Soft footsteps echoed down the alleyway as the Dominators followed after Lucy. "You sure she's got the guns?" Sting whispered harshly.

"Do we have much of a choice?" David replied. His patience began to dwindle even though they had only just begun to walk. "If we leave, we lose the guns." He much didn't like to take risks from an Estrella—the mortal enemy of the military—but what choice did he really have? Go back to their hideout and do nothing? As if. He'd come to the conclusion that it'd be a bloody massacre if she was lying.

"What if she doesn't even have the guns?" Gigante asked, wringing his wrists. "We could be going into a trap." Gigante couldn't help but feel anxiety dwindle up his throat. If she lied then his big bro would pay the cost, and so would the others. Could they really just wait until a new shipment came in?

"I don't like her." Jake rasped. "She's a snob, rude, and she reeks of cheap perfume." His eyes darted across her clothing, but he couldn't really say much about that.

A loud sigh could be heard up ahead as Lucy turned her head, "You're not as quiet as you all think you are." She snapped back at them. "Do you want the guns or not?"

"Eeee! I didn't mean it! I was just joking! I swear it was the—!" Jake was cut off by a sharp jab to the ribs by David.

"Will you just shut your mouth?" He snapped as his eyes followed the dirty walls that surrounded them. The air was becoming an even more disgusting scent as they approached the end of the alleyway. "When will we reach your place, Lucy?"

"Soon, but we need to get past the military." She stopped at the end of the alley. "If we get caught, it's game over. So, yes, we're going to have to find an alternate path."

"Life is hardly a game anymore." Odin responded, his eyes becoming a cold with glare to back it up. "If it was once, then it isn't now."

"Just know that people have different ways of coping with the shit they're in." She retorted. Her hand clutched her stomach tightly. "Why don't you give me some of those medical supplies, David?"

"So you can just take off? I'd rather see you get an infection and die." He shot back at her. "We're here for the guns, and I'm not sparing you anything until we see them. Clear?"

"Crystal."

The alley way split into a four way section of apartments, most of which were rarely used anymore. In the center was a manhole that was supposed to have been sealed by the government, having found a new way to enter without needing that access. However, Lucy and Matthew had found a way to pry this one loose in order to use it to their advantage.

Jake's nose wrinkled as he began to smell what they were closing in on, "No! Don't tell me we're going to go down there?!"

"You want to get caught?"

"No, but—!"

"Then shut up and hold your nose." She ordered as she bent down to pull up the lid to the manhole. Her hands, legs, and upper body began to shake and she dropped it back almost instantly. "Someone, come help me."

Gigante stepped forward and lifted the lid up with ease. Setting it aside, he could hear distant shouts of military officials heading their way. "Shit."

A long ladder extended down into the deep dark abyss below them, showing barely any signs of usage in the years.

"Inside! Inside now!" Odin ordered, feeling a wave of nausea hit him. "Just hurry up before I change my mind about this!"

The smell was almost enough to make them all want to turn back, but after hearing gun shots ringing through the district, they persevered and hopped down into the dark sewers.

David felt around his backpack's side pockets to try to locate his flashlight, "You guys are sure this is a spore free zone, right?" His hand met with the cold, familiar material of his flashlight and he flicked it on to see.

"Yes, this place is completely clear of spores as far as I can tell." Lucy replied from beside him, her breath tickling his ear.

"I'm kind of glad that I found you, or I would have no way to go, but against the wall." She said after a few more moments. David made an uncomfortable sound and moved aside to be closer to his brother.

Sting gave a cackle at the mental image of her falling into the sewers and being swept away, "We wouldn't want poor Lucy to fall into this disgusting grim, now would we?" His flashlight snapped on, illuminating his face.

"Ick!" Jake began to shiver from the squishiness beneath his feet. "You're buying me new shoes after this, Lucy!" His hands fumbled around his body in hopes that he had brought his flashlight, but the only time he thought he wouldn't need it, he needed it and he had left it.

