Kieran couldn't help but flinch--just a little bit--as Aura snapped back in defense at his question. Perhaps he shouldn't have been too surprised--it was, in fact, a pretty direct and rude question.

Still, he composed himself and adjusted to match her in kind. Fine, he thought to himself. Let's do it this way.

He watched as her ale toss went awry, offering no pity on his face as she crumbled.

"Okay," he said, setting his ale down on the table between them. "No bullshit."

He recited, in austere detail, the top-level of what he knew. "Apex Enforcement knows of a terrorist apparatus rather simply as The Cause, gestating some time and becoming more and more violent to petty officers and under suspicion of conspiracy against the government. Known associates of The Cause are mononymic in nature. I have a few names. Gregor. Mae. Miranda. This Del you seem quite fond of. Locations too. But I'm going to tell you now no matter what agreement we come to everyone I listed will be investigated and very likely worse if we don't come to an agreement about who is involved, and how."

"So," he continued, straightening his back somewhat, "If Del isn't involved, I need to know why and how he became associated with The Cause so I can clear his name. And if you have any arrangements with The Cause--any information concerning their next moves--I need that too. We can build trust with AA by telling them in advance. If need be, they'll let The Cause continue with their plans while learning more about them. They're not looking to thwart one operation. They want the whole thing decimated, and they're willing to wait to ensure that happens."

“Del is…”

It felt so wrong. The memory of him pleading to her not to get him involved replayed in her mind more vivid than any movie they’d shown in the town square.

”They'll take me in for interrogation. Take my family in. They can’t handle that. They’re quiet, Aura. They’re dishwashers. They can’t take that shit.”

At this point though, it was only to clear his name. There was no other option.

“He’s my next door neighbor. My friend. My only friend.” Aura sighed and leaned forward, rubbing her temples. “He just covers for me. He doesn’t know what we do, what I do. The runners we work with only tell him what he needs to know. The cause doesn’t even know.”

Shooting up from her chair, she darted for the refrigerator and grabbed another one of the bottles Kieran brought and plopped back down. While Aura had been involved in enough nefarious shit, being a rat felt the worst on her conscious so far. Whether it was the impending feeling of punishment from the cause for what she was doing or the fact she was turning her back on all she knew, it felt like shit. At least she had enough ale to stave off the feeling until the next morning.

“Gregor…” a deep breath and a sip was needed before continuing, “he’s been our shot caller since Santo died a couple years back. He’s organized every major event since.”

Subconsciously, a hand lifted to her face to press on the scab on her bottom lip, wincing as the scab separated under pressure.

“There’s a… party or something in Sub A. Loor’s house.”

Another deep breath was taken, this time shaky in its exhale.

“I’m going undercover with a group of prostitutes. I have to take a folding computer, I forget the name.”

Aura took a few gulps from the brown bottle, and this time, politely set it down on the table next to her.

“If I fail to grab it and get out, and if his drink doesn’t knock him out in time, I’ll have to fuck him, then leave in the morning with the rest of the girls. Gregor wants the information on it. Something about more restrictions in F.”

For the first time in a few minutes, Aura lifted her head and looked at Kieran. “I don’t wanna do it. But this is my punishment from running away from the fight. This is his retribution. He coulda easily paid one of the other girls to do it.”

A hand ran through her hair as she took a moment to let the wave of anger run through her, then she returned her attention to Kieran.

“What else?”

Kieran eyed Aura and listened intently as she began to get into the gritty details of why they were there. He was looking for a tell--a glance to the side, a pause that lingers too long--anything that could give away any evidence that she was lying. He also thought back to his briefing, and the information he received.

But as she spoke, she gave no signs of deception--if anything, she seemed more despondent than ever. When she spoke of this Del character specifically, she seemed nearly desperate. Kieran made a mental note to clear this person from any AA scrutiny as a show of good faith as they continued to work together.

Santo, Kieran thought to himself as she said the name. It triggered something in him. He had once heard of a Santo causing a serious amount of damage to subsection A back in the day--which was particularly impressive, as most people even involved in Apex weren’t allowed there.

He wasn’t sure if he was getting Santo mixed up with some other freedom fighter, but if he recalled correctly, whoever it was that caused the massive explosion in subsection A was hanged and left to rot for months on the highest crane in Port Apex.

He was surprised to next hear Aura describe heading to sub A herself.

“You’re going to a party at Gerald Loor’s house?” Kieran asked, nearly cutting her off.

Loor was a big, big fucking deal to Kieran and just about anyone else within AA or AE. He had a reputation for cruelty--often enacted with very little regard for collateral and with a smirk that never left his face. He wasn’t machiavellian or anything like that--he was also known for his politician’s demeanor--but he was certainly one of the people that probably knew about Kieran and what he was up to regarding the Cause.

His mind raced as Aura continued to explain the point of the mission in place for the next day.

“That’s dangerous,” Kieran said. Then--thinking--continued on. “I mean--you know that, I know--but fuck, Aura. Gerald Loor’s laptop is going to be pretty fucking locked down. And it’s probably encrypted.”

He paused a moment, trying to read Aura’s face. He figured, since she hadn’t known the term for ‘laptop’, perhaps he should explain. “That folding computer--the laptop--it’s gonna be very hard to get the information off of it unless you know someone that’s good with computers, and I mean really good. I can’t do any of that shit myself.”

He thought for another moment. He needed to get in contact with Apex Authority directly--especially if the Cause was going to be stealing from Loor. They would want to know why Kieran did nothing to stop it. He made a mental note to travel directly to downtown the next day and talk to someone. Maybe even Loor himself.

He also thought it if was worth telling AA to wipe the computer, but that would immediately put Aura at risk. However, even if he asked AA not to, there was no telling what they would do outside of his wishes. He had to play his cards carefully--ensuring the Cause doesn’t suspect Aura, AA doesn’t prematurely ruin his plans, and Aura wasn’t in danger.

He found himself immediately surprised by that last thought. Being mindful of those involved collaterally was typically not his style. But as he saw Aura in front of him now, watching him--despondent about tomorrow's events--he truly felt as if he owed her for all of the help she’s been to him so far.

“I can learn more soon about the Cause, but maybe it’s better if I learn directly,” he thought aloud. “I can get to Loor’s house easily. I mean, fuck--I probably work for him and don’t even know it--but I can make sure you don’t...”

He trailed off. He didn’t even want to mention it.

“...I can make sure you get out of there with the laptop unscathed. But these must be some pretty rough restrictions if Gregor is willing to take this risk.”

He opted not to mention the idea of meeting up with AA directly--at least, not yet. This was a lot of information in a very short amount of time. Besides, he didn’t know what AA was planning for this party.

Or what they had in store for Atlantic.

“You’ll...you’ll go?”

Aura took a deep breath. The news wasn’t much relief, especially if anyone saw him assisting her, she’d be beaten to death before the sun rose. However, the glimmer of hope that Kieran’s offer gave her was enough to calm her nerves temporarily.

“Anything you could do to make sure I get out of there, I’d be thankful.” Allowing her muscles to relax, she leaned forward with her hands folded, meeting his eyes. “I don’t know what time I’m going, or when the party even starts. Pogo usually has his girls arrive on a carriage. Should be ten to fifteen of us.”

Picking at her nails, Aura tried to think of anything else to let Kieran know of. Unfortunately, she wasn’t given much information himself.

“They sewed a dress for me, one that I can put the laptop in when I leave. I know the girls aren’t allowed to bring bags or any other belongings.”

Knowing Gregor, he probably didn’t bank too much on her making it out. If anything, she’d be caught and either meet the AA executioner in the morning or be thrown in a cell. But while he hated her actions, Aura was never a rat, and in his mind, could never be one. If only he could fucking see her now.

Countless nights given to The Cause. Countless beatings by the AE and her own people. Grueling “exercises” to prove her worth, her undying loyalty. The constant reminder that she was fighting for a better tomorrow for F, when she and the rest went days without a full meal.

And although the doubt in her mind had been growing like an invasive weed for months, Kieran was the sign she was hoping for from the gods. Her golden ticket. The only way out. There had been rumors of witness protection within the subsections, but then, there were also the rumors of life outside of Apex - the more dangerous option.

“I have a question for you, Kieran.” Aura groaned as she leaned back in her chair. “Don’t you get tired of it? All the bureaucratic bullshit?” She paused and giggled quietly. “I learned that word from a book. But really. Everything we all do - all of us - is always for ’the greater good of Apex,’ no matter what side you’re on. The farmers feed Apex. Sanitation keeps the roads safe for Apex. You run information for Apex. It’s all for Apex, for Apex, fo fucking Apex. You know, my dad told me that people used to have jobs that weren’t for the fucking city? They made music. They made art. They made games for the rest of us to enjoy.”

Aura paused for a moment, eyes scanning the man’s face before her. He was just as stone cold as always. She imagined her words bouncing off of him and falling to the ground.

“Do you ever wonder what life would be like if Apex wasn’t the center of the universe?”

Kieran’s chest panged at Aura’s response to his offer. Sure--he had felt a hair too protective in offering to be with her, but what else could he do?

It was true that his protection had to come with several caveats. For one, being seen with her at this party would likely be a death sentence for her and would completely give up the ghost of the operation. Two, there wasn’t much in the way he could do to protect her from the clear and present danger Gregor had placed her in through her alibi. He would have to improvise his way through bailing her out of that situation, and he had never been good at improvisation.

“I’ll learn what I can tomorrow about Pogo’s operation,” Kieran replied. “Loor’s people can probably get me that information and I’ll generate some excuse to be able to come out there.”

He watched empathetically as Aura pivoted to the bigger, laudier questions about life in Apex. His first instinct, as it had always had been, was to be dismissive. He prepared often-repeated answers to her questions. How Apex wasn’t an evil place--not at its core. That this was simply the system in which they had been given and it was one in which any complaints, disillusions, or rebellions were, in essence, fruitless.

You can’t swim against a waterfall.

But the more she spoke, the more he felt that tinge of idealism that he had felt before. His mind raced back as she spoke:

Kieran was little more than a baby when he was found on a cargo boat docked in Port Apex.

The Port Boys that took him in and showed him their ways had always assumed he hadn’t a clue what happened before that. To his parents.

But that wasn’t the case.

Kieran had memories--scant and fading, but there all the same--of the last moments he shared with his parents.

They had a farm further north and west than even Apex. Near where the sea would extend beyond oblivion. The rains here were strong--making the ground fertile enough for simple crops to grow. But generations upon generations had tilled this land down to it’s last gasp.

Kieran pictured what he could of his parents--his father’s strong arm wrapped around him. The touch of his mother’s dress as he pulled at it for attention. They explained what was happening to a boy who could do little more than say a few choice words.

He couldn’t picture their faces. No, not anymore. But here now, he could feel their pain as they told him to sit in a cargo box in the middle of the night. They gave him a doll made from discarded hay and rags sewn together by his mother.

And he never saw them again.

Kieran’s mind flashed back to Aura, and to her final question:

“Do you ever wonder what life would be like if Apex wasn’t the center of the universe?”

In truth, sometimes he did. And one time, he had acted.

When he was old enough to convince the sailors to let him aboard, Kieran had ridden one of the ships back to the land his parents had tilled. He had his doll about him--wrapped in the blanket that had been with him the right he had left them.

He stood on the sandy beaches of his childhood, directed to the farm by some of the other local farmers. He could see in their eyes that some of them recognized him still. They bore morose expressions at the sight of him. They would say little about his parents.

