A/N: The end of this chapter is rather dramatic, better to do reviewer
stuff now!
Pamplemousse: Yep, I got the FCA for X-mas. Still working on memorizing
the lyrics, hehe. Got it to help with my French skills. And the Rabid
Javert is perfect.so maniacal and insane! Muahahaha! I love 'Noir ou
Blanc'.
========
**Les Amis de L'A.B.C.**
Sunrise dawned a bright pink, silhouetting the clouds against the pale sky and spreading light behind the barricade. Enjolras had advised them not to sleep, but few had heeded that warning. Most of the students had fallen asleep after their song. Grantaire still had the wine bottle clutched in his fist, but he was dead asleep, leaning against a chair. Marius had fallen into a restless sleep, and Gavroche had curled up next to him. It appeared that only Enjolras and Courfeyrac had remained awake, though the latter was fighting his heavy eyelids. Monsieur Leblanc was awake, though it appeared he was not; he had his head resting in the crook of his elbow as he leaned on a crate. His eyes were alert, though, watching the students as they rested.
Enjolras rose and went about the circle of sleeping students, nudging them each with his foot. "The dawn is here," he said as he walked through the circle, offering words to anyone who was awake enough to listen and comprehend.
Combeffere yawned and sat up, poking Joly and then Feuilly, prodding them into consciousness. Prouvaire had to roughly shake Grantaire to awaken him. Lesgles covered his face with his arm against the light and groaned, and then seemed to realize where he was and sat up, blinking.
"Come on, get up." Courfeyrac shouted, watching from atop his sentry post. "If I've got to sit up here without a wink of rest, the lot of you can get up as well."
Enjolras approached the still-comatose Marius and nudged his shoulder more gently than he had the others. Marius opened one eye and looked up at Enjolras, his body silhouetted against the sunlight in his eyes. "Dawn," Enjolras murmured as he started moving away. Marius nodded and pulled himself into a sitting position, running a hand through his disheveled hair. He glanced over at Gavroche, who was curled up with his cap pulled low over his eyes. Marius smiled a little and pulled off the cap, ruffling his hair. The boy groaned and put his hands over his head, pulling himself into a tighter ball.
"Come on," Marius said as he rose to his feet.
Slowly the students pushed the sleep from their eyes and turned to Enjolras, who had started to pace. It was clear that Enjolras had spent the night in deep contemplative thought. Monsieur Leblanc watched from outside the circle of students.
"The people have not yet heard. We are abandoned, my friends, by those people who still live in fear. And yet we can not abandon those that can not hear our calling for justice." Enjolras stopped his pacing and looked through the crowd of his friends. "Let us not waste lives. Anyone who wishes to go from here may do so without repercussion."
The students looked at each other in tense silence. Feuilly was the first to speak. He picked up his empty glass and held it up, going to the tune of the song they had sung the night previous.
"Drink with me, to days gone by,
sing with me, the songs we knew..."
The rest seemed to catch on and lifted their own empty glasses.
"At the shrine of friendship,
raise your glass high.
Let the wine of friendship
never run dry.
If I die, I die with you..."
Enjolras smiled a truly grateful smile. Marius caught his friend's gaze and grinned. The students all rose to their feet, full of renewed energy and life.
"Then how do we stand, Feuilly? Make your report." Enjolras said.
"We've guns enough, but our supply of ammunition is running out."
Marius moved toward his friend. "Let me go out to the streets. Think of all the bodies just lying about, with all the ammunition to be had!"
Enjolras gave him a hard glare. "I can't let you go. It'll be too much of a chance."
"And the same is true for any man risking his life in this barricade!" Marius shot back.
Monsieur Leblanc, overhearing the conversation, stepped forward. "Let me go instead. He's nothing but a boy, while I am old and have nothing to fear of death."
But little Gavroche was already taking matters into his own hands. Grabbing a basket, he dashed out to the barricade and started climbing. "You'll need somebody quicker. I volunteer!"
"Come back, Gavroche!" Enjolras yelled, running for the boy. The students and Monsieur Leblanc dashed for the barricade, watching the boy climb up. "Don't you dare!"
"Someone pull him down!" Joly cried.
Courfeyrac, already at the top, made a scramble for Gavroche and missed, the boy slipping through his fingers like water. "They'll see you, Gavroche!" he warned as he watched the boy descend the other side of the barricade.
The boy didn't even pause to look back. "They're probably not even up yet!"
Enjolras and Marius were the first to reach the top. Gavroche was nearly to the bottom.
"Ce ne pas le peine!" yelled Lesgles, joining them.
The boy looked up and tipped his hat, grinning impishly. "Look at me! I'm nearly there!"
A gunshot rang out. Birds scattered from the trees, taking up agitated flight into the morning sun.
Gavroche gave a start and crouched down with his basket at the nearest body. The movement behind the barricade stopped dead as the students and Monsieur Leblanc lined up at the top, watching in tense silence.
Gavroche was not phased, though. He went on piling bullets into his basket and singing the childish song he had sung to Inspector Javert.
