Chapter Text
The thing about hope, is that it’s a double edge sword.
You are damned if you lose it and you are damned if you desperately cling to it.
Gris had hoped. He had hoped that they would find something. A clue, a rumor, a trail of breadcrumbs, anything that could lead them to the Raiders whereabouts.
They’ve gone to everybody they knew and to every town and ruins where the Raiders had been seen or even mentioned at least once.
Yet they found nothing.
Even with Fuu’s inside info and Semiu coordinating all of their searches with Tomme, every single location they arrived at was deserted. It was as if those bastards had completely vanished from the face of the earth, as if the ground itself had swallowed them whole.
However, despite their failures Gris had persisted. He revisited every location twice, searched every nook and cranny, aggressively pressed every informant with so much insistence and aggression that he almost came to blows with some of them.
His normally calm and gentle persona was ripping at the seams and frustration was starting to spill from the tears, something that didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the team.
Needless to say, morale was low. It was already low when they departed from headquarters and didn’t get better when Zanka joined them midway with a somber expression and worse news about Rudo’s condition.
So when they reached the last confirmed Raider hideout only to bust the door and find it empty, Gris had tried to keep their spirits up. Had tried to encourage them, telling them that the next lead will be legitimate.
It was at that moment that he saw it, the question plastered all over their faces and defeated eyes.
At what point does a man go from inspiring optimisc to a delusional wreck?
In the end one has to face the reality of their limitations and concede defeat, rather than uselessly wander around aimlessly, waiting for a miracle to fall on their laps.
So, after four days since they set off, two after Zanka had joined them mid-search, Gris decided to declare the mission a failure and go back to headquarters empty handed.
And yet, despite the defeat , Gris had continued to hope.
He hoped that upon their return Rudo’s condition had gotten better. Sure, it was stupid to wish for a full recovery of course, but maybe lady luck had finally decided to answer his prayers and give the boy and everybody else a break.
That hope had persisted, even when he parked the jeep, jumped into the elevator and rushed through the corridors towards the infirmary.
For a naive moment, for a single fleeting moment he had believed. Had believed things had really gotten better, when he finally reached the infirmary door and was met with silence.
No screams, no trashing or sobs could be heard.
Complete silence.
That was good right?
Silence meant no more pain. It meant rest and peace an—
Then reality once more falls on him like a bucket of cold water.
Nothing good ever comes from a silent infirmary.
He opens the door hesitantly and while holding his breath he enters.
The lights are off, only the faint light of the afternoon sunset filters thought the curtains. The only sound he could hear was the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor. And there, right where he left him, sitting by the boy’s sickbed as he knew he would, is Enjin.
”Judging by how you aren’t bursting through the door all happy and all that, I guess you don’t come bearing good news huh?” Enjin asks not bothering to turn around to face him.
Gris doesn’t say anything ashamed of his failure, the silence once more being its own answer.
”Heh, figures” Enjin says, with no humor whatsoever.
Slowly and weighted by his guilt, Gris approaches the bed and stops next to Enjin, finally mustering the courage to look at the boy that he had failed.
Rudo is just laying there, completely inmovible, with vacant red eyes that doesn’t seem to register anything around him. His arms, the culprits of all this mess, lay over the sheets, wrapped in clean bandages.
It’s a huge contrast with how Gris left him, thrashing and screaming in agony, having to be constantly restrained by someone, lest they risk him tearing his own flesh apart.
This however, It’s an unsettling sight. He looks like a corpse.
”He is been like this since yesterday”Enjin says, taking Gris out of his reminiscence “He just…stoped”
”What do you mean—”
”I mean just that! He fucking stopped! After another full night of screaming and scratching his arms raw again, he just stopped! Light's on no one’s home! No reaction, no nothing"
The outburst startles him and this time Gris has no other choice but to acknowledge the other elephant in the room. So he finally turns to his right and looks at Enjin properly.
And just as he expected, the man is a wreck
He’s seen Enjin tired before, had personally carried his injured and exhausted body thousands of times after a grueling mission. He even has stolen a glance of a solemn Enjin, on those rare occasions when the man believes to be alone and his loud, charismatic mask falls down, leaving him with a far away look, lost in thoughts. Gris had never said anything in those moments. He simply let the man exist with his demons in peace, offering a silent companionship in the form of a shared cigarette or a well deserved glass of cheap booze at the end of a hard day.
This however feels different.
There is a hint of despair, a frantic sort of anguish hidden behind those weary eyes. He also notices how hard he is grabing his own hands, almost like he is holding himself back. Like he is holding himself together from falling apart.
“He hasn’t eaten or drink anything since yesterday”Enjin continued, carding his hands through his messy hair “No matter what me or the girls force into his mouth, it’s like he doesn’t have the strength to chew or even swallow. Kid almost choked on a glass of water I gave him”
“Have you?” Gris asks.
