Chapter Ten

"If there is no struggle, there is no progress." – Frederick Douglas

It was dawn when he heard Jazmine stir from her sleep. He watched her, tearing his head away from the fog that rolled across the edge of the forest. Her eyes were baggy, the stress beginning to take its toll on her. He kept his face straight and pulled her over to him, not wanting to scare her.

"Was it another nightmare?" Huey sat up, careful not to fall out of the tree they were hiding in. "I told you. The plan will work fine."

Jazmine let out a sad sigh, but she didn't bother to argue with him. Instead, she reached over to where her backpack was sitting and played with the straps on it, content to sit and observe the array of trees around them. She intentionally turned away from him, dead set on turning her back so that he couldn't look at her.

He tilted his head, suddenly compelled to fill the silence, and desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Do you remember the first day of sixth grade?" He watched the dark tint of the sky give way to a slightly soft blue, with small specks of orange resting on the edge. It was a view that his brother would have painted within minutes; the thought of Riley, the former self-declared gangsta of Woodcrest painting the sunrise, brought a smile to his face that he kept concealed from Jazmine. "Back when I was crushing on Vanetta, and you were jealous? She was a couple years older than us, an eighth grader."

It didn't take long for Jazmine to flip around and glare at him.

"Okay, first off." She dropped the piece of fabric she'd been playing with. "I was not jealous. I just thought she had the name of an eighty-year-old grandmother because she did, and I thought it was fitting for you, of all people our age, to crush on someone named Vanetta because it was. And let's not forget the way her and her friends tried to jump me. In front of my entire English class, by the way!"

"Yeah, about that." Huey stared at her, an amused look on his face. "That was kind of on me."

"How was it 'kind of' on you?" Jazmine sat up. "What did you do?"

"Nothing, directly." Huey snorted. "You were attacked by association."

When she merely stared at him, he kept talking. Something he seemed to do more and more of around her.

"I was talking to my friend Dre, and he mentioned you whispering to your friend Casey that you thought the girl was too pretty to have the name of a praying grandmother." He fought the urge to laugh aloud. "Man, I turned around, and there she was. Vanetta Stephens in the flesh, looking even better than usual. She smelled good too. I remember what she had on and everything."

"Yeah, the girl who tried to jump me. Such fond memories of the good old days. I would love to keep discussing her before we march up the mountain to our death." Jazmine rolled her eyes at him. "Is there, like, a purpose to this story? Because I have to say, it's really not motivating me to make the journey. Especially if you'll be rehashing fun memories like this one."

"Well before all that happened." Huey ignored her complaints and kept talking. "That girl slammed me against the locker and forced herself on me. But I didn't fight it. I was excited about it."

"She forced herself on you?"

"Yes, she did. I didn't ask her to kiss me, even if I did have a crush." Huey shook his head. "Anyways, the entire hallway was watching. Trying to see if I was gonna cuss her out, push her off me, or report her for harassment like I did when Samantha Robins tried that shit in 5th grade."

"Samantha was pretty." Jazmine wagged her finger at him. "You didn't have to do her like that."

"Samantha was white." Huey rolled his eyes. "Not my type and certainly not worth the trouble that came along with her. Every black male in America knows what happens when you go along with something like that."

Jazmine covered her face and laughed some more, glancing back at Huey so that he would continue.

"Anyways, my excitement didn't last long." He pulled a leaf off a branch and twirled it between his fingers. "Because the moment her lips touched mine, the entire hall was talking about you."

"Me?" Jazmine squeaked. "Why were they talking about me? You two were the ones kissing."

"Because apparently, everybody, Vanetta included, felt that we were destined to be together." He paused for a moment, trying to remember the rest when he suddenly found himself distracted by the warm glow coming from Jazmine's face. "They thought Vanetta was trying to come between a good thing. They didn't get that we were genuinely best friends back then."

"Or that I'd been kissing Grey Jackson." Jazmine smiled dreamily.