"Little people know, when little people fight,
we may look easy pickings but we've got some bite-"
Another gunshot ripped through the air and this time Gavroche stumbled back. The barricade went deathly silent. It seemed that no one was daring to even pull in a breath. The boy went on stubbornly, pulling himself to the next body and continuing his song.
"So never kick a dog, because he's just a pup-"
He fell again as another bullet found its way to his body. The students all seemed to lean forward, holding their breaths. Gavroche somehow continued on.
"We'll fight...like twenty armies...and...we won't give up...."
He paused, the pain running a shudder through his small body. Finally he dropped down to his hands and knees and sobbed.
"So you better...run for cover...when...the pup..."
Suddenly he reared up again, as if finding some strength within himself, and pointed in the direction that the bullets were coming from.
"Grows-"
The last note of his brave song left his torn throat with a pitiful squeak as the last bullet hit the boy with such force that he flipped over and lay still, propped up against the body of a dead Garde Nationale soldier. His bloody fingers fell limp and the bullets rolled out onto the bloodstained street, the clink ringing out a painfully loud note in the ears of the onlookers.
"Mon Dieu." whispered Enjolras, staring wide-eyed at the street. His knuckles were clenched hard around the pole of the red flag.
Monsieur Leblanc leaned back with a groan. All of the others still had not moved, unable to find the courage.
Suddenly Marius rose up over the edge of the barricade. "/Vive la Republique!/" He threw an angry fist into the air and shook it in the direction of the Garde Nationale. Monsieur Leblanc grabbed him and pulled him down over the protective edge of the barricade even as a bullet ricocheted off of the top edge of the fortification.
The students all winced and pulled themselves down, tearing their teary eyes away from the scene in the street, the sight of the dead boy who had been so full of life just moments before.
Enjolras leaned his back up against something, clenching his hands together in anger. No one seemed willing to be the first to go back to the ground.
From off in the distance, the voice of a Garde Nationale soldier rang out, amplified by a loud-hailer. "You at the barricade, listen to this! The people of Paris are asleep in their beds. You have no chance! Why throw your lives away?"
The students turned their gazes to Enjolras. His icy eyes were angry and fixated at nothing, simply staring off in the distance. Suddenly he pushed himself away from the barricade, picking his way carefully down to the bottom. The rebels watched him as he ran to his gun and held it up.
"If we are to die, then let us do it facing our foes. Let's make them bleed while we have the chance!" he said.
Combeffere followed his lead, rising to his feet and running to the bottom to retrieve his own carbine. They all followed his lead, flocking to the bottom.
"Make them pay for every man," snarled Courfeyrac, cocking back his musket.
Enjolras pulled off his coat and then propped the muzzle of his gun into a crevice in the barricade. "Let all the others rise up to take our place, until our earth is /free/!"
========
**Les Amis de L'A.B.C.**
Sunrise dawned a bright pink, silhouetting the clouds against the pale sky and spreading light behind the barricade. Enjolras had advised them not to sleep, but few had heeded that warning. Most of the students had fallen asleep after their song. Grantaire still had the wine bottle clutched in his fist, but he was dead asleep, leaning against a chair. Marius had fallen into a restless sleep, and Gavroche had curled up next to him. It appeared that only Enjolras and Courfeyrac had remained awake, though the latter was fighting his heavy eyelids. Monsieur Leblanc was awake, though it appeared he was not; he had his head resting in the crook of his elbow as he leaned on a crate. His eyes were alert, though, watching the students as they rested.
Enjolras rose and went about the circle of sleeping students, nudging them each with his foot. "The dawn is here," he said as he walked through the circle, offering words to anyone who was awake enough to listen and comprehend.
Combeffere yawned and sat up, poking Joly and then Feuilly, prodding them into consciousness. Prouvaire had to roughly shake Grantaire to awaken him. Lesgles covered his face with his arm against the light and groaned, and then seemed to realize where he was and sat up, blinking.
"Come on, get up." Courfeyrac shouted, watching from atop his sentry post. "If I've got to sit up here without a wink of rest, the lot of you can get up as well."
Enjolras approached the still-comatose Marius and nudged his shoulder more gently than he had the others. Marius opened one eye and looked up at Enjolras, his body silhouetted against the sunlight in his eyes. "Dawn," Enjolras murmured as he started moving away. Marius nodded and pulled himself into a sitting position, running a hand through his disheveled hair. He glanced over at Gavroche, who was curled up with his cap pulled low over his eyes. Marius smiled a little and pulled off the cap, ruffling his hair. The boy groaned and put his hands over his head, pulling himself into a tighter ball.
"Come on," Marius said as he rose to his feet.
Slowly the students pushed the sleep from their eyes and turned to Enjolras, who had started to pace. It was clear that Enjolras had spent the night in deep contemplative thought. Monsieur Leblanc watched from outside the circle of students.
"The people have not yet heard. We are abandoned, my friends, by those people who still live in fear. And yet we can not abandon those that can not hear our calling for justice." Enjolras stopped his pacing and looked through the crowd of his friends. "Let us not waste lives. Anyone who wishes to go from here may do so without repercussion."
