Cataclysm

2.3

Before the sun had even risen, when the sky was finally beginning to lighten up, I woke the other two and we left the safety of our little alley. I hadn't realized how warm it was in there until we reached the streets, and then I almost ran right back to the cramped, stuffy space, much more willing to endure the smell than the freezing wind out here.

I decided to stop at a bus stop and ask someone how far the next cities were, since I didn't have any money to pay for the actual bus ride. When one pulled up, I climbed up the steps and asked, and the driver took one look at us, and told us to get on, no charge.

"Why'd he do that?" Leo asked softly as we climbed into the back.

"There are more shifty people in this city than honest ones," someone sitting in front of us said over their shoulder.

I fell asleep for the ten minute drive, and when I woke, the bus driver was calling for us and Leo was asleep on my shoulder. I stood up and he shifted, yawning and stumbling to his feet. "We there yet?" he muttered.

"Yeah, come on." I looked out the window as I helped him stagger down the aisle, Braken following close behind.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"Good question," I mumbled. This side of town looked pretty run down and dumpy, and I immediately knew we were in the ghettos. The second I stepped off of the bus, I felt as if a hundred people had their eyes on me. I wasn't safe in this part of the city. Why were we here? "Come on," I said, grabbing Braken's arm with one hand and wrapping my other under Leo's arms to help him walk. He was still swaying, and was as pale as ever.

Braken slid his hand into mine, gripping me tightly like a lost child. My first instinct was to yank my hand away from the mangled flesh on his hands, but I forced myself to grip him back. I appreciated his attempt to keep close, because the last thing I wanted was one of them to get lost. I didn't know where we were, and I could feel the hostility radiating off of everything around us.

We wandered for a while, looking for something, anything, I wasn't sure what, and then we came across two people on a corner - street performers. One had long, messy blond hair cut short on one side, and he was the one playing the guitar. Sometimes, when he'd flip his head down, his hair would fall in front of his eyes and he'd have to shake it away. The other had a young face and curly light brown hair, and he was singing to the first's guitar. He had a nice high voice, I noticed.

"I won't hesitate,
No, I won't bend or break.
We won't know if we don't try -"

He suddenly cut off and stared at me. The other played a few chords, waiting for him to come back in, but when he didn't, he looked up, too. The few others listening to them turned to look, too, but they didn't seem to see anything of interest, so they wandered away.

"What?" the guitarist asked softly.

"Two of them," the singer murmured. "Across the street."

Immediately, I knew we needed to get out of there. "Come on," I muttered, pulling them along faster. Leo staggered and fell, and Braken helped him up to his feet, but by the time we were able to run, the singer had caught up to us.

He caught Leo as he stumbled again, and then said, "Hey, don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you."

All three of us backed up nervously, and Braken hid behind me, as if that would hide him from the stranger in front of us.

"You're here to find Refuge, right?" he said.

"We're fine, really," I said, starting to walk around him.

He grabbed my arm to stop me. "Refuge with a capital R. The camp. I'm Aaron. I can take you there."

"I don't know what you're talking about." I pushed him away and he stumbled back, losing his balance. "Come on, Leo."