Day 87

Our living room is half-filled with boxes of soil. At first, Hassan's little project was placed on the roof but the pigeons were disrupting the plantation so we placed the pots in a cage. Some of them we kept in the living room, near the window. I can't stop thinking about what could we do to get more food. I need to eat to produce milk. We were lucky that Mrs. Weller's kitchen was stuffed with food but we have to eat in small rations so that we could have food for a longer time.

Scarecrow and his cronies attacked the Green Zone in the middle of the night, stealing our food and medical supplies. We got a couple of officers murdered as well. Hassan and I have our own food stocks separately in our apartment. If we gave them ours, the children and my family would starve. So I didn't. They still have leftovers, enough for a week. If they really are starving, then I will send them a few.

I heard that Alfred had radioed Wayne's staffs at the mainland. The helicopter will arrive in few hours. That gave me hope. I mean… they could sneak us out, right? At least, the sick ones first. Or the children.

A few days after Gotham City became No Man's Land, there were media choppers hovering over the city. Not close enough so that we could hear them but those flying planes irritated me. I feel like they were just broadcasting us suffering here like savages. Now, the sky is empty. It hasn't even rain in a long time.

I wondered if the arrival of the helicopter would attract other gangs.

Hassan and I have our own two-way radio transceiver, so that we could communicate. Even though I'm at home, I know what happened outside. It was his turn with the GCPD and he just informed me about the help coming a few minutes ago after my Zuhr prayer.

A sudden rap of knocking made me halted my movement. I put aside the cardigan that I was sewing and approached the door. If it's the children, they would have called my name. "Yes?" I shouted.

"I-I need some h-help." A hesitant nervous male voice said. It must be someone who stays at a different floor. Cautiously I opened the door.

A man was holding his bleeding hand in pain. I think he stayed at the first floor. He was not my old neighbor but people who remained in Gotham raided people's houses and stayed in them. So I don't know about him. I quickly rushed him in and closed the door without saying anything. I grabbed the first aid and suturing kit beside the TV.

"I-I was opening a-a-a can of bean, and I a-accidentally cut m-myself," he explained.

I kept silent as I stopped the bleeding and cleaned his wound. It was quite deep but does not need stitching. The wound was on his palm, on the thenar, downwards to his wrist. His jacket sleeve was on the way so I lifted it up, revealing a greenish blue bruise. The man quickly covered the bruise with his other hand.

His action is familiar. I stared at the young man's nervous face.

"I'm Sarah," I began as I put on ointment before the dressing.

"I-I know. E-Everyone in this b-b-building know y-you. I'm J-Juan," he forced a smile, despite what I just saw.

"You stay downstairs alone?"

His face changed. I believed he knew what I was talking about. He turned his head to the side and I noticed another bruise on his collar bone, peeking out from his collar. I shifted my eyes from the bruise and focused on the dressing, smoothening it out.

"There. It's done," I said. He expressed his gratitude and was about to stand up but I grabbed his wrist, the one with the bruise.

He flinched and dropped back on the couch. "Who did that to you?" I demanded, lifting his sleeve to reveal the ugly bruise.

"N-N-No one. I-I-I am a c-clumsy p-p-person." He pulled away from my hold. He didn't even look at me while answering. His eye movements trained on the floor, shifting side to side.

"Then why are you hesitating to answer my previous question?" I probed. He lowered his gaze to his lap. "That cut was not an accident, isn't it?"

Then there was a knock at the door.

"Juan, are you okay?" came a soft concern voice.

I walked to the door and swung the door open, wanting to know the person. A bleached hair woman was standing by the door with a worried expression on her face. The real color of her hair was showing at the roots. A brunette. Her large eyes were looking for Juan and when she found him, she walked into my place to his side.

"I was worried. Waking up after my nap to find out that you were missing. I thought you were playing cards with the guy next door, then I saw the blood on the counter top," she blurted. They must have promised with each other that if they have a problem, they would go to me.

"He's fine now." I said, but was studying the woman. Could she be the one who beat him? "You are…"

"Beth. I'm Beth."