“What?” Enjin anwsers, incredulous eyes looking at him, like he had said the most stupid thing he has ever heard.
”Have you eaten or drink anything?” Gris insists, not deterred by Enjin’s response.
“This isn’t about me! Did you hear me?! The kid is not responding to anything we do!”
“I’m just worried about you.”Gris says, trying to appease him“You getting yourself sick too is not gonna help him get any better!
“Well what else am I supposed to do, huh?! Since you ditched me to go on a field trip to the desert and Bro and the other teams are covering for us, it’s not like there was anybody else that could take my place and I wasn’t gonna let the girls to deal with this alone!”
“Wha— I didn’t ditch you! I went out there trying to find a solution”
“And did you find one?”
“At least I tried to do something!”
“Keep telling yourself that”Enjin mutters under his breath, vitriol clear in his voice.
“What’s that suppose to mean?!” Gris asks, now matching the hostility and raising his voice a little.
Enjin doesn’t respond, he just gets off his seat and stares him down, clearly wanting to unload all of his grievances onto him. However he must have thought his action through and whatever he was gonna say dies in his mouth. Instead he just scoff and presses the bridge of his nose with his fingers
“You know what, you are right. I really do need a fucking break” Enjin says as he turns around towards the door “keep an eye on him will you”
With that, Enjin leaves the infirmary. Thankfully he has enough sense not to slam the door in anger as he leaves. Not that it wouldn’t matter to the catatonic boy on the bed.
And so Gris is left alone with the oppressive silence, only broken by the beeping of the heart monitor and Rudo’s soft but labored breath.
With nothing else to do he sits down on the stool that Enjin had vacated and lets all the exhaustion he has been harboring this past few days bleed away with a sigh.
Still, he cannot calm down, his thoughts wouldn’t let him, because as much as Gris hates to admit Enjin may be right in what he was implying.
Had he used this search mission to avoid this situation all together?
Had he just used diligence and busywork as an excuse to escape this?
But what else could he do?
He is no Giver, neither is he an experience warrior, nor a brilliant tactician. He is just a worker bee, a guy in the background doing the necessary, mundane jobs behind the scenes and unlike Follo, he has never resented that fact. There has never been any desire to be the protagonist or to be thrown into the spotlight and become a hero. No, Gris just wants to contribute his humble grain of sand to the cause, to help as many people as possible for as long as his body allows it.
He wholeheartedly believes that every action, no matter how small or insignificant it seems, mattered in the long run. Thats is perhaps why he has never been good at staying still.
To endure pain and injuries during missions?Sure, because that struggle always had a purpose, a reward awaiting at the end that makes the pain always worth it.
This though, to watch somebody slowly fade away right in front of his eyes unable to do anything? It’s torture.
He would do it though. He would stoically stay here and bear the silence, waiting for a miracle to happen.
The only thing he can do is hope.
Nothing else
——
People come and people go.
Riyo knows that.
It’s an irrefutable truth.
Just like the fact that trash falls down from the sky daily or that beasts born from said trash could destroy entire settlements and leave no survivors. So getting attached to people, to things on the Ground it’s normally not an advisable thing to do.
Riyo also understood that very well. After all she used to snuff people’s lives with her gun not so long ago.
Yet, despite knowing all that, Riyo is a Giver and Givers do tend to have a few screws loose in their heads that made them do crazy things. Like bind themselves to and object that they love a little too much for example.
Her saving grace, she thinks, is that she is not greedy. She is content with the live she has now. Happy with the trinkets in her room she has collected throughout the years and proud of the people she could call her own.
Yes, her people. And after all that they had gone through in this short period of time, Rudo is more than included in that category.
That is why Riyo is here right now, sitting on a stool, head resting on the mattress next to Rudo’s while her hand plays with the boy’s soft hair.
He is due for a trim, she thinks, while she gently tugs a strand of white and dark hair. Come to think of it, Rudo hasn’t sit down and let her cut his hair since he arrived, hasn’t he? How long ago was that, by the way? Two, three months ago?
To think that it would take so little time for Rudo to sneak into their hearts so quickly.
He had come to them so abruptly. Literally fell from the sky into their lives and turned them upside down, bringing with him a whole set of revelations and tribulations with him.
At first Riyo had not been too convinced about the new addition to their little ragtag group, but to be fair she had not trusted Zanka when he first came into the picture either. She can’t help it, it’s in her nature to be distrustful of anything that intrudes into her territory.
After all she used to do that. Intrude on people’s lives, disguising herself as an innocent child to gain their trust, only to weponise that trust and put a bullet in their skulls.
