A Collection of Ruins

Chapter 13 - The City Girl and Sterilian (Tess)

Tess

My body moved before my mind could even consider what I was doing. The Rebel from the alleyway had stepped into the clearing where I had been sitting with Jev, then I was behind her, Jev's knife painful in my grip as I found myself holding it to her throat. Within mere milliseconds, everyone else in the clearing had shot to their feet and dropped into defensive stances. That was all the evidence I needed to confirm that this back-alley Rebel was the same one who had me brought here.

She had stepped into the clearing with two boys -- one looked young, younger than Dibsie, and I found myself wondering how he got mixed up in such a crowd. The second boy was tall and broad with a hard-set face and stern eyes. Watching his movements from the corner of my eye, I decided wholeheartedly that had I noticed him before I leapt at the girl, I wouldn't have dared.

The girl tensed in my grip, but more in defence than fear. From what I could see of her facial expression, she seemed frustrated, and almost bored, like having a knife at her throat was a regular thing for her. Absentmindedly, I wondered if it was.

"Darlin', put the knife down." The taller boy growled, his eyes narrowed in a way that made me feel like an ant he could very easily squash beneath his feet.

My heart thudded in my chest. Now that my body was allowing me to think before moving, I realised I had no idea what I intended to do. I knew I wanted answers, but I was unsure of how to get them. I sought out Jev in the crowded chaos, wondering if he would be as defensive as the tall boy or if by any chance, he would help me in the absurd situation I had thrown myself into.

He met my eyes for a fraction of a second before crossing his arms and smirking, his gaze on the girl in my grip. "Meet Tess." He said simply, sounding almost proud.

The girl scoffed, and I felt the knife graze the skin of her throat. I had to stop myself from shuddering at the feeling. She twisted in my grip so she could meet my eyes and raised her brows. "After all I've heard about her I thought she'd be taller, she looked it hidden behind all those walls,"

I felt her grab the arm that I had around her shoulders and felt a fleeting glance of a touch against my waist, then I was being slammed onto the ground. In one foul blow, all the oxygen left my body, pain shooting up my spine, through my lungs, and across the back of my head. I pretended that I didn't hear the crack that resounded through my skull as it collided with the dirt. The knife flew from my hand and skidded across the ground, coming to a stop as it hit the toe of Jev's boot.

"—from down there, not so much." She finished, staring down at me through narrowed eyes.

"If you have such a weird height complex, then you should've thought of that before you had me brought here, huh?" I croaked, my lungs burning.

"I'm only doing what I have to do to survive." She snapped. "Stick around, kid, and you'll learn neither of us have a choice anymore. Do what you have to do to survive while you're here, but keep your head where it belongs while you're at it."

Then she turned to Jev, her gaze pointed. "I'm supposing that was your doing?" She asked him, nodding towards the knife at his feet.

He shrugged. "It was a bloodbath down there, Ellie, I needed to be sure she could protect herself when I was otherwise indisposed."

Ellie. I remembered the name from overheard conversations and soft mutters from the other street rats. Ellie, the rebel leader, the last hope for a small army of rebel teens and a crumbling collection of ruins beyond the Miracle Mile. I wondered for the millionth time what she wanted with me.