I nodded at her answer.

"We're engaged, but this happens. You know, we were supposed to get married a month ago."

"Are you Christian? There's a minister at the GCPD…"

"No, it's fine. As long as we have each other," she cut me off, causing me to raise an eyebrow. "Okay then. We better get going. Thank you so much for what you did to him."

"No problem." I forced the corners of my lips upwards. They walked out of my apartment and I shut it and locked it. "Juan and Beth." I removed the transceiver from my belt and radioed Hassan. "I think there may be a domestic abuse situation in our apartment building."

"Abuse?!" Beth shrilled. She was sitting straight at first but now she was leaning forward, tilting her head a bit. Her eyes were blazing with anger. "I love him. He is my life. My everything. Everything I did is for him."

"Why don't you tell me about the bruises on his body?" Bullock probed. "We have enough problems as it is, so don't make this harder for both of us!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. What bruises?"

This woman is good at acting. I almost fell for her words. Jim and I were watching from the other room through the two way mirror.

"The only answer is he's hitting himself then. But that's not it. He's scared of you. You neighbor says that Juan has changed since last month. Remember? You were supposed to get married last month."

"I never hit him," she persevered.

"Neighbor said that your fiancé seemed different. He jumped every time he heard a loud noise. Must have something to do with what happened at home."

"I never hit him. I love Juan."

Juan's force smiles and his bruises appeared in my mind. That does it. I stomped my feet out of the room, ignoring Jim's call. Then, I charged in the interrogation, slamming the door open.

"He was petrified to even tell me he's living with you," I snapped.

"You," barked Beth, her eyes flared in rage. "Juan was different after he was treated at your place. He doesn't want to talk to me. You seduced him!"

I scoffed in disbelief. What the actual fuck?

Then she screamed that Juan is hers, and that he belongs to her. I warily looked at Bullock. He was slightly signaling me to be cautious at the angry woman.

"You're trying to take him away from me!" Beth was screaming profanities and insults to me continuously.

She seemed obsessed with Juan. Amongst her shouting, she mentioned about dying her hair blond because Juan preferred it that way. That sounded absurd to me. Suddenly, she stood up, causing the chair to fall down and stormed towards the door. I tried to stop her by holding her wrist, but she slapped my face in an instant. I shoved her against wall, my hand gripped her shoulder while gritting my teeth. The pain on my cheek was still fresh and hot.

"How dare you?" I snarled. My fingers were biting against her skin. No doubt she was wincing because my hold.

"Let me go!" she screamed, struggling against my grip. Bullock held my arms, trying to pull me away but I pushed the woman harder on the wall.

Jim came in short after.

"Let her go, Sarah," he said. Gradually I unhand Beth and stepped back, still glaring my eyes at her. "Bethany," Jim talked to her. "For the time being until this case is over, you and Juan will live separately."

"What? No! Just because what this turban woman said? She seduced my man."

I rolled my eyes at her. "It's not a turban, by the way."

Then she did something unexpected. She pulled out a gun that hidden in her sock. We were alarmed when she pointed the gun at us, wailing it wildly. "Don't get too close," she warned. Then she tipped her head towards the door. Bullock, Jim and I slowly walked out with her followed the last. There weren't many officers in the precinct at the moment. But the ones at the main hall, quickly pulled their firearms out at the threat.

"Where is my Juan? I don't think he's at home now."

She is correct. Juan is at a different interrogation room with Detective Harper.

"Tell me where he is or I'll start shooting!"

"He's safe," Jim reassured.

"Where is he?!"

She pulled the trigger and the wall behind us was hit. Due to the missed target, we now know that she's a bad shooter but we still have to be careful and alert. If continuously fired at us in random, someone will get hit.

With her action now, she's a felon for an attempt to shoot a civilian and two law enforcers.

"I need my Juan." She was clearly restless. "Give me my Juan!"

"Ma'am. Put the gun down. We can talk," Jim coaxed, his right hand raised towards her, trying to calm her down, trying to tell her that we won't do anything to harm her.