So, if she could do that with ease, who is to say that this kid that Enjin had found in the middle of nowhere wouldn’t do the same?
It had taken a glance at Rudo that first night in his room for her to realize that the boy didn’t have a malicious bone in his body though.
He is like a stray, feral puppy. Fangs sharp and ready to bite, more than likely because of those wounds in his arms that perpetually ache due to his father.
In that regard they are alike. Haunted by the ghost of a parent that cruelly branded them forever. However unlike Riyo, who perfected a mask to hide the ugly truth long ago, Rudo wears his heart on his sleeve all the time.
It’s kind of endearing really, how incapable of telling a lie he is, even if his life depends on it. How honest and true to himself he is about the things he loves and hates. How his eyes lit up when sugar is involved or how his rage, volatile and directionless before, now is used to strike anyone who dares hurt his friends.
It’s refreshing really, being able to read someone so easily.
Which makes this situation a slap to the face honestly.
How could someone be hurting so much and nobody notice?
More importantly, how couldn’t she not notice? She is the one with the sharp eyes and even sharper intuition, after all.
“Shouldn’t you be in bed?” A familiar voice asks out of nowhere and Riyo raises her eyes away from Rudo’s catatonic face and sees Enjin leaning on the doorframe, arms crossed, hair down and slightly wet, clueing her that someone must have finally convinced the guy to take a shower.
“I am on a bed technically”she weakly jokes, and to her delight, a brief smile does appear on Enjin’s face but it was gone as soon as it came. What didn't leave were his eyes, urging her to give him a proper answer and well, Riyo guesses he can indulge him “Couldn’t sleep, so I switched with Gris, so he could go talk with Semiu”
At the mention of Gris, Enjin sighs and makes a face, a sour gesture that she recognizes as him being pissed. Ah, something must have happened with the big guy huh?
Better come back to the matter at hand. Which honestly she is sure is not much better to contemplate. It certainly is not great for her.
“It’s weird seeing him like this”Riyo says, trying to fill the awkward silence turning their attentions back to the boy on the bed “Sometimes, when it was late and I got bored, I sneaked into his room through the window. Found him tinkering with something he had found in the trash most of the time. Kid has a difficult time sleeping so he is always up doing something”
”Is that how you found out?” Enjin asks“About his arms I mean”
Riyo perks up again, alerted by Enjin’s words. The question sounds casual enough, perfectly normal to any other listener, however Riyo can hear a weird undertone in his words. Some sort of thin-veiled resentment?
Weird, really weird.
Enjin normally doesn’t do the passive aggressive thing. Sure, he sometimes gives her the stare when he suspects her gun has come out to play sometimes, but he never sounds bitter or directs any vitriol towards her, ever.
So what gives now?
”I thought they were just scars.“ Riyo anwsers him, weirdly trying to justify herself, something she never does with Enjin either. ”I thought they only ached from time to time or something. If I knew it was this bad I would’ve tol—“
”No you wouldn’t”
Well he is partially right. She wouldn't have gone around airing Rudo’s dirty laundry to everybody, that’s for sure. How one person deals with their pain is anyone’s business but theirs. Still if she had known that it was this bad she would have explained. She would’ve made a plan to deal with it and include Enijn when the time was right, like she always does.
However it’s a little hypocritical of Enjin to recriminate her anything, she thinks. Both of them are secretive by nature. They both present themselves as easy-going carefree goofballs, but in truth they keep their secrets close to their hearts. They would rather pull all of their teeth out one by one than being seen for who they trully are.
They both know that, so they never push each other further than necessary, always careful not to cross that invisible line in between them that makes their relationship work.
It’s that unspoken respect that ironically, makes Riyo trust Enjin so much.
So why now is it a problem?
”I’m not mad at you Riyo” Enjin says with a much softer tone, perhaps sensing her confusion and anxiety.
”But you are mad” she responds.
”I’m tired” He confesses and Riyo's heart breaks a little at the admission.
Out of all the people in Akuta team,Riyo has known Enjin the longest. They’ve been through more battles together than anybody else in the team, with the exception of maybe Gris and the senior Cleaners.
In all those years, Riyo has never seen Enjin so …so vulnerable.
He hides it well around them, whatever pain or insecurities he carries with him never come out to the surface. It's what makes him a reliable leader and a dependable adult, most of the time.
Today however, there is an air of fear that clings to him. It’s faint but the fact that is there is making Riyo anxious. Worst of all, Riyo doesn’t know how to take that fear away. It’s not something she can dismiss with a well-timed stab with Reaper or shoot in secret with her gun and hide the body.
She can’t do anything for him.
“I’m tired and so are you.”Enjin sighs, a little exasperated, a faint smile on his face. “So, how about if you go to bed, for real this time.” The mask of cheerful indifference is back on and Riyo feels both reassured and guilty for it. Still she is not going anywhere tonight. Keeping Enjin company is the least she could do.