He stood in the blighted ashes of what had once been his home soon after. He dug through the rubble that had been a farmhouse. He found little more than sticks, pots, pans, and dirt.

How the home was destroyed, the other farmers wouldn’t say. But the story went that one morning, the farmers saw his parents headed west, into the mountains.

They would not be seen again.

Kieran had returned to Port Apex, and remained ever since.

These memories had passed him in an instant as Aura asked her question.

“I don’t know what’s out there, Aura,” he admitted. “I don’t know if anyone here knows. Anyone who’s left hasn’t come back, that’s for sure.”

He thought for a moment, then shifted gears. “Apex is all we have. It’s cruel, but it can be exploited. I don’t know what’s out past those mountains, but I do know that here we have a chance to live a better life if we play our cards right. It’s all I’ve ever done. If there was a way to change AA, to make things better, sure I’d try for it but... “

He looked down, then back up. “I just want to survive. Maybe once that’s done we can see about creating something better.”

As Kieran began to respond, Aura felt each muscle steadily contract, and while she already had an inkling, it was becoming more and more apparent that she had read the man all wrong. It might as well been fucking Soren in front of her.

”Maybe once that’s done we can see about creating something better.”

Her eyes involuntarily rolled to the back of her skull as a scoff escaped her. “You’re just like the rest of them.”

As to not linger on it longer, Aura pushed herself from the chair and rummaged through the drawers of the room until she found a pencil and a small, leather notebook.

“So, this is all from hearsay over the years but…” she started, getting on her knees and dragging a small end table between them. She then drew a square in the center of a page in the book. “It’s a big fucking place. Huge. I heard once he had at least twenty from Service & Housekeeping there around the clock. Eyes everywhere.”

Aura then drew a long, bending line out to the edge of the paper. “He’s on the water. Backyard to the sea, front of the covered in trees with a long driveway. Like I said, it’s all hearsay. Loor’s house has been quite the topic in the past.”

Once satisfied, Aura handed Kieran the book so he could review the page, and she lifted her head up so that she could meet his eyes. “I don’t know how long it’s gonna take for him to knock out, if he knocks out. I can kill time, but only for so long. And I’m sure Gregor won’t let me get too far from the house if I do get the laptop. My guess is he’ll have someone in the trees to get me. If anything goes south, I’m running for the water.”

With a grunt, Aura got up from the floor and stood in front of him. “Please, just make sure I don’t have to fuck that rich pig. Detain me and take me somewhere if you have to. Anything.”

Not a second later, a familiar siren wailed, echoing throughout the tunnel outside of the room. 11:00 PM

“I’ve got to get going. Get me past the creeps at the entrance, and I’ll be fine from there.” At a point in time, Aura wasn’t so scared of men and the consequences of defending herself, but as time went on, more strikes were collected against her, and any assault - even warranted - would probably not work in her favor.

The walk through the tunnel was silent, but as they approached the guards, their sneering began again.

“Ah, the lovers are back so soon,” one chuckled, jabbing another in the ribs to get his attention.

Aura shot a glare at Kieran before faking a smile to the trio and pushing past them. After the door buzzed, the lock was released and she quickly ascended the steps halfway, swiveling around to face Kieran.

“I’ll see you tomorrow night,” she nodded, sticking out a hand to shake his. And without another word, Aura jogged up the stairs into the black, humid night, and kept a quick pace for the rest of the journey back to her building.



It was 6:00 PM when Aura returned to her room from the showers, sighing deeply as she shut the heavy door behind her. Her nerves were growing by the minute, but worrying about what would happen wasn’t doing her any favors.

Aura started with coal around her eyes, using a shaky finger to blend it to her liking. The scratched mirror she held with the other she had traded a basket for at the Sunday markets. Next, she pushed the comb through her long, black hair, working feverishly at the knots at the ends of her strands until they had all been undone. Then, the plugs her ears came out and went in the drawer. Then finally, Aura took a plum colored wax and swept it across her lips, which covered up the scab quite nicely.

Now, she waited. A runner was promised to come retrieve her when it was time and take her to Pogo and the rest of the girls. Aura nervously fidgeted with a few trinkets and other items when she came across the pink pebble Joss gave her years ago.

Joss. Tall, blonde, brave. Funny, too. Aura had grown up with her, and it was perfect when they both joined the cause together. Their agreement was basically unspoken; where you go, I go. A true friend. Always so in sync, that they were able to communicate without words most of the time.

Well… they had obviously fallen out of sync at some point.

It was about three years ago when a rumor had spread around that she’d been sleeping with an officer, something she never bothered to tell Aura. It only took Gregor four hours to break her into telling the truth, that it was all true and that she loved him. It all made sense, especially as it seemed that the AE had learned so much about the cause in such a quick amount of time. It all led back to Joss.

It was a day later when she was in the pit, a large, circular hole dug out of the earth in the middle of the woods, and the rest of the group surrounded her at ground level. “Can I say goodbye to her? Please?” Aura whimpered as she tugged on Gregor’s sleeve.

“One minute,” he grumbled, not taking his eyes off of Joss below him.

Aura tumbled down into the hole and crawled to Joss, who was oddly calm. It was like she’d cried all she could and now accepted what was to come.

“I’m so sorry,” Aura sobbed as her trembling hands moved the blonde strands from her friend’s face.

“It’s my fault,” Joss sighed, squeezing Aura’s hand. “I never mentioned you, I swear.”

“I know you wouldn’t.”

“Time’s up,” Gregor barked, signalling with a hand for Aura to get out.

“I love you, Joss.” Aura kissed her friend on the forehead and climbed out of the pit, grabbing on to Gregor’s arm.

“Stones up!” Gregor commanded. “You, too, Aura. She’s a traitor.”

Aura’s weeping broke the silence that took over the rest of the crowd as she leaned down and picked up a baseball-sized rock from the ground. Joss met her eyes and nodded knowingly as if to say that it was going to be fine.

“And...go!”

The memory made Aura’s stomach flip, and she immediately shot up, falling out of her chair, then crawled to the corner of her room where she threw up into a basket. “Fuck.”

If Joss got death by the stones for what she’d done, it was hard to imagine what Gregor would have in store for her if he found out. But, there was no turning back now.

After wiping her mouth and reapplying the wax to her lips, Aura slipped the floor length black dress, which had two high slits up to the thigh, a plunging neckline, and thin straps that crossed her back. She familiarized herself with the pocket Mae had sown in between her legs and practiced walking with something in it so that she wouldn’ t waddle.

Bang. Bang.

Aura opened the door to the runner. “Hey, Wallace.”



After the initial wave of questions about where Aura came from and if she was new to the trade, the carriage ride consisted of the girls fixing each other's make up, trading jewelry, and passing around a bottle of rum. They were kind and warm, not at all what she expected, and it temporarily suppressed the anxiety that bubbled back up in her throat as they reached the end of Loor’s driveway.

It was just as it was described. A castle out of a story book, with intricate stone walls and tall, bowing trees surrounding it like a wall. Pogo - a muscular, dark-skinned man with a handsome face and piercing eyes - hopped out first and helped each woman down until they were all gathered in a semi-circle around him.

“You ladies know what to do, go on.”

The girls giggled and hollered. A gig like this would pay them all handsomely.

“Aura,” Pogo addressed her quietly, closing the gap between them. “Loor usually starts having his fun about an hour into the party. Don’t talk to any men before that for too long, or they’ll snatch you for themselves. The bartender knows to spike his drink at about 9:30, then he should be out by 10:15pm. Once you get what you came for, come back to one of the carriages and tell the driver, ‘The crow cries at red skies.”’

Aura cocked her head to the side at the phrase, and Pogo chuckled.

“It’s code. He’ll take you back into F after that. Gregor wants you at Mae’s to deliver as soon as you get back. Got it?”

She nodded as she fidgeted with her dress. “Yes, sir.”

“You look fine, honey. Go ahead.”

Walking into the house felt like a dream. The walls were either painted gold, or had intricate patterns and murals painted on them. A harpist sat in a corner playing music, a heavenly sound that made Aura’s skin tingle for a moment. About a hundred people laughed and danced in the hall, and she smiled politely at those who cared to look at her as she made her way to the bar she spotted in the back.

It pained her to realize, but she hadn’t stopped looking for Kieran since the moment she arrived, and she started to lose hope the longer and longer it took for her to spot him.

Aura finally arrived at the bar at the back of the house, but she froze in her tracks once she spotted the crashing waves out the window. The beach. It was all Aura had dreamed about for years. A fantasy of her splashing in the water, the salt on her skin, the warm sun -

“Are you Aura?” The bartender asked, snapping her back into reality.

“Yes.”

He winked back at her, letting her know that he’d be the one spiking Loor’s drink. “What are you having?”

“Rum, please.”

“You want ice?”

Aura was taken aback at the question. It had been years since she had ice in a drink. Her eyes widened with excitement. “Yes, please.”

He smirked and slid the drink towards her, and Aura thanked him for the drink, and the service he’d provide later in the night.

As Aura turned around, she collided with a body, and some of her rum spilled onto the person’s shirt. Great. She was dead already.

“I’m so sorry,” she groaned, but as she looked up, she saw the face she’d been waiting for. “Kieran, I…why do we always meet like this?” A smirk tugged at her lips as she dabbed his shirt with the napkin the bartender gave her, her eyes swiveling around to make sure no one was taking note of their interaction.

“Hate to say it, but you clean up nice."

Kieran tensed up at Aura’s rebuke. Perhaps it had been simply what had run through his mind before he had spoken, or maybe it had been how quickly she had decided to dismiss him. His eyes narrowed and his lips pursed, but he did not respond.

How could she think things are so simple? He wondered. Thankfully, she seemed as eager to change the subject as he was, so he watched as she produced a paper and began to draw out what she knew about Loor’s house.

As she did, things seemed less hopeful. A house on the sea provided scant methods of escape. He weighed the various considerations in his mind--trying his best to extrapolate what he could from Aura’s drawing and descriptions. No sea escape could be feasibly pulled off without the express help of the AA--something he wasn’t even sure at this point if he wanted. Sure, he could ask for a boat to be placed, but tipping his hand too much would likely cause AA to try to crack down on this resistance far too early. Jeopardizing his deal with Aura and likely causing the resistance movement to slink back into the shadows in the process.

Not to mention Aura’s group would likely slaughter her in the process.

They needed a means of pleasing both sides without tipping the other of what was happening. AA needed to feel like progress was being made, and those in Atlantic needed to feel like they received valuable information. Enough to ensure they take bigger risks. Bigger leaps. Expose themselves to AA.

And when the two groups fought, perhaps then was the chance to escape via the chaos.

There was no honor in it, really. Kieran knew that and grew more and more uncomfortable with his prospects with each passing day. But what other choice did they have?

As 11 struck, he looked to Aura. “I’ll do what I can about the laptop. But you won’t have to do anything to Loor. That’s a fucking promise.”



Long after Aura left Kieran still found himself wandering the streets near The Square.

He simply couldn’t sleep. Perhaps it was the few hours he had received or the fact that the cold, concrete bunker he had found himself in earlier seemed constraining, but in either case, he doubted he’d get more than an hour or so. Not enough to be worth it.

Past curfew, Apex was almost entirely a ghost town.

In other districts, he may be more inclined to be careful outside. The more overzealous enforcers would likely tackle first and ask questions later, but here in The Square, he was well-known.