Instead of calming down, she shrieked in rage and opened fire again. Twice this time and both missed again. One hit the wall and another hit a chair in front of me. I could tell that she was targeting me.

"I. Need. My. Ju…"

A shot cut her off. She was hit on her side, causing her to gasp in pain. But she was still pointing her gun towards us. Her other hand pressed on the bleeding wound. The blood flowed out fast and that is not a good sign. She bared her clenched teeth, staring at me with full hatred.

"Beth, you're hurt," I said.

I noticed a flashed of emotional pain in her eyes. "Juan and I… belong… together. No one… can separate us." She was about to pull the trigger. I know it. And I'm ready to duck down. However, before she did, the woman fell down on the floor.

"Oh my God…" I whispered. "Is she dead?" I rushed to her. There was a huge spot of blood on her navy green blouse. Her eyes were no longer angry; instead they were shut tightly. Her mouth hung open as she breathed heavily.

In a blink, I snatched her gun and slid it away. She opened her eyes and glared at me. I wanted to check her wound but she slapped my hand away. I could hear Bullock commanding the officers to call for a doctor. The woman still refused me to check up on her.

"Let me see the wound," I demanded.

"Don't touch me, you filthy slut," she retorted, spitting her saliva at me. If she wasn't injured, I would have strike a blow with my fist on her face. But I held myself, seeing the blood on her top.

"Look. If you and Juan belong together, if you don't wanna die, then let me check on the gunshot wound." As much as I hate her for the domestic abuse, I can't let her die.

I could tell she was weighing her options but the problem is she doesn't have any. She turned her head away from me and placed her hand away from the wound. She was giving me permission, so I raised her blouse. The bullet was about two inches deep. She doesn't really have thick meat so the bullet might hit vital organ.

"How far is the doctor?" I asked Bullock.

"He's on the way. Can you do anything for now?" he replied. I checked Beth's pulses and her heartbeat rocketed.

Then I became hesitant. "I-I've never pulled out a bullet… and I'm not qualified to…"

"Can you do it or not?" Bullock interjected. I blinked rapidly. What if I make a wrong step? I have seen Edward Nygma and Bruce Wayne removed bullets in surgeries, and I helped them, but I have never perform them alone.

"No. I can't…" I was scared. What if she died because of me? "But we have to keep pressing the wound. Tell the doctor to come faster."

Gutierez, one of the patrol officers, send Juan and I back to our apartment. Juan was silent along the way. Back in the precinct he was silent as well. But he was surprised when he saw Beth with a wound underneath her ribs. The doctor had performed the surgery at the morgue lab. I had helped. Now she was unconscious and was sent to St. Luke's Hospital with guards. I stared down at the dried blood on my sleeves and sighed in distress.

I remembered after the surgery was over, Juan was staring at Beth with a longing stare. I couldn't blame him. She may be a villain to him in the past month but I believed that they must have sweet moments before. He loved her. And I understand his feelings. How painful it is to experience how dark your lover is. How bad you want to save your lover and want them to return to their old selves.

Once we arrived, I thanked Gutierez for giving us a lift and bid him goodbye. I was still basking in this depressing feelings, when I heard a loud relieved sigh.

"Finally, it's over," Juan uttered. His stutters were missing, so I quickly snapped my head towards him. "I'll be at my apartment. Ciao."

His attitude is different.

Then, he dragged his feet into the building while stretching his neck left and right. Since I was still flabbergasted, I let him walked a few steps. Then I dashed to him, catching his wrist, the one with the bruise, again.

"Ah! Hey, careful there! It still hurts," he exclaimed, jerking his arm away from me.

"You weren't mistreated," I stated as I tried to comprehend what is happening.

"You are the one who said I was. I didn't say anything false. I never lied." He was smirking slightly. "I just need to get rid of her and I know the person who can help." His now confident eyes trained at me, while shivers ran down my spine. "A nosy neighbor."

Beth was shot because of my mistake. Oh God, please forgive me. This is entirely my fault.

