Revolution

Chapter 7

After packing up what little we have, I brace myself for the scariest part of our journey. Since none of us know where the Capital is, I am going to the Black Market for the first time in my life with Raven leading the way. We hide our bags in some long weeds so that they don't get stolen. Soon we arrive at the Black Market, which turns out to be a very long alleyway in the shadows. At this point, I have no idea where we are.

"Don't worry, I know who to go to," Raven says. "Just stay close and keep quiet. Whatever you do, don't stand out. We'll be fine." And with that, we pull down our hoods and walk into the most dangerous place I can think of.

Everything I know tells me to get out of there, but I push on after Raven. I immediately notice the repugnant smell that hangs in the air. All eyes are glued on me, but I don't make eye contact with anyone. The market seems to stretch out forever, with boxes, tables, and people in ragged clothing lining the walls. Surprisingly, nobody walks up to us.

Raven steps toward a stout, bearded man in a dirty plaid shirt. I thought it smelled vile already, but the smell of this guy is appalling. It's all I can do to keep from throwing up on the spot.

"Raven," he says, smiling at her. There's a huge gap between his yellow front teeth, and his raspy voice makes his remark sound like a taunt. His eyes shift over and I hate the way he's staring at me. "Who's your friend?"

Raven stares directly at him and says, "That's none of your concern."

Gaptooth just gives a throaty laugh. "What do you need?"

"A map of the Old America with our location and the Capital's marked," Raven replies boldly.

He looks at her for a second before saying, "Those are pretty rare."

Raven steps closer to him. "You owe me for saving your butt all the time," she says, lowering her voice to a whisper so that we don't attract any attention.

"Sorry honey, I don't do freebies." Gaptooth starts to move away, but that wasn't the answer Raven was looking for.

"I swear, Pierce, if you don't get me this, I will tell everyone your secrets. I know that you can get it in a blink of an eye."

Pierce turns around and grabs Raven's arm roughly. I hold back a scream. "Do you have any idea how many people I have working for me?" He glares at her before letting go of her arm. All of a sudden, he seems to change his mind and mutters, "One moment." He walks down the alley slowly, clearly taking his time.

"What was that?" I ask quietly.

Raven shakes her head slowly and says, "Something's not right."

Only a few minutes later, Pierce comes back with a folded up piece of paper in his hand. He smirks and says, "You're right. That wasn't too hard."

Raven snatches it out of his hand, opens it to make sure that the marks are there, and folds it back up again before putting it into her pocket. "Thank you for your cooperation," she says stiffly before grabbing my hand and leading me out of the alley.

We're out of the market and are about to get our bags when I get the familiar feeling of being followed. I think Raven knows it too, because we both walk faster. The footsteps get louder as our pursuers get closer.

"I don't think we can outrun them," I hiss. Raven gives me the tiniest nod.

We stop abruptly and turn to see two guys who are both easily taller than us. The one closest to me has messy brown hair and multiple bruises, but it's his eyes that captivate me. He gets closer and I see that he has huge dark brown eyes with tiny gold flecks. It makes him look sincere. He doesn't look much older than me. The man facing Raven also has brown hair, but is obviously older than the one in front of me. I notice a slight stubble on his chin. A scar snakes down the side of his face, disturbingly close to his eye. I'm guessing that they're brothers.

"Hello there," Scarface sneers, getting way too close to Raven. "I heard that you're causing trouble for my boss."

"Look guys, we're just leaving now, and we won't be back. Just go and forget about us, okay?" Raven says innocently.

"Sorry, can't do that unless you hand over the map, miss."

Scarface obviously won't let us go either way. He closes in, but Bruises just stands behind him, kind of like the way I'm standing behind Raven. He doesn't want to be here, either.

"Wait!" The word leaves my lips before I have the chance to think it over.

Scarface directs his glare at me and I feel myself involuntarily recoil a bit. Bruises keeps his big eyes glued on the ground. "Looks like your friend isn't as mute as I thought," Scarface jeers.

I take a deep breath and say, "I know that you don't want to be here, just like us."

Bruises casts his eyes on me. "You know nothing," Scarface snarls.

"Based on your brother here," I nod at Bruises, "I know that Pierce isn't paying you enough, and you're tired of hurting others." I might be imagining it, but I think Scarface's eyes widen a bit. "You just want to protect your brother, but you have no choice but to work for Pierce to survive. You hate the way things are, but you can't do anything about it."

Scarface's eyes bore into mine. Raven stares at me in awe. Bruises looks at me intently like I'll suddenly disappear if he looks away. I think that he's been waiting for this moment for a while now. I think both of them have. "It doesn't matter," Scarface finally says, his powerful fist smashing into the nearest wall.

"Yes it does!" Raven interrupts. "Do you know why we need the map? Because we need to know where the Capital is to change the system! We're going to stand up for everyone."

Scarface smiles, but the malice is gone. He looks at us like we just told him that we'll stop poverty and achieve world peace. "Kids have such nice dreams," he says absentmindedly, "Until they realize that they live in reality."

Bruises steps forwards and says, "I think that we should help them, Thorne."

"Do you have a death wish, Chase?" Scarface/Thorne practically yells. "Do you understand what the Officials will do to you if they catch you?"

"It's worth the risk!" Bruises/Chase replies angrily. "I'm tired of living this way!"

Raven and I stand there awkwardly as they argue. I feel like I just walked in on something personal.

After a particularly long silence, Chase says, "You don't have to protect me anymore, Thorne. If you won't come, I'll go with them alone."

Thorne opens his mouth to convince him otherwise but ends up closing it again. "If you get him killed," he says to us, "I'll kill you both myself."

Raven smiles and says, "Nice to meet you too. I'm Raven."

She leaves the choice to reveal my name to me, and I decide that our group has to be able to trust one another. "I'm Aubrey."