Gigante's light flickered on and caught a rat running across the walkway's edge. The tunnel was about twenty feet high with a sloping ceiling that cut off into a flat box type outline for the manholes to have ladders to lead down into. The sewer floor was cut about a foot above the actual sewage that managed to flow beneath the city. He had always wondered why the military had cut them off from working down in the manholes, but he didn't want to question them in fear that they would have associated him with a rebellion.

Gigante snapped back into focus once he heard Lucy snap back at Jake about his shoes comment.

"Why should I have to waste my rations on you?" She asked, less harsh than expected. What could she possibly do to please these men?

"Because this is all your fault! We were the ones who should have gotten those damn guns! I just want to go home and use the bath! It'll take weeks to get the smell off me!" Jake shot her an expression of disgust.

"For once, Jake has a point." Sting said with mock surprise, his hands on his cheeks. "I'm so surprised! This is one for the books!" He began to cackle to himself once more.

David turned his attention to Lucy, "Just continue down the tunnels and lead us to your damn hideout. Jake does have a point about going back to our home. Once we smuggle whatever it is out of the city, we're leaving to go home. That's the cut and dry deal."

Lucy huffed softly, "You act as if I forget everything you've told me!" She turned and made her way down the slippery walkways.

Odin could remember when walking through the sewers was only an ideal of cartoon characters and video games. He could barely hold in his small breakfast over the smell that invaded his nose. Having heard many stories of people falling down these manholes, he thought it was just a funny experience in which they broke a leg, but now he understood the torture they must have gone through.

"Big Bro, what do you think we're smuggling out of the city?" Gigante asked after a few minutes of awkward silence between everyone.

"That's a great question…" David mumbled. "Lucy, what exactly do you want us to smuggle?" He couldn't help but feel disgusted by the illuminations of the slick, gleaming slime that was slowly making its way down the tunnel walls.

"You'll have to wait and see." She replied as she used the side of the tunnel as support. Her wound—and the smell wasn't helping—had begun to make her feel dizzy and light headed. Her pace began to become slower until she was barely taking a step without having to stop.

"How exactly did you get injured?" Odin asked as he came to support her to pick up the pace. He slipped one arm around her and the other arm to her side to pull her up. "It'll at least create some conversation." He commented.

"Well, when we had that raid…today…I was trying to escape from the gunfire. I ended up getting caught up with one of Ryan's thugs." She began to speed up her pace once again. "He cornered me and got a good stab in my side."

"I suppose you killed them after." David commented.

"Yes." Lucy finished grimly. "The only problem with that bastard was that he was an ex-Estrella." She looked forward to see where they were. "Just a bit more before we reach the complex where I live."

"I'm using your shower!" Jake stated firmly, obviously not caring much for the story.

"An ex-Estrella?" David took a glance at Gigante. "Sounds like your friend Sho."

"Yeah…it does…" Gigante held his breath at the memories that flowed through his head about the times he had been tempted to leave his brother. It had been a major betrayal by David and he could have gone off with Sho when he told him he was leaving. He shook his head at the thought because he knew that he had screwed up with Sho when he had chosen his brother over his idea of moving out west.

Was he even alive anymore? Well, Sho was a fighter, so Gigante always had his hopes that he would see him again even if Sho didn't want to see his face.

Lucy made a sudden stop below a manhole and shushed them, "Do you hear that?"

"What?" Odin asked, his hearing becoming more attentive. Above them was the sound of wheels screeching to a halt. "Officials?"

"Just don't make a sound."

Jake made a zipping motion with his hands to emphasize his silence. He looked up even though he had nothing to look at but the small holes in the lid of the manhole above them.

"Damn those Estrellas!" A military official stated from above, his voice muffled by the manhole. "They took out five of our guards and four civilians! What are they trying to prove here?"

"I don't know, but we're on a shoot to kill until it's time for curfew. Just don't go crazy with the trigger, alright?" Another one responded.

Lucy looked at Odin and gestured for him to continue onward. She could feel his body tensing up at the comments of "shoot to kill". Had it of been safe to, she would have told him to be a "fucking man".