"She was an obsessive bitch. I cannot survive with her. She just won't let me go," the man in front of me revealed. He took off his jacket and draped it on his right shoulder. "It was actually quite difficult to explain to her how I suddenly want to wear jacket at all times and refused to have sex."

"You staged everything. You hit yourself. You cut yourself. You're one good actor," I spat, hating him and myself for this situation.

"Why, thank you." He bowed a bit. "I'm a theatre actor, though I always play unimportant roles," he nonchalantly said.

"I'm bringing you back to the station." Grabbing his shirt, I dragged him out of the building. He yelped and tried to get free but his strength is not equal to mine. He's very scrawny and not muscular.

Physically he is not dangerous but he's manipulative. He made me arrest a woman who doesn't hurt him and now she's severely injured.

"Sarah. Come on. Think about it. For what evidence are you arresting me for? Stuttering? Having bruises on my body?" he persuaded. But I disregarded his words, keep on dragging him into the streets.

After a while, he gave up struggling and let me shoved him into the alley. I used the shortcut. When we set our feet into the precinct, Jim was surprised to see us.

"What's going on here? Sarah, what are you doing?" he questioned, looking at Juan and I back and forth.

I harshly pushed Juan forward. "He tricked me. He tricked us. He was not abused by Beth," I grimly explained.

That prick had the audacity to put a façade.

"I-I-I don't know w-what you're t-talking a-a-about." He peered at me in fear.

"Don't listen to his crap. He's acting the victim," I yelled.

Then, Jim pulled me away to talk privately. He was confused; it was written all over his face. "I don't understand. First, you helped him and now, you're accusing him?"

"That man right there planned all this. He knows what Beth would do if they got separated. He used me."

"How do you know about this?"

"He lost his stutter and he said that he needed to get rid of her by using me."

I shifted my gaze from Jim to the scrawny man. He was still in his act; looking nervous and jumpy. He even hid the bruise on his arm with his other hand. What a fucking good actor. Why do I always let myself tricked by these sorts of men?

"You're releasing him?" I reprimanded as I heard the news from Hassan. Juan was interrogated in the precinct while I returned home to the children. Rue and Sean were doing a great job taking care of the little ones. Hassan had just updated me on Juan's situation via the radio transceiver and I didn't like the news, not one bit. "Why?" I pressed.

"Juan convinced them that Beth would sooner or later be violent to him, because of trying to get away. I mean we can see how she behaved today."

"Fuck."

"Sarah, Malik might hear you." He scolded, reminding me that no cursing in front of our baby. "And Jim didn't see Juan as a threat."

"Yeah, but he… he's a manipulative asshole." I countered, saying a bad word again. "We could have solved this properly without anyone got hurt." I remembered an unconscious Beth.

"I'm sorry that this happened. Do you want me to come home?"

Yes, please. I almost said it out loud.

"No, you don't have to. The precinct needs more people," I reluctantly rejected his offer, even though I really wanted to be held in his embrace right now.

It's here. The helicopter from Wayne Enterprise is here. I was playing with Malik when it came, trying to forget about Juan and Beth. The other children are in my place as well, playing among themselves. Everyone dashed to the window to see the flying vehicle. Meanwhile, Troy and Kid was resting on the couch, napping. Troy was sitting with his head leaned back against the back of the couch and Kid used his thigh as a pillow.

The longer they spend time together, the more similar they look. They looked like siblings, but Troy has a Caucasian appearance while Kid is East Asian.

"Look, baby. That's a helicopter." Then I imitated the sound of it. The helicopter flew over us towards the GCPD building and made a turn, causing it to disappear from our peripheral vision.

"Can we go to the roof to see the helicopter?" Willow, an eight-year old asked, jumping eagerly. Her hands were clasped together, hoping for permission from me.

