Free & Flightless (Trench)

Chapter 12-Josh

Josh glanced back at Tyler. Why wasn't he moving? He needed to move! But no, he was acting as if he was frozen in time. Brendon was looking at Josh expectantly, almost...smugly? Josh wanted to smack the look right off of his filthy face. If he was pissed enough, which he was getting there, he would. But for now, Tyler.
"Tyler, are you deaf? Run!" Josh ushered. Tyler's eyes were wide in such sincere horror that pity rushed into Josh's veins and he grabbed  Tyler by the arm and started yanking him along, sprinting. So fast they slammed right into Jenna.
"What's wrong?" She asked, head cocked to the side in some weird form of concern mixed with curiosity and confusion. Tyler opened his mouth to speak, but Josh was tugging him along again.
"Don't let the bishops into the camp!" Josh shouted. Jenna gave him a bewildered face but he was already leading Tyler into the Trench cave.
"Stay here, stay out of sight, don't move.." Josh said breathlessly. Tyler seemed unable to speak as he stared at Josh with those wide eyes.
"and stay alive," Tyler whispered, looking at Josh with a nervous expression. Josh nodded frantically before speeding off again. Thank dema his dad used to make him do laps through Trench, otherwise he probably would have passed out by now.
Brendon seemed to be having a heated argument with the red-cloaked bishops. Josh didn't know why, but his gut told him to listen, so he hid behind a cluster of rocks and focused.
"We need Classified now." One of the bishops said coldly. Their voices were like nails on a chalkboard times 100, and Josh absolutely despised it with every inch of his being.
"You will get him, in time. This is all part of the act, it's a process." Brendon...okay, what the hell, Brendon...said calmly. Was he affiliated with Dema? Was he a traitor? Questions swarmed through Josh's head as he listened.
"Don't tell us what a process is, Brendon. We aren't idiots like those Banditos you choose to spend your time with." Another bishop piped up. Voice like ice going down your shirt. Horrible. Josh shuddered.
"I don't choose to hang out with those creatures, Bishop Five. I'm not a idiot. This is my assignment. Nico assigned it to me personally!" Brendon exclaimed angrily. Josh clenched his fists so hard he could feel his fingernails digging into the palm of his hand.
"We need the girl too. Two's spawn." Another commented. Josh thought to himself. The Banditos had always speculated that the Niners had numbers as names. He supposed it was true. But then Josh made a connection...spawn..that meant that somebody in the camp was a child of a Niner. But who?
No. Josh would figure that out later. For now he needed to focus on the conversation at hand.
"Listen, Urie, you're supposed to be loyal to this whole world.  You said—"
"I know what I said!" Brendon shouted. Josh wondered if the other Banditos could hear them. Maybe they had no clue about this. Some of them were pretty oblivious to danger, after all.
"Nico is around here, y'know. He wouldn't hesitate to take you down to the Carnation and have a long chat—"
"I have names for you!" Brendon exclaimed. Fear was trailing out of all of his movements, every word he spoke. Josh knew it he could sense it, the Bishops certainly could.
Josh tensed. What's a carnation? Why is Brendon so terrified of it? Josh wondered to himself. And now...now Josh knew that Brendon was a traitor. They couldn't have traitors in the camp. No..they couldn't.
"Who?" A different Bishop, a taller one with a even more terrifying voice (as if that was possible) prompted hurriedly.
Brendon hesitated.
"We haven't all day, Urie." He said.
"Josh Dun! I-uh..." Brendon's face almost reddened in embarrassment. Josh felt his heart go to his throat. Moments earlier, Josh could had trusted Brendon with his life, and now? It seemed Brendon might have just killed him.
"Who is he?" Two, Josh thought, asked.
"He's sort of the Banditos' leader. He cares deeply for Tyler—um, I mean Classified—well, he cares for everybody." Brendon said quietly.
Josh could read in between the lines of those words even if the Empathy-less Bishops couldn't—he cared for me. Josh shook his head in despair. He couldn't believe this was happening.
Brendon continued to rattle off a short list of Banditos. Josh knew every single name, of course, but some stuck to him and tore at his heart more than others. Jordan Dun. Josh shuddered.
"Thank you Brendon. You know, we will be in touch. And next time we come?" The tallest was speaking. Brendon looked up like a scared child.
"We will take Classified, and Josh, and everybody else. And you cannot protest."
Brendon merely shook his head.
Josh waited for the Bishops' red cloaks to be far from sight until he left his hiding spot and got in Brendon's face.
"H-how much did you hear?" Brendon stammered.
"Oh, more than enough." Josh growled. Josh, overcome with anger, grabbed Brendon by the collar of his jumpsuit and shook him, hard. And before Josh could stop himself, he was punching Brendon continuously.
"I'm sorry!" Brendon was bawling. Josh paused, looking down at Brendon's quaking figure.
"Sorry doesn't cut it this time, Urie. Every name you just said? They're all as good as dead thanks to you." Josh was about to deliver a killer punch when a force stopped him.
It wasn't a Bandito, it wasn't even Brendon. It was as if an invisible thing was pulling him away. Brendon was staring at something behind him, his face a mixture of awe and horror. Josh instinctively turned.
Nico was inches away from Josh, holding a single menacing tar-black hand out. Red wisps was coming out of it and it was holding Josh's fist. Josh's stomach dropped.
"Hello, Joshua." Nico whispered.

A/N: dangggg that's some drama down in dema. The concert is 6 days from now. I'm considering posting pictures from the concert, but I'm gonna have to think on it. 
If you wanna follow my Pinterest, it's SnazzyDun.
Hope you guys enjoyed this update! I still can't believe that Torch Fic is at 1k reads. It's a wonderful shock.
I've been writing other tøp stuff in my free time, so eventually I will post them since you all love the so much!
Again, thank you!