He walked past one or two enforcers per street--each giving a small nod of approval as they continued their rounds.

To see the town in this light was a privilege in and of itself. Kieran was free to roam the streets at night--not to live in fear of Apex itself swallowing you up in the darkness.

It was a luxury few had. Certainly not Aura, nor any of those she cared for back at home.

As he wandered, something seemed almost to bite at his mind. A pang sent him towards the nearest train. He approached the window; flashing his stamp to the night guard.

“I need to get to subsection A.”

“You’ll need more than that to get a ride at this hour,” the man behind the counter said. He gave a wry smile--he seemed to enjoy telling Kieran to get lost.

But that smile soon faded as Kieran produced his black seal, and spoke barely above a whisper:

“Monacle.”



As Kieran’s train approached subsection A, there was a noticeable difference in light.

Out here at night, aside from the city streets, many in the poorer districts relied on little more than candles and perhaps some solar hanging lights discovered from before the Blight. Yet here, luminescence poured through the windows of the train long before it came to a stop at Gateway Station.

Stepping out of the car, Kieran was immediately assaulted with stimuli.

While he was the only one aboard his station, he stood across the train platform from several loud, boisterous party-goers awaiting a train. Dressed to the nines, this group of about a dozen people shone with a sort of cleanliness Kieran had rarely seen before. Brilliantly groomed hair. Tailored clothes. Tight ties and black pumps. This group seemed to be a history book sprung to life.

It was the type of person Kieran was led to believe was commonplace before the Blight. Happy, smiling people, full of life. Expressing themselves in art. Working from computers, not with their hands. And perhaps prescient of all, drawing out the night with expensive meals and neon drinks.

”They made music. They made art. They made games for the rest of us to enjoy.”

Aura’s works banged through his head, but he quickly moved forward. There was work to do here.

He stepped off of the platform and into a crowd of people filling the road. His eyes burned by the lights out here--every street lamp was brilliantly cold in its electric burn. People seemed to mill about, paying little attention to Kieran, as he deftly navigated down the street and towards the sea.

As he moved, he brushed past people left and right--his nose assaulted by the chemical stench of their perfumes. And as he did so, he noticed they recoiled similarly to him--their noses lifted and their eyes averting. Perhaps they felt the same way about his scent as he about theirs.

Here, the retrograde buildings had been repaired well and built upon. Above him, colossuses of buildings rose seemingly into the infinite. The night sky was blotted out by the light, the structures, and the excess.

Was all the world this mad before the Blight?

He pressed on--still--moving towards what he had known to be the sea. After another half-hour and a tip from a local Enforcer, he was able to find it.

Loor’s estate.

The structure was massive, as Aura had said. Tall columns lined the front door. Luxurious cars lined the long and wooded driveway--strangely enough in subsection A, people used the roads for driving, not just for walking.

A party seemed to be going on here, even tonight. As Kieran walked alongside the road and towards the next home, he looked down and over to what seemed to be a basement.

And a door, underneath the long, wraparound deck that lined the back of the home.

Looking around, he could see that the others nearby--the wealth of subsection A--had been paying him little attention. In fact, aside from their dismissal at his bumping into them, he had noticed that very few people had even turned an eye his way.

At first, he thought perhaps it was due to the darkness of his clothes, hair, and beard. But the more he thought, the more he realized--he was clearly a working man. Part of the fabric of the town, but not a resident of it. He suddenly felt no more or less important than the bars they frequented, or the roads they stepped on as they walked past.

Perhaps he could use this to his own advantage.

Double-checking that no one looked his way, Kieran moved through the yard of the neighboring home and towards this back door. As he approached, he could see more clearly what it led to.

Little more than a few feet from the door, against the hill towards the front of the home, was a hatch.

Some sort of escape, it seemed.

He approached, trying his best not to attract the attention of those above him on the deck. As he moved under the deck, he was forced to blink several times.

Above him, the shuffling and raucous noise of the party was sifting dirt through the cracks of the deck and down towards him. Kieran tried to pay it no mind as he approached the hatch built into the side of the hill.

It opened easily and fairly silently--it seemed this hatch had been well-maintained. Inside, and with the help of a flashlight, Kieran continued on.

The path here was all concrete, lining the floors, walls, and ceiling. On the ground, small gaps in the flooring allowed stagnant water to flow down grates and likely towards the sea.

The path here curved a bit, first downward, then to the right and towards the south. As he continued, the sounds of the party faded into oblivion.

It was another ten minutes of walking before the pathway finally seemed to join with another. Here, a single bronze arrow, bolted into the concrete, pointed in one direction. The other way, Kieran assumed, was to another home.

He moved quickly now--as the pathway joined with other, and more bronze arrows led the way. Eventually, the path curved upward, and Kieran was faced with another familiar hatch.

He opened it carefully.

Out here, the air seemed to breathe a saltier tinge than before. His boots stepped out onto wet sand.

Behind him, flush with the hatch, was a tall, towering ridge, and behind it, Apex itself. Ahead was a short shoreline, and then the sea.

To the right seemed to be more shoreline, but to the left, just a few feet down, was a massive boardwalk extended out towards the sea. A retrograde construction by the looks of it, as the building atop dipped and sagged. In some places, the boardwalk had opened up a hole and sucked much of the building in with it.

But underneath, several motorized boats sat in waiting.

An escape.



Kieran had spent the rest of the night--as well as the following morning and afternoon--thinking on his plan. If he could just find a way to get Aura down through that basement, and over to the hatch, they were home free. He could easily sail back to Port Apex, where the port boys would easily cover for him and the two could hide in his own home. Perhaps not the wisest of places, but it was an easy out.

Perhaps, too easy. Finding a way to get out of that party was going to be the hard part.

He had spent much of the day, aside from his thoughts, attending to his appearance. He was able to find a good barber in The Square that had electric clippers, ensuring his beard and hair were well-trimmed. He bathed--twice, actually--first in the sea, then in the communal showers of the local Apex Enforcer precinct. A strange explanation to the men at first, but a necessary move--as Enforcers had access to the electric tools and perfumes he’d need to clean up and look the part.

As he had left, he pulled an Enforcer aside. He flashed his black seal, spoke his codework, and put in his request:

“I need to be on the guestlist for Gerald Loor’s party tonight. My number is #3B149. Put me down as security. And I’ll need their outfits as well.”

“Christ, you’re going in deep,” the Enforcer replied. “I can do it, but this must be a pretty big score for Apex to have you fucking around at Loor’s place.”

“It is, trust me,” Kieran had smirked back. “Fucking traitors won’t know what hit them.”

He felt a pang in his chest as he lied to the officer. He tried not to show it on his face.

“Just don’t fuck up, okay?” the enforcer continued as he jotted down Kieran’s request in a notebook. “No black seal is going to save you from Loor’s wrath if you cross him.”



Adorned in an all-black tuxedo (standard for Loor’s bodyguards), Kieran had taken a car of all rides to the party. After arriving in subsection A, he had been pulled aside by an Enforcer and given his change of clothes.

From there, he had been put into a larger car (perhaps they were called vans?) with the other bodyguards and driven to the party.

He exchanged pleasantries with the other bodyguards, who hardly knew each other to begin with. As it turned out, Loor hired various bodyguards for security. It was common for them not to know each other, much to Kieran’s benefit.

So he sat and waited--trying not to be nauseated by the incredibly fast speed of the car. It seemed also like a dream, being in one of these. How strange and how privileged people had been before the Blight.

Once they arrived, they were instructed by their driver to fan out--keep an eye out for all of those who looked out of place, and compare them to the guest lists they had been provided. Throughout his entire spiel, Kieran tried not to pick at the tie that threatened to choke him.

For someone who wanted to get to subsection A, it certainly hadn’t been pleasing for him thus far.

Entering the party, the opulence only seemed to continue. Kieran made for the bar and immediately got himself a simple drink. He downed it quickly to cool his nerves as he eyed the place up and down. Trying not to focus too heavily on the murals and marble that adorned the mansion, his eyes wandered for Aura.

As he looked, he thought through his plan: scope out the basement and identify the way out. Ensure Loor never figured out he had been duped. Ensure the Cause received either the laptop or something very valuable and don’t expect Aura of any wrongdoing. Ensure Apex felt like Kieran had gained valuable information on the Cause.

And above all, protect Aura.

It was a tall order, and everything needed to go write.

And almost as an affront to that immediate thought, he felt a cold drink pour down his front.

He looked down to see Aura--already wiping at his shirt, looking up and recognizing him.

She was beautiful.

He immediately felt bad that his first thought had been of her beauty, but it truly was the first thing that had crossed his mind. Her black dress and plum eyes shone a different side of Aura than the one that had kidnapped him just two days prior. But based on her frantic cleaning, it was clear that it was still Aura after all. He couldn’t help but smile at her as she tried fixing his shirt.

“You look beautiful,” he said in response to her, already blushing at his bluntness. “You cleaned up better than I did.”

He quickly continued on, speaking in a hushed tone after ensuring no one was nearby: “Any eyes on Loor?”

He wanted to blurt out much more of his plan--of the basement, the hatch, and the means to get her out of there, but first thing was first.

Loor, and that damned laptop.

”Any eyes on Loor?”

Kieran’s question immediately caused the flirtation mood to dissipate, reminding Aura why they were there in the first place. It wasn’t a magical night in a fairytale world - there was shit to do.

“Not yet,” she sighed as she took a step back from him and peered around the room, cheeks flushed.

Aura desperately wanted to discuss their plan both to solidify what would happen and to give her a sense of security, but it’d be stupid to go into detail now. “Should be any second now.” she whispered sternly, her eyes meeting his once more. “The girls get to come down and enjoy the party once they’re done. I shouldn’t be more than an hour.”

Before they could continue further, the crowd of people began to cheer as Loor came down the enormous, curved staircase with his arms extended towards his party. Once reaching the bottom, the round, red-faced man began greeting his guests as he worked his way towards the bar, and them. Aura shot a look to Kieran briefly before she felt a large hang grip her frail arm.

“And who are you?” Loor seemed to growl, swiveling Aura’s body to face him. “Are you one of Pogo’s girls? Here for the party?”

Aura gulped and nodded. “Y-yes, sir. I’m Sada.”

“Good,” he chuckled, his eyes glowing. “You’ll be with me tonight.”

No matter how much Aura had started to hate Gregor, she’d have to admit. The man was always right.

Loor dragged her with him to the bar, and as Aura watched him down his first beverage, she mumbled a brief prayer that whatever the bartender spiked his drink with would be strong enough to knock him out cold.



After being dragged about for half an hour acting as Loor’s arm candy, the man finally grew impatient, and he led Aura up that same staircase, down a winding hallway. It seemed as though Loor could sense her hesitation, as he’d pull her harder each time her pace slowed. The only thing she could hear over the pounding of her heartbeat in her ears was his heavy breathing and the occasional giggle from the rooms they passed.

After some fidgeting, Loor got his door unlocked and revealed a spacious, dark room, complete with the biggest bed Aura had ever seen, a desk in the corner, and on it, the laptop closed in its center. You’re so close.

“Alright, now,” Loor grunted as he plopped down at the edge of his bed, loosening his tie as his eyes remained on her. “Take if off, Sada.”

Aura froze in her tracks, and her knees trembled.

“Are you deaf? Now,” he instructed again, this time the boom of his voice causing her to flinch.