”I’m staying”
”Wouldn’t dare think otherwise, but there is no need for you to break your neck on that stool you know. There are more beds around here—“
Slowly the door to the infirmary opens startling both of them. From behind it, Follo’s head appears and right after him a tired Zanka follows, both already out of their uniform and looking as tired as the last time she saw them .
“Hey there… “ Follo softly greets them and Zanka offers a silent nod of acknowledgement that Riyo returns with a little salute of her own.
“Here for the sleepover as well?” Enjin asks, the soft smile not disappearing although Riyo thinks it’s a little more genuine, now that the boys are here as well.
“Yeah well, couldn’t sleep and neither could he ”Follo responds, pointing at Zanka behind him” so I thought we might… I don’t know, maybe take your place or something, but I see you already got company so…”
“Apreciate it, but no offense you guys look like shit. You are one second away from kneeling over and pass right the fuck out“
“Pot calling the kettle much?”Follo mumbles, clearly not wanting to be heard but Riyo catches it.
“No offense Enjin” Riyo continuous” but I when I first saw you I thought you were wearing Fu’s black mask. Turns out it’s just your dark circles under your eyes. Don’t worry I can lend you some foundation to cover them up if you want. Maybe we can add some lipstick too, what do you say?”
“Joke’s on you, lipstick looks good on me!” Enjin quickly and proudly response to her teasing, with his signature shit-eating smirk and well yeah Riyo can concede that what he says is true. After all Enjin has (begrudgingly) offered himself as a model for her first attempts at a makeover.
The quick, out of pocket response however, caught the other two boys by surprise and for the first since this whole ordeal started, Riyo can hear the sound of a badly hidden giggle coming from Follo and a fond, but exasperated scoff that sounds dangerously close to laughter from Zanka.
Ah, this is nice. The familiar banter, the teasing, it helps. If only to return some mirth and lightness to the room, something they desperately needed after almost a week of hopelessness and frustration.
It’s in this unusual, upbeat mood is how Eishia and Amo find them when they too come through the door a few minutes later after the boys.
“Oh my!” Eshia says , surprised by the amount of people in the room “Hello e—everyone”
Both girls enter the room, getting closer to their patient‘s bed that is now surrounded by all of them .
“Are we in the way Eishia?” Zanka asks already backing away fromRudo’s bed and giving the nurse some space.
“No—no it’s okay. I—I was just gonna check on him and change his bandages before calling it a night“ Eishia clarifies“Amo, could you— could you please grab the bandages and the salves form the please?”
“Right away.” The other girl says, eagerly running towards the cabinet and grabbing all the supplies they needed.
Not that they are gonna do any good. Riyo thinks.
Still, idle hands and all that. She supposes, that doing something is better than nothing. Better for them rather than Rudo that is.
Slowly and carefully, afraid to trigger another episode, Eishia raises one of the catatonic boy’s arms and starts to peel the old bandages away and just like that all the good mood that the had manage to gather a few seconds before leaves the room.
Everybody pretends not to watch, trying not to make Eishia and Amo more anxious under their scrutiny so they can do their job properly. Still it is very difficult not to stare when that charcoal-like skin appears under the old bandages.
All of them pull a face. Zanka as always tries to hide whatever inner turmoil he is feeling and failing miserably. He scrunches his face like he had swallowed the most bitter pill in existence, tight fist hidden under his crossed arms.
Then there is Follo who looks sad, almost crushed, nervously fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. He clearly is forcing himself not to watch, but can’t help himself.
Amo doesn’t look like she is about to cry anymore, or at least doesn’t look as devastated as she did in the begining. Like Eishia, she is trying to appear strong, but she can see the faint woobling of her lower lip while applying a surely very ineffective numbing salve on the boy’s arm.
Enjin just stares quietly, never looking away. Not even when blood starts to seep from the crevices of the kid’s marks. It’s like he is already numb to it.
And Riyo? Riyo doesn’t know what face she should make. Should she be sad to show empathy? Should she just shut up and stoically watch as an act of solidarity to her friends? She honestly doesn’t know. Because what she feels is neither sadness or defeat.
She feels rage.
She wants to shoot the one responsible for this. Wants to make Zodyl Typhoon bleed and break his bones one by one so that she can make him feel just a fraction of the agony that he had put her friend through.
Most of all, she would love to hunt down Rudo’s father, wherever that bastard may be. After all, he is the source of all this suffering, isn’t he?
In the end though it doesn’t matter. Time passes and so does the opportunity to say or do anything, so she just keeps silent like the rest and watches Eishia and Amo do their work.
“All done” Eishia announces, not ounce of joy in her voice“No…no major changes from yesterday”
No good news then.
