The Rabbit's Den

Cicero's Last Walk

"Well, where are they? Are they safe?" Cicero asked as he wiped more blood off his face with his wet sleeve. Sky didn't answer him, just gave him a dirty look. "They're far from here." Walter said as he sat down next to Sky. Cicero narrowed his eyes at them, "Nowhere is far from here with what WOLF has at their disposal." Dove was looking more and more anxious the more Cicero talked.

Sky took a long puff off of his special cigarette, "Tell me more about your escape, where is this prison located at?" His mouth went dry, he really didn't know where he had been. He couldn't tell Sky that, he'd have to backtrack several lies. "Some ways past the City. I jumped off a transport taking me to one of those camps." Sky eyed him, "And they didn't notice?" Cicero shrugged, he figured he better stop building now, "I guess not, there were a lot of us on it." The look that Walter and Sky gave one another told Cicero he was losing his audience. "Look I heard what I heard, if you three aren't going to do anything about it, I'll go find the others." He blurted out.

Walter looked hard at the sniveling germ sitting across from them, "Cicero, you're the kind of fella who would sell his grandmother out to save his own skin. You'll have to excuse our poor manners for not buying into every word you spit out." Dove had taken all she could bare, "We need to get to Kaleb." Sky's jaw dropped, "Are you serious right now?" Cicero nodded, "That's a wonderful idea, or even that girl of his. They'd know what to do right?" "Man do I need to break your jaw too?" Snapped Sky, the look in his eyes told Cicero he wasn't joking. He leveled his tone out, taking his voice lower, "I'm trying to tell you Sky, those girls are in real danger, and so are all of us!"

Walter's eyes were unshifting, hard set on Cicero. Noticing the uneasy tension coming from Walter, Sky reached his hand out and set it on his friend's shoulder. "Walt, we can't risk it." He said softly. Cicero had always been intimidated by the man, it wasn't the color of his skin, or his sheer size; it was because he never seemed to lose it, he always had a calm composure. The lumbering man stood, walked over to Dove and handed her his loaded 38. "If he moves, shoot him." She nodded. Walter came behind Sky and tapped him gently on the shoulder, "We need to talk Sky." The two men walked out into the waning rainstorm and shut the door, leaving Cicero and Dove inside.

"I know you want to help them Dove; you're going to be the deciding factor in this. They are blinded by hate for me. Are you going to let something as foolish as testosterone and anger decide the fate of your sister? Or her baby and all the rest? You have the power to do something!" Cicero hissed at her. She raised the gun, "I swear on my sister's life, if you don't shut the hell up, I'm going to blow your teeth in." Dove didn't raise her voice or show any emotion. But Cicero could see the wheels turning, he just hoped they continued to turn in his favor.

Outside the two men huddled under the aluminum awning of the gas station. "What are you thinking Walt?" Sky asked, he was still trembling with adrenaline. He had been waiting months to get ahold of Cicero, now he had the chance and being held back. When Walter didn't answer him immediately, he snapped, "What if he's lying?" Walter's dark eyes turned to Sky. "What if he isn't" His cool calm voice said. Sky's face was slowly turning the color of his hair, his voice was strained, "We can't take him with!" His friend nodded, "I agree. He's too dangerous. But what happens if we leave him here and the group comes callin?" Walter asked. Sky thought about the fact they still hadn't found any accomplices and they knew he hadn't worked alone. Worse still what if someone else found him, there were just too many variables.

Sky leaned against the wall and slid down, "What do we do big guy?" As he watched the rain lighten up even more, Walter sighed deeply. "We consider the source." He turned to Sky who was giving him a look of bewilderment. "What do you mean?" Walter cocked his head slightly as he started, "He claims he was far away from the City, that's quite the journey. His wounds looked rather fresh to me, not weeks' worth of healing. His story is vague, and when he starts to give details, he quickly backtracks. Even if he's telling the truth about WOLF, why hold back so much critical information?" Sky licked his lips, "Do you think he's working for them?" "I think he's doing what Cicero does best, looking out for Cicero." Now trembling again, Sky's jaw clenched over and over as he thought, "Are you willing to bet Petra's life on it?" The sound of the rain had stopped, and a still silence fell. Walter slowly nodded.