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| - The Bible’s grubby pages crackled as Adam opened the small, tarnished book. In the dim light of the alley, the boy squinted to read aloud from the faded pages. “Here a just cause, Oh Lord,” he began, running his finger down the page. “Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit. From you let my vindication come, let your eyes see the right.” “Give it a rest, Bible Boy,” Maura hissed from where she crouched behind a dumpster. “You want to give us away?” Adam, perched atop the same dumpster, looked down at her and scratched at his bush of hair. “It’s just a little reading,” he said, balancing the Bible on his knee. “Besides, maybe I want to give us away. Maybe this isn’t right.” “Oh, so you’re just trying to make us feel guilty?” she demanded, glowering up through a face full of dirt. She had a black eye, though it was hardly noticeable through the grimy layers caked on around it. “If you don’t stop your preaching I’m going to come up there and—“ “Shut up.” Emily sat with her back to the alley wall. She crossed her arms and peered around the corner. “Maura, keep talking and I’ll hit your other eye. Adam, you want to eat tonight, you’ll put that damn book away and get down here.” “Better do as she says,” Sal said. He grinned over at Adam and tugged meaningfully at his cap. “Looks like it’s just that time of month.” Behind him, Marco giggled. The little boy clung to Sal’s back, squeezing his brother’s neck in the way that always throttled Adam but that Sal never seemed to mind. Under normal circumstances, that would have been enough to start a fight. Emily would have come over and given Sal a black eye to match Maura’s. But right now, nothing could pull her away from what was coming towards them down the alley around the corner. She was fixed on it, her lips pulled away from her teeth in something that was halfway between a grin and a snarl. It was what never ceased to amaze Adam and what made it so easy for her to lead the little group of urchins that called itself Rat Pack: the girl was a hunter, through and through. “Here he comes,” she said out of the corner of her mouth. “Dumb offworld shit. Beren and Neal are right behind him and he doesn’t even notice.” “Look, we all saw him.” Adam knew he was just arguing for the sake of arguing, but he felt like someone had to do it. Sometimes he wondered what his mother and father thought, looking down at him from heaven and seeing what he did now. He hoped they’d understand why he did the things he did and why he stuck with Emily and the others. “He’s skin and bones. He doesn’t have anything worth taking.” “He’s got his clothes, doesn’t he?” Maura would never be known for her sympathetic disposition. “We can take those.” “It’s not like he’s done anything to us,” Adam protested. “Can’t we just leave him alone and go grab some fruit from the market?” “I swear to God, both of you can it now,” Emily growled. Her body tensed as she rose into a crouch. “He’s here.” They’d seen the kid out in the market when they’d been making their usual rounds looking for scraps and handouts. He was a shifty-looking guy, even by Mamore’s low standards. He’d kept to himself at the edge of Concorde’s town square, wearing patchy clothes and jumping at every sudden sound, muttering to himself like some crazy person. Emily was good at picking out the ones who’d be easy pickings, and she’d been after this kid in a heartbeat. It hadn’t taken long for the kid to slip into the allies and from there it hadn’t been hard for the children of Rat Pack to swing around and cut him off from both sides. This wasn’t Rat Pack’s first mugging, not by a long shot. They’d gone after other kids and even a few adults, all offworlders who hadn’t known a thing about how Concorde worked. Being an offworlder himself, Adam couldn’t help feeling bad about it, but like Emily always said a person had to eat. One day, Adam promised himself, he’d get off the streets. Then he’d do his best to help other people do the same, to make up for all the bad things he’d done to get by. But for now, he couldn’t do anything for this guy. He eased himself off the dumpster and got ready to follow Emily around the corner. Maybe he could convince the others to at least let the kid keep his pants. Waving the rest of them forward, Emily straightened and strolled out around the corner. Adam followed behind Maura and Sal, hands thrust into his pockets in what he hoped was an intimidating pose. They slipped into a tight line, blocking the alley off completely. To his credit, the kid didn’t look frightened. Most of the others had freaked out the second Rat Pack had them cornered, but this one just glared at them from under a floppy hat like the ones the farmers wore out in the fields. “What do you want?” he demanded in a tight voice. Seeing him up close, Adam decided he’d given the kid a bit too much credit with the “skin and bones” comment. The guy was skinny, but