David looked back as he began to walk past the above manhole, "How are you holding up, Lucy?" He whispered to her.

"I've seen better days." She responded. She lifted her hand to gesture to a set of steps leading to a hole in the wall. "There…that's where we get off at."

"You kidding me?!" Jake shouted. "You just have a hole in the wall to the sewer?! Ick! Ick! Ick! That is just disgusting! I couldn't handle living like that!" His voice began to echo across the sewers.

David gave Jake another of his famous sharp jabs to the ribs and made his way to the hole, "I don't think it's actually in their apartment."

He knelt down made his way through the hole, pushing away cobwebs that got in his way. He could feel his heart racing from actually anxiety. What could they possibly be smuggling? Could it be drugs? No. Drugs had become less of an issue now that the grass was greener outside the city.

What if they were smuggling a bomb? That would be a typical Estrella move to get them blown up in an overcrowded area for a way to get more attention for their "cause".

What if it were something harmless? That thought made him want to laugh. Anything to do with the Estrellas was never harmless. He could have smacked himself for being so ignorant to assume that.

Jake huffed at David and rubbed his ribs, "Stupid…li—!" He took a daring glance to the scowling Gigante beside him. The lessons over the years spent with Gigante had taught him two things: Gigante was more kind hearted than most people here and that if someone messed with his "big bro", they would soon be struggling feebly in his grasp.

He remembered exclusively when Sting had done something horrible to David once. Once. Sting had many great plans and pranks that no one really minded. Gigante hadn't minded a few on David because they were all good natured, but when Sting had targeted David's phobia, it had turned into Sting needing to spend eighteen ration cards for a broken arm.

"Nothing! I said nothing!" Jake finally said and quickly followed David to avoid standing next to Gigante any longer.

Once everyone had entered the hole, David turned to them and made a small face, "I stand corrected."

In front of the hole in the wall was the basement of an apartment. It was unfinished with wood that looked like it would have been torn down ages ago had this infection not happened. The area was accompanied with beaten up beanbag chairs, a table to make blueprints, and a staircase that didn't look safe to even touch.

"It's the perfect place for a hideout because no sane person would even think to walk down those stairs." Odin said as he made his way to the staircase with Lucy still in his support.

"It makes all the more sense that you go for it!" Sting commented with a laugh. "Our leader is crazy!"

"Not as crazy as you are, Sting." Jake poked fun at the man next to him.

"Can't argue there!"

Odin could feel regret tickle his throat as he saw just how rickety the stairs were now that he stood in front of them. "Are these even safe?"

"I climb up and down them all the time! Be a man, Odin." Lucy snapped. That actually felt good for her to get off her chest.

Odin decided to not argue or snap a comeback at her as he began to make his way up the steps.

Creak!

"This better not break under my feet." He muttered. He began to make his way up the steps hearing an insane amount of creaks as the others followed after him.

"Enough to give me a migraine!" Jake commented and put his hands over his ears. "You need to do something about this!"

As Odin reached the top he could hear the sounds of a gun going off and several people screaming. "That damn military rule is just going to decrease our already small population!"

The room in front of them held a multitude of people just sitting around. Many of which just looked like they were trying to bide their time until the military stopped killing off people.

The room had a faded red rug with swirling patterns that were once golden but now were a light brown, a few doors that led to public restrooms, and a set of stairs that led up to the actual accommodations of the residents.

"Go up the steps." Lucy ordered and began to tug Odin toward the stairs herself, her side burning. "We need to hurry so you can get what I need out of here." Her heartbeat picked up as she climbed up the steps at an alarming speed.

"Why are you rushing? Can't we just stay here?" Jake asked from behind, suddenly becoming suspicious of her actions. "Why do we have to take whatever it is back to our place?!"

"Keep your voices down!" She snapped. Her feet hit the top of the steps. "Just get me to my room, and I'll explain everything." She was now panting and looked like she was about to collapse.

David began to utter a tsking noise and headed down the hallway, "Which room is yours?"