As slowly as she could to buy time, Aura approached him. Her hand then went up to one of the straps of her dress and let it fall down her shoulder. Then, the next. Why isn’t he out yet? She took another step forward and let the dress fall down her body and pool around her feet, her eyes remaining on the floor .

“Ahhh,” Loor sighed. “Beautiful. Pogo hasn’t fed you much yet I see.” Once again, he grabbed Aura’s arm and pulled her closer, his hot breath bouncing off her skin. Aura wanted to scream.

“You’re going to do exactly what I… you’re going… exactly…”

Perking up, she looked up at the man whose eyes were now rolling to the back of his head. Frozen, Aura watched as the man fell back into the bed, refusing to move until she heard a snore escape him.

“Fuck,” she whispered to herself sharply after taking her first deep breath in minutes. It worked. All she had to do now was grab the laptop, shove it in her dress, and sneak back downstairs like nothing ever happened.

Aura, still naked, darted to the desk and scanned its contents. The laptop, paperwork skewed about, a stone globe on the corner, and some candies in a round, glass dish. She reached a hand out and let it settle on the laptop, it’s cold exterior sending a chill through her. After working up some courage, Aura lifted it from the desk, but a wire that was attached to it wrapped around the stone globe, causing it to tip off the desk and onto her foot.

It took all her strength not to scream out, and instead, she squeezed her eyes shut and waited in the dark, silent room. No sound from the other side of the room. A look behind her confirmed that Loor was still on his back. After leaning down and putting the globe back on the desk, her focus turned back to the laptop, which she grabbed with both hands tightly and turned around to -

“What the fuck do you think your doing?” Loor grumbled, swaying in front of her.

“I-I-”

Loor grabbed her throat and threw her to the ground, her body hitting the wooden floor with a thump. As she was scrambling to get up, he wove her fingers through her hair and yanked her up.

“Put down the computer.”

Reluctantly, Aura set the laptop down on the desk behind her, and her body shook violently. There were many times before where she thought she may die, but they all paled in comparison to now. Her chances of getting out of this without being killed by either the AA or Loor himself were dwindling by the second.

“Please -”

Smack. His hand connected with her cheek, and she yelped.

“You’re gonna pay for this.”

His other hand now moved to her throat, and Loor squeezed ferociously, keeping any blood or breath to pass through. This was it. Aura was going to die in this pig’s room, cremated by the AA and forgotten by the next season. Everything had been for nothing.

As she felt herself grow weaker, her desperation to survive began to kick in, adrenaline making up for the oxygen she was lacking. The globe.

Loor, only paying attention to her face as she turned purple, failed to see her arm reach behind her, and within moments, he was on the floor, his lifeless eyes wide open and blood pouring from the side of his head.

Aura collapsed, gasping for air and making sense of what just happened. If she was going to get away, she’d need to go now.

Once dressed with the laptop secure between her legs, Aura slipped out of the room and closed the door behind her. The hallway was still clear, and she didn’t hesitate to sprint down it until she reached the top of the staircase, where she straightened her dress and positioned her hair around her neck which was undoubtedly bruised and red.

Being as poised as she could, she descended the staircase and searched frantically for Kieran’s face. It was only a minute before he was spotted, right where she said to wait, unaware of how bad she had just fucked up.

“We need to go now.”

More than an hour, Kieran repeated to himself in his mind the moment the words came from Aura. Be concerned if it takes more than an hour.

Kieran wanted to ask more, but he--like Aura--found himself quickly interrupted by the particularly rotund figure making his way down the spiral staircase.

Loor. Scarlet red in the face from heavy intoxication, the man was known to have quite the binary personality. Getting on his bad sign was typically someone’s final, fatal mistake.

As he locked eyes with Aura, he made himself scarce; ensuring his back faced away from Loor and Aura and towards the rest of the party-going crowd. He was security, after all. And yet, he couldn’t help but feel remorse as he turned away from her.

His job was to protect her. Or rather, to ensure he honored his promise to her. And, his job was to foil the plot of her organization. And, the escape Apex once and for all.

This evening yielded several layers of difficulty in ensuring his goals were met. What had happened so fast as to make him involved in so much espionage? This was not his world. Yet here he was.

Watching, as Loor with Aura in loose tow made his way to the bar.

Taking the opportunity to break away, he did so.



Kieran kept a close but distant eye on Aura throughout the evening as he mingled about the festivities. He was able to snag a drink as he did so, after spotting several guards doing the same. Monkey see, monkey do.

Sometime soon after Loor began supplying himself and Aura with booze, he slid upstairs--hoping to scope out the rooms from which the man had come.

It was a risky venture, of course--he was relying on Loor to take his time socializing before retiring with Aura. But he found himself ducking into the hallway anyways, counting the seconds he was gone as he went. One, two, three...

In here, stationed guards waited outside many of the doors that adorned the curved hallways. Here the sounds of sex were thick in the air, as the men of bureaucracy and their unwilling paramours engaged in a fetid communion.

Kieran grew nauseous as he continued his search for tells and giveaways. And as fate had it, he found his man.

Or his room, rather.

Loor’s door was a double-wide, guarded by a man that Kieran hadn’t arrived with who armed himself with a small pistol brandished freely in a loose palm.

Kieran gave a nod as he passed forward into the restroom at the end of the hall. This man was very likely Loor’s and Loor’s alone. Purchased exclusively, and loyal to no one else.

As he waited in the restroom for what felt as if it were the appropriate time, he began to think of some sort of plan to clear this hallway. The number of guards just wasn’t going to work. He could use his credentials to clear most of the men, but Loor’s man? He wasn’t going to move. He needed clearing out in a way that wasn’t going to be fun.

As he thought, three loud raps came upon the door.

“This bathroom is for guests only,” came a surprisingly tenor-toned voice. “Go to the basement if you need it. Come on!”

Kieran froze, then waited, then anxiously waited. This opportunity may have benefited him.

“I’m sorry,” he called out in a nasal tone, trying what he could to sound bashful. “I’ve got a, uh... well I seem to have made a bit of a mess.”

A long silence. Then--

“The fuck do you mean, a mess?”

The door burst open then--left purposely unlocked by Kieran.

“You see, it’s right over here--” he started, moving the guard behind him and closing the door.

As soon as it did, Kieran took his shot. He punched--hard and fast--directly at the back of the man’s neck. He had one shot at this, and it seemed to have paid off.

The man left out a soft ’guh’ sort of noise as his legs buckled beneath him. He had clearly been concussed by his blow, and likely partially paralyzed as well.

Kieran didn’t take any chances. He punched just as hard again at the spot, then grabbed at the man and lowered him gently. He tried not to think too hard about what he had just done.

He took the pistol from the limp man, opened the door, and locked it from the inside before closing it up again. He took a few steps towards the remaining guards, before pulling out a black seal.

“I’m gonna need this hallway cleared if that’s alright.”



Kieran waited at the foot of the staircase after Aura and Loor had made their way upstairs. The night had already turned sour--as far too many people had needed his black seal for him to be able to get past. Not to mention the loose end currently unconscious or worse in the bathroom upstairs.

The more he waited, the more he feared that the man still lived. But then again, few had taken that serious of a blow to the head and survived.

He simply needed to hope for the unthinkable.

And as he did, he heard rushed footsteps beating down the staircase. He had little time to turn before he saw Aura.

His eyes quickly scanned her up and down. He had no need to ask how it had gone. It was loud enough for all the party to see.

We need to go now.

“Come on,” he said, taking her by the arm and pulling her towards the staircase. They brushed past guests and quickly made their way to the basement door.

As he opened the door, he heard footsteps above them, on the second-floor staircase, making their way down just moments after him.

”Fuck me,” he spat out. “This way.”

He and Aura fled quickly down the lower stairs into the basement. Here, he desperately peered down the hallways in search of their absolution--the door outside to the tunnel beneath the earth.

But all he could see were more doors and more halls each way he went.

He could feel Aura just behind him, knowing he needed to think fast. But before he could, the door above them to the ground level slammed shut.

At the top of the stairs, the guard from the bathroom stood.

“Get behind me,” he said to Aura. The moment she was out of his path, he bolted up the stairs as the guard bolted down towards him.

The two locked arms at their halfway point. The guard thrust an uppercut Kieran’s way, only to meet the concrete lining the staircase walls. He yelped in pain--covered by the pulsing sounds of the music above.

Kieran moved next, lifting a knee to pelt the man below the belt. The guard saw it coming--clasping both his hands together in a tight fist and slamming it down on Kieran’s head.

He stumbled back a few steps, before taking a second blow to the face, before losing his balance and tumbling the rest of the way down. Sharp, stabbing pain pelted Kieran along his legs, side, and left arm. Thankfully, he had taken no further hits to his head as he fell.

He rose to his feet just as the guard finished coming down the stairs. He took a wide stance, driving his left shoulder in the man and lifting him in the air. As he did, he grabbed at the man’s thighs and drove down--swinging the guard’s head like a pendulum into the corner of the sharp, concrete stair behind him.

A sickening crunch erupted from the man’s head, and blood soon after that. Kieran stood over the man, before lifting a foot and stomping down--ensuring the guard wouldn’t follow them this time.

He took three sharp, deep breaths, catching himself, before turning to Aura. In his adrenaline, he wasn’t sure if she was terrified, relieved, both, or neither.

All he knew now was to run.

He sprinted down the longest hallway towards what seemed the be the heaviest door. It ripped open easily, and a cold gust of air told Kieran that he had succeeded on his first try.

He motioned for Aura to follow, and as soon as the two were outside, he shut the door behind them.

Above them, they could hear the murmur of commotion. The party was beginning to become aware of what had just happened to Loor. No more time could be wasted.

“In here,” Kieran spoke harshly, just above a whisper, and the two disappeared into the tunnels below.

What happened next felt both like a whirlwind and a blur, and Aura focused all of her energy on taking Kieran’s lead… well that, and trying not to puke. Though it wasn’t the first time she killed someone, it had never been so close, and especially by hand. When the cause shot their guns from strategic positions on rooftops, Aura convinced herself it was a game. That none of it was real. The shock from this time, however, left her skin tingling, her eyes teary, and her stomach twisting.

Once in the basement, the warm, moist air allowed a moment of relief although short-lived. Feeling useless, all Aura could do was watch as the man, seemingly a guard, and Kieran tussled, eventually leading to the guard’s skull to split. Better his than Kieran’s.

Without a word, she followed him down a corridor and through another door, every so often checking behind her to make sure no one else had followed them. The foot the globe fell on began to throb with every step, but there was no time to complain.

”In here.”

With a deep breath and a nod, Aura followed him into what appeared to be a network of tunnels under Loor’s house illuminated by dim lights dotted along the ceiling. At this point, she ditched the heels one of Pogo’s girls had lent her and held them tightly, picking up speed behind Kieran who seemed to already know the tunnel system like the back of his hand. ”How?”

Once it felt safe, Aura - through ragged breath - began to explain. “I killed him,” she whispered. “Loor.” Another few breaths. “He was gonna kill me...I-I panicked.” More breathing. “I can’t go back to Unity. The AA will execute me. I -”

They approached a door at the end of the tunnel, one with a circular handle and a small, round window that protruded outward like a fish eye. A hatch. Her faith in Kieran and getting her to safety was growing by the second.

Once opening it, they were out on the beach. The wet sand sunk between her toes, and the wind whipped her hair and dress around, and for a second, memories of the beach with her mother flashed through her.

”Aura, watch out for the rocks!” her mother called from up on the sand. “I only half a ten minute break, and I can’t bring you back to Mrs. Ruther’s all bloody.”