“What now?” Riyo asks, burying her bloodlust and desire for revenge deep inside her heart, offering Eishia a reassuring smile.
The time to kill something will defently come, but right now none of them need an assassin.They need carefree and easy-going Riyo.
“Amo and Eishia are gonna stay here to keep an eye on Rudo, but…” Amo answers, looking unsurely around the room “ Amo is not sure there are enough beds for everyone”
”Don’t worry about that. Hey Follo, Zanka help me with this” Riyo says as she gets up and approaches one of the beds in the far corner of the room, putting in motion a little idea that come to her before when Enjin had jokingly called this little gathering a ”sleepover”
The two boys perk up at the request and quickly understand what Riyo needs them for. So with their combined effort they grab a mattress, then lay it on the ground, right in between Rudo’s bed and the wall and then arrange a bunch of pillows around it, creating quite the cozy nest despite the circumstances.
Understanding her intentions and without a word, Zanka takes off his sandals and then sits crosslegged next to Rudo’s bed, back to the wall with Lovely Assistaff right on his lap. He looks more like he is about to stand guard than sleep.
This big doofus, Riyo thinks, trying to safe face and look cool in this situation. Then again, Riyo won’t mention it. She understands that all of them are trying to keep a sense or normalcy and control. Teasing him about it would be almost cruel.
So, tired and ready to call it a day, Riyo takes off her boots, throws them next to Zanka’s neatly placed sandals and proceeds to fall on the mattress, giggling at Zanka’s grumpy mutterings when the bouncing disturbs him.
“Come on Eishia lay down with us”Riyo says while patting the empty space next to her as an invitation to the clearly embarrassed doctor “This way you would be right next to him if something happens”
That reasoning seems enough to convince the anxious girl to relax a little and finally relent to Riyo’s offer. So, after a few embarrassing mutterings Eishia lays down right next to her, facing Rudo’s bed, to monitorize her patient better. She is so tired though, that she almost falls asleep immediately and even allows Riyo to be the big spoon and cuddle her a little. Little victories she guesses.
“What about you Follo? Wanna share” Riyo teases, watching her new teammate blush a little at the invitation.
“Ermmm I think I’ll pass.Not enough space for me” he awkwardly responds” I’ll take the bed across from his if you don’t mind”
Oh well, one day she will crack him into cuddling with them, just like she cracked Zanka in the end, Riyo thinks. No need to force anything right now.
“Amo will sleep on this bed then”The girl says, fluffing a pillow on the bed right next Rudo’s, making Riyo turn her attention back to the other nurse, who hasn’t said much up until now.
“Would you be alright?” Riyo asks, a little worried for her.
Amo cannot sleep if someone is in the same bed. Even when they have their girls-only sleepovers she has to sleep on her own bed, otherwise she would freak out at the mere sound of sheets rustling next to her. The fact that she would be sleeping with so many people, with so many voices around her makes Riyo worry a little .
“It’s okay” Amo answers with a cheerful smile but a firm expression in her eyes “Amo would be okay. This way if something happens Amo would be ready to help too”
Ah, she forgot. Amo is nothing but resilient and stubborn. There is no way she was gonna go anywhere, not while Rudo is in this state. After all he did the same when she was bed-ridden right after he rescued her from the dungeon, so Riyo is sure that no matter what they did or say Amo would never leave Rudo’s side.
With all of them settled and, as Amo puts her head on her now fluffy pillow, Enjin gets up and claps his hands bringing all of their attention to him.
“Alright kiddo’s everybody ready? Did you guys brush your teeth and all?” Does anyone need me to tuck them into bed?” Enjin jokes, which earns him a pillow to the head curtesy of a very not amused Amo.
“You are so noisy, shut up and turn the lights off so that Rudo can sleep better!”
“Shit, alright girl! Stop throwing daggers at me with your eyes!”
With that Riyo chuckles one last time and lays down as Enjin walks towards the switch and turns the lights off.
Silence falls on the room once more, broken only by the beeping sound of the heart monitor and the ocasional rustling of sheets.
Gradually each and every one of them falls asleep or at least stay still enough to pretend to sleep. She knows that neither Enjin nor her are gonna truly rest, but she hopes that shutting their eyes for a while will help them keep on going.
So Riyo pretends. She pretends even when during the night, the sound of the door opening alerts her that somebody else has entered the room and just as she suspected Gris is there, silently laying a blanket on each of them and taking the bed on the far end of the room. Enjin too gets a blanket, but he too pretends to be asleep and Gris pretends not to notice, the atmosphere still heavy between them.
Yet Enjin doesn’t refuse the gesture, he just wraps the blanket tighter around himself and turns his head to look at the other man’s sleeping back for a moment before turning back to keep vigil over Rudo.