"Don't ruin my story, woman! We're not talking about Grey right now!" Huey playfully swatted her hand away. "Anyway, Vanetta certainly didn't like that the entire hall felt the need to bring your name up. She wanted the hall to talk about how she was the one kissing me, since it seemed impossible at the time."

"So, you didn't like the kiss?" Jazmine folded her arms across her chest and gave her friend a look. "Because I seem to remember that part a little bit differently."

"I loved it." Huey admitted. "After I got past the initial shock, I just went with it. Then, she ruined it." He paused, glancing down at the ground. "She told me she'd kissed Riley first, and that he was the better kisser."

Jazmine covered her mouth and tried to look sympathetic; he could feel the laughter vibrating from her resting place on his arm. He just shook his head, letting a few silent laughs of his own escape him.

"I was so mad." Huey let out a few more quiet chuckles. "I thought to myself. 'What could be worst than this?' "

He looked over at Jazmine and moved closer to her, pushing one of her braids behind her ear.

"I ended up going home early after Granddad took pity on me." Huey found it easy to keep going. "It was the most embarrassed I'd felt in my entire life. My ten-year-old baby brother got more praise on his kissing skills than me."

Jazmine patted his back gently. "Poor baby."

"I'd been insulted, by my dream girl no less. It really bruised my ego if I'm being honest." Huey cracked his knuckles, allowing a playful glint to overcome his features. "I was nervous to go to school and hear everyone talking shit about it. I had no doubt I would have to kick somebody's ass for talking crazy to me."

"Except they weren't." Jazmine pointed out, laughing. "Because the real story was Vanetta and her four friends trying to jump me."

"Yup. Dre gave me the whole play by play after school." Huey nodded, enjoying the feelings the memory brought back. "Four on one, and you kicked their asses. I don't think I'd ever seen your dad so mad at you before."

"I didn't have a choice." Jazmine shrugged. "It was no big deal. I just knew I didn't want to hit the ground, especially in front of the whole class."

"Well, you didn't." Huey kept going. "You won. You turned that entire day around for a minute. The news put me in a much better mood."

"Me…winning a fight… made you feel better." Jazmine stared at him like he'd lost his mind. Hell, he was even starting to feel like he'd lost it. She crawled over to the other end of the branch and looked in the opposite direction again. "I got grounded for months, Huey! By the time I was off punishment, we were literally entering the dark ages!"

"Yes, but that's not what I'm saying." Huey shifted so that he was leaning on the trunk of the tree. He took a deep breath and looked at her. "What I'm saying, I guess, is that you're the first person who made me feel like I could make a real change in the world. Seeing you stick up for yourself like that, using some of the defense mechanisms and insults that I taught you, made me realize that I could impart my wisdom onto others, made me realize what I wanted to do with my life."

Jazmine turned around and slowly scooted back over to him. She tenderly placed her hand on his jaw, her proximity striking those feelings up in him again, making him suddenly want things he knew he shouldn't with her. "And what was that?"

"I signed up to go to a summer program at Howard. They used to let kids from all over the globe come in and study Afro American courses, gave them credits to use for college, even let you stay on campus the whole time free of charge." Huey tried to keep the sadness out of his voice. "I was excited. I was thinking about becoming a professor one day. Someone who'd be able to get a doctorate and write about what I had learned. Maybe even release a book one day. I was only twelve, but I just knew. I knew that it was the perfect career for a retired revolutionary."

"But when we got home." Jazmine's eyes watered, saddened by his admission. "Everything had changed."

"Yeah." He stared over at the sky, brightening more every minute. "It had."

He pulled her closer and kissed her, secretly relishing in the comfort that it brought him. He knew that it wasn't right, to pretend that he wasn't pretending anymore, but he couldn't bring himself to tell her how he felt. It seemed wrong somehow.