I nodded and then all of them dashed out of the place, no doubt running up the stairs. Sean and Rue rushed out with them too. "Don't push each other!" I screamed, while walking out towards the staircase. I don't want to attend a few injured crying brats and had to appease them. When I was just a few more steps to reach the top floor, I suddenly heard a loud explosion. In reflex, I jogged up the stairs and burst the door open. The smell of burnt gunpowder and smoke reached my nostrils. The children were near the ledge; all squatting down with their hands blocking their ears.

From a far, I saw a trail of smoke and no helicopter. What had happened?

"The helicopter was shot down!" Mateo, a close friend of Willow yelled.

"What?" I breathed out. The sound of the helicopter must have alerted all the gangs. The only people possible to attack the helicopter are Oswald and Barbara, since they have more and heavy firearms. Based on the trail of the smoke, the helicopter went south and fell on a different territory. This is bad. "Okay children, show's over. Get back inside!"

"Yikes. That sounds like bad news, isn't it?" someone behind me said. I furrowed my brow at his voice.

"Come on, children. Walk faster," I shouted urgently, ignoring the man. They ran past me to the stairwell. When all of them are in, I closed the door and finally turned around, but I didn't lift my head up to see the man.

Juan stepped in front of me, blocking my way. I glanced up to his face. "Hi, neighbor," he dare to greet me casually.

"I don't have anything to say to you. The only one that wants to speak with you is my fist," I retorted, hugging Malik tightly. "But it's occupied right now. You're lucky." I briskly walked around him, down the stairs to my apartment.

"Hassan, speak to me," I radioed my husband instantly as I reached my apartment. I was certain that the GCPD will go down to the helicopter to retrieve the supplies. I'm worried. Everyone will go to that fallen chopper as well.

"The chopper was blasted. We're on our way to the Lo Boyz territory. It fell at their place," he responded.

"Be careful. We're low on ammo."

"I will."

I stared at Malik at my front in the baby carrier. He was staring at the transmitter intently. I think he recognized his father's voice. I couldn't help but worry about my husband's safety. "Now, let's pray for your daddy's safety, shall we?" I softly said to my baby, as I walked into the bedroom, leaving the children by themselves in the living room.

When Hassan arrived home, I immediately hugged him in tight embrace. I can't help but feeling anxious for him. I don't want to lose him.

"Thank God," I murmured against his clothes. "You're okay."

"I'm here. I'm here." He consoled, rocking back and forth slightly. "I got some painkillers. The scar on your thigh tingled sometimes right?"

I nodded, pulling away slightly to see his face. "You said in the radio that you have something to tell me."

He stared at me hesitantly after I reminded him about it. His facial expression just made my anxiety came back. "Good news is we got the supplies… Bad news is Penguin and Tabitha were there. We lost a few men. But Penguin and Tabitha were fighting amongst themselves. She was killed. And she had mentioned that Penguin had killed Butch."

What? But Butch had turned to Grundy and Grundy can't die. If Butch is really dead, then what about Nygma? I have no idea if he was still here or escaped the city after the bridge exploded. The location of Lee as well. But I hoped both of them are at the mainland.

"I know you still worried about that Nygma guy and Lee, that's why I don't want it hide it from you."

Many things flooded my mind. "Thank you for telling me this," I weakly smiled and then pecked his lips.

Day 88

I was informed about the appearance of little boy who walked a long way to the GCPD territory. He mentioned that he has brothers and sisters that were imprisoned and forced to work by armed men. My heart throbbed as I heard the information. How could they force children to work under poor condition?

Jim decided to help the other children from the prisons. And they'll do it today. Hassan joined in the rescue team as well.

Not only we had stock up our food and medical supplies, apparently we have ammo as well. Bruce stole some of Penguin's weaponry yesterday. The captain of GCPD had gone to the Sirens to get help from Barbara to lend us some vehicles to bring the children.

I also know that Jim and Lucius were preparing a protected place for the people. It will be a great housing for the people, with more security than any other place in the Green Zone aka GCPD's territory.

After Hassan left, I decided to go to the hospital to visit Selina and to check on Beth after Asr prayer. I really want to talk to Beth after what happened. I want her to believe that I didn't seduce Juan. I carefully strapped Malik in the baby carrier. He was babbling and cooing in a good mood. I felt grateful that we stocked up baby food before and we have about a month worth baby food in our cupboard. He still drinks my breastmilk but since I eat less, my breast produced less and less milk.