An eleven year old Aura waded through the water, the pants that were a few sizes too large bunched up in her hands. The sun shined brightly, and the warm feeling made her wonder if that’s what the bread felt like in the community kitchen as it baked over the fire.

“Let’s go, Aura!’

“Aw, five more minutes?” Aura pleaded, swiveling around abruptly to give her mother a pathetic expression.

Chuckling, she nodded. “Five more minutes.”

The memory made tears begin to trickle down Aura’s cheeks, which she quickly swept away while Kieran was looking the other direction. It had been years since she saw the ocean, but she never imagined it would happen like this.

Not a minute later, they were traveling down a dilapidated boardwalk, testing each step with their toes before trusting the wooden planks beneath them. Aura looked back to see small figures in black swarming around Loor’s house, scanning the backyard before they presumably searched the shore.

“They’re looking, Kieran,” she whispered, moving as quickly she could. “Where are we going?”

That’s when she saw the boats through a large hole in the boardwalk that had collapsed with age. “That’s where we’re going?”

Kieran's eyes blurred in brilliant displays of light and darkness.

He stormed through the tunnels beneath the hills of subsection A--Aura keeping pace as they sprinted.

Their gait was hurried and pained--their breaths ripping, gasping in the air and sending hollow echoes throughout as they ran.

The boat. Kieran thought, over and over again. We have to get to the boat.

"I can't go back to Unity!" Aura explained. Loor was dead. The words crushed into Kieran though he had known their truth for the past several minutes.

This plan had gone all sorts of sideways. The laptop--should Aura even have it, as the past few minutes had been a blur--was their only salvation. How was he to explain to AA what had happened? If Aura couldn't go back to Unity, what could he even accomplish to get them both in better standing in AA?

Right now, the time for rumination was far from where they were--running like animals from what would likely be a mob of police and resistance.

Kieran pushed past the hatch and dumped them on the beach. Suddenly, all of the noise and the chaos of the party bled away into the night. Here the salt air sliced through the silence like a tempest calm. And suddenly, all was still.

Kieran huffed and puffed--trying to catch his breath. Beside and behind him, Aura seemed similarly lost in thought. A momentary glance to her concerned him, given the emotion on her face, but he gave it no mind.

They both were murderers, this night. There was little to be done about that. He could ask her later how a shoreline could be so moving.

He led them forward--slower now, gently--across the retrograde boardwalk. Towards the ragged boats around and beneath. Out here the full moon shone upon the shores of this vast sea so much that the distant, cragged peaks of distant mountains shone themselves even now.

All he wanted in this moment was to leave. To take Aura far, far away from whatever fetid mess they had created tonight and to start something new. But he knew things may be more complex than that. They always were.

"That's where we're going," he responded in kind to her question. He figured she wouldn't be so impressed, but what else was there to do in light of what had happened? Escape via the streets was one thing, but after Loor's death? These consequences would be felt for long after they had escaped.

Or been killed.

Looking for construction and engineering he could recognize, Kieran spotted a larger boat with twin hulls. A catamaran, to be exact. This sort of boat had what he wanted--a sturdier engine he could possibly start with siphoned fuel, and a lower storage and cabin area to hide in should AA come around.

"Here," Kieran said, helping Aura down to the top of the boat. He took a few takes around the area before letting his guard down--wasting no time and moving to the stern and opening the engine compartment.

"These retrograde engines have held up better than you'd have expected," he explained to her as he took a look at the block. He felt alongside the walls of the inner compartment, leaning into it and feeling for bumps. "The batteries die, of course, but a lot of the time the people who owned these had these jumpers that held up hundreds of years. They thought it would have them if they were abandoned at sea, but for us," he continued, "it works out long after they're gone."

As he talked and explained, he couldn't help but think of the last time he had been on a boat like this. In Port Apex, with the port boys and him looking around abandoned retrograde models for booze or something better. He spent much of his adolescence like that--drinking with the others, messing with engine parts, without a care in the world so long as they were back before the morning...

He shook the thought from his head and kept making adjustments to the engine block. "I know you probably had the best reason in the world to kill Loor. In fact, I'm pretty fucking sure of it." He found a bolt holding the ignition assembly and began to loosen it.

"Though honestly, I'm not sure where we go from here because of it."

He looked to Aura--unsure of her eyes but knowing his shone little more than the truth. He could get the boat moving, sure, but then what?

"I'm not sure what we do from here."

"I'm not sure what we do from here."

Getting lost in thought looking around the boat, Aura was snapped back to reality with his statement.

"Bring me to your place. I'll, uh, I'll get a runner to bring the laptop to Gregor. Last thing I need is the AA and the cause looking for me." She began to pace around the boat, every now and then stumbling from the small waves beneath them lapping against the dock. "All they knew at the party was that I was a girl named Sada with long, black hair. I'll...I'll cut it. Bleach it with some cleaner and..."

Aura looked to Kieran, obviously desperate and reeling from the events that had just taken place.

"Please, if you could just hide me for a bit, we could figure it out from there. I'll lay low. No one will ever know I'm there, just...please." Her voice shook which pissed her off more than anything. She was stronger than this. Smarter than this. She should have just let Loor do what he wanted and told Gregor that she couldn't get the lap top. Now, she was at the mercy of Kieran, who could easily turn her in to the AA without a second thought.

Aura plopped down on a cushion and let her foot rest above her, already able to see the black bruise and blood pooling on the top of it. Tears came again, but she held her head down and quickly wiped them with her hands, but it only mixed with Loor's blood dried on her hands.

"Fuck," she mumbled before throwing herself to the side of the boat and puked. Once done, Aura caught a reflection of herself in the metallic trim, and in its warped picture, she could see Loor's blood was now smeared across her cheeks. "No, no," she whispered sharply, running to the other side of the boat, leaning over its edge until it was only her legs inside, and dunked her head into the icy water, scrubbing her face and arms vigorously until she was sure no blood was lingering. With a gasp, she brought herself back over the edge and into the boat, and searched the cabinets until she found a scratchy blanket to wrap around herself. Once situated back onto the cushion, Aura brought a finger to her face again, relieved to only see the running black coal that she'd lined her eyes with.

"So, what do you say? It'd only be for a few days."

Kieran tried his best to keep his eyes from bulging out of his head once he realized what Aura was trying to suggest.

’You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,’ he thought to himself. His mind raced to think of how he could best sneak her into Port Apex, and the very thought gave him sharp pangs of anxiety. He’d had to get past the Port Boys, which was going to be an issue all on its own with how shitty the men of the port could be, but even beyond that, beyond paying off anyone who saw them, he couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.

His home was terrible. An amalgamation of whatever he could find within a few containers. Nothing even close to creature comforts.

But...he knew they had to do it.

After the party, “Sada” was going to be public enemy number #1. And he knew that he would need to contact AA before they tracked him down themselves, endangering them both. Tonight and tomorrow he would spend the time sorting out a cover story and next steps.

But for now, there was a more pressing problem. He needed to get them out of here, and quickly.

He watched as Aura turned to hurl over the boat and wrap herself up. He tried not to watch too closely. It was uncomfortable, watching someone unravel. But he knew he would have done the same had he been in her position. She was now a fugitive, and he needed to do what he could to protect her.

So, instead of watching, he occupied himself with the engine block. Taking the jumpers and making a few adjustments, he pulled hard on the pull cord, once, then twice, then--

WHIRRRRRRRRRR

The engine roared fiercely into the night, before settling to idle at a lower speed. He could feel the boast jostle beneath them--a good sign--and knew that the engine was moving the propeller.

They were mobile.

“So, what do you say? It’d only be for a few days.”

He turned away from the engine block and back to her.

“Until we know what the fallout is from this, I agree. You need to lay low. Let's get moving."

--

Kieran occupied himself with the rudder as the boat buoyed and bounced its way through the choppy waters of the sound. Above them, moonlight reflected several-fold. As Kieran took a wide berth away from the shores of Apex, the light meant that the two could see all of Apex in this one, simple light.

The city looked more dead than alive out here. The towering retrograde buildings in the heart of downtown had half-fallen--leaving jagged peaks and imposing pikes to rise from the earth. Even still, behind the city, he could see the distant peaks of a more natural kind.

The mountains that surrounded and seemed to consume Apex. Cutting it off from...whatever it may be beyond.

“My Dad told me once that our family had come from the other side of those mountains,” he thought aloud. “I wonder what’s there now...”

He glanced to Aura before quickly realizing those thoughts had been said aloud and turned away to avoid discussing it further.

Luckily, the port was quickly approaching, and it was time to get ashore.

Once a few hundred feet from shore, Kieran killed the engine and let the ship slowly float towards one of the many deserted docks on the north end of Port Apex. He knew that in the shadows, many of the Port Boys and others would likely be watching. Tomorrow, he’d have to venture out to see who knew what, who and told whom.

Once the ship docked, he helped Aura off of the boat and onto the rocky shoreline. As he did, he could see her injured foot--and it wasn’t looking great.

“Here,” he said, moving to her opposite side, “don’t put much weight on it.” He slipped an arm around her and helped her cross the short walk to his home a few hundred feet down the shore.

He opened the door to reveal the same home he had known for years--spacious enough, given it was four shipping containers connected together, yet still small enough to where the entire space could fit in a single field of vision.

He helped Aura to the bed--a rather large tarp over makeshift betting and some blankets pawned off from a client--and moved to the furnace.

“Sorry for the mess,” he said quietly, Why did he feel so embarrassed? He quickly started a fire and warmed up the cold space, before moving to his water tank and pulling together two pints of water. He brought one over to Aura.

“It’s not much of a place, but I made it myself,” he continued. “It may not be all that grand, but it’s home.”

He sat down on the floor a few feet away--a comfortable conversing distance, plus, he had no real seating in here other than the bed--and finally, took a deep breath.

They were safe, for now.

“We should get something for that foot,” he noted. Kieran was quickly beginning to realize he had a good deal of anxiety brewing in his chest. Strangers came and went--and he was very comfortable conversing with a whole host of them throughout a day. But Aura was much more than that at this point.

And he hadn’t spoken with anyone he actually cared about in years, and now, suddenly, he and Aura were bound together. It had happened so quickly he hadn't realized how quickly he had come to trust her.

He suddenly felt aware of the fact and tried not to think on it too much.

“And I’ll see what clean clothes I have that’ll fit.”

He felt another pang of anxiety. Perhaps if he could focus on fixing whatever issue was in front of them, it would go away.

Still, it was a nice feeling, in a way. Maybe these next few days wouldn’t be so bad after all.

After offering a nod of gratitude at Kieran for accepting her plea, their impromptu boat ride began and remained in silence for its duration. Kieran, as he should, kept his focus on operating the vessel, allowing Aura a few glances at him in between taking in the scenery - a vast, black sky, peppered generously with twinkling stars and a crescent moon matching the contrast in the white ridges of cresting waves - and pausing to close her eyes and lick the salt spray from her lips.

And what she saw in Kieran both made her feel safe...and terrified.

Since they had met, from Aura kidnapping him to him rescuing her from Loor’s party not a half an hour before, Kieran always remained unreadable. Calm. His confidence in each situation gave off the notion that he was already two steps ahead in his mind, even if his words said otherwise. She could see it in his eyes each time she looked at him.

And Aura’s freedom, her life, was now in his hands.

“My Dad told me once that our family had come from the other side of those mountains.”