"I guess, for me, that was the day that everything changed." He glanced down at her. "I realized that everything that I wanted had to be placed on hold. That I'd have to move differently to protect myself and everybody that I care about."

"I understand, Huey." Jazmine nodded. "I always wanted to be a veterinarian. Somebody who helps animals to get better and care for them."

He was surprised to see her gulp, as if admitting a deep, dark secret.

"But one night, Daddy was so hungry, and the weight was falling off him faster than any of us could manage. Than the neighborhood could manage." She sighed. "I tried…I tried capturing anything else, anything but those stray kittens that were resting in the traps that I set."

His brows raised when she kept talking.

"I'm not proud of it." She took a shaky breath. "But, we ate them that night. My parents didn't know. I didn't want them to know what I'd done. I think I cried myself to sleep that night. Killing and skinning cats at thirteen. Thank God they didn't have a crazy disease or anything like that." She gripped the branch tighter. "For a long time, I was so ashamed. I still am. It was the first time I really felt the effects of going against your morals. It doesn't feel good."

"We've all had to do things we're not proud of." Huey held her tighter. "That's a given."

"Including me." Jazmine glanced up at him, her face leaning closer. "Huey, I… I get that what we're doing after we leave this forest is dangerous. Trying to sneak up on the major players? Taking a hike up the mountain? There's no way that things will be easy, that any of us will come out of this alive. I get it. You don't have to bring up old stories that make me seem stronger than what I am. It just makes me feel even weaker."

"That right there? It just proved that you don't get it." He sighed, frowning. "This is dangerous. And you are stronger, a lot stronger than you think, actually…All that I'm trying to say is…. before we go, I want you to know that no matter what happens, I'm glad that out of all the idiots back home in Woodcrest that I could've gotten stuck with, I got paired with you."

When she pulled back in surprise, he nodded.

"I am." He kept talking. "You've been a trooper despite being one of the main targets of the game. It's been five days, and you've lasted way longer than anyone thought you would in the beginning. Me included."

"And you probably would have wiped out the entire stadium had I not been in the way. Just like I would've died day one if you hadn't been elected." She snorted. "You've been the one saving my ass. Just like you said."

"Well, yeah." He snorted in return. "That's just what was gonna happen with me as your partner." He grabbed her when she tried to pull away. "But us getting the weapons we have, the alliance with Caesar and Isis, me being able to kill Vince when he let his guard down. That was because I got stuck in this hellhole with you."

"I-"

"You were the first one to try to save Makayla." He pointed out. "You were the one who shined the brightest at interviews. You're the one that kicked ass against an entire militia. Got the Rebels to come out of hiding just to sponsor us. And you're the one who helped humanize me in the eyes of the media."

"I'm also the one who got attacked by venomous butterflies and picked up hallucinogenic flowers." Jazmine said dryly. "So whatever weird revelations came from making out with me, just drop it. You just cussed me out the other day for leaving a trail and for nearly getting us caught when two other people were duking it out. So let's go do what we've got to do and be done with it. No need in rewriting history with sappy speeches."

He could feel her words, snatching his high again. Making him lose the little hope he had left again. But he couldn't really deny what she was saying.

Because she's right.

"I'm sorry." He said, grabbing his things so that they could shimmy down the trunk of the tree. "I just...felt sentimental for a moment, I guess."

"Don't be." She smiled at him. "Save that for when you're teaching Afro American studies back home."

He fought the urge to tell her that wasn't going to happen. "Okay."

She grabbed her backpack and frowned. "So about this Hiro guy." She looked around to make sure nobody was listening. "That doesn't feel like a trap to you?"

Huey smirked at her. She obviously didn't want to be caught slipping again. "Actually, it does." He eased out of the tree and held out his hand so she could jump down beside him. "But if we don't start moving, the people behind the scenes are going to do something even worst to make us fight one another. The best thing for us to do is to get it out the way and figure out the rest as we go."