"Thirty-seven." She panted, his forehead was sweating. She honestly couldn't wait to sit down. "You're going to have to patch me up."

"After we see the guns." David replied as he began to open the door to her room, his hand slowly turning the knob. "No guns, no medical supply." He barely was able to slide the door past the metal lock before it flung open and a tanned hand snapped out to grab his wrist. "What the—? Lucy, did you set us up!?"

"Big Bro!" Gigante hesitated at the expense of danger in front of him; one move and his big brother would end up with a bleeding jugular.

"No, I told you that it wasn't a set up!" Lucy defended herself.

David was yanked inside and met with a cold knife to his throat. "You let her go! You let her go now!" A short boy with flaming red hair ordered, his hands were shaking from a mixture of rage and fear.

Odin couldn't help but admire the boy in front of him. He wore two jackets that were both conflicting; one was way too large on him while the other was sleeveless with a black fur collar. He looked like he was under fed as his tight maroon shirt hung slightly loose on his body.

"Glen." Lucy shook her head, "No, these aren't enemies, Glen. Drop the knife." She lifted her hands as if to try to calm him. Her wound seemed to have stopped its bleeding.

"Who are these idiots?!" He demanded without his gaze leaving each of their faces. "Who are they, Lucy?!"

"These are the people who are going to smuggle you out of the city." Lucy replied steadily.

"What? You're sending me with these…?" He lowered the knife and stared at the Dominators in doubt. "They look like a bunch of clowns sent straight from that circus."

"You little rat!" Jake stomped his foot in fury. "We aren't clowns! Well, at least I am not a clown!" He eyed Sting after saying though who, in return, gave him a confused glance.

"Wait, wait…" Odin interrupted the chain of insults and sent Lucy down to the floor. "We're not smuggling some kid out of the city!" He pointed at her. "All this commotion for some kid?! No, no way are we doing this."

Gigante, Jake, and Sting all entered the room, while Odin secured the door behind them to keep out any eavesdroppers or interlopers.

"Lucy!" Glen rushed to her side and helped lift her up to a sitting position. Lucy kept her stare serious despite the rush of pain followed the impact. Her mouth turned into a grim line.

"Yes we are!" David grabbed onto Glen's wrist and shoved him back to give him some distance, "We just went through all this trouble to get here! We only need to get this damn kid delivered and then we can go home."

"This is a waste of our time! We can just find a new way to get more guns!" Sting shot at David. "Even an insane man like me knows when this is pointless!"

"Why are we smuggling a kid out of here anyway?" Gigante finally asked. "What possible purpose does this kid hold?"

"Look, his parents both died years ago and I promised to look after him, but I need him to get out of the city and be with the Estrellas. I can't tell you exactly why I need you to do this, but it is very vital that you do. Trust me, okay?" She made a crossing motion over her chest.

"I need a shower…" Jake muttered. "Can I get a shower?"

Everyone ignored Jake's question to avoid getting off topic. "All this for some guns?! This kid could be a fucking time bomb!" Odin felt his hands clenching into tight fists.

"This is for the better of us! We need those guns, Odin!" David interjected. "We're doing this. When and how do we execute this?"

Odin sent a glare at David, but he knew that he was right about the guns. Ever since they had begun to take on more jobs, they had a harder time getting around without a fight being stirred.

"To lower suspicions, you'll need to take Glen to your house. Only one of you should take him to keep the suspicions lowered."

"Wait, what about the rest of us?" Gigante asked, his mind swimming with the possible dangers of having to take Glen.

"I'll take you to see the guns." She replied, gripping her wound once more. "David, Sting, Jake, and Odin, you should come with me to see them and to fix my wounds like promised."

David gave her a quick nod and stowed away his flashlight in the side pocket of his backpack, "Not a moment sooner will I help you."

"I understand." Lucy turned her gaze to Gigante. "Gigante, I want Glen to go with you."

"Bullshit, I'm not going with him!" Glen took a few steps forward and swung his arms out. "He looks like he'd sooner put me ou—!"