Aura’s head snapped to his direction once she’d registered Kieran’s admission, jaw probably hanging. So he’s heard stories of the outside too.

”I wonder what’s there now.”

For the first time in quite a while, a spark of hope arose from deep inside of her, warm in her stomach, and a faint smile tugged at the corners of her lips. It was decided then that, before their agreement came to an end, that she would try to convince him to leave Apex. But, that definitely wasn’t a discussion for an eventful evening like this.



Seeing Kieran play caretaker and host kept a playful smile plastered on her face as she looked around his home, her fingers dancing along the walls as she limped around the place. Before getting too far, he helped her to his bed, and Aura watched in amusement as he bustled around the house to start the fire and bring her water.

As he settled on the floor across from her, Aura worked under her dress until the laptop slid out, and she quickly set it on a table out of her line of vision. She didn’t even want to look at the damn thing.

“A change of clothes sounds lovely,” Aura nodded, her throat hoarse from the evening. “The whole place is, really. I live in F, remember? Relax.” Her eyes found the courage to meet his, but as hot tears began to well back up, she shot her head down to stare into the cup of water instead. “Thank you...for everything.” A shaky breath caused her to pause for just a moment. “He woke up. Saw everything. It was me or him. I didn’t -”

Aura shuddered as the scene replayed in her head.

“Maybe it’s best if I don’t talk about it tonight, then.” Removing a strand of hair from her face, she looked up again to Kieran, this time with a weak smile. “I’m gonna need to find a way to get one of the paid runners to meet me somewhere out here to get this laptop. A-and, I’ll handle my hair tomorrow so I can slip under the radar until we figure out what to do from here. And if I can get Del to get me some of my stuff before they clear out my room.”

Getting an idea, Aura popped up from slouching and shot a devious look to Kieran.

“I am still obligated to hold up my end of the deal. If you have any ale, I’d gladly spill whatever you want to know about the cause. I’m as good as dead to them for now anyway.”

She downed the rest of her water and waved her empty cup above her head.

“What do ya say, mystery man? I don’t think I’ll be falling asleep anytime soon.”

Aura’s bemusement shone clear on her face as he got up to find ice and clean clothes. It was an almost surreal feeling—being more comfortable and at home at Loor’s party, with enemies left and right than here, in his home, with Aura.

”A change of clothes sounds lovely.”

He tried to swallow his anxiety as he found some thick cloth and luckily had a few bits of ice still in his freezer, which he wrapped up. He also found some clean clothes and placed both beside Aura before sitting back down.

As she tried to recount her experience with Loor, Kieran quickly quelled his immediate feelings of rage. How terrible that must have been. What he must have said or done to have placed her in such a position. But this was no time to mention his own thoughts.

Instead, he waited—listened—and nodded his agreement when she suggested they don’t discuss it.

“What matters is he’s dead,” he said briefly, nearly to himself. A complication, sure, but of what use was hindsight now?

“This is my jurisdiction,” Kieran said briefly as Aura made mention of a paid runner. “They’ll be hesitant to come directly here. I have a bit of a reputation for protecting it.”

Kieran thought briefly to a time a subsection B runner came to the docks to try to make a deal with some of the Port Boys. Of course, they told him, and Kieran met up with the runner in a bar about a week later. The poor runner couldn’t see his sucker punch coming from a mile away. Kieran must have knocked out four teeth that night when he was only going for a broken nose.

’His fault,’ he thought to himself. ’Should have seen it coming.’

“I’ll need to hash out my cover story with AA,” Kieran mentioned after Aura spoke of getting some stuff from Del. “After that, I might be able to sort something out with Del and your things.”

Kieran’s somewhat austere face softened somewhat as Aura mentioned their deal. He had almost forgotten about it, given tonight, but the mere mention of alcohol gave him an excuse to calm his nerves a bit. Even if it meant being more honest than he wanted to be.

Although, what was the goal now? With Loor dead and the laptop stolen, and with Aura separated from the rebellion, he had few opportunities to get connected enough to take them down from the inside. Whatever Aura shared now, even if it did take out the rebellion, did he really want to live in subsection A? What was the point of that lifestyle?

Kieran briefly thought of the others living in town. The whispers he had heard about going against the grain when it came to Apex Authority. He had often wondered—when the last leader fell, and the flags came down—who would run Apex then?

He knew that the retrograde name of the city had been something with an “S.” Seaborn? Settler? Perhaps that town would rise again.

Or, perhaps the entire city crumbled. And Kieran would need to go wherever his parents did. South, north, or over the mountains to the east. To whatever was beyond Apex.

But all of that could wait. All of that lay outside the walls of his home. In here, was Aura. And his things.

And a lot of ale.

“Well, if you’re as good as dead to them,” he said, rising from the floor and taking her empty cup, “I suppose it’s time to talk.”

He pulled a second cup from a shelf and filled them both to the brim with a barrel of ale that had been fermenting so long it may have been whisky. The stuff tasted foul, but it did its job nicely. It should serve them well tonight.

He returned and handed her the cup back. He sat, thinking back to the first time they attempted to chat over drinks. If he remembered correctly, Aura had little interest in playing drinking games then.

How much had changed in a few short days.

He drank from his cup—several large glugs of the stuff, enough to burn in his nostrils and bring wetness to his eyes—before lowering it once more. “Let’s not waste any time then,” he said through a choked throat, of his drink and the conversation alike. He cleared his throat, then continued.

“Whatever gets us out of here.”

He thought for a moment after his statement. Did he mean to get them out of the situation with the rebellion? Or Apex itself?

Not even he knew the answer to that one. But he leaned forward and listened anyway.

Aura choked on her first gulp from the cup, the liquid burning her throat, but once getting it down she giggled. “Fuck, that’s bad,” she said before taking another swig and placing it down on the floor next to her feet. Next, she tugged on the long sleeve thermal shirt that Kieran had placed folded on the bed and let the dress shimmy down to her waste. Then, the pants, which she slid underneath the bottom of the dress until she could take off the dress entirely.

Now that she was comfortable, Aura grabbed her cup and curled herself up into a comfortable position, stretching out and analyzing Kieran’s words: ”Whatever gets us out of here.”

The phrase threw her off entirely, and she shifted again on the mattress as she contemplated how to begin.

“Well,” she sighed, rubbing a hand over her face. “As you probably know, Unity was a clan that emerged from…the pathogen.” The stories she’d heard from the old days, before places like Apex existed, scarred her early in her childhood. Everyone growing ill and dying. Bodies piling along streets. The stench of death that spread over miles. Aura shook herself out of the momentary funk and looked up to Kierans with a nod. “Unity had 3 founders: John Morgan, Amari Jefferson, and Leonard Hutchins. It’s said they traveled hundred of miles with one hundred and fifty others until settling into what’s now known as Apex. More specifically, what Subsection F is now.”

Aura took another sip of the cup, the alcohol beginning to creep over her slowly, warming her stomach.

“For a while they thrived off the land and kept to themselves, but more and more stragglers began to join the settlement. Supposedly, the land around here used to be lush. It had a way of making you forget all that you’d gone through, you know? Then, the invasion happened. A group of two or three hundred arrived, and it was only weeks later until the fences went up. Next, they began to divide up the land into our subsections. Unity was shoved furthest away from the coast with promise that the crops would be theirs to tend and feed the lot of them.”

Another sip. Another deep breath.

“The original three didn’t like that. They knew what exactly was happening. They watched A and B get more food, more resources. D and F slowly began to fall behind. Blah blah blah, and now we’re here.”

In a drunken manner, Aura rose from the bed and pointed a finger to Kieran. “The cause was born to fight the caste system. To crumble the borders and let people come and go as they plead. They were told that this was happening everywhere and that they’d need to get used to it. Radio signals stopped working outside of the fences that were littered with the new guard, the AE. But the cause said no. Unity would rise again and escape the grasp of the AA.”

Aura tilted back into the mattress, deflated.
“Over the past hundred years, the cause has turned into a sham. Gregor is bloodthirsty and only wants revenge. I brought up leaving Apex once, and he spit in my face. The original three would be ashamed of what we’ve become.”

After finishing the last of her drink, Aura scurried tipsily to grab the bottle, topping off Kieran before filling her cup halfway.

“I think if we get into the computer, figure out what Gregor really needed, we can stop whatever attack they’re planning next. I need to send it off before he thinks I’ve failed or have been arrested. The guys inside will have the news that I’m not in prison in about two days. Your hilarious and insanely attractive confidential informant and you can take credit for the bust, and we could have tickets to wherever we wanna go.”

If she got on the good side of the AA and didn’t remain anonymous, it’d make her escape that much easier. She didn’t bother mentioning that part to Kieran. Not yet.

“Well then. How about you?” Aura grinned, a spark of excitement flickering in her eyes. “I know you’re Mystery Man and all, but we’re partners in this now whether we like it or not. Why don’t you tell me literally anything about yourself. Your childhood, your parents...anything.”

Kieran listened as intently as he could, but like Aura, the drink in his hand was bad. He could feel himself warming and loosening as she talked. Over the past two days, there hadn’t been a whole lot of time to eat, and he was certainly paying the price for it this evening.

Well, either paying reparations or enjoying the silver lining. That much was yet to be seen.

The history of Unity and the history of Apex itself had been intertwined—as least as far as Kieran had known—but the extent to which that history had been mixed was shocking. The names Aura mentioned—Morgan, Jefferson, Hutchins—were all names he knew. Terms scratched into the walls of transit, murmured in bars, or even on street signs in certain places. To know Apex’s tight control over these settlers and just about everyone post-blight, however, wasn’t much of a surprise.

Kieran was an apolitical person—by nature and by survival instinct. Apex had served as a valuable employer for many years, but in many ways, his culpability within that system had been a true coping mechanism for the things he had born witness to. There were many stories yet untold—betrayals and massacres he had seen from his time with them that kept him up at night and would surely betray the nascent trust he and Aura were building.

Here he was again—rattling off thoughts as he listened, always planning, always theorizing. But there was little left to theorize.

Apex was cruel, malevolent, and oppressive. It was true. Everyone knew it from the top of their leadership down to Honeyman and to himself as well. But for so long, he viewed Apex much how he imagined an insect views a human. What was the point in hating something so powerful and beyond your control? It was best to focus on survival, and if the sky came falling down and the towering force decided to crush you, well, there was little you could do about it. No point in the worry, really.

But what fascinated Kieran most—as Aura finished her story—was the idea of the radio chatter. The voices on the outside. Were they too ruled by their own Apexes, or had they found a different means of survival? Or did they exist at all?

Kieran often avoided such thoughts, but not for long. The distant mountains to the east loomed over Apex on a sunny day. They showed him his past. How his parents had gone.

He pushed the thoughts aside as the discussion turned to the future, and Aura’s solution to what came next.

“I think if we get into the computer, figure out what Gregor really needed, we can stop whatever attack they’re planning next.”

She had a point. They could sort out Unity’s plan, and with that information, tip Apex off to put an end to the whole affair.

It would be another massacre.

Apex always wins rang through his mind as some perverted mantra. It had been something Honeyman told him when he still worked with Kieran. ”Apex always wins, K. Either you stand with them or you pray they aim straight the first time.”

How recently had it been since he saw Honeyman last? A week? A month? So much was different now.

“I’m not great with computers,” he admitted. He thought to the handful of times he had used them—mostly to see what would come of it. They were a luxury even the richest in A could hardly affound. “But I know someone who is. I can take a lesson with them and come back to see what’s in this laptop. And I could touch base with Apex and see what they know.”

