I Never Planned on This (A newsies fanfiction)

Chapter sixteen

No one saw them coming. No one heard them coming. No one expected them to come.

They crept up the fire escape, buckets of oil and packs of matches in hand. They were each assigned to a window.

Jack and Katherine were still two hours away, in a train, heading for New York. Jack had an uneasy feeling. Something wasn't right. He began to get up to ask the conductor if they would be able to go faster, but Katherine put her hand on his, leaning across the table and pushing him to sit down again.

"You've asked three times." She reminded him. "They're going as fast as the train can take us without crashing." Jack nodded and sat back down, looking out the window as the land zoomed by.

Each kid took their station around the building, setting the buckets and matches down. They looked to their leader for further instruction.

Jack became restless, something definitely wasn't right. And Katherine noticed.

"What's on your mind?" She asked, worriedly.

"Something ain't right." Jack sighed. "I can feel it." He looked out the window again. "I feel like the guys are in trouble." He admitted.

"Maybe you're only worried." Katherine suggested. "After all, Davey and Henri are trapped inside of The Wall. That's not a normal thing for you. I'm sure it's just worry for them." Jack nodded and proceeded to look out the window.

Each kid looked at the teenager in the center of it all. "Guys," he said. "Tonight is the night."

Jack sat there and looked out the window. Truth be told, he wasn't sure if Katherine was right or not. It could be possible that he was only worried for Henri and Davey, but he had a serious feeling in his gut that something bad was about to happen.

"Tonight, we burn our fears." The leader announced, "tonight, we declare this rebellion against these idiots that think that they run us. No kid's ever gonna have ta feel that terrible pain those of us did at The Refuge." The leader said. "We will burn all our pain and fears with this building." He declared. He looked around. "Do it." He commanded.

Jack's patience became smaller and smaller the closer they got to New York. It took everything in him not to jump out the window and just start running to New York. Something was definitely wrong. But he didn't know what.

The rebels poured their buckets of oil through the windows. Gallons of oil, until every last drop made it into each room. They then each picked up a box of matches.

Jack drummed his fingers on the table anxiously, growing less and less patient by the second. His breathing became fast and shallow. He looked out the window constantly, almost as if he was afraid he would miss something they were going to pass by.

Each child took out one match from their pack, and struck it against the side, creating a flame.

Jack wouldn't stop staring out the window. He seemed to be hyproventilating.

"Jack...?" Katherine asked, becoming worried.

"Something's really wrong." Jack said again. "I can't ignore it, Katherine. The fellas are in trouble."

Katherine nodded. "We're going to The Wall the second we get there, Jack, I promise. I promise that we'll get there as fast as we possibly can." She looked at the clock. "It's only thirty minutes away. Hang in there."

The kids took their matches and threw them inside, running from the fire escape and back into the black of night just as they had come.

Upon leaving, one child tripped on something, and picked it up, chucking it over the edge. An old Newsie's paper sack. One of the kids probably dropped it.

Fifteen minutes passed

Henri smelled the smoke before she saw it. She woke up to an insanely hot feeling. She realised that she was drenched in sweat, and saw the reason for her sweat at the foot of her bed. A massive fire consumed half of the room, eating away at the stone walls. Oil was spilled everywhere along the ground, and was quickly catching aflame. Despite her newest set of cuts on her back and legs, Henri sprang to her feet. The pain in her left foot put her in agony, but she didn't care. She raced as fast as she possibly could towards the door, banging against it.

"Kennedy!!!!" She shrieked. "Lemme out!!!! There's a fire!!!" But immediately lost her voice when she saw the roaring fire in the hallway. Kennedy came barreling down the hallway, so angry smoke could have been coming out of his ears. But then he caught sight of the fire roaring in the hallway and instantly turned around, racing down the hallway towards the door.

Fifteen more minutes passed.

Les woke up to a banging on his window, more harsh than the sound from yesterday. He threw his covers off and quickly walked to the window. He yanked the curtains aside and saw JoJo literally banging both fists against the window. Les put a finger to his lips to tell her to be quiet and unlocked the window, sliding it open. JoJo looked more terrified than Les had ever seen her in his life, even more afraid than when she saw Henri and Davey get taken to The Wall.

"JoJo," Les whispered. "What's going on?"

"We need your help, Les." She said. "It's Davey and Henri."

"What? What happened to Davey and Henri?! Are they okay???" He asked, worried. JoJo shook her head.

"The Wall's on fire." She said, her voice shaking.