The Rouges

t h i r t y f i v e

  TRIVEN HAD SAID nothing about my outburst and Maddox seemed to find it more amusing than threatening. Still, Brant had shut his mouth and fell in line like a good little soldier. But one of us always had an eye on him just in case.

Moving had given me a sense of accomplishment but now standing in wait as a ten-year-old child stole clothing for us made my whole body ache with anxiety. We were stopped at the dead end of a large tunnel. A ladder with a blue wave symbol painted on its side was the only way of escape. I had had to watch Mouse disappear up the ladder with nothing more on her than the knife I had hidden in her boot. I had tried to insist on coming with her but she had relentlessly refused me, signing over and over again, danger. I had left her with a final warning that if she wasn't back within fifteen minutes I was coming after her guns blazing. To make my attitude worse, as Mouse disappeared, Brant had muttered something about "That's the last we'll ever see of her."

I seriously thought about breaking his nose.

At eight minutes and forty-three seconds Mouse's feet reappeared on the ladder rungs. She was grinning, clearly proud of herself. She had managed to procure a linen bag nearly as big as herself and in it were differing colors of uniforms for each of us.

Triven gathered her into his arms, kissing the top of her head. "Good job kiddo. You might have just saved us all."

Brant rolled his eyes, but when he caught the expression on my face he quickly grabbed his blue workman uniform and retreated further down the tunnel to change. The clothing was all loosely sewn, allowing us to keep our fatigues on under them. Triven, Mouse and I were all dressed alike in white linen civilian uniforms. The flowy garbs were identical with no distinction between the male and female, except for the cut in the tunic. Triven's tunic was broader in the shoulders whereas mine was cut wide below the waist allowing for the hips I didn't have. The pants were a simple plain white linen that came down to our toes with a drawstring waist. I had to roll the tops of mine twice to accommodate my shorter legs. The tunics were equally loose, falling just past our knees, giving away little of a person's shape, which in our case was great for concealing weapons. In our favor there were also deep hoods that once pulled up concealed our faces nicely. Maddox and Brant, however, were less lucky.   

  The workmen's uniforms were more like jumpsuits. Like ours they were loose-fitting, but they were one solid piece with a single zipper up the front. Good for concealing weapons, bad for retrieving them. They were also sans hoods, leaving their faces exposed. Brant's uniform was a dark blue, which Arstid had informed us, was water maintenance. Maddox wore one of dark green, indicating a yard and garden worker. Mouse pointed to Brant's long hair and mimed tucking it into his collar. Mumbling something unintelligible he followed the instructions. Triven tossed the now empty bag at Brant.

"You can hide your packs in this. Plus it wouldn't hurt to put in a few weapons that you might need as a last resort." He turned back to us and laid the map in front of Mouse. "How far do we need to go?"

She squinted at the map and pointed to a large building on the far northwest corner. The building was significantly larger than the others around it. I remembered Arstid marking it as a government building of sorts.

"Where are we now?" I traced the city lines, mapping out all direct accesses.

Mouse poured over the map, but looked confused. We had worried that the city might have changed over the years and from the look on Mouse's face it had. Eventually, she shrugged and circled a general vicinity with her finger. Rocking back on my heels I let out a shallow breath. If she was right, we were a few hours walk from the destination. We would be cutting it close with the curfew. If we could run it, the timing wouldn't be an issue, but we had to blend in, so sprinting through the city was not an option. I glanced up to find Triven's eyes on me. I could see the same thoughts running through his mind as well. After I had committed our general route to memory, Triven folded the map and slipped it into his breast pocket.