Once Again

Chapter Two - Who We Are

Picture: Yet another Karma by KarmaMoonshadow

Who We Are

"Can you shut this kid up before I murder him?" Noise growled as Echo continued to scream. 

"Put me down and let me go! I promise I'll never come back!" he wailed. "I DON'T WANT TO JOIN YOUR STUPID RAIDERS!"

"Hey, it'll be fine," Puppet said, awkwardly patting him on his head. "You'll like the Raiders. You'll like Nitro Fun. You remind me of him."

Echo never stopped struggling, but he started to tire out and his efforts became weak and pointless. They traveled through the streets until dark, and then they reached a large, open roof building that was probably a sports field or some sort of enormous amphitheater. He looked up at the massive structure and swallowed nervously. "You guys live in there?"

"You'd better believe it," Puppet said cheerfully.

Rogue went up to a little window and tapped the glass. He leaned in close and whispered some sort of a password. After a moment, the door opened and he lead them inside. The field was covered in tents and pavilions, with lots of folding tables and camping chairs. There were people everywhere, and everyone seemed to have their place. 

Almost immediately, someone came up to them, and everyone quickly got out of the way, as if he held some sort of authority. Echo quickly analyzed him, noticing that he was wearing a black coat and a purple t-shirt underneath, and that the t-shirt had some sort of dripping swirl printed on it. He had jet black hair and triangle glasses, and his exhausted eyes were neither friendly nor cold. "This him?" he said softly.

"Yes. This is Echo," Rogue answered.

"Perfect. Thank you, Noise, Puppet. Release him and go tell the others to stay ... normal. No screwing around."

Stay normal? Echo thought, his heart racing in fear. What the heck is going on here?

"My name is Tristam," the new one said. "I'm the leader, and I believe you can help me." He smiled kindly, but Echo didn't trust him at all.

"I'm not helping you," he snapped. "You're going to let me go and I'm going to get out of here and you'll never see me again."

Tristam's eyes flashed with anger, but it was quickly concealed. "Perhaps you need a little more persuasion."

Echo felt his face pale. Alyssa had told him about this before. Torture. "You're going to torture me?"

The Raider snorted. "No. We're not that kind of pack. Come walk with me. Rogue, you're dismissed." 

The other nodded and left without protest. Echo watched him go, almost wishing he'd come back so that he didn't have to walk alone with this stranger.

"This is the Raiders," Tristam said, motioning to the camp. "We stockpile food, water, weapons, clothes, medical supplies, and anything else we may need. We try to live as comfortably as possible, making the best of our situation."

"You're called the Raiders? Why?"

Tristam smiled a little. "Because we raid, of course. We've raided this city to nothing, and we know all of its secrets. There's a pipe somewhere, a pipe that still carries running water. I'd tell you," he added, catching Echo's hungry glance, "but then our secret would be out. You'd have to join us first." Echo huffed, but stayed quiet. "We also raid the other pack, the Alphas. I heard you got in a fight with two of them today, yeah?"

"Yeah," the smaller boy mumbled, rubbing his face. Somewhere along the journey, his nose had stopped bleeding, but he hadn't been able to clean it up. He could already feel the massive bruise on the side of his face.