Riyo then takes another look at the people around her and although that anxiety is still there she can’t help but feel reassured and safe.
All this misfits came together to be here. Despite their inability to be honest, all of them wanted to be here. In a sea of garbage and filth, they clumsily reached for support and comfort in each other.
It’s okay. Everything will be okay.
The situation is bleak, but together they will surely find a way to figure something out.
Yeah, they are definitely gonna find the Raiders, kick their asses, (maybe load some bullets in an ass or two), get the Watchman gloves back and when Rudo finally wakes up they will talk to him. Well they will surely smack him on the head and yell at him for not asking them for help and then she is sure that all of them will spoil him by giving him more sugar and sweets than he can stomach.
And perhaps, when this is all over and the pain becomes a far away memory, Rudo will finally understands how much they want him here.
——
Semiu is no stranger to all-nighters.
Endless paper work, unfilled reports and unprocessed data ends on top of her desk everyday, waiting for her to organize and process it all through the very chaotic, internal bureaucracy exclusive to the Cleaners.
She is good at her job. She had always had a “good eye” for detail, even before she awakened her Jinki.
So it was no surprise that, when Enjin and his team had come back with a bloody Rudo and a pair of missing watchman series gloves missing, Semiu had been the first one to put everything in motion and direct everyone so that the situation wouldn’t spiral out of control.
She had manage the never-ending back and forth calls between her and their informants, chasing any clue that could help the search team in their efforts. All that while also managing the normal day to day duties of the Cleaners (because of course the boss would be out on one of his impromptu walks leaving her alone to hold fort.)
Luckly she had Tomme. The girl had volunteered to stay behind with her since day one, so she had spend all past few nights by her side, diligently, cross-checking every info and detail with Fuu, a fucking ex-Raider that gave them a surprisingly detailed report of their different hideouts and moving patterns.
So how come they couldn’t fucking find them?
At first she had suspected that the boy was leading them astray, that he was feeding them false information, but that thought was dissmissed quickly. Semiu didn’t need her Glasses to see that the stuttering kid was incapable of lying to them.
The boy in question is curled up on the entrance couch, falling asleep immediately the moment Semiu ordered him to lay down for the night. Obedient little thing.
Semiu wishes she could pass the fuck out on demand too.
A steaming, hot cup of coffee, accompanied with its earthly aroma and Tomme’s tired smile appear before Semiu’s eyes, “Here Semiu”
”Thank you Tomme. Dependable as always” she says as she takes a sip of her cup, feeling a little warmth and awareness come back to her. “Aaaah That hit the spot”
She is rewarded by another smile and soft giggle from Tomme as the girl sits down next to her. A small smile from a pretty girl and decent coffe will have to do for now, at least until she can get her hands on the new girls nudes magazine. Man, where is Tamsy when you need him to un some errands.
“I talked to Gris on my way here, there were traces of activity on the last place they checked, but no Raider was present when hey arrived” Tomme says, as Semiu takes another sip and watches her reopen one of her notebooks and cross the name of said location with a red marker. By this point the whole thing was filled with nothing but red.
Semiu sighs, putting her mug on top of the desk and looks at the ceiling exasperated “We are back to square one then”
Damn, the last two locations had been the most promising ones. What are they gonna do now?
The thoughts inside Semiu’s head violently swirl again, all the information and data they've gathered pass in front of her eyes, bringing back that ever-present headache that has been an unwanted companion for these past few days.
How the fuck did the Raiders disappeared so quickly?
Did they give Fuu the wrong info on purpose?
Were they asking the boy the wrong questions?
Her thoughts lead her back to Rudo and Team Akuta. She thinks about the poor kid laying on that bed, trapped inside that little body of his and the man sitting next to him watching helplessly as one of his kid slowly withers away, while he himself is being consumed by impotence and guilt.
Semiu thinks and thinks. Tries to formulate a plan of action, a conjecture, anything that could point them towards a solution.
Her mind comes out with nothing
The situation is officially out of their control.
At this point a fucking miracle will have to fall on their laps.
RING RING!
The loud ringing of the front desk phone violently startles her out of her thoughts making her almost spill her coffe all over their paper work. Annoyed at the sudden interruption, Semiu grabs the receiver and tries to compose herself. No matter how much she wishes, the world doesn’t stop just because one of them is injured. The world continues to be full of garbage, trash beasts still wreak havoc across the land and the Cleaners still have a job to do.
So Semiu answers, with as much professionalism as she can muster, although irritation still manages to scape through her voice. “This is the Cleaner’s headquarters. Semiu speaking”
”This is Zodyl Typhoon”
Shit
“I would like to speak with Enjin”
——
Zodyl Typhoon had asked to speak with Enjin yes, but wherever he went so did his team.
