"See that one?" Boris whispered to Lilli. "Fifth window on the left?"
"Yes," Lilli breathed back, her eyes never leaving the building face.
"When I give the word, we head over and break it open as silently as possible. We have roughly twenty-five minutes before the next patrol comes around."
She and Boris crouched behind a fallen dumpster, their eyes on an abandoned house in Park Row. After a day of scouting, Boris determined it had yet to be ransacked by any of the gangs and it was perfect for a supply run.
"Go," Boris hissed and together, the two of them ran for the window.
Boris smashed his elbow into the window and it cracked. Lilli followed suit and it broke completely. Boris wiped away any fallen glass and opened the window from the inside. Carefully, the climbed over the sill and into the house.
Like the one Lilli broke into her first night in the city, it was completely empty. The previous occupants had taken nearly everything with them when they left.
Lilli moved quickly and began to open cabinet doors in the kitchen while Boris moved down a hallway. She found a can of corn and a can of beans hidden in a corner. She set them on the counter and continued her search.
But there was nothing else to find.
She moved from the kitchen down the hallway to find Boris. He emerged from a room carrying a blanket and some towels.
"Must've overlooked them when they left," Boris grunted. "The blanket's got holes in it but it should serve its purpose. Find anything useful in the kitchen?"
"A can of corn and a can of beans. Nothing else."
"It's not nothing." But his face was grim.
Together they walked back into the kitchen where Lilli scooped up the cans of food and put them in her pockets. Boris climbed out the window and Lilli followed shortly after.
"We hit another house or head back?" Lilli asked when she was out.
Boris shook his head. "Two-Face's patrol should be by soon. I don't want to push our luck."
They ran for their alleyway and began to make their way back to their camp to eat some of their findings.
Boris told her every few days there was a supply drop at various points in the city. However, the gangs always got to them first and picked them over. They were left to beg for scraps from inmates or attempt their hand at theft like they did in the house. But once in a while, someone got cocky and tried stealing from the inmates themselves.
And, as Boris told her, it never ended well.
They turned a corner and immediately backed unto a shadowed wall. "What are they doing here?" Lilli hissed when she spied the group of Two-Face inmates standing at the end.
"I don't know," Boris replied.
Several of the inmates left just then, probably to continue their patrol, leaving only two people standing between them and their camp.
"Do we find another way around?" Lilli whispered.
Before Boris could answer, the inmates turned around and starting walked closer to their hiding spot. Boris placed a hand on Lilli's shoulder and shoved her behind him. And then they pressed themselves even closer to the darkened corner.
"You sure Benny saw her?" An inmate was asking as they came closer.
"Yup. No mistaking that catsuit. Seems Catwoman's in the city."
The first one whistled. "Hot damn. I'd love to get a firsthand look at her before she knocks me unconscious."
The second scoffed. "Me, I'd consider the death initiation for Joker's crew to be worth it if only to catch a glimpse of Harley Quinn."
Lilli couldn't help but roll her eyes.
The inmates walked past them and into a second alley.
The weather got worse and worse as the days passed. The temperature slowly began to drop down into the negatives and it snowed some days.
She and Boris ran for it. At the end at the alley, they paused to check for more inmates but saw no one. They continued running.
But as they passed by the opening out of the church, someone came barreling out of the gate. The inmate wearing a Two-Face mask flattened Boris and they crashed into Lilli and all three of them crumpled to to ground.
"What the hell?" Someone above them asked.
Lilli pressed her face to the cold asphalt, thanking whoever was watching over her that her hood stayed up.
"Well, well," the same person continued. Lilli peeked out from under her hood to watch the inmate pick himself up from Boris who was writhing in pain, trying to catch his breath.
"Looks like some punching bags were running around." The one without a mask nudged Boris with his foot. "What were you doing?"
"Running an errand for another Two-Face guy," Boris wheezed out.
"Sure you were. Maybe I want an errand done. I heard the last drop was in the Industrial District. How would you like to go over there for me and get me some food?"
Lilli suppressed a shudder. Going over to the Industrial District was certain death.
"Aw, come on," the one with the mask said. "I'm too cold for this shit. Besides, we know where they're gonna be if we need 'em."
"Fine," the other grumbled. "Get outta here before I change my mind."
Lilli slowly picked herself up but Boris was there, grabbing her arm. He tugged her forward they made for their camp, not too far away.
"That was too close," Lilli said when they were surrounded by their thin, metal walls once more.
"I agree," Boris said. "It's rare when one of us can get away without a beating."
They entered their little room where Henry was curled up in a corner. He poked his head up when they came in. "Anything?"
Boris pulled the blanket out of his coat and Henry's eyes lit up. And Lilli took the cans out of her pocket. "Beans and corn."
"A good haul, considering the circumstances," Henry said.
Boris tucked the can of beans in the corner where it would be hidden by shadows and their bodies. He took a sharp rock and began to work on making a hole in the can of corn. Eventually, the rock poked through and Boris widened the hole enough for the corn to come out.
Henry picked up two empty cans and handed on to Lilli. Boris filled their tins until they all had some to eat.
She savored the raw corn and ate slowly. She knew they shouldn't have divided the can so much. They should have only had a little bit. But she couldn't deny that it was nicer to have a fuller stomach.
She handed her empty tin back to Henry, who put them in another corner, and then lay down. There was nothing else to do after a supply run. And many found talking about outside was too exhausting.
She murmured a thanks when she felt part of the blanket go over her. Hopefully all three of them could share. But nevertheless, Lilli curled into a tighter ball, trying to keep her core warm.
