And despite his wounds, both on his body and in his soul, Jim found himself the leader of an army. A small army, and on paper quite impotent. But the waifs and strays of children and farmhands he'd collected had an incontestable power: their ire. In their hunger for vengeance, they found a deep rumbling strength that Jim knew must frighten the governor. They would take Kodos down somehow.
Jim kept tabs on the saved portion of Tarsus's population he'd lived in until the arrival of his mother through the clandestine efforts of his history teacher. Ms. Sato had always been kind to him, and though she had no proof of Jim's exploits, he knew she suspected, He respected her all the more for her silence.
Kevin had become an adept thief, and he and Jim did most of the raiding for the little band. The few adults left alive had to stay out of sight or be shot on sight. Children were captured and taken to a reprogramming facility. These worried Jim more than he could admit – the brainwashing meant that it would be nearly impossible to incite a revolution in Kodos's own men. Carefully calculated battles were the only way his people could survive. But to kill even slaves makes me sick. I am so tired of seeing people die. Despite how much Kevin and Jim could steal, they teetered perpetually on the brink of starvation.
The worst had come when they found a child of no more than four alone in his parents' house. Blood stained the floor but the kid was unharmed, except for the crippling hunger that made him continually weep. Jim did his best – he stole everything he could, but it was a light week. Finally, when he could no longer bear the child's cries, he snuck into the school to consult Ms. Sato.
"Jim. Fancy seeing you here."
"Surprise, aren't I. How's life?"
"Just trying to keep my head down. How have you been, Jim?"
"You know, the usual. Trying not to die. Speaking of, I have a certain lack of resources in that respect."
"What do you think I can do?"
"Come on, teach. You could get me food if you wanted to. Or I can steal it, if you tell me where it is."
"Jim…I want to help you. I've been discrete. But if I tell you that, I will get both you and myself killed."
"People are already dying out there. We are way ahead of you, so I'm begging you. Get me something." He sighed and closed his eyes a moment. "Kids are dying. Students that you would have taught, except that they starved under a fascist regime that I can't save them from. I can't help them, but it would have been your job; they would have been under your protection. So help me help them. Please."
She twisted her hands together. "It's just that-"
"What, you have your own neck to save?"
"Come on, Jim, you think I haven't already helped you? You think that if anyone asks I'd tell them about whatever operation you're running? I do more for you than you know."
"But you don't feed the children."
"No."
"So tell me."
She stopped twiddling her fingers and dropped her hands into her lap. "Fine. I'll tell you where the warehouse is. But you can't come here anymore. You're going to get the kids that are still here killed along with your foolhardy self."
That was good enough for Jim. He slipped out at dusk and returned to the band's encampment, brimming with energy enough to feel like he had eaten at some point in the last three days.
"Kevin, I got the place. Let's go. How's the kid?"
Kevin slunk out of a tent, eyes red. "The kid's dead, Jim."
The fierce joy he'd felt a moment ago whooshed out of his body like a blast of winter. I lost him it's my fault for dallying for bargaining when I could have just gotten what I wanted with a gun damn it I'm a death trap with a strung-out trail of bodies leading through the sky.
Nothing he could say would make it better. A child had starved before their eyes and nothing could ever fix that. So he had to get on with it. "Oh. Well, we still have the location. And I have a plan to take down Kodos's army."