this was a well-fed, supple kind of skinny instead of the taught, baggy kind of skinny that showed on all the kids in Rat Pack. His face was pale too, not weathered by days spent under Mamore’s sun. That made Adam feel a bit better about this. He was probably some punk from one of the cities, a brat from UEG parents who thought it would be cool to spend a little time out with the colonials. He wouldn’t be the first entitled little shit they’d caught out here. No, Adam didn’t think he’d feel bad about this after all. “You’re new in town,” Emily told him, voice loaded with contempt. She was probably thinking the same thing as Adam. “New on the planet, too?” “Something like that,” the kid admitted, standing his ground. Behind him, Neal and Beren had sidled into view and were making their way down the alley. This would be too easy. “So, wanted to see how the other half lives?” Emily took a step forward; Adam, Maura, and Sal followed her lead. They’d box the kid in and jump him when he didn’t have any room to kick or punch. “Or how most of us live?” They were just a couple feet from the kid now; he was still glaring but Adam could see him getting nervous. “Back off,” the kid warned. “I’m having a really bad day.” “Yeah?” Maura sneered, bringing her hands up. “Well it’s about to get worse.” The kid scowled, adjusting his grip on the backpack he held loosely in one hand. “Back off,” he repeated. “I don’t want to hurt any of you.” Peering out from in between the older kids’ legs, Marco laughed out loud. Sal glanced down at his brother and grinned broadly. “Watch out, Marco. We’ve got a badass over here.” “Come on,” Adam put in, trying not to look beyond the kid at Neal and Beren. They were almost on top of him. Even if this was some rich runaway, maybe he could still be spared a beating. “Just give us the backpack and we’ll let you walk.” The kid’s hand tightened around the strap. “Yeah, right. Stay away from me.” Emily sucked air in between her teeth and Adam knew it was too late. At least he’d tried. In the next second, Emily lashed out with a clumsy punch. The kid’s eyes widened and he leapt back—right into Neal and Beren. They grabbed his arms and Beren kicked at the backpack, trying to get it out of his hand. They all converged on him then, just like they’d done with all the others. They would get him on the ground and take everything they could. Noise wasn’t a problem; people weren’t particularly civic-minded here in Concorde. But before they could reach him, the kid yanked free of Neal and Beren as if they hadn’t even been holding him. Adam hesitated, blinking in surprise, but Emily, Sal, and Maura threw themselves at the kid regardless. The next few seconds passed in a blur of arms and legs. For one moment the kid vanished under the crush of bodies. Then Sal was thrown bodily into the alley wall, followed quickly by Maura. They fell in a tangled heap as the kid grabbed Neal and threw him into Emily. Adam blinked. He doesn’t look that strong. Beren lunged, wrapping a thin arm around the kid’s neck. He kept his stranglehold for about a second before he got an elbow in the gut for his trouble. As he fell, he grabbed the kid’s hat and tore it off. There wasn’t much underneath, just a neatly trimmed black buzz cut, but it made Adam’s blood freeze all the same. The kid was nowhere near old enough to be army, but the sight of that hair still brought back memories of the colonial troops who’d laughed and joked before cutting Adam’s parents down in the streets. He couldn’t just stand here, not with his friends getting knocked around by this punk. He threw a punch that caught the kid from the side and actually knocked him back a few feet. Adam remembered what Emily had taught him about street fighting and followed up with a hasty kick to the groin. The kid doubled over just as Neal got to his feet. The bookworm had the wild look in his eyes, the one he got when someone really freaked him out. He pounded on the kid’s back with both fists, forcing him to one knee. But the kick apparently hadn’t been hard enough, because the kid shot back up and punched Neal square in the gut. Neal’s eyes bulged and he dropped, a thin whimper slipping past his lips. Adam only had a second to take it in before he was flat on his back, his head sinking into the alley’s carpet of mud. Sal still hadn’t gotten up; Marco crouched over his brother as if trying to shield him with his tiny body. Beren and Neal were sprawled in the mud, just like Adam. Maura was leaning against the wall clutching her gut and Adam couldn’t see Emily. The kid stood straighter, scooping up his backpack and looking for a way out. But he had only taken a single step when someone raced in from behind and collided with the back of his legs. Once again, Anne had slipped in at the last minute, unnoticed even by the rest of the gang. The little mute girl threw herself at the kid’s legs. Her eyes were wide, but not the same way that Neal’s had gotten. It