"So what?" Jazmine obviously didn't like the plan. "There are four of us and seven of them, and you're still pretty banged up from the blast."

He sighed, in deep thought. "Just let me handle it."

"And how do you know we can trust Caesar?" Jazmine folded her arms, following after him when he walked in the direction of their meetup spot. "Or Isis for that matter? Let's say we have to kill one of them at some point, then what? How will that help us?"

"We can do a mercy kill, make it quick." Huey suggested, rolling his shoulders back and forth. "I don't know. I don't know anything except that we're going, and we can't stay here. So unless you have a better plan…"

"Like I said earlier." Jazmine muttered, walking towards the woodpecker signal they'd made with Michael Caesar and Isis. "Let's just do what we've gotta do." She turned around again, frowning at him. "But I want us to lay off the kissing going forward. It's just pretend to you, but doing that all the time makes things harder for me. From now on, no cameras, no kissing. "

"You're being ridiculous!" He lied. "You know we're only doing it because we have to."

"I can't even with you, right now." Jazmine hoisted her backpack higher, until it rested on her shoulders. "We're not just doing it just because we have to. We didn't have to kiss for two hours last night! There was nobody around to fool!"

"You don't know who was watching!" He huffed. "Which is why we were literally instructed by Bushido to kiss at random, Jazmine! It doesn't make sense to stop doing it now!"

"All I know… is that something about the more recent ones felt different." Jazmine paused in the middle of the forest, her eyes boring into his. "And until…" She sighed and lowered her hands to her side. "And if…. both of us were getting out of here…if I were getting out of here, then maybe it would be okay to let my feelings run where they may. But unless something changes, at least one of us isn't coming back with the other. So, can you please ease up? For my sake?"

Can we keep kissing, for my sake?

"It's no big deal, Jazmine, really." He offered, trying to calm her down by pulling her into his arms like he usually did. He was disappointed when she wrenched away from his grasp, her eyes sad.

"I'm serious, Huey." She folded her arms. "I don't want to do it unless it's for the cameras. You're my friend. And us doing what we're doing crosses way too many lines. Regardless of what happens, that's all we'll ever be."

"It doesn't mean anything." Huey lied with a shrug of his shoulders. "Let's not deviate from the plan. If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

"Our friendship means something to me." Jazmine said after a moment of quietly mulling it over. "You mean something to me."

"Whatever. You didn't even remember I had a birthday a few days ago. One that you didn't even acknowledge, might I add." He snorted, watching the corners of her mouth twitch up. " I should be the one who gets to decide, and my decision is that we minimize the kissing. Two hours straight might be a little overkill."

"I'm sorry that I forgot your birthday, but we were in the middle of an attack by the National Confederation. Shame on me. I was too busy being worried that you were dying." Jazmine kept walking. "And a little overkill? Huey be serious."

"Jaz, I am serious. We need to kiss at random for a little while until this is over." He slowly pulled her closer to where he stood. At least she's not pulling away this time. "We don't know who's watching, and we won't be as familiar with the territory, which could mean different cameras, different experiences, different everything."

He wasn't surprised when she slowly tilted her head back again, her expression full of questions she wouldn't dare ask; questions that he could never answer.

"Fine." She finally grumbled, stomping away. "Just give me a break tonight, at least."

He sighed, finally relenting and walking ahead of her. "Fine."

He wondered if they actually would be.

They finally met up with Isis and Caesar, who were in higher spirits than both of them.

"You look a lot better." Caesar observed. "I was worried about ya'll for a second." He eyed Huey. "Especially you, since you took on most of the flames from that explosion. I'm glad ya'll are still here."

"We have you to thank for that." Huey nodded. "So thank you. If you all hadn't of stepped in…"

"Don't mention it." Isis grinned at Caesar before returning her attention to Huey. "Unless you're telling people that it was all my idea."

"Fake news!" Caesar moved behind the girl's back and gently rocked her shoulders back and forth. "You know that was all me, girl!"

