The Letter T

A Glimmer

Her lungs burned and her breath screamed through her ragged and sharp. She wanted to stop but she didn't dare. Stopping meant death. It always meant death. She turned and looked to Drake. He was struggling. He wouldn't be able to continue much longer with the added burden of the child slung over his shoulder. The girl was silent. Tears streamed down her little cheeks and her eyes were filled with pain. There was also something else hidden deep in those eyes. Hope. The hope of survival; it burned in every one of their people.

They needed to find cover, a place to hide. She knew that the guards were already mobilized and sent to hunt down any of her people who had survived and fled the scene. If they weren't far enough away they would die. If they weren't hidden they would die. They had put at least a few miles between them and the night club. It might not be enough... It had to be. They couldn't keep moving any farther.

She saw a very tight and narrow alley between two of the rows of dirty houses. It was shrouded in shadow in the fading light of the late afternoon. It was dark and full of places to hide. She made a sharp turn and ducked into it. Shouting over her shoulder for Drake to do the same. She turned and watched him enter, her eyes combing the street for signs of panic that would show that they had been spotted. It was deserted. They weren't seen, at least she hoped to God that they weren't.

She turned and followed Drake further into the alley. He ducked behind an overflowing dumpster and  motioned for her to do the same. He set the child down gently, then sat back resting heavily on the dumpster. His breaths were heavy and rasping. He sighed irritably then gave her a long look that said they needed to have a long talk if they survived the next thirty minutes. With a deep breath she sat down next to him slouching against the dumpster. The little girl had curled into a tight ball so she took up as little room as possible. She moved her eyes away from the child. She looked at him for a few minutes, then spoke to him in a soft whisper.

She said only one word, "Thanks."

She meant far more than that. She meant thank you for saving my life. Thank you for standing by me all these years. She meant that she owed him more than she could ever repay because he had not abandoned her as any sane individual would have done. Because he had helped her even when it meant risking his life. Her eyes relayed that. They also said another thing. There was a glimmer of something else that was beginning to shine in her eyes and in her heart.

He didn't respond. He just kept looking at the ground trying to keep up the facade of being mad. He stretched, then he got up and quietly announced that he was going to go scout the area.

She watched as he walked purposefully away. His strides were quick and angry. A moment of indecision went through him and he stopped and turned to face her.

His voice had a very different tone as he spoke to her. "Stay put and watch the kid. Make sure she doesn't do anything stupid." He faltered once again. "If I'm not back in 15 minutes take the girl and go find a better place to hide. Do not come looking for me. Promise me you'll go hide, not come looking for me."

She didn't say anything and averted her gaze. She wasn't going to make a promise that she couldn't keep.

He turned and kept walking. She watched him go with dread in her heart as she had every time before.

***

Why didn't she ever listen to him? He asks her to hide she generally comes tromping along behind him. He tells her to be safe, she comes running up the stairs carrying a child that she can't possibly hope to run with out of a building that would be swarmed with guards in minutes. Again he was sure that she would be the death of him. He had accepted that, what he hadn't accepted, what he couldn't hope to allow was the idea that she may die before him.

He turned his attention away from his thoughts and back to the task at hand. He was silent as he quickly crept out of the alley and into the deserted street. He was about to turn a corner when he heard talking and stopped. That had saved his life he realized when he peeked around the corner just enough to see eight fully armored guards. He cursed under his breath.

It looked like they had been slowly and systematically searching every alley. They hadn't run far enough. He needed to move now. They would round that corner soon and if he was still there he would die. If he was dead he couldn't warn her and she would die. He wasn't going to let that happen.

He bolted back up the street to the alley as quickly as possible without making enough noise to alert the guards. He reached it and ducked into it. He looked down it and didn't see her. He reached the dumpster where he had told her to wait. She wasn't there, the child wasn't either. He began to panic. What if she had gone looking for him. What if she was dead? He didn't want to even entertain that possibility, luckily he didn't have to. She silently crawled out from behind a pile of old rags and spoiling garbage.

"Eight guards. Their searching alleys. They'll be here in minutes."

She nodded. He could see the relief in her eyes mixed with the same grim terror that was usually there. She helped the child crawl out with her gimpy leg. He picked the little girl up then they began to hastily move down the alley. Most alleyways like this let out on another dirty street. They had assumed that this one would too. They were wrong. It was a dead end. They were trapped. He could hear the guards making their way up the street towards the alley.

***

They were going to die. It was that simple. This was her fault if she had left the child they could have put more distance between them and the night club. Somehow she still didn't regret her decision to save the child. She did regret the fact that Drake was going to die for her folly.

It was eight to two. There was no way that they could win. The only way out was to avoid the fight all together. If they hid the guards would almost certainly find them. It was their job to be thorough. She looked at Drake in resignation silently hooking her hand through his. He held it tight and she could feel the warmth of it through her glove. The child whimpered softly. Drake quietly comforted her by telling her it would be ok. It was a lie, but the little girl didn't need to know that.

The voices of the guards were getting louder. She turned and then she saw it. A way out. It was crazy, but what could they lose if she was wrong? Nothing, they had nothing to lose. She let go of Drake's hand and ran to the little ramshackle door that clearly opened into the house of a D. She tried it and it was locked. Then she pounded her fist softly  against the door. A few seconds later a dirty disheveled man opened it. Behind him a set of frightened young eyes belonging to a little boy peaked and out.

He opened his mouth to ask what the hell it was that she wanted, then he saw the gloves and he understood. She was trouble. He had a strict policy of not answering to trouble. He was about to turn away and slam the door when he saw Drake approaching her with the child. He looked at the little girl for a moment indecisively. Then he cursed and let them in. She turned and thanked him as he shut and locked the door behind them.