Turtle Doves | Joel Miller

Chapter Three

Ten Years Later

A knock at the door interrupts my peace. So much for a quiet night. With a roll of my eyes and a sigh, I get myself off the deteriorating couch and walk to the door. My fingers ghost over the doorknob before I open it, preparing myself for whatever may wait for me. I swallow hard and swing the door open before I talk myself out of opening it.

A familiar face waits for me on the other side and I quickly let him in. I poke my head out into the hall to make sure nobody saw him enter my place and step back inside once I'm satisfied with the lack of witnesses. The door swings shut and I run a hand through my hair with frustration,

"What the hell are you doing here during the day?" I struggle to keep my voice down and the man just stares back at me with a blank face. I shake my head with an exasperated expression, waiting for him to talk.

"Somethin' came up, okay? Couldn't wait 'til night. Can you get a payload to the east side of area two tonight?" I bite the inside of my cheeks in frustration as the words come out of his mouth.

"Why can't you just take it there now, James?" My voice is harsh and he runs a hand over his unkempt beard.

"I've got some enemies over there and I'm tryin' to lay low for a while 'til I get that shit sorted." His voice becomes tinged with annoyance and he puts his hands on his hips. I take a calming breath and turn away from him, running my hands over my face and return to my seat on the couch. Leaning forward with my elbows on my knees, I look back to James.

"I thought I told you I was flying under the radar for a while, things got too hot." I remind him that I want to take a break from pill smuggling for a few weeks because we were almost caught outside after curfew a few nights ago. Either he forgot or doesn't care. He shifts his weight and shrugs his shoulders.

"I know. But after this I promise I won't come 'round for a month. Pay is double the usual." I squint my eyes at his words, not believing he'll leave me alone for a month. That would be too sweet. But, the payoff of this does sound enticing. I arch an eyebrow and curiosity gets the best of me.

"Double the pay? What's the catch?" I ask, knowing that something has to be up. People don't just double payments unless they're desperate. I see his the corner of his lip turn up into a smirk.

"It's for the Fireflies." There's a trace of humor in his voice, but it's anything but funny. Blankly, I stare at him, trying to understand if he really just told me I'd have to interact with Fireflies.

There's not a lot of jobs I turn down, but dealing with the Fireflies is almost always a no-go for me. The rag-tag group is full of nothing but people who are full of delusions and work towards a goal that will never be attainable.

They constantly blow up FEDRA buildings, injuring many innocent people; and I can never justify the deaths of innocents. Sure, I don't necessarily agree with how FEDRA conducts business all the time, but they keep things in the quarantine zone orderly enough, and I'll take strained order over anarchy any day.

My last interaction with a Firefly left my blood boiling. She was a young girl, probably early twenties, and she was openly bragging about building a bomb that they were going to detonate that night. She was excited to tell me what building she was going to demolish. For what reason? "To show those FEDRA bastards who they're messing with". Needless to say, after the transaction, I took a detour to that building and dismantled her poorly built bomb.