Isis picked up her sickle, and Jazmine glanced over at something, tucked underneath the waistband of the girl's pants. Huey made sure to glance in the same direction from his peripheral.

"You got a pistol." He nodded as they began walking out of the forest. "Nice."

Isis tensed up for a moment, but upon looking at Caesar, she relaxed. "I do. It was all that I could find. And to be honest, I'm a bit nervous, seeing as though I haven't killed anyone yet."

Jazmine and Huey fell silent for a moment. It wasn't like they could say the same thing.

"No judgement." Isis lifted her hands. "I would've done the same in your predicament. I probably will do the same thing in your predicament." She joined hands with Caesar. "It's just not something I would normally do, y'know?"

"It's not something I would normally do either." Jazmine stepped over a few large branches, slightly leaning away from Huey as she did. Not that he cared, because he didn't. "I just couldn't see another way, even when there was another way." She turned back to Isis, a comforting smile on her lips. "But for now, you haven't had to, and trust me, that's nothing to apologize for. Not in front of us, at least."

"We haven't seen those birds in a while." Caesar noted quietly. "I wonder why."

"I heard them." Huey covered his eyes when they left the final tree and moved out into the beaming sun. "They were front and center for my fight with Vince."

"So they're still around." Caesar noted, dragging his feet along the dew-covered grass. "How far away were you guys?"

"We moved around a lot." Jazmine's voice held just a tinge of impatience, and Huey could tell that she was starting to get suspicious of the subject. "Seemed smarter."

"My bad." Caesar shook his head. "I'm not on that. I'm just trying to think ahead. I'm a little nervous about what we're getting into. I've never done anything like this before."

"There's never gonna be a good time for a battle." Huey said. He knew from many years of experience that he was right. "All that you can do is be ready. The moment you start overpreparing is the moment you lose your chance."

He blinked, suddenly wondering if he should be taking his own advice.

"Is he always this profound?" Isis marveled at Huey's words. "I know I don't know you like that, but you're always saying something that gives me chills."

Jazmine laughed. "He is." She skipped next to the girl, grinning widely. "He's also very sarcastic and witty, almost to the point of being an evil genius when he wants to be. And he-"

"You really love her, don't you?" Caesar was standing right next to him, interrupting Huey's lovestruck gaze at Jazmine. "I mean…I like Isis, and my feelings run deeper than they have for any girl I've dated, but you really love her. With everything in you."

"Yeah." It felt good to get the words out. "I do."

"You gonna tell her?" Caesar raised a brow, exaggerating his tone so that Huey knew that he knew about their fake relationship. "And I mean, actually tell her. Not just make weird excuses to make out with her."

"I'm not-"

"It's not like it's obvious." Caesar ignored his objections. "I'm just extraordinarily perceptive. I see things. Like how you and Jazmine still jerk away from the tension you're feeling, for example. And how you were nervous that that branch was gonna hit your head a mile back. Even peeped that you were almost nervous to do something she wasn't comfortable with. Like you were a little bit nervous to take it too far at first. Obviously, that's different now, at least for you."

"Look, man-"

"Aye, man. I get it." Caesar didn't sound angry at all. "I'd have done the same shit if me and Isis weren't already together to be honest with you."

He wasn't used to trusting people so instantly, so Huey settled for nodding again before looking over at Jazmine and Isis, who were engaged in a heavy conversation of their own. "Do you feel guilty for being here? For doing what we're doing to these other kids. How we have to treat people our age in here?"

"I haven't done anything like that yet." Caesar shook his head. "So far, I've only really felt guilty about Makayla, as bad as it sounds. I was kinda hoping she'd miraculously get outta here, even if it was ridiculous to hope for something like that, y'know?"