I just hoped that Hassan's little farming project work. At least, I could feed Malik some blended vegetables. As usual, I brought the children with me and they obediently walked in straight lines, marching to the hospital.

Beth's eyes fired up with hatred once she saw me entered the room. She tried to move but the police handcuff refrain her from doing so. Her wound was also affected by the sudden movement. She fell back on her bed with a groan of pain, pressing her hand to her side.

"I want to talk to you," I started carefully. I had asked one of the nurses to hold Malik for me at the lobby. I remained standing at the foot of the bed.

"You stole him from me! Wait till I got my hands on you," she fumed. The doctors and nurses had informed me about her 'homicidal plans' to me. They had to give her sedatives, because she kept on screaming to kill me.

"I didn't. Juan himself wanted to separate with you."

"Lies! He loved me. But if it wasn't for you…"

"Oh, shut up. You know it. You know that he doesn't love you anymore. You're trying to find someone else to blame," I snapped.

"No." She persisted. Tears of frustration pooled in her eyes. The feeling of pity tugged my heartstrings. Her chest was raising and lowering in deep pants. Her abhorrence towards me must have been very high.

"Yes. You know it. Then why would he fake a DV? I've never talk to him until he came to my door with a bleeding hand!" I realized that I had raised my voice so I took a few deep breaths. This time I lowered my voice. "I know how hard it is to lose someone you love. Heck, my ex never loves me. He never even says the three words and it was hurtful. I was only a rebound. I was just a rebound."

She narrowed her eyes at me, trying to detect any lies in my words.

"Look…" I moved to her slowly.

"Don't come near me!"

I stopped my advance. "Look, Beth. You're hurting. More than what I had experienced. You need a friend." Then she pulled up the blanket and covered herself, ignoring me completely. "I'll come again tomorrow."

I received no response.

Then I moved to the next two beds; to the other person that I want to see. I know Selina was listening to everything. I was told that she tried to kill herself with a scalpel this morning. She must have suffered so much to think that she wanted to end her own life. I don't know if I should tell her about Tabitha's death. But since she had a rough day, I decided not to. She was looking at the window after I slid opened the curtains.

"Hey, Selina. I brought you something." I sat on her bed, pulling out a book. "Since you can't watch TV, maybe you can read this."

I placed it on her stomach. She picked it up, running her fingers on the title of the book. The title has three different font styles and sizes, which made it visually catching.

"Raiders of the Lost Ark…" she softly read. "I don't like books. TV is much better." She returned the book to me.

"Well then, I could read it to you," I suggested, opening the book, making myself comfortable on the bed. Maybe Beth could listen to it as well, I thought. I fully slid the curtains opened, so that I could see her, before returning to Selina. "I only have about ten minutes and mind you, I'm a great story teller."

I haven't finish reading the first page of the book when I heard static sound from my radio receiver. "Sarah? You there?"

My heart sped up at the urgency of his voice. I instantly imagined that something bad had happened. "Hassan. Are you okay?" I responded after grabbing the radio.

"We're attacked," he responded, causing a shaky exhale escaped from my lips. "We're on our way to the Green Zone but Captain Gordon and Detective Bullock with a few other kids were left behind."

I stood up immediately, causing the book on my lap to fall on the bed. No… we need Jim. How can we survive without him?

"Sarah?" he called. "We're not turning back. We have to save these children first. We already radioed Lucius and Alfred about the situation."

"Understood." I closed my eyes as I thought of how to save my friends. Oswald had put on a price on Jim's life for the fight yesterday. I heard a bitter laugh coming from Selina so I snapped my eyes at her.

"I know that look. Sarah, the Savior Wanna-be," she jeered. I bit the inside of my cheek at her taunt. "What are you going to do?"

I wasn't impressed by the calling name she gave to me. "I'm going to the Sirens."