Rats: Shai's Story

The End

Author's Note: So I am an awful person and it took me forever to write the final chapter, but it's finally here! There will be a sequel to this story (just not sure when I will start posting). I hate the title of this story and I was going to rename it AQ57 after the virus Kirby created in the earlier chapters. Thoughts?

Anyways, I hope you have enjoyed this story!

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 Shai couldn't stop from letting her eyes dart around the train. Brighties in rich clothing had filled the train, and were talking to each other. A grey in a black and white uniform pushed a cart down the aisle collecting tickets and passing a fizzy drink out to most of the Brighties.

When the grey got to Shai and Jasper, Shai looked up and smiled. She passed the tickets over to the woman. Jasper looked out the window, so that he wouldn't be suspicious. Shai had always gotten a thrill out of sneaking into Bright. Making it onto a train heading to Royale was something no Rat was supposed to do.

The woman passed Shai one of the fizzy drinks. She waited until the woman pushed her cart all the way to the back of the train before taking a sip. The bubbles burned her mouth and throat, and there was barely any flavour to the drink. She passed it over to Jasper and he took a gulp. He scrunched his nose, and passed the drink back over to her.

"It's water," Mikko said poking his head through the seats in front of us. He sat by himself, and Shai could see he had the same drink in his hand. "Brighties like to carbonate it."

Shai raised an eyebrow and Mikko rolled his eyes.

"They make it bubbly," he said. "There's a lot you're going to need to learn."

Jasper leaned over to Shai.

"When we get to Royale," he said. He spoke softly and barely opened his mouth to hide his broken tooth. "We are not in this for ourselves. We are getting rid of those camps."

"I know," Shai said. "Todd will get rid of them."

Shai leaned back in her seat, and she watched the world zip by her through the window. She had never left Pangella before. She had memorized the Slums, and Bright and knew it like the back of her hand. The railing they zoomed on was raised high off of the ground. A mixture of broken cement, and piles of sand were below them. She could see the ruins of old buildings crumbling down. A few generations ago they were full of people.

--

Ren couldn't stop from picking at her wig. Her scalp itched and she felt like her hat was sliding back. Todd saw her fidgeting and grabbed her hand. He held it down against the armrest. She could feel the sweat building up in his palm.

"Leave it, Stutter," he whispered to her. "You'll push it right off your head."

Todd leaned in closer to her. Ren looked over her shoulder to see Shai and Jasper whispering to each other and looking out the window. She assumed they were in awe just like she was. When she came from Selkirk to the farm, she was in a truck. She was locked in the darkness with a dozen other people for three days. Mikko was up against his window and tapping on it with his finger.

Todd reached into his pocket and pulled something out of his pocket. He pulled her hand forward and slipped something cold into her palm. He curled her fingers around it, and she felt it cut into her hand.

"Keep this, but don't let anybody see it," he whispered into her ear. "When we get off this train, they are going to try and separate us. They may try to send you back to a camp. Just show them this."