The Bird and the Garden 2: Restart!

Chapter 34: Fugitives

Their scrolls blew up with alerts and messages, and Junior was the first to look at his. His eyes widened, his pistol falling from his hands. "H-holy shit..."

"What is it?" Y/N cried. Cardin looked up from his scroll, his face turning a sickly green.

"We... We've been labelled as terrorists..." He whimpered. His fingers moved to his hair, his knees wobbling. "O-oh... Oh, fuck... F-fuck, what are we going to do...!?'

"... We... Can't go back to Beacon..." Sasha whispered. Suddenly, Yang's scroll rang. She picked it up,npressing it to her ear - and immediately jerked it away as if it were a poisonous spider. She held it to Y/N, her face horribly pale.

"I-it... It's for you..."

Y/N wasn't too eager to take it. His prosthetic hand rattlednasbhe reached out, gently taking the device and pressing it to his ear. "H... Hello?"

["You'd better have a damned good explanation, Rose."] It was Ironwood's voice, seething with fury. ["And you'd better start explaining fast. With you a terrorist, that falls under my jurisdiction."]

"Shit... Mr. Ironwood, please here me out! I didn't have a choice!" Y/N almost shouted. He could hear something breaking on the other end of the call.

["I just watched you kill my daughter! You start explaining! You start explaining right now!"]

Junior pulled the scroll from Y/N's hand, pressing it against his ear. "Listen, meet us at the Club. We can explain there." He didn't wait for an answer. He hung up, passing the device back to Yang. He sighed, pulling another cigarette from his pack and popping it between his lips. He heaved a sigh as he lit it, breathing the smoke into the air.

"Fuck... Fuck, fuck, fuck..." He groaned. He was stressed. He pointed at Y/N, moving his finger to the rest of them. "Get back to the cars. Get in the trunks. They didn't say my name, so I shouldn't have an issue getting into the city. I can smuggle you in."

He led them through the woods, and when they got to the vehicles he snapped his fingers. His goons opened the trunks, and Y/N waited until everyone had climbed inside. Sasha had more trouble than most, but managed to squeeze inside. He ran a hand through his blonde hair, feeling the sweat that clung to the strands underneath his fingertips. As he climbed inside, Junior leaned down.

"When we get there... Don't make a sound. Vale is already going to be on high alert lookin' for you. Just let me do the talking."

Y/N nodded, watching as Junior reached his hand up and slammed the trunk shut, engulfing him in darkness. The crime boss groaned again, leaning against the car. One of his men approached, sweat rolling off his forehead. "B-boss, we've never harbored fugitives before... It's usually just drugs..."

"Is that a problem?" Junior growled. "They're a part of the Family. We all saw what happened. So we're gonna give 'em a hand. Is that clear?"

The gang members hesitantly nodded before returning to their respective vehicles. Junior took another pull from his cigarette before tossing it on the ground, climbing behind the driver's seat. Melanie was in the passenger's side, watching as he started the car. He looked at her, arching an eyebrow.

"... Looks like we're in a huge load a shit, huh?"

Melanie nodded, loading a magazine into her handgun. "Yup... Think we're going to have a gunfight? Like Browning's Preparatory Academy?"

Junior shrugged, stomping on the gas pedal. The tires squealed as the vehicle rocketed forward, leading the others back to the city. "Maybe, maybe. Keep that gun loaded. If my hunch is correct, we've got an enemy we'd rather not have..."