He would need to tell them he lost the laptop, certainly. In fact, he’d likely need to tell them Aura took it. It was a dangerous move to talk directly to Apex now, but he had little choice. If he didn’t show his face, Apex would likely come to the port and look for him.

And find Aura.

It had to be done.

Kieran rose after Aura had poured him another drink, but found himself tipping forward ever so slightly, and with a brief stumble, settled on his feet.

He trusted her, certainly. More than most. Perhaps more than any. But transparency wasn’t his strong suit. The drink would help with that.

“I don’t know, I quite like the sound of Mystery Man,” he mused, leaning against a wall a few feet back. The more the drank, the more he liked to be on his feet. “It’s been fun hearing that.”

He paused, thought, then continued:

“But I’m not that interesting. I was dumped at this port when I was young. I was raised by vagrants and ship hands, mostly. A sort of fucked-up foster care, I suppose. But eventually some fatass by the name of Honeyman came by and said I looked fit enough to run, and soon enough, I was the Runner for the port.”

He looked down to his drink and swished the contents around in a circular motion. Then, smoothly, he knocked it down. “I don’t have a lot of friends. You can’t, when you’re me. I tried. But then someone wants double rations, and someone else’s grandma needs a new doorframe, and eventually, you’re not a friend. You’re another fucking client.”

He had a little more distain in his tone with that last part than he was expecting. The sting of being a teenaged Runner was still on his mind. Boys that wanted him to deliver love notes. Women that had gotten close to him only to make some grand request about moving her family up a subsection. At a certain point, the agoraphobia kicked in.

“It gets old,” he said, looking off instead of at Aura. “Being everyone else’s ticket to success. Someone’s fucking big break to get out of a bad situation. So, I stopped talking after a while.”

He looked back to Aura. “I became Mystery Man,” he said, half-jokingly. “I’ve talked more to you these past few days than I have to most anyone else in years.”

There was some sting on his voice. Kieran because acutely aware of how open he was being, but he wasn’t sure he could close that box again. Not with Aura.

“Parents? I don’t know,” he muddled out. “They were good people. Or, bad people with good parenting skills. Like I said, I was dumped here. About ten years ago I traced down our old place, but the only thing I learned was they went east, over the mountains, and never came back.”

A pang of pain, a pause, and then:

“So, there we go,” he said with a finality and a facetious flick of his hand. “Mystery no more. But I’ve love to know more about my hilarious and beautiful partner if we’re going to be off to god-knows-where. Any bounty hunters planning on hunting you down when we go? Aside from Apex of course.”

He found himself comfortably discussing leaving—leaving with Aura for that matter—without a tinge of fear. Perhaps it had been their evening, or perhaps everything that had happened so far, but he found himself a little more comfortable each moment with the idea of leaving it all behind.

It wasn’t like anything out there could possibly be worse than this.

Aura’s expression at first was amused, excited to get a peak behind the walls that Kieran probably built up years ago. But, as he continued to open up, her smile started to fade. Had the room gotten colder? Her arms wrapped around her cup clutched to her chest, her lazy gaze switching from his eyes to his mouth and back.

Why would his parents just leave him here? Why wouldn’t they take him outside too? And why would he keep serving a society that's failed him so many times?

Her head was swimming with what it all meant, and how Kieran had survived. Aura released her grip around herself and straightened her posture. The alcohol was clearly in effect; when she looked to Kieran she nearly saw double.

“Now that’s fucked up.” The words practically tumbled out. “Sorry,” she sighed, throwing her head side to side in disapproval. “I’m not great at stuff like this. I never know what to say.” Aura looked up to him and nodded. “But I’m sorry. I’m glad you turned out okay. A lot of us wouldn’t.”

Too soon to ask about his parents leaving Apex?

Aura cocked her head in thought as she studied his face.

Yeah, too soon.

Though that wasn’t the only thing Aura was holding back that night. Aura never intended for them to try to get into the laptop. She’d be bringing it in the middle of the night to Gregor. A peace offering to the cause before she went back in hiding. She knew Kieran would never would go for it, and if Gregor saw them together, she’d be dead before she could hit the ground.

She would need to wait until he went to sleep.

“My family is pretty average. Ma, my father, my kid brother Ion and I.” Aura knocked back the rest of her drink before continuing. “Ma left a couple years back to work as a live-in servant. Somewhere in A by the beach.”

Her fingers kept finding their way to her hair, letting the long, dark strands weave around them in mindless movements. It was most likely the fact that she’d be cutting it all off that night.

“My, uh, evil lair I took you to the night you were my hostage was my dad’s farm. Ion’s turning eighteen soon and will probably be joining the AE for enforcement training.” This took a big sigh out of Aura. “His mother’s gone. He thinks his big sister’s a criminal. My dad probably does too at this point.”

Realizing the conversation was turning dark, Aura scrambled to change the topic.

“I turn twenty five next week,” she admitted, grinning from ear to ear. “Gregor and them were gonna have a party at Mae’s. They promised to find a way to get me some chocolate. Chocolate’s my favorite, especially the -”

It wasn’t happening now. What was the point of talking about it anymore? It wasn’t like Kieran cared.

“It was gonna be after a meeting. Next week in the corn fields, a hundred paces north from the gate, three hundred west. If you get close enough, you can listen in.”

That’s what he cared about. Taking down the cause and getting a gold star from the AA. That’s all this was.

“I think I’m gonna turn in soon. I’m taking the floor.”

Aura grabbed a blanket in the corner and wrapped herself up in a cocoon before tumbling down to the floor. “That’s quite the strong drink in your cupboard, Kieran.”

She writhed around as the worked the blanket up around her neck, holding a nail she had picked up early enough in the palm of her hand. If all went well, the nail would jab her hand at some point and wake her up so that she could slip out of the house.

Once comfortable, with sleepy eyes, Aura glanced back to Kieran and smiled lazily. “Do you plan on being a runner forever? Do you ever want a family of your own to take care of?”

Kieran laughed slightly at Aura’s intoxicated apology, but in many ways, he was glad she had cut the tension. He had been comfortable bearing his soul to her for a minute, but any longer and he knew he’d likely shut back down.

Still—with the alcohol burning in his veins and burning at his cheeks—he found it hard to dwell on much at this particular moment.

Kieran felt a trust as well—something he had not felt in a long, long time.

Trust was a hard thing to come by in Apex. A harder thing for Kieran as well. Should she keep to her word, and he to his, he could easily see an eastward journey going well. And he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t, in this moment at least, looking forward to such a trip. As Aura spoke, his mind struggled to focus on her words and the thoughts that rang through his head. The idea of collecting materials, cashing in debts, and getting them, finally, away from here.

And who knows? Maybe at the other end of his journey would be some sort of familial solace.

“Yeah,” he muttered, intending to nod instead. A live-in servant in A…he wondered if there was something he could do to help her mother out of that. In this moment, with someone he was actually comfortable drinking this heavily with, he could probably have been coerced into a lot of things.

Was he always this bad at holding his booze? Or had he drank far too much and the day been far too long? It has hard to know for certain at this point.

Twenty-five, he thought to himself. She likes chocolate, I could get some pretty easily. Not sure what kind to get, maybe just a few different types?

He felt like he was a port boy again. Back when he would occasionally head to The Square and try to make friends with the butcher’s daughter on 4th street. It was innocent then (as innocent as it could have been at ten), and he remembered racking his brain over what to get her and what sort of object would convince her he’d make a good friend.

Funny enough, it had been about that long since he felt like he actually had a friend to talk to.

As she gathered herself to sleep on the ground, he nearly jumped from the bed.

“Strong drink, yea?” he said aloud, as he passed her and finished his drink in one fell swoop, before setting his and her cups on a nearby counter. “Here, I gotta thing that’d help.”

He was really slurring his words at this point. He opened a cabinet and produced two pillows, before setting them down by her and nearly falling back into the bed.

As he did, he remembered that a few moments ago Aura had said something about The Cause. Perhaps he should’ve noted that…what did she say? A meeting in a field, in a few days?

Nevermind it, he thought at he slipped into the bed, positioning himself and quickly feeling his body relax. He’d ask her before he went to get chocolates and see what the laptop had in it.

“A runner forever?” He asked and repeated. “No, never. I mean, you rarely see runners make it to 40, anyway.”

He thought for a moment, trying to find words as sleep tried to take him.

“I want a family. But not here. There’s too much…shit…I guess, around here…but…. yeah.” He finally settled on a definitive answer.

The room was spinning, and the last of his filter left him.

“I’ll go east…sometime, and have a family. I’ll have a family, and I won’t…leave. If only this place would let me.”

The room spun and spun.

And then it was dark.

”I hope I don’t regret this,” Aura thought as she closed Kieran’s door until it lightly clicked shut. In one hand, she held a dagger and a bucket mixed with a chemical that smelt so strong her eyes burned. In the other, a lantern and a piece of bread, which Aura was now shoving in her mouth as she crept around Kieran’s house and darted to a corner covered with trees and some scrap metal.

Aura knelt down into the wet earth and began taking deep breaths as she stripped off the black hoodie she’d borrowed from her host’s wardrobe - which now was holding the laptop - making sure to keep it away from the bucket sitting in front of her. After one or two more seconds of hesitation, the dagger was now in her possession, little flecks of moon light bouncing off of it as it twirled. No longer delaying the inevitable any further.

The sound alone of the blade ripping through the black strands was enough to make her stomach flip, but Aura kept her eyes tightly shut as she continued working the rusted dagger through her hair, eventually flipping to the other side and repeating. Then, her hands grabbed onto what was left, which settled around her shoulders, and she used her sense of touch to gauge the evenness of both sides. Close enough.

Aura grabbed a thick group of strands and nimbly braided them together before shoving it in the pocket of the pants he’d loaned her. Now, it was time for the bucket of bleach. Her fingers pinched her nose shut as she reluctantly lowered her head down into the bucket until she could feel the cool surface of the water reach her forehead. Now to wait.

In her moments of solitude, her mind went a few places. Kieran first. What his reaction would be to her leaving. To her taking the computer. He’d understand, right? There was no sense in having both the AE and the cause after her at the same time. This would serve as her peace offering, and hopefully, a graceful exit.

Secondly, she thought of her brother. Her dad. Her mother, who was becoming less and less real by the day. Aura was almost glad she wasn’t around to see her like this. Working with terrorists. Working with the AA. Her and her father’s MO was to lay low and stay out of the way, ”that will keep you out of trouble and eating.” They always acted so unbothered when Aura and Ion were growing up. Rations growing smaller? Dad needed to lose some weight anyway. Crops dying? This is time to try something new. The AA owning everything they grew? At least they were employed.

It sickened Aura, and now Ion was taking it a step further by becoming an enforcer himself. If she didn’t get out soon, would she be at the end of his club one day?

Time was up, and Aura removed her head from the bucket, allowing it to drip into the dirt and wringing her hair with her hands. She couldn’t believe how short it felt in her hands, she hadn’t cut her hair since she was a child. For a moment, she wondered what Kieran would think of it, but she shook it off, making sure her hair was no longer dripping wet as she slid the jacket back on and tucking the laptop underneath it.
Before continuing, Aura ran back around to the front of Kieran’s house, leaving the strand of braided hair around his door knob. It was folklore from the old days, but she remembered hearing a story as a child about a woman leaving her lover to go meet with the gods, and left a strand of her hair behind to be remembered by.