She stared at several lines scratched into the asphalt. After Boris and Henry brought her to the political prisoner camp, she found a small rock and scratched lines into the ground for every day she survived. Four white lines glistened in the firelight.
Four days. She'd been in Arkham City for four days. She supposed she should consider herself lucky for surviving this long or be thankful she was still alive. But her body ached with cold and hunger every day. Her coat kept her from freezing to death but food was sparse.
Every night she went to bed on her mattress, weak from hunger. Boris tried to give her what he could but half a tin of beans could only sustain her for so long. Or corn, in this case.
But there was a silver lining. She could feel her body adapting. She could go longer periods without food and wasn't as weak as she had been earlier.
Even so, it wasn't like she was living the high life in here. Her body felt like it was perpetually numb from the cold, her socks and sneakers did nothing for her feet (which made her worry for frostbite as it got colder,) and her hair was beginning to mat something terribly.
Lilli pulled her hoods lower over her eyes and pressed her face into the mattress. She found she could keep warm the best if she slept face-down. Next to her, Henry breathed steadily in his sleep, his hands stuffed into his pockets.
Henry had been strange in his interactions with her since they met. Everyday he checked to make sure her hood was down sufficiently and he did it multiple times. He made her stay behind when he and Boris went for a food run (though this time, Lilli insisted, saying she was faster.) And Lilli swore he was looking at her every time she had her back turned. It was weird to say in the least.
At least Boris treated her normally. He did his best to make sure she was taken care of and gave her pointers on survival and how to do dash and grabs. Even now Boris sat next to Henry keeping watch in case someone tried to steal their shoes in their sleep.
He does have three children in Gotham, Lilli reminded herself. He's used to protecting people.
Against her wishes, her mind wandered back to Gotham. Did her family and friends know where she was? Did Strange tell the world that she stole from him and ended up here? She chewed on her lip.
And what about her cat, Ludwig? The last she saw of him, he was hissing at TYGER operatives from under a table. Did he run from the apartment? Was someone taking care of him or was he slowly dying of starvation in her apartment?
There was a loud clanging noise and heavy footsteps thudded throughout their camp. Boris leapt to her feet and Lilli sat up, throwing the blanket off her and Henry.
"Get in the corner," Boris ordered as he shook Henry awake.
"Wassamater?" Boris asked sleepily.
"Two-Face's goons," Boris replied.
At that, Henry jumped up. As Lilli started to climb over him, a large shadow engulfed them. They all looked up to see an inmate towering over their group.
"Get up," he snarled and Lilli immediately recognized him as the one called Tommy from before. She averted her eyes as she stood up, keeping her face lowered.
But Tommy grabbed Henry and yanked him out of their small sleeping space. "I need you to find me some stuff, punching bag."
Henry disappeared from their view and Lilli shot a glance at Boris. The other man's jaw was clenched firmly shut as he tried to kick their blanket away. He took Lilli by the arm and led her out. "We need to make ourselves scarce right now," he murmured to her. "No reason to sit around like rabbits and attract attention."
Just as it seemed like they were going to clear the camp, a hand curled around Lilli's jacket and pulled her out of Boris's grip. She bit the inside of her cheek harshly to keep from screaming. "You going somewhere?" Someone asked in her ear.
Oddly, he didn't come off as threatening as Tommy had been. It was more of a simple question. Then Lilli realized it was the one called Steve who had been with Tommy earlier.
Steve whirled her around and she didn't have time to look anywhere else before his dark eyes landed on hers. His eyes widened and her heart sank.
Four days, she thought. I lasted four days.
"It's you!" Steve gasped.
It's me? Lilli asked silently as Steve looked around. He kicked Boris away, knocking him into another prisoner. He gripped Lilli's arm and began to drag her away. Her feet tripped over themselves as he headed towards the church.
"Gotta bring..." Steve was muttering.
Lilli's brain caught up to her and she went slack in his hold. She sank to the ground and he lost his grip. She leapt to her feet and ran for it. She could get in that alleyway that would bring her to Crime Alley.
"Oh no," Steve wailed behind her. "Please don't go. Please. I'm going to get in trouble!"
What kind of inmate said please? Lilli was almost tempted to turn around but her mind flashed back to the brutally beaten face of another political prisoner who crossed an inmate. If not for Lilli, then the man would have permanently lost vision in his right eye.
The image spurred her on and she ran for the alley, Steve yelling and pleading behind her. She ducked under a car and turned a corner, heading deeper into Park Row. If she was lucky, he'd stop following her the closer she got to The Bowery.
Lilli skidded under another car wreckage and held her breath. Her hood had fallen down and she pulled it up hastily.
Her eyes darted around, looking for anyone but the area was empty. She didn't know if that was a good sign or not.
How close was she to The Bowery? Was she right between the two territories? She didn't know how Penguin's men treated the political prisoners but she could guess it wasn't any better than the Two-Face gang.
When she decided that she had, indeed, lost the man. She wiggled out of her hiding spot and stood up. Did she dare and head back to camp? Or should she find shelter for the night and take her chances later?
She looked up and down the alleyway and saw no one. What if they came back later if she took shelter? She'd never get back to camp. Especially if Steve revealed to them she was a woman.
Lilli wrapped her arms around herself and shivered.
Somewhere, in the distance, a phone began to ring.
-x-
That wraps up chapter fourteen! Now Lilli's really on her own. Will she get back to camp or will obstacles get in her way?
Reviews, favorites, and follows are love! See ya in chapter fifteen!