, "I escaped the orphanage and my foster homes a good amount of times." Ren spoke for him. Jasper raised his eyebrows. "Oh, hm..." "Oh, well, we're just gonna stand around talk, are we?" Aaron said impatiently. He glared at Jasper like it was his fault. Jasper ignored him. "Let's just get inside." He pushed open the doors. The place was clearly a bank. ATMs lined one wall, several smashed and broken. To the left, were three reception window counters. Electrical cords hung uselessly behind them from the wall, like something had been ripped off it. Possibly security monitors and computers. There was a door at the far end of the room. A torn gray bloodstained rug spread across the marble floors. Oil, dirt and blood smeared the ground. Trash litered the floor. There was empty vending machine, it's smashed glass surrounding it. Next to that was a clearly rifled through was an overturned trashcan. Prince yawned, "Home sweet home."

Ren felt a sense of unease in this place. All the blood and broken objects. She shuddered a little. She'd declined food when it was offered to her. The events of the day had made Ren jumpy and had robbed her of her appetite. She sat in corner nearest to the counters. Ren looked around at the others, weary, tired, stressed. They'd been through the mill. Jaden looked up at her. Her stomach twisted, and it was suddenly impossible to hold still. Ren looked down, twisting her hair. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him smiling. She squeezed her eyes shut. Ren heard shuffling next to her then felt a nudge. Jaden had scootched next to her. He signed, "You ok?" She nodded. "Yeah I-I'm fine- good." The longer she knew him the harder it was to talk to him. Ren refused to say anything stupid so she closed her eyes and leaned back. She could tell Jaden was doing the same thing. His hand touched hers for second then was jerked away. Ren didn't open her eyes. It had been an accident. He hadn't tried to... She wanted to bang her head against the wall. Shut up brain, shut up, she practically screamed in her head. She was just going to sleep and not think.

As Ren and Jaden drifted off, Alice glanced at Jaden's backpack. She'd forgotten all about his computer. With that she also remembered Jasper's mask he'd worn the first "ran into" each other. With a glance at Aaron she said, "Hey, Jasper, what ever happened to your mask." Jasper and Ari shared a look and both burst out laughing. Alice frowned, "What?" Jasper caught his breath, "When I first met Ari. I was coming back to my base after talking to you. But... uh... someone-" Ari snickered. He continued, "-Tried to shoot me. Ari's shot hit me in the face. Broke my mask." "I'd found Jasper's base and broken in. I heard him coming and thought he was an Infected. I shot his mask and we both started screaming like banshees. I was like, 'Oh shoot I killed a real person.'" Ari explained, through her laughter. Prince smirked, "Oh, shoot? Literally. " Maybe it was because how tired they were but they all started to crack up at that corny joke, except Aaron. He was sitting a good distance away from them and was half asleep. Jasper inhaled, "And I didn't hear a thing inside it so she freaked me out." "But y'know the part about almost dying was chill," Ari said. Jasper shrugged. "Well that too was... unnerving." Ari smirked. "Unnerving? Oh you were so terrified." "Hey at least I was scared because I got shot in the head and not because a shot a random person in the head." They laughed again. "Well I'll stay up. You all can get some sleep," Jasper said. Ari shrugged. "Sure, whatever."

Prince sat next to Ari. Her head kept tipping then jerking as she woke up again. Her eyes kept opening then slowly closing again. She was messing with a small string, tying and untying it. Prince tried to get his thoughts straight. Before his life had been pretty simple. Don't die, had pretty much been the only thought process he really had. Prince snorted internally. Like he'd tried to follow that rule. He'd rather not remember that. But those times had been less complicated. But he'd been all alone. Ew feelings, Prince thought, jokingly. Still he didn't ever want to have that feeling of loneliness again. Prince fiddled with his small pocket knife. He felt tired, his hands slowing. He could feel his mind drifting off. Prince suddenly felt pressure on his shoulder. Ari had, at last, fallen asleep. Her head resting... on his shoulder... Prince tensed. He glanced at her, his face reddening. He almost made a joke to wake her up. Maybe he might have said ew or something like that but... well he might as well leave her alone for once. Prince tucked an arm behind her and pulled her blanket up over her. Ari's breathing was slow and calm. He glanced at Jasper but he hadn't noticed. He and Alice were quietly talking. Prince leaned his head back against the wall. He felt himself fading. Finally slipping into sleep.