The City - PewdieCry

24: Aftermath

I bolted upright in my bed, gasping, panting, shaking, sweating. My head spun, and it took a few seconds for the room to come into focus. Once it had, I stopped, swallowing before returning to gasping and shaking my head. I checked myself over once more, finding no wounds other than the ones I had, and sighed. There was a long scar that ran up my forearm, and a gash on the side of my head that would take time to heal. Otherwise, I was sore. The battle had been brutal.

Michael had foolishly chosen to fight Cry, and we all knew that we couldn't take him. Even our Second attempted to talk him out of it, but M was dead set against fighting him. He wanted revenge for the stolen gunpowder, and I sighed. He had not been thinking, rather let his anger take over him, and he didn't realize what it cost him until nearly every soldier ended up in the infirmary and scout missions were run by the same people over and over. I had already been on at least two a day after returning, and rest was a word that seemed far away from me.

Part of me wanted to walk up to Michael and demand to know why he had done this. I knew that he had figured out about the stolen gunpowder, but how? I promised Cry that I wouldn't say a word, and not even Covert knew about it, and Covert was a friend that I trusted my life with at this point. I wanted to know how he did it, as I knew that this was the third night, I would see Cry. He would want to know how the information slipped if I didn't say anything.

Even so, I was forgetting about my whole point of being here. I glanced at the file once more after getting dressed and sighed. I would have to tell Cry soon, and the rest of the city. Michael was planning to tear it apart with more than just a war. I wondered how many of his soldiers here actually knew about what was happening. How many were aware of what Michael was about to unleash upon this city? Probably closer to none, but regardless, Cry had to know.

Yet, I didn't want to bring this up to him yet. I just wanted to see him.

I made my way down to breakfast, ignoring the hissing taunts and the snickering around me. Michael had watched from the ground during the battle; he saw the exchange that Cry and I had. He glowered upon it, making sure to shame me in front of the entire gang for it, and demoting me on the spot. Covert stepped in along with the Second when he started acting madly, throwing things and preparing to attack me, and Covert had been watching me carefully since. He knew that my friendship with Cry was dangerous, and he was stuck between defending me and Cry or keeping his position and dignity with the group of people that he'd known his whole life.

Now, as I walked around, he came up to my side, getting food with me. He cast glares in any direction that my name or Cry's came up, and most people shut up. I couldn't blame them, Covert had a cold stare that could knock the words out of anyone's mouth. Yet, I couldn't help but pity him. The ranks higher than him picked fun at him, teased him and mocked him for hanging around with me, the gang reject. He didn't seem to mind this as much as it bothered me, and rather he ignored everyone.

"My priority is you," he told me the night after the battle and my demotion. "You're the first true friend that I've had, that I trust. Goddammit if you're throwing yourself under the bus for that masked man, then I'm coming with you." After that, it was impossible not to trust him. He was risking everything for me, and it was something I wasn't sure if I'd ever be able to pay him back for.

"I'm going out tonight." I told Covert matter-of-factly once we sat down with our food. Covert's head snapped up, and I didn't bother looking at him as I ate my oatmeal. He snorted.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" he asked, and I shrugged, not really caring either way. Good or not, I was desperate to see the masked man. I wanted to hold him, to touch him; I wanted to make sure he was okay after the battle. "Pewdie, I don't want you getting into trouble." Covert said, lowering his voice. I shrugged again.