It might seem cliche now, but she wanted to leave something behind for him in case she didn’t come back, something better to remember her by than just a hangover.

Now, it was time to get back to Unity.

Aura walked as hastily as she could without looking suspicious until she could stares leading down to the tunnels. With shaky breath, Aura practiced his number out loud over and over again, but stopped once she saw the figures standing at the gate. Two out of three guards who she’d met her previous time in the tunnels were there, and she couldn’t believe that she was relieved to see them.

“Wow, a blonde now huh,” the stocky one piped up first, pulling the waist of his pants up with eagerness. “And it’s so short..”

“He, uh, likes it that way.” If they were going to assume, she was going to use it to her advantage.

The tall and slender one chuckled. “Your boyfriend, the tall one. Well if you’re with him, why are you trying to go back to F?”

The question took Aura by surprise, and the gears in her mind turned rapidly for an excuse. “We’re moving in! I mean, I’m moving in. We’re gonna live together.” Alright, maybe a bit much.

Both sets of eyes widened, waiting for the rest of her story.

“So, I wanted to get an early start and grab my, uh, stuff. Curfew is up at four in the mornings in F, which should be -”

“Fifteen minutes.”

“Yes,” Aura nodded. “I’ll walk slowly.”

“Alright, well good luck to you kids,” the shorter one said, flashing a smile that was both devious and sincere, before opening the door and motioning into the tunnel. “Emok’s working the other end, he’ll love the new hair.”

“Thanks,” Aura got out through gritted teeth as she squeezed between the two and entered the tunnel, which turned into a silent vacuum once the door closed behind her.

This was good, she thought. She knows the guards, she has a story. Maybe this trip wasn’t the deathwish her anxiety convinced her it was.

Aura waited at the other end of the tunnel, just out of view of the door, until she heard the 4:00 AM sirens go off, 3 short blasts to notify the subsection that the day was beginning. The only people up that early are usually the fishermen and farmers, and it’d allow Aura to slip in and out before the rest of the workforce began to stir.

She put her hood over her head and rounded the corner to see who she now knew was Emok and another guard who had his had slid down over his eyes.

“The girlfriend! She’s back.”

“Hi,” Aura said weakly. “The guard’s back there said-”

“It’s okay, I remember you. Just be back before 6. That’s when we switch shifts.”

Surprised by his kindness, it took her a moment to nod and smile before thanking him.

Twenty minutes later, Aura was deep in a corn field, using her memory to guide her to Gregor’s cabin. Just like his father before him, he farmed corn - both enjoyed the privacy its stalks provided.

A warm glow began to peak through the top of the green whisps, letting Aura know she was getting closer, and with each step she crouched further and further until she reached the clearing that allowed her full view of the home. Two guards stood out front, and candles flickered inside, illuminating the few windows that faced her.

There was no looking back now.

Aura stood, raising her hands in the air, and it only took three seconds before both guns were trained on her.

“G-Guys, it’s Aura. It’s me.”

“You’re alive?” One replied, and as he got closer, she could see it was Coda along with his friend Ben.

“Long story. What’s the odds I leave the cabin alive?”

The two looked at each other, then down. “Come with us,” Coda grumbled, signalling towards the cabin.

Adrenaline flooded her veins, but her feet did the work for her, and she followed behind the men until the warm light hit her face, and her eyes squinted shut in resistance.

“Where the fuck have you been?”

Aura forced her eyes open to focus, and she was met with Gregor, rocking in a chair and drinking what looked like ale.

“I haven’t slept yet because Pogo said you bailed the party.”

She knew it wasn’t her time to speak yet, and she stood paralyzed as Gregor rose to his feet, circling her like a shark.

“Oh, and fucking Loor’s dead, Aura!” As his voice got louder, his fingers dug deeper and deeper into her shoulders until she fell to the floor, the laptop tumbling next to her.

“At least you did something right.” Gregor reached for the laptop and handed it to Coda, who put it into a bag and immediately left the cabin. Ben went to the front door, leaving the two alone.

“Look, he tried to kill me, Gregor,” Aura explained, her voice wavering. “He woke up, he saw me trying to take it. I had to run until I could get this to you.”

He squatted down next to her, moving a strand of yellow hair from her face. “Is this your disguise?” he asked in a whisper, but his voice still made her flinch in anticipation. “What have you done?”

“No, Gre-” was all she could get out. Gregor scooped her up into his arms and propped her up in the rocking chair. It might have well been the chair in the back of Mae’s.

“You know I don’t talk.”

“I don’t know anything, Aura. Like where you’ve been.” Gregor’s hands were resting on the arms of the chair, his face only a few inches from her. “And where you think you’re going after this. The AE is already on the hunt for a petite brunette with long hair. You’ve got that taken care of for now, but you know someone’s going to remember that face.” His hand moved to her jaw, and he gripped her forcefully, turning her face so he could drink it in. “I know I will.”

“Gregor, I swear,” her tone turned deeper, as if she was begging from the bottom of her stomach, “I brought you the laptop. I’ve done everything you’ve ever wanted me to do.”

“If you were doing what I wanted you to be doing, we wouldn’t be talking right now.”

Aura’s eyes only rolled halfway before impact caused her head to dart to the side. Her cheek stung, and warmth rushed down the side of her face.
“You used to be such a good girl. The cause was everything.” Gregor was now speaking sweetly again, using his hand to roughly wipe the blood away from her face and onto his pants.

“I want out.”

“Oh, and where are you gonna fuckin’ go, Aura? Space?”

“I’m leaving Apex.”

Unable to contain his laughter, Gregor stumbled around, doubling over in laughter. Tears began to prick her eyes. Catching the sight, his expression changed to one of fake sympathy. “You’ll be dead before you get over the wall.”

Aura stood up, rage bubbling inside her. “Let me leave in peace. You’ll never hear from me again, whether I die for trying to escape, or making it over that wall. But please, let me go.”

The silence between them felt like minutes. The only sound was the fire crackling and Aura’s heartbeat in her eyes. His face was unreadable.

“Please,” she barely got out.

“It’s a death wish.”

“I know, but I’d rather be dead than live like an animal anymore.”

This must have struck a chord with Gregor, because he moved to the fireplace, sticking a cast iron stick into the fire. “You know about the brand?”

“Y-Yeah.”

“If I find out that you -”

“I know, Gregor.”

His eyes met hers for a few seconds, they looked as if they were begging her to change her mind. Her expression didn’t budge. Aura removed the hoodie once again, now nude from the waist up and approached Gregor, her back now facing him. It was nothing he hadn’t seen before.

“I’m ready,” she sighed, telling herself more than him.

Gregor grabbed the stick from the fire, which held a big X at the end, around 4” by 4”.

“Do you want me to count down?”

“No, I don’t want you- FUCK!” Aura tensed every muscle she had in order to stay still as Gregor pressed the brand into her back, right between her shoulder blades.

“Good girl,” Gregor whispered, a phrase Aura would be glad to never hear again, as he removed the X from her skin and tossed it down onto the stone that surrounded the fireplace.

Before Aura could move, a cold liquid poured down her spine, causing her to hiss at the pain, then the sound of his footsteps shuffled away to the kitchen. “I usually don’t boil wool for strangers, but I’m making an exception for you.”

“How kind,” Aura replied in a mocking tone, but her eyes were sincere. Gregor couldn’t kill her, no matter how much he wanted to, and for that, Aura was thankful.

Once her wound was dressed along with the slit on her cheek cleaned and glued together, Aura redressed and was walked to the door by Gregor, who stopped on the threshold and crossed his arms. “I’m gonna give you a three day head start before the rest of the cause gets word. But, after that, you’re a sitting duck.”

“I’m hoping I’m gone by then.”

“I hope you are too, Aura.”

Gregor kissed him, and Aura let him, before he took her into a tight embrace. “I always thought you’d be around.”

Aura broke their hug and nodded at him, a true and heavy sadness beginning to overcome her. Saying goodbye to Gregor was saying goodbye to everything she had worked towards for the past decade. All the plans. All the failures. All the cuts and bruises. But, she accepted, she’d always been fighting for a freedom that would never come. It was up to her, and her only now.

“Thank you, Gregor. You’ll never hear of me again.”

“That’s bittersweet. Good luck out there, Holland.”



Aura had run to her father’s house to find it empty; both him and Ion must have gone into town early or had a delivery to make. With no time to spare, she opted to go inside and write a note.

Dad and Ion,

I came to tell you that I’ll be leaving Apex shortly, and I hope I can trust you to keep this a secret until I have some time to get on my feet. I did something stupid, well, a lot of things, and soon they’ll all be looking for me.
Ion, you know I hate the enforcers, and they hate me, but I know whatever you put your mind to, you’ll be great at. Thanks for being the good kid. Our parents deserve it. Keep them safe and make us proud. I hope I’ll see you on the other side one day.

Dad, I’m so sorry. I always thought I was doing the right thing, but the truth is, there was never a chance of freedom in Apex. There never will be. They’ll work you and the rest of F to the bone until you’re too old, then...you know. I can’t stick around to watch that happen. I want a chance at life where my rations don’t have ants in them, where the air is clear, where there is music and art. I know it’s out there, like in the fables you used to tell us.

And whether I find that over the wall, or in death, I’ll be happier than I could ever be in Apex.

When you see mom again, tell her I love her. And that missing her is a pain that will never go away. Missing all of you will be one of the hardest things I have to do.

I have nothing to leave you but this letter and my love. I’m not traveling alone and will stay as safe as possible. Again, please give me some time.

With all of my love,
Aura.



Aura’s final stop was to her apartment to gather her things and say bye to Del. It was much too early for anyone to be bustling around the hallways, so making it to her door was a breeze.

Some clothes, a blanket with roses that she’d had since birth, a picture of her family, and a drawing Del had done of her when they’d gone to the lake to clean. All of this was shoved into a small, worn duffle bag. After surveying her items, only a few more small things were packed before Aura shut the door behind her. Next, she lightly knocked on Del’s door in a pattern only she’d used.

Del answered and yanked her inside. “What are you doing here?” His expression was panicked.

“I came to get some stuff and say bye, I’m leaving.”

“Good,” Del huffed, “two enforcers came here in the middle of the night to see if you were here. A couple hours after curfew.

Aura’s eyes widened in disbelief. How would they know so quickly?

“Don’t worry, I covered, but the sooner you go the better.” Del hugged her tightly, causing a few pops in her back, he faced her, squeezing her shoulders. “Wherever you end up, oh my god, your hair is yellow.”

Although tears were streaming down her face, a chuckle erupted from her. “I’ll miss you, Del.”

“I’ll miss you too, kid. Don’t forget me.”



Aura was back two and a half hours later, and the sky was just beginning to lighten to a royal blue. From a distance, she could see the strand of her hair was removed from the doorknob, and her teeth clenched.

Kieran knew she left. And even worse, she’d have to face him.

Aura opened the door slowly, its creak echoing back at her, to show an empty home. “Hey, are you here?”

Silence.

Thank god. Delaying a confrontation sounded much better, especially if she could nap off some of the headache that was now pounding thanks to drinking the night before. Aura lowered herself lazily to the floor, crawling back into the cocoon she had left behind, now with a pile of her belongings next to it. Aura only got a line or two into humming a song she had wrote before her eyes fluttered shut for the last time, and she drifted back to sleep, as if she’d never left Kieran in the first place.