"I do." Huey ignored the burn in his legs from the incline they were walking on. "Jazmine, doesn't think it fazes me, but it does. Especially when I think about how easy it was for me to take somebody's life for something I don't believe in. But I can't forget what I saw. Or what I did. I still…I still think about the smell of all those bodies after the explosion. It's the last thing I remember happening before I closed my eyes."

His stomach turned at the memories flooding back, somehow more hard to stomach now than they had been before.

"If I l die, that's obviously not good." Huey found his voice again. "But I'm starting to feel like even if I'm alive, I'll be too far gone because of the things that happened. Because of all the things I've seen."

They watched as Isis playfully jumped behind Jazmine, their eyebrows raising when Jazmine suddenly yanked herself away and took deep shuddering breaths. She glanced at her bow and arrow and back over to where Isis stood, smiling. Jazmine's face seemed to fall as she realized that she was ready to attack Isis, who had clearly been playing with her, while Isis seemed none-the-wiser, still laughing and talking while Jazmine forced herself to do the same.

"You're worried that you didn't protect her from that, aren't you?" Caesar focused his attention back onto Huey. "You're worried that either way, you'll both be driven to the point of no return once the games are over, and that it could never ever work between the two of you if it did."

He wasn't lying about being perceptive. "Yeah." Huey snorted as he picked one of Jazmine's traps off the ground. "I guess that's the best way to put it."

"What if it all works out?" Caesar didn't flinch under Huey's blithering gaze. "Seriously, man. We've lost our food supply, our rights, our sanity, maybe even our lives. Why not work it out while we're here?"

Huey sighed, staring back at Jazmine. His mind went back to Riley and Granddad. His Aunt Cookie, back home waiting for him.

"Because there are people who I care about." Huey walked ahead of him, easing over to Jazmine. "And I can't afford to make that choice."

"You can't?" Caesar glanced between Jazmine and Huey. "Or you won't? Because-"

They could see someone leaping, running faster and faster towards the girls, who were up ahead, still skipping playfully.

Whoever it was wasn't alone, there were three other people behind them, carrying several large swords and tridents.

"Ming." Huey narrowed his eyes and ran to where the girls were standing, leaping in front of them with Caesar. "Stay tight. They're coming!"

Jennifer Harmon jumped in between them, leaving Jazmine and Huey on one side, and Caesar and Isis on the other. She lunged at Jazmine, smirking when Cairo rushed over to where she stood to ram his head into Huey's abdomen.

Huey groaned out and flew back. Ming took Caesar's arm and painfully bent it behind his back, while Isis managed to slice the girl with her sickle hook, leaving Ming wincing in pain before she rushed toward her with her tridents, giving Caesar enough time to shake it off and pull her backwards.

Huey got up and moved towards Cairo. He dodged another hit. Jazmine flung herself backward to protect Isis. She blocked Jennifer's fists from making contact with them, glancing at the swords she'd knocked out of her hands and reaching for them.

He could feel himself getting winded. They'd had such a long trek up the mountain, and the pain of another kick from Cairo made him even more tempted to stop fighting. But as the sword nipped at his body, he found that he was even more determined to fight. To win.

"Ahhh ssss –" Caesar winced when Ming flung him over to where Huey and Cairo stood. She cornered Isis and Jazmine, her tridents dancing in her hands as she twirled them behind her back. Jazmine and Isis looked at each other and took off into the distance.

Ming and Jennifer followed after them, hot on their trail.

Caesar looked at them nervously until he noticed one of Jazmine's traps, lying on the ground. He made sure to motion towards Huey before grabbing the other sword that Jennifer dropped and racing over to help the girls.

"Getcho' ass up!" Cairo roared. His fists were raining down on him. "You ain't better than me cuz you moved to WhiteCrest, nigga!" His fists flew forward. "You're weak! Just like your sorry ass girl! Your convict ass brother! And your lonely ass granddady!" Huey blocked his dagger with his katana, straining to push Cairo away from him. "It ain't no surprise though. The apple doesn't fall from the tree. You're a walking death magnet, just like your parents."