took a lot to draw Anne into a fight like this. The kid let out a yell of frustration, falling against the wall to catch his balance. He glared down at Anne and kicked her with a booted foot. It was only a glancing hit, but it still looked like it hurt. It was also a bad move. With a furious yell, Maura threw herself on top of him and they both toppled over into the mud. Maura punched him over and over, muddy face contorted with anger. “Don’t—you—touch—her!” The kid tried to push her away, dragging himself upright and locking his hand around Maura’s throat. Her eyes bulged as he squeezed and she had to lay off the punches to beat furiously against the arm that was strangling her. Adam struggled to get up, to help Maura, to do something. But Emily was already on it. She must have been waiting for an opening like this, because she shot in and kicked the arm that held Maura. The kid let Maura go and spun to face Emily, but she punched him hard in the nose and kicked at his legs to keep him from getting up. The kid fell against the wall, overwhelmed by the hits she aimed at his face and neck. His hand fell back behind his leg. When it came back up, it was holding a gun. Emily froze. The pistol was an inch away from her face. The kid just needed to squeeze the trigger and she’d be done. “Back off,” the kid panted. Mud dripped down his face and blood was trickling from his mouth and nose. “Nice gun,” Emily spat angrily. “You steal it from your daddy back home?” The jab didn’t seem to faze the kid, who didn’t take his eyes off Emily as he pushed himself up against the wall. “I don’t have any parents.” “Sure you don’t. Just like you don’t have a nice house over in one of the cities, you little shit.” “I don’t. Now back off.” The kid kept the pistol trained on Emily’s head. It was a nice model too, the kind of M6 that Adam had only seen on a few UNSC Marines who’d come through town before the rebels had moved in. But now that he’d caught his breath, Adam noticed that the kid’s boots didn’t fit at all. And neither did his ratty clothes. The “rich runaway” thing was starting to wear a little thin. This guy was faster and stronger than any kid Adam had ever seen. Who was he? Emily took a step back, eyes fixed on the pistol. Was she realizing this as well, or was she just mad that he’d pulled a gun? The others were getting up, but they kept their distance. Adam crawled over and helped Sal, who was still looking woozy, up to his feet. Maura was massaging her neck and sitting beside Anne, who looked more frightened than hurt. Beren leaned against the wall, breathing heavily while Neal let out little panting sobs from where he still lay in the mud. Adam wiped some mud out of his face and squinted at the kid’s eyes. He wouldn’t really shoot Emily, would he? Those were some funny eyes, a pair of grey pupils that radiated fear, anger, and something else that couldn’t quite be placed. Was it desperation? “Just leave me alone,” the kid said, grabbing his mud-soaked backpack and slowly backing away. “I don’t want to hurt you.” Emily’s anger seemed to have cooled a bit. Her shoulders loosened and she carefully motioned for him to put the gun down. “Okay, okay, fine. You win. We won’t come after you.” “You’d better not,” the kid replied. “I’ll shoot you next time.” He looked like he meant it. “Alright, we got it,” Emily told him. “If you aren’t from the city, where are you from? And where'd you learn to fight like that?” The gun dipped for a moment, then shot back up. The kid’s eyes narrowed. “Not here,” he said slowly. “I’m getting off this planet and going…” His mouth worked silently for a moment, as if he couldn’t quite find the right words. “Somewhere else.” Adam’s mouth found words again. “Do you even have anywhere to go?” he asked, wrapping an arm around Sal to steady him. “Someone like you could really help us out here.” “What?” Maura yelped. “You want to keep this creep around?” The kid let out a short, bitter laugh. “First you mug me, then you want to be my friends? You’ll have to do better than that to screw me over.” Sal let out a dizzy laugh. “Hey, that’s pretty good. ‘Screw.’ Hah.” The kid kept backing up, but now he lowered the pistol and slipped it into his backpack. “Just leave me alone,” he called before vanishing around a corner and leaving Rat Pack to nurse their bruises in a bedraggled, muddy heap. “Well that went well,” Maura said disgustedly. “Great choice, Em. He really was easy pickings, wasn’t he?” But Emily was staring out after the departed boy, a slight frown on her lips. Adam deposited Sal beside the wall and limped over to stand next to her. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” he asked. “Or do you still think he’s an offworld piece of shit?” She gave him a strange look and wiped a streak of mud off her forehead. “It’s worth a shot,” she admitted, wiping her fingers on Adam’s shirt. “If he doesn’t shoot us first.”
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