The students looked at each other in tense silence. Feuilly was the first to speak. He picked up his empty glass and held it up, going to the tune of the song they had sung the night previous.
"Drink with me, to days gone by,
sing with me, the songs we knew..."
The rest seemed to catch on and lifted their own empty glasses.
"At the shrine of friendship,
raise your glass high.
Let the wine of friendship
never run dry.
If I die, I die with you..."
Enjolras smiled a truly grateful smile. Marius caught his friend's gaze and grinned. The students all rose to their feet, full of renewed energy and life.
"Then how do we stand, Feuilly? Make your report." Enjolras said.
"We've guns enough, but our supply of ammunition is running out."
Marius moved toward his friend. "Let me go out to the streets. Think of all the bodies just lying about, with all the ammunition to be had!"
Enjolras gave him a hard glare. "I can't let you go. It'll be too much of a chance."
"And the same is true for any man risking his life in this barricade!" Marius shot back.
Monsieur Leblanc, overhearing the conversation, stepped forward. "Let me go instead. He's nothing but a boy, while I am old and have nothing to fear of death."
But little Gavroche was already taking matters into his own hands. Grabbing a basket, he dashed out to the barricade and started climbing. "You'll need somebody quicker. I volunteer!"
"Come back, Gavroche!" Enjolras yelled, running for the boy. The students and Monsieur Leblanc dashed for the barricade, watching the boy climb up. "Don't you dare!"
"Someone pull him down!" Joly cried.
Courfeyrac, already at the top, made a scramble for Gavroche and missed, the boy slipping through his fingers like water. "They'll see you, Gavroche!" he warned as he watched the boy descend the other side of the barricade.
The boy didn't even pause to look back. "They're probably not even up yet!"
Enjolras and Marius were the first to reach the top. Gavroche was nearly to the bottom.
"Ce ne pas le peine!" yelled Lesgles, joining them.
The boy looked up and tipped his hat, grinning impishly. "Look at me! I'm nearly there!"
A gunshot rang out. Birds scattered from the trees, taking up agitated flight into the morning sun.
Gavroche gave a start and crouched down with his basket at the nearest body. The movement behind the barricade stopped dead as the students and Monsieur Leblanc lined up at the top, watching in tense silence.
Gavroche was not phased, though. He went on piling bullets into his basket and singing the childish song he had sung to Inspector Javert.
"Little people know, when little people fight,
we may look easy pickings but we've got some bite-"
Another gunshot ripped through the air and this time Gavroche stumbled back. The barricade went deathly silent. It seemed that no one was daring to even pull in a breath. The boy went on stubbornly, pulling himself to the next body and continuing his song.
"So never kick a dog, because he's just a pup-"
He fell again as another bullet found its way to his body. The students all seemed to lean forward, holding their breaths. Gavroche somehow continued on.
"We'll fight...like twenty armies...and...we won't give up...."
He paused, the pain running a shudder through his small body. Finally he dropped down to his hands and knees and sobbed.
"So you better...run for cover...when...the pup..."
Suddenly he reared up again, as if finding some strength within himself, and pointed in the direction that the bullets were coming from.
"Grows-"
The last note of his brave song left his torn throat with a pitiful squeak as the last bullet hit the boy with such force that he flipped over and lay still, propped up against the body of a dead Garde Nationale soldier. His bloody fingers fell limp and the bullets rolled out onto the bloodstained street, the clink ringing out a painfully loud note in the ears of the onlookers.
"Mon Dieu." whispered Enjolras, staring wide-eyed at the street. His knuckles were clenched hard around the pole of the red flag.
Monsieur Leblanc leaned back with a groan. All of the others still had not moved, unable to find the courage.
Suddenly Marius rose up over the edge of the barricade. "/Vive la Republique!/" He threw an angry fist into the air and shook it in the direction of the Garde Nationale. Monsieur Leblanc grabbed him and pulled him down over the protective edge of the barricade even as a bullet ricocheted off of the top edge of the fortification.
The students all winced and pulled themselves down, tearing their teary eyes away from the scene in the street, the sight of the dead boy who had been so full of life just moments before.
Enjolras leaned his back up against something, clenching his hands together in anger. No one seemed willing to be the first to go back to the ground.
From off in the distance, the voice of a Garde Nationale soldier rang out, amplified by a loud-hailer. "You at the barricade, listen to this! The people of Paris are asleep in their beds. You have no chance! Why throw your lives away?"
The students turned their gazes to Enjolras. His icy eyes were angry and fixated at nothing, simply staring off in the distance. Suddenly he pushed himself away from the barricade, picking his way carefully down to the bottom. The rebels watched him as he ran to his gun and held it up.
"If we are to die, then let us do it facing our foes. Let's make them bleed while we have the chance!" he said.
Combeffere followed his lead, rising to his feet and running to the bottom to retrieve his own carbine. They all followed his lead, flocking to the bottom.
"Make them pay for every man," snarled Courfeyrac, cocking back his musket.
Enjolras pulled off his coat and then propped the muzzle of his gun into a crevice in the barricade. "Let all the others rise up to take our place, until our earth is /free/!"