Huey got up and hurled his fists into Cairo's temple with everything he had. The boy flew backwards, into the dirt, blocking Caesar before he could reach the girls fighting on the other end.

He exchanged another look with Caesar when Cairo suddenly pushed his body up with one finger, smirking at his former friend.

"You musta forgot who taught you how to fight in the first place, boy!" Cairo clapped his hands together, smirking at both boys. "But I ain't you or your punk ass brother!" He proclaimed, not even looking behind him before rotating his leg and whacking Caesar several feet back. "Imma real Chicago nigga till the day I DIE."

Huey dragged his katana and then held it in front of his body. He wielded it against Cairo's sword while Caesar drew his own weapon and swung outwards, steering Cairo away from him so that Huey and Cairo were left to duke it out amongst themselves.

"Aghhh!"

Isis grunted out in pain, they all turned for a second, surprised to see her leg slightly buckle from Ming delivering a series of sharp blows with her trident. Jazmine shot her arrow in exchange, dropping something onto the ground as she ran off with Isis's hand in hers; she kept her eyes on Huey, flitting them back and forth between him and the small, flimsy trap on the ground.

Huey suddenly moved backwards, dodging each one of Cairo's attempts with ease while the boy kept talking. "You ain't got shit to say, huh?" He glared at him. "My pops is still in a wheelchair behind what your parents did that night!"

Huey slammed his katana into Cairo's side. "Nigga, shut up!"

"Nah, nigga! You the only one round here who's gon' shut up from now on." His teeth were gritted, his eyes deranged as he pulled Huey backward. He tried to slam the sword into his chest again and missed.

"Cairo, stop!"

"No, you stop!" Cairo spat on the ground and limped towards him, dragging the blood from one of the already inflamed scars Huey had slashed into his chest. He examined his fingers and pressed them onto his tattered shirt. Then he laughed loudly, drawing his knife and slamming both Huey and Caesar into the ground with his feet. "You always thought you were too good for Chicago! Too good to stay in the Windy City with the rest of us, but you're always repping it like the fake ass clown you are."

"That's a lie, Cairo!" Huey felt the dam in him starting to break, the anger nearly taking over as he began to jam Cairo's head against the dirt before drawing his own katana.

"It's the truth, and you know it! Cairo thrust his sword forward, towards Huey's head. "You've always been straddling the fence while you sit back and judge everybody. Just like you had the nerve to go off about George getting killed like you ain't caught, what? Five or six bodies?"

The sword missed Huey's head, and Cairo's breathing became labored, winded. Just as quickly as it had come, his anger had given way to exhaustion- and fear. Just like he'd known it would.

Caesar made his way over towards Isis and Jazmine, while Huey stared at Cairo for a moment, shaking his head before sending the blade of his weapon through the boy's chest. "Not that your bullshit means anything to me anymore, but I'm not ashamed of where I come from. I'll rep Chicago till the day I die. And I ain't gotta prove nothing to anyone! Especially you."

"Rest easy." Huey watched Cairo struggle to breath. His eyes went cold, the blood trickled out of his mouth, and his breathing went quiet.

He was gone.

He grabbed Cairo's sword and ran towards Jazmine and Isis, just in time to see Ming grimacing in pain, desperately trying to escape from the trap he'd seen Jazmine drop onto the ground. It clamped onto her leg with piercing wooden claws. The device seemed to jab every single piece of wood directly into her skin.

"Ahhh!" The girl cried out, desperately grabbing at the trap, but the more she struggled, the worst she screamed. "Sss-hellppp! Help me!"

He could hear it tighten more when Ming shook her leg again. She collapsed to the ground, grunting as she tried to pull herself together enough to escape.

Jazmine lifted her bow and aimed…

Jennifer charged toward Isis before Jazmine could even finish pulling back the bowstring. She pressed a dagger against Isis' neck and pointed, her eyes wild as she dared any of them to make any sudden movements. "Let her go, and I'll let her go."