So when Semiu had called him through his chocker and told him get his ass to the lobby because Zodyl was on the fucking phone, of course everybody except Eishia, who had chosen to be left behind to watch over Rudo, had followed him without much of a question.
When they had arrived in record time, Semiu had just nodded at him and gave him the phone, wordlessly turning on the speaker attached to it so that the people around him didn’t miss a single word that was about to be said.
With a deep breath, Enjin put the phone to his ear and waits with bated breath.
The monotone voice of the bastard greets him from the other side, deliveretly mocking him with the question he clearly knows the answer to.
“How is Rudo doing?”
“What the fuck do you want?” Enjin asks, vitriol and murderous intent clear in the words that escape through his gritted teeth.
”Not good, judging by the outburst and the fact that you’ve been spoted asking around about us.”
”Get to the fucking point!”
“…Very well. I’m calling because I believe enough time has passed for whatever void there is in his heart to eat him alive. So I come to you with a proposition.”
Motherfucker.
“I promise that I’ll give the boy his gloves back” Zodyl says, and for a moment, a very brief, fleeting moment Enjin feels a naive sting of hope in his heart, only for If to fade away as Zodyl continues ”In exchange, you will give the boy to me”
Enjin is sure that time and his breath stoped for a moment. His brain trying to process what he was hearing.
”That doesn’t make any fucking sense!”
“Doesn’t it?” Zodyl anwser, unfazed by Enjin’s outburst ”I’ve got the gloves, something that I’m sure you desperately need, and you’ve got something that I’m interested in, information about the Sphere locked inside that boy’s brain. And lets be real, you’ve got no leverage to negotiate here. What happens to the boy is irrelevant to me. Whether he dies or not is none of my concern. In the end I’ll have a piece of the Watchman series in my possession, the added information is just a bonus.”
He is right. Enjin doesn’t want to admit it, but the bastard is right.
For Zodyl this is win-win situation. Them though? They are thoroughly fucked.
No matter what they chose, all outcomes lead to them losing Rudo. The real question is what brand of cruelty are they willing to inflict on the boy? A gradual descend into decay rotting on that bed? Or will they deliver him right to Zodyl’s claws in a silver platter?
It’s an imposible decision.
“I’ll give you time to think about it” the bastard says, his voice bringing Enjin back to the present situation ”If you agree to my terms, tomorrow at noon we will meet at the wasteland closer the no man’s land. Have a good day, Enjin ”
The line goes quiet and so does the room.
The silence is oppressive, the gravity of the situation they all find themselves is so heavy that it deprives their lungs of air.
No one says anything at first, no one moves a muscle. Not until Amo breaks the stillness with her voice.
“No…” she whispers at first, but soon the volume of her voice escalates into shouting “Absolutely not! Amo would never give Rudo to these people!”
“I am with her on this. The mere idea is ridiculous!”Gris continues, anger barely contained and from the bottom of his heart Enjin agrees with both of their fury.
The audacity of the bastard to suggest that they give up one of their own (one of HIS) is ludicrous at best a fucking insult at worst. Knowing Zodyl, Enjin suspects its the latter.
However this is his heart speaking and while Enjin has always followed his heart, no matter how shitty or a clusterfuck of a situation it lead him, there has always been another driving force that has always taken the wheel in his life and that was his gut.
And right now his gut tells him that no matter how angry he is taking a decision based on his feelings would not be the best idea. Mainly because his gut was also telling him that shit was gonna hit the fan real quick. A hunch that is proven true when someone else decides to open their mouth and speak their opinions.
“We should do it”
Out of all the people in the room, he didn’t expect Follo to be the first one to agree out loud, then again becoming a Giver has given him the backbone he needed to be more outspoken and proactive . He wishes he would have kept his mouth shut though.
Enjin, hasn’t turned his back around, but he doesn't need to have eyes on the back of his head to know that Zanka did not like that answer and judging by the noise he knows that the boy has taken a step closer to the other trying to intimidate him. Stupid teenagers and their bravado
”What?!Did you hit your head or something?!“ Zanka shouts at Follo, finally losing his usual composure” It’s the Raiders! Do you really believe they are gonna just give him the gloves and tuck him into bed so that he can recover?!
“Well, what the hell do you wanna do then?! Go to the wasteland tomorrow and demand the gloves back, pretty please?! Like that is gonna happen!” Follo responds and, as stated before, the kid is not one to back down either, not anymore at least, so the new Giver raises to the challange and steps closer to the other boy,
“Any option is better than giving up without a fight!” Zanka barks back, taking another step towards the other boy,
“I’m not giving up! I’m just being realistic!” Follo defends also taking a step forward
”You are being a coward, It’s what you are!!” Zanka recriminates, now face to face with his teammate.
