REBEL CLOTHES ✓

BLIND TO YELLOW

Rose pushed back the curtain, her face a mix of fury and concern. She sat down beside Josh's cot, grabbing his hand and squeezing it gently.

"We found him," she whispered.

Josh shot up, groaning as the bandages tightened around his chest. "Where is he? Is he hurt? Can I see him? Please, let me see him."

"First off, he's with Jason. A Melter got to him. My only guess is Sacarver. Second, why the hell didn't you tell me he got escaped Dema? We could've gotten to him before the Bishops."

"I didn't know," Josh said. "Last I saw of him, Nico was dragging him into town square."

Rose's brows furrowed in confusion. "Then how- how did he- you know what? I won't push. You've got your lover boy back. Congratulations, Josh."

She stood and patted his head affectionately, sending Jason a stern look when he bust through the curtain, holding a bundle of dark and bloody clothing in his arms.

"So, he needs new clothes," Jason said, grinning sheepishly. "Not my fault."

"What did you do?" Rose asked, annoyed.

"I might've shred his clothes. Not a big loss, all his shit is black except for his Bandito jacket. Is it just me, or does his jacket look an awful lot like Nico's old one?"

"I'll have to take a look at it."

Josh craned his neck to look back Jason and into the other section of the cave. Tyler was completely naked on a cot, his head lolled to one side with his eyes closed. He couldn't help his eyes as they wandered down his body, training them intensely between Tyler's legs before Jason shut the curtain.

"Easy there, pal," Jason grinned. "You're not in any shape to do anything like that."

"What? I wasn't-" Josh tried stammering excuses, but his words were drowned out by a loud rumbling sound.

Spooks ran into the cave, covered head to toe with yellow petals and gasping for breath. It looked like he'd run the whole way for his post. "Patrol."

Immediately people started moving, covering everything in yellow. Rose crouched over Josh, pulling a yellow blanket to cover them both. Jason ran to the other side of the cave, pulling the curtains down and draping it over Tyler. He dropped to the ground just as a herd of red cloaks and horses passed in front of the entrance. Spooks covered the entrance with his body, his eyes squeezed tightly shut.

They all held their breath until the Bishops disappeared, hearing the rumbling fade to nothingness. Even after they were sure the Bishops wouldn't find them, they stayed hidden.

Spooks moved first. "They're gone," he said.

Rose sighed in relief, sitting back on her legs. "That was close."

"Way too close." Jason sat up and brushed his jacket off. "We can't keep living on too close. We need to go back to the promised land."

"We will when it's safe," Rose said sternly.

Josh saw Tyler throw the curtain off of himself, then realized he was naked and pulled it back, covering the lower half of his body.

"Why is there so much yellow?" Tyler asked.

Spooks plucked a petal from his pale, white hair, letting it fall to the floor. "Bishops can't see the color yellow. It helps us hide from them so they can't take us back to Dema."

"Oh. Cool."

He helped Tyler sit up, then got him some of Josh's clothes since he was the closest to his size. Tyler dressed and Spooks kept sending Josh sly, knowing looks. Josh just blushed in return.

Tyler's legs were weak, so he could stand on his own but not walk. Rose said it was because of the Melter's poison.

"You'll be back to normal in a few days," she smiled as Tyler tried without success to wobble his way to Josh. "Use this time to rest. We're headed to our other camp, and it's pretty far away:"

Tyler nodded. "Okay."

"You two can sleep together if you want," Jason said, not trying to hide his smile. "Josh's burns are nearly healed, we just need to keep them wrapped for now."

"Burns? When were you burned?" Tyler asked.

"A couple weeks ago, when we tried to get you out," Josh said.

Tyler's face paled. "Weeks? It's been days for me."

"Days?" Rose wrinkled her brows in concern but didn't say any more.

"I remember waking up outside of Dema, walking for a day and a half. When I got to the ravine, Andre caught up to me, and now I'm here."

Jason choked. "Did you said Andre?"

"Yeah, why? Is he a melter too?"

"All Bishops are Sleepers too, which is what makes them so dangerous for us," Spooks explained. "We had the upper hand when we had Bourbaki as the only fire breather. We were lucky to have Josh when he got ganked, or else we would've lost our only line of defense."

"But that line of defense doesn't exist because apparently Nico survived," Jason threw his hands in the air. "And now we have Andre on our asses."

Rose shot Jason a look. "We've always had him on our asses. But out of all of us, we only have one fire breathing sleeper, and now they have one too."

"Nico used to be a Bandito?" Tyler gawked.

Rose nodded, crossing her arms. "He was Clancy's second in command before I was. Nico was... he was someone special. I loved him."

"Oh. I'm sorry for your loss."

She smiled. "Thank you, Tyler."

Josh caught Tyler's eyes, who gave him a toothy grin. How Tyler escaped, he didn't know, but he couldn't care less. He was here, with him. Finally, Josh felt a piece of home had returned to him.

Jason smacked his thighs. "I don't know about y'all, but I'm starving."