FRIEND OR FOE

Angelo scowled and straightened up, he hated being scared but most of all he hated losing, this filthy man was a bully, worse, he could be a psycho criminal. He turned to face him, cleared his throat and said: “We know our rights. If you kill us, where’re you gonna hide our bodies? Eventually, the police will find out that you’ve murdered three innocent human beings and get locked up and I hope tortured.”

Sean grabbed his arm, gritting his teeth. “What are you doing? He has a weapon, Angelo.” He found that Angelo was shaking but still stood his ground and finally let go.

The man sighed, spat his cig on the floor and crushed it with his barefoot. “Do you see anybody else here? It’s just me here in Tombs Street, kid. I own this lot, you trespassed and assaulted me. Weird that I get to be locked up when you three just committed a crime yourself.”

“Assaulted?” Angelo said, slowly stepping down the cement floor. Sean carefully following his lead. “That was an accident, dummy. We were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Let us go, man. You have nothing on us.”

The man frowned just as the two boys knelt down picking something from the ground, even the little girl was doing the same. Before he could get back to offense position, he saw stones zipping towards him. He cursed and dodged inside, hiding beside the door. He heard them running away and grinned. How clever. He ran further inside, jumped over the counter and stopped at the wide glass window of the shop. He watched as the three youngsters ran ahead an alley way across the road.

He tied his long blond hair in a bun as the trio vanished out of sight. He walked back in the kitchen and then opened down one of the oven and took out a gun and a badge, putting it inside the pocket of his apron. He then grabbed an almost moldy pizza from inside one of the discarded boxes and put it in his mouth. He went out the front door then grabbed a big black combat boots and wore them. He looked at the empty street, the kids were nowhere to be seen. He chewed his pizza, still scanning the area. He grabbed a two way radio hanging at the back of his filthy pants. The touchscreen was cracked and he had to hit it with his palm to get it working.

After some few hard hits, it turned on. He clicked a button and spoke, “Station Charlie, Cadaver speaking, from Station Delta, do you copy? Over.”

A static came from the radio then a click. “Station Charlie, I copy. Lyka speaking. Over.”

“Got three young civilians running loose,” Cadaver said. “10-43, Tombs Street to Carp Street. Over.” He jogged down the road and went in the alley way where the group ran.

“Roger that,” the woman replied from the radio. “Sending back up cruiser on your way to Carp Street, Cadaver. Over.”

He was running now. “No back up needed. Over.”

A long static pause and then a click. “Whatever, Cadaver. You’re on your own. Over.” The voice sounded irritated.

“Thanks, hon,” Cadaver said, fastening the radio in his back pocket. “Out.” It’s time to hunt some kids.

__________

It was already dark outside when they emerged from the abandoned underground station beside the tower. The curfew alarm resounded on every corner of the city for almost a minute. Sean, Emma and Angelo sat huddled together in a corner, dripping wet and very tired. They were hiding behind a brick wall as they waited for Marco’s signal so they can proceed to go since officers are now again roaming the streets.

“I wished I also had a raincoat,” Angelo said sighing, looking both the siblings in their raincoats over their uniforms. “It’s so damn cold.” His teeth were chattering.

“I told you to use umbrella,” Sean said quietly, holding and waving his mini umbrella to him.

“Here, Jello,” Emma whispered loudly as she reached out her small starry puffer from her backpack. “Wear this. Don’t tore it, okay?”

Angelo chuckled, shaking his head and hands to Emma. He almost jumped as he caught sight of Sean’s face – illuminated by the steady dim red light of the tower above - nodding his head slowly, his face serious and eyes unreadable behind his foggy glasses.

“Right, ha-ha, thanks Emma. This’ll fit me perfectly and hopefully warm me enough.” He first took off his damp green shirt and then put his right arm first inside the left sleeve of the small thick jacket and then his left arm to the right, the back end of the puffer covered the forepart of his upper body, the cuffs reaching just below his elbows. It was indeed uncomfortable but satisfyingly warm in its own way. Emma reached a thumbs-up to him and he grinned, returning a two thumbs-up to her.

Half an hour past and the trio had to move to a different hiding spot as some soldiers turned a corner to survey the tunnels underground. They stealthily moved underneath a canopy of a rundown building beside the tower, hiding behind some huge empty fruit crates and boxes. An hour almost past and their stomach grumbled, the group of officers were already diminishing in the road and streets and the tower almost lifeless and looked grim from a distance. The rain became a drizzle and the streets were now silent. It was a puzzling sight to see the authorities leaving a few guards left in the tower where their resources were being delivered.

Suddenly, a static sound came from Angelo’s radio and the three youngsters jumped at the sound. Angelo quickly pressed a different button to receive the message as the next sound came – a sequence of short and long pips, of dits and dahs of the Morse code. It was barely audible and Angelo had to put the transceiver near his ear to hear the sound, his finger spelling the words in the air. Emma watches him, her mouth agape and Sean was looking out.