"Glen." Lucy cut him off. "Trust me, Gigante is more of a gentle giant. I wouldn't send you into the hands of idiots like you think."

"You have a funny way of showing it!" He said with a scowl forming. "I hate your jokes! This better be one!"

"It's not a joke, Glen. These people are going to smuggle you out of the city, and Gigante is the best at sneaking past military guards, despite his size."

Glen took a small glance at the tall, muscular man standing in front of the door. He couldn't help but feel emotionally lost with this one. He looked toward Lucy once more, "Fine."

"Don't get me wrong, this isn't easy for me either." Gignate told Glen.

"You can go through the window to get back down to the streets, but hurry up since curfew is about to hit." Lucy continued with her explanation. "Don't get caught. You should leave when nightfall hits."

"Then we'll head out by eight tonight." Odin declared, helping Lucy up. "Unless your gun plot is just a joke on us."

"I promise you that it's not a joke or a lie." Lucy assured.

"I'll see you tonight, Gigante." David said to his brother with a comforting squeeze to the shoulder, "Good luck and get some rest."

Gigante smiled at his brother; he always knew how to make him feel lighter, but as he exited the window, he knew that this was going to be no cake walk. Since curfew was drawing near, it was vital that he hurry to their apartment.

The metal structure that he was now using was once used to walk up to the apartments without needing to go inside, but as of this era, it had become unsafe to even venture near one. They always seemed to be collapsing.

He put his feet on the stairs and slowly made his descent toward the bottom. "We'll need to land on the dumpster when we get near the bottom." He could feel the kid's eyes piercing through his skull. He made it down to the landing and stood near the edge where a ladder had once been.

Gigante could feel himself growing weary already with this mysterious kid. Who he was, was a mystery, and how Lucy and Matthew could possibly have known him for so long was beyond him. Well, perhaps the kid was friendly.

Bending down, he decided to try to create a conversation with him, "So, you must be around thirteen, fourteen…?"

"I'm seventeen, jackass." Glen responded and seemed to look impatient with how slow Gigante moved.

Okay, so he wasn't friendly, but at least he could try to see a silver lining to this kid. "That's a nice age." He jumped down on top of the dumpster with a loud CLANG!

"You're incredibly awkward." Glen commented as he landed beside him and jumped down to the ground below.

"Well, I guess I'm just curious about who you are. You know Lucy?" Gigante slid himself off the dumpster to make less noise.

"We go far back because of my parents."

Gigante decided to venture out of that subject field in case Glen was emotional about his parents' passing. "I know you don't have to tell me about why you're being smuggled, but it's actually compelling me to ask."

Glen looked away from him, "I can't tell anyone. Look, can we just head to your damn house?"

"It's more of an apartment, and why can't you?" Gigante questioned as he began to head for an old building that stood over the gates to his district. It wasn't much of a way to get between the two districts, but this building served an amazing purpose: to jump down without having to go outside of the city. To Gigante, it was much easier to just use that building, but it was a one way ticket because the other district had no windows close enough for that move.

"Is it some kind of family thing?" He asked as he stepped inside of the old building, kicking up dust. There was no more residency or furniture left inside of it as it had once been used to sell candles. The old owners who had once used it for their home had long since been executed. No one knew why and refused to buy the building in case the reason was a secret with the old place.

Gigante swore that this city was bad with conspiracy theories, but what else was there to do? There was limited electricity, limited food, limited clothing, and limited freedoms. The government could hide things from them as much as they wanted because of how weak the people here were.

In front of them was a set of stairs that led to what once was the place where the residents would sleep and store their money. The window was in the woman's room. Gigante remembered how nice she was and would often wonder what she could have done to have been publically executed.

Glen coughed and made a face at the dust harassing his face. He swatted at it, but strangely pulled down on the sleeve when it came up from his upward stroke. Gigante could have sworn he saw something odd on his arm, but brushed it off as the dust making illusions.

"I can't tell you." Glen responded at last and put a finger to his lips as if to try to end the conversation between them.

"Fine…" Gigante said back, heading for the stairs. "Don't tell me…"