THE RUN AND GO : JOSHLER

14 : CAUGHT

Alex tightly gripped his drink and glanced behind him. He was in a small room, the common area, just outside the main warehouse. He was with most of the other Sinners, when he was supposed to be on the warehouse floor.

He took another drink and another nervous glance over his shoulder at the door behind him. Then he took another. And another. And another.

"Alex!" A voice suddenly snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Hm?" Alex quickly turned his head back to the table in front of him, eyes wide.

Jack, Rian, and Zack were all staring at him, confused looks strewn across their faces.

"Were you even listening to our conversation dude?" Jack asked.

Alex shrugged and tried to act more casual. "Yeah, of course I was. I just...thought I heard something. It was probably nothing, though."

Zack shook his head and laughed.

"Relax, Alex," he said, lightly elbowing him in the ribs. "You don't have to be on guard duty all the time."

"Y-Yeah," Alex half-laughed. "Yeah, I guess I don't."

"How did you even become a guard anyways?" Jack asked, leaning his elbows on the table to be closer to Alex. "I've never seen you before."

"Yeah," Rian agreed. "Never seen you before either."

Alex ignored the anxiety growing inside of him and forced a shrug.

"Dunno," he replied. He tried to form a sentence that at least made sense without mentioning the Clique. "I...I had connections with the higher-ups, and I just..." he shrugged again, "got in."

"So, wait, let me get this straight," Jack said, gesturing to Alex with the bottle in his hand. "You get involved with the boss, like, the boss, pass initiation, and become a guard? Just like that?"

"Must be a damn good guard," Rian added. "No one starts in a position their first week in. How'd you manage?"

Alex bit his lip and tilted his bottle. "W-Well, uh..." he felt that anxious feeling yet again, the feeling of a million pairs of eyes staring at you when you know you don't belong.

"Wait, you didn't...do what Dallon did, did you?" Zack asked, lowering his voice and leaning closer to the table.

"Oh my God," Jack let out a loud chuckle. "Don't tell me you did. Please don't tell me you fucking did, Alex."

Alex raised his eyebrows. He had no real idea who Dallon actually was. He had heard his name thrown around a couple of times, but not enough to know anything about him.

But by the sound of this conversation, Alex knew enough to know that this Dallon guy wasn't good.

"Wh-What...What did Dallon do?" He asked, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"You know," Rian cleared his throat. "He's the boss's right hand man, and he had to get there somehow."

"Oh, just fucking say it already," Jack interrupted, loudly slamming his bottle on the table. "He sucked his dick, that's what he did."

Alex's eyes widened, but not in shock. He shook his head in understanding, his mouth forming an "oh" shape.

So that's who Dallon was.