Jazmine spun around and aimed right for Jennifer's head, narrowing her eyes and keeping her focus on Ming and the trap on her leg.

"You wouldn't risk that if you were smart." Jennifer smirked.

Almost instantly, Jazmine released her arrow in response. It flew past Isis and pierced through Jennifer's shirt, pinning the girl to the ground. They all watched as the blonde released Isis and stumbled backwards, grabbing her arms and chest as if in disbelief, before snatching Isis back down to the ground.

"I'll just have to murder you instead." She lifted the blade, ready to strike.

BANG!

Isis shot Jennifer.

Her arms trembled. She stood frozen in place, surprised by what she had done. She took a step forward before leaning over to examine the body. Her hands shook as she looked down to see if Jennifer was dead, and she quickly got her answer.

Jennifer shoved her dagger through her shoulder, causing her to writhe in pain just as they made it over; Jazmine lifted her arrow, trying to aim for Jennifer again, but Ming slammed her down with all the strength she had left, clanging her tridents together.

Jazmine kicked one of the traps on Ming's mangled leg, pleased when the girl fell back and let out another scream of agony while she took off to chase after Jennifer.

She nodded towards Huey, and he kept his eyes on Ming, watching her use one of her tridents to trigger the trap's release switch.

He looked away when it clamped down even tighter, crushing the spear of the trident into her leg. She grunted, biting her shirt between her teeth.

She wasn't the only one who was upset. Isis was lying on the ground, the dagger she'd snatched out of her shoulder in her hand.

"Shhhhhh." Caesar covered her mouth to muffle her screaming. There were tears streaming down her face. "Just stay down. It'll be okay."

He took off his shirt and wrapped it around her shoulder.

There was a clicking noise that echoed in the distance, forcing everyone to freeze. Jennifer's finger was on the trigger of Isis' gun.

She pointed it past Huey and Jazmine; instead, opting to aiming it at Isis, who was still lying on the ground, crying harder when Caesar laid in front of her, screaming at the top of her lungs.

To their surprise, Hiro emerged from the bushes and cut through the base of Jennifer's neck with a machete. Her head rolled to the ground, and the girl's body fell forward.

They all grimaced when he picked up the gun.

He lifted his hands. "I come in peace." He approached them gently. "I just want to help."

"Pantu! Traitor!" Ming pointed at Hiro and then dragged herself away, narrowly missing the strike from Huey's katana as she retreated, running off into the distance, just slightly slower than she had been before. "Xia yige shi ni."

Without warning, Huey snatched Hiro's machete and swung it forward. Hiro fell to the ground, wincing with his hands in front of him.

"W-w-wait! D-don't kill me!"

Caesar was the one to move this time. He maneuvered himself behind Hiro and held him in place, kicking the gun towards Huey.

"I'm on your side, and I can prove it!" He crawled backwards, away from Huey, who was already picking up the gun to shoot him. He pulled out a small black device and turned it on.

The sound from it made everybody freeze, especially Jazmine.

"I'm here to see Ed Wuncler." Tom's voice could be heard ringing through the speakers. "Tell him I won't go anywhere until he speaks with me."

He paused, taking a deep breath.

"It's about Robert and Riley."

Author's Note:

To those of you who are still reading, thank you. I appreciate you!

It isn't easy reading through everybody killing each other, so thank you for sticking with it.

I'd really love to hear what you think so far, even if it's not praise, anything helps. I'm open to feedback, whether that's on here or even PMing me with your thoughts.

And if not, I appreciate you for just checking in and reading anyway.

Sidenote: I did not realize there were so many typos when I uploaded this at first, and I am so sorry to those of you who read it the first time. I hope that you can forgive me.

Other Sidenote: Do you trust Hiro? Yay or nay?

Until Next Time,

- Miss Ace Thank You