”What the hell did you just call me!?”
Finally , the tension snaps. Follo takes the last step and violently yanks Zanka by his shirt towards him. Needless to say, Zanka wouldn‘t let himself be manhandled so easily and so he quickly grabs Follo’s wrist in what he is sure is a death grip.
Enjin thanks the universe that the Hell’s Guard training didn’t automatically kick in and Zanka didn’t flip him over his shoulders. They don’t need an all out fight right now he thinks and luckily so do the other adults in the room.
”Both of you, enough! Fighting each other is not gonna help the situation!” Tomme, always the voice of reason, breaks them part and tries to keep them way, despite neither of the hot-headed teenagers clearly wanting to punch each other.
Enjin wants to turn around and smack their stupid heads, but his feet are frozen in place, his thoughts going a mile per hour.
Suddenly a hand grab his shoulder. A strong, firm hand that he knows too well, but instead of bringing him comfort It feels like a bad omen. The grasp too tight,the weight too heavy.He is not gonna like whatever comes out of Gris’s mouth.
“Enjin, that man cannot be trusted. He said it himself, he doesn’t care about Rudo’s wellbeing. Even if we give him to him there is no guarantee he will give Rudo the gloves back. For all we know this is just a way to satisfy his weird obsession with the boy ”
Yeah, he knows that. There is no need for Gris to spell out the obvious here. He is not deluded into thinking that there is an once on compassion inside tat man’s heart, much less for Rudo .
But again, Zodyl operates in a different logic that they do. He does strike Enjin as a man of his word, and he is sure that he would give Rudo the gloves if only to satisfy his own morbid curiosity. However, like Zanka said, he is just as sure that his methods of interrogation won’t be pleasant, much less kind to the boy.
Dammit, what is the right answer here?
”I think… I think it would be better if we give Rudo to them”
A small cacophony of incredulous gasps all accompanied by alarmed and questioning eyes that look towards where the voice came from.
Eishia, shy, conflict avoidant Eishia, speaks out, voice clear coming through Enjin’s chocker that had been on all the time so that she could hear the conversation from right next to Rudo’s bed in the infermary .
”The truth is, Rudo’s condition is much more critical than it looks. Even in his catatonic state, the pain is so excruciating that he needs to be severely sedated in order to stabilize him. However, he is gradually developing a tolerance to the morphine and If i keep upping the dose he will inevitably OD or worst…”
She pauses, gathering the strengh to deliver the final blow.
“At this rate, If this keeps going it’s just a matter of time before either his heart gives out because of the pain, or his kidneys fail him because of the morphine.”
The weight of the reality of the situation falls on everybody inside that room.
They’ve run out of time.
”You are joking!There’s gotta be another way!” Zanka shouts once more, composure truly gone. His eyes frantically searching for anybody to share his disbelief only stopping when they fall on the little ex-raider, who had been quite all this time, trying to fade away in the background “Hey you!”
“Eeeep!” Fuu screams scared and pitiful when Zanka gets too close to his face, the presence of the enraged teenagers too intimidating for the poor boy.”Are you sure that the info you gave is legit?! You haven’t been lying to us righ!?”
“No—n—no sir! Ummm When I was with the—the Rai—raiders we—we used to— to move a lot!”
“Fuu, please tell us! You wouldn’t lie to Amo would you?” Amo also pleads, graving the boys sleeves, with unshed tears in her eyes threatening to spill.
“No—No! I—I just went where they—they told me to go!S—So I just know of those places!”
After hearing that, both Zanka and Amo visibly deflate, defeat and dread shows on their faces and slowly release the poor, stuttering boy.
Then the final blow comes from Semiu who had been silently observing Enjin’s back the whole time “For the record, I believe the most efficient thing to do would be to give the kid away, if anything to buy him some time”
“Semiu, not you too?!” Gris asks, outraged at how cold and detached she sounded while telling them to practically send Rudo to his demise.
“However” Semiu continues, raising her hand and stopping the big guy in his track “what I think in this situation doesn’t matter. Enjin, as the team leader and in absence of the boss, the choice is yours”
Ah there it is, isn’t it? What he had been dreading since the very fucking beginning of this awful week.
At the end of the day, Rudo is his responsibility. From the moment he picked him up from that garbage-filled wasteland (from the moment his father gave him that watch and he caught a glimpse of that small pale baby under his robes ) that boy’s life had been his to guide and care for, in ways that no one else can actually truly fathom.
Wich makes what Enjin is about to do much more cruel and devastating.
So with what feels like the weight of the world in his shoulders, Enjin steels his resolve and finally turns around to face the expectant crowd.
He looks at all of them right in their eyes, conveying the finality of his resolution.
”We will surrender Rudo to Zodyl. There Is no other way”