“We’re ready to go,” Angelo translated quietly. “Marco and the gang are already inside the tower building. We go behind the tower building to the gateway. They’re waiting on the fifth floor, feast is ready.” He was already walking and dodging the side street as the siblings followed him.

“Feast?” Sean asked ducking beside him.

“Feast!” Emma said beaming. Sean quickly glanced at his sister, a finger on his lips. Emma covered her mouth with both hands, giggling excitedly.

“Dinner, man,” Angelo replied. “We are in the cornucopia of the city. Cousins got a handful of snacks and meals for all of us.”

“You mean they’re stealing the provisions inside?”

Angelo shrugged though he was not smiling.

“Angelo, I never agreed to this,” Sean said. “You said your cousins will help us out. We’re not here to party and join them or even worse, steal with them.”

Angelo sighed, hand on Sean’s shoulder. “Sean, man, listen. You see, Marco’s not the most pleasant guy you’ll meet. He’s strict but he’s good. They’ll supply us with maps with secret routes, more snacks for travel and many cool stuff they’ve scavenged for months like the mags I always carry with me.”

“You mean stolen?” Sean said rolling his eyes.

“Scavenged. They’re doing their best, even risking their lives to get us out. They’re our only passage. We need to at least, y’know, accept their invitation and they’ll send you two on your way. Besides, I’m starving.”

“Me, too, Sean,” Emma said looking up. “I’m really, very hungry.”

Sean sighed, jogged and on the way lifted Emma up. He wanted to point out that they still have enough food and drinks on their bags but resupplying is vital though he hated the fact that the supplies were plundered by some unknown rebels. They arrived shortly after in front of the metal gateway behind the tower building. Nobody seems to be guarding the area and they noticed that the CCTVs were all shut down. The gate was slightly ajar as they all slid inside. It seemed too easy for them to break into a most important facility in the city.

“This Marco,” Sean said as they reached a set of stairs at the back door. “Do you trust him?”

Angelo held the cold, metallic handle and opened the door. “Hmm…I guess. He’s fam, blood and kin. He’s the one who looked after us young Moraleses when the rest of our tías and tíos gave up on us. Old people tend to live by the book and that’s no fun. Marco taught us that if the world’s gonna really end, we wanna live it to the fullest.”

“So, you’re staying with them?” Sean said, putting Emma down. “You can’t really live your life running away with us, Angelo. I mean no offense but I think you really should’ve stayed with Gio. You’re lucky, you’re still assigned in the same sector as him.”

Angelo entered first, his face unreadable and steps echoing the metal floor. “We had a fall out,” he said almost in a whisper. Sean glanced at him, raising his hand as he awkwardly tapped his shoulder. He was still wearing Emma’s puffer and his back was bare.

“Whoa,” Emma said as their eyes adjusted to the bright light inside. It was chilly and the interior of the building was all metal from the beams to the stairs and the walls. Huge food crates and boxes lined the tall walls. It was like being inside a giant refrigerator. Angelo went to put a new dry shirt and his yellow sweater while they walked in front of the elevator doors.

“Thanks a bunch, Emmasaur,” Angelo said handing the puffer back to Emma.

“Ew, it’s kinda wet and smelly,” Emma said as she held her jacket, her other hand pinching her nose. Sean took it from her, took a zip lock from his bag and put it inside.

“Hey,” Angelo said, offended. “I sprayed cologne on this bod o’ mine.”

Sean hesitated before pushing the up button. “It’s really odd how there are no guards or any surveillance inside, too. Maybe it’s safer if you contact your cousins first,” he said turning to Angelo.

Angelo nodded and held the transceiver on his mouth. “Agent Angel, speaking. We’re inside the tower, cuz. Just making sure we heading the right way. It’s fifth floor, right?”

A static then a click. “Angelo, we don’t use codenames no more. Yes, yes, fifth floor, that’s five in case you forgot.” A group of laugh were heard over and was cut off as Sean click the red button. Jerks, Sean thought.

Angelo smirked and nodded to him. “Let’s get some dinner.”

“Dinner,” Emma whispered loudly. “I want ham.” She giggled holding her brother’s hand as she bounced on the balls of her feet.

“Here goes nothing,” Sean said, pushing the up button. As they entered the elevator, he checked the pepper spray hiding in the front pocket of his scrub suit and held his sister's hand tightly as they ascended. They walked out the fifth floor through a well-lit room,  a buffet spread out on a long table in the middle of the room. A middle-aged man on tank top stood up, from one of the chairs.

"Marco!" Angelo exclaimed, his arms open.

"Polo," Marco said, smirking, his arms crossed. Steps came from behind Sean, Angelo and Emma and before they could even react, their eyes were quickly blindfolded.