Chapter 17: Solidarity: Part 4

Solidarity: Part 4

“The question now is... how do we get in?”

Vines wondered, one hand on his hip and the other wiping the sweat from his forehead. He looked cautiously at the wall that separated them from the living room of that wealthy home.

They were in one of the luxurious settlements in the suburbs of Matria. Tightly guarded neighborhoods far from the center of the capital, hidden so as not to attract the attention of prying eyes.

Considering this, it was ironic that no alarms or other advanced security devices were activated at the moment.

The place was 'off'.

Moving aside a pot of white roses in the garden, Chase restlessly watched the outside through the small magnifying glass on the door. His companions waited impatiently for him to explain the situation they now found themselves in, but he cared little at the moment.

Having inspected outside, he quickly approached a pair of reinforced windows inside. Vines also followed closely behind him, wondering what he was doing.

"There's no one there, right?"

"Not a soul," Chase replied.

"So... how do we get in?" Vines repeated his question, adjusting his tight pants. "I thought it would be like your house. Heh, this is a bit much for someone who runs a shabby grocery store."

"...I have an idea."

"What?"

"Climb on top of me."

"I don't like the idea."

"...”

"H-Hey, wait a sec..."

With his arm in front of Chase, Jevo had already caught his breath, enough to stop him from doing so.

"I trespassed just by following you. If you don't give me a convincing reason for all this, we'll leave."

"Knowing Matria in these situations, I find it hard to believe we have a safe place to go," Chase said, taking a step back and examining the high wall in front of him.

"What do you mean? Vines, what do you mean?" He turned to look at the burly fellow.

He just shrugged nonchalantly, so Chase continued.

"Remember the guys who attacked the school? You know, just yesterday," he said sarcastically. "Well, like we told you, we ran into them again. It was lucky we ran into some acquaintances of Vines. There's a reason we have these keys, don't you think?"

"Oh, I see." Jevo relaxed, seeing those around him doing the same. "It's a good thing they didn't chase us here, like they did at the Institute. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and only a few trinkets were stolen. Still, it's dangerous to go out before the riots die down. If they do..."

"Nothing new in Manecia."

"Yes, yes. Can we get in now?" Vines interrupted. "I don't have the keys to this door."

"I know how, and I'd tell you if you'd just shut up," Chase warned, leading them to the window. "From here... I can see a small window in the roof of this wall. We go in through there and open the other windows. Simple. Vines climb onto Jevo's back; he's taller than me."

"Are you expecting me to squash myself?" Jevo complained. Vines simply ignored his mockery with a smile and waited, kneeling to support him. "I'll climb in instead."

"Then climb in," Vines replied calmly.

The others didn't have much to object to, much less the spirit to do so; they simply did as they were asked. Jevo entered through the roof window and, after checking his surroundings in the quiet living room, opened the windows that led to the garden. One by one, they all carefully entered through them. Ironically, the last to do so were the very people who proposed it.

"Wait, wait, Chase," Vines muttered. "What if they wait to call the police? They'll find us, and I wouldn't even know what excuse to come up with."

Chase remained silent for a moment to come up with an appropriate response and then turned his gaze toward the settlement.

"Fuck it."

Once inside and standing on the luxurious ceramics, the first thing they noticed was the vast size of the place, or so it seemed. In fact, there was no furniture in the living room or the adjacent rooms save for the beds in the bedrooms, a glass table in the kitchen, and a few chairs, as if it were a new house.

The duo continued on seeing that they couldn't find the others, until they heard babbling coming from the back. It was Earlene on her knees, petting the family pet; a considerably large Beagle for what one would expect of its breed.

"Heh... What are you doing?" Chase said, bringing his palm up to the dog's head. "Woah..."

The dog immediately changed from a playful state to a quiet and aggressive one, baring its fangs at the boy. If it weren't for the fence separating them, he would have lost the ability to count to ten with his hands.

Annoyed, he slammed the garden door and returned to the living room, followed by the others. Vines was coming down from the second floor after confirming that no one else was there besides his group and the dog.

"Apparently the move isn't finished, uh," Vines made up a perfect excuse for why there was little furniture. "We have beds... A hammock, which will be mine, and...”

"A cooler filled with questionably edible food," Jevo added, checking it out. Vines handed him the bags of food they were carrying to put inside. "I'm stunned by the surprise... 7 bottles of alcohol, I didn't expect that from you," Jevo muttered sarcastically, as he checked the bag.

"So, what do we do?" Chase said, turning to look at Vines, crossing his arms.

"Why are you looking at me?"

"You prioritized your tastes over the most basic instincts of human beings. You know, like eating."

"As far as I'm concerned, I'd bring the drinks, you bring the food."

Chase gave an exaggerated sigh before answering reluctantly.

"Whatever, man. Let's figure out how to settle in for now. We'll figure out what to do later."

“Another difficult day...”

“Don’t you say…”

Dusk was about to end, reflecting its saffron light on the settlements that stretched along the edge of the capital's valley. Vines enjoyed the beautiful view, rocking in the hammock on the second-floor balcony with a cold beer at his side.

He barely noticed the trails of smoke rising in the distance, the sound of fire engine sirens, and subtle explosions. They were so far away that they seemed like nothing more than a roommate's television on in the early morning, a déjà vu for him.

On the first floor, Earlene sat on the smallest bed in the home, eating a snack, and watched Jevo take some pillowcases out of the closet and spread them on the floor. According to Vines, they had permission to do so.

Meanwhile, Brawell had been in the bathroom for over an hour for unknown reasons.

And in the kitchen, Chase was pouring a drink for Rousset between used plastic plates, on a luxurious glass table and cushioned seats.

"Then we'll wait..." the boy stammered, trying to make conversation, or rather, looking for a way to distract himself.

The young woman with orange curls had been giving terse answers, shaking her head or nodding until now. She had a look of bewilderment and confusion etched on her face, and her gaze never left her reflection in the glass table.

"To be frank," Chase continued, taking a sip from his shiny glass, "we won't be staying here much longer. The advantage is that we're far from... let's call it a 'conflict zone'; these rich people aren't stupid to live in this hideaway, but because of a certain individual I won't name, we're short on food, and this shit tastes horrible..."

He pushed the drink away, threw it in a nearby trash can, and returned to his seat.

"...The worst part is, the closest place we could stay is Vines's apartment, and we're miles away from it to just walk. Man... I don't want to have to go there."

"Where can I sleep tonight?" Rousset asked listlessly. Whether she was paying attention or not was uncertain.

"There's still room in my hammock," Vines could be heard saying from the second floor, in a rather unpleasant tone. "Don't give me that... men-with-men, women-with-women stuff. It's not like we're at the Institute, huh."

He was right about that last bit. Only that.

Chase had turned to look at the girl, who wasn't stopping drinking.

"(If someone can keep drinking that urine, they're definitely feeling bad)," he thought.

"I'd better sleep with you. I need to think this through with my pillow...", she said.

"Hey, Chase," Vines complained far away, a bit annoyed.

"I think you look gorgeous there all alone, with a bucket of ice-cold beer and against the sunset, I can only imagine." Chase said.

"Obviously. Someone take a portrait of me right now, he he."

"Don't fall."

The girl couldn't help but let out a small laugh as she listened to their conversation.

"Heh, he's probably drunk by now," Chase murmured from nearby. "He's the type who gets high in cemeteries when he gets the chance; you don't want to wake up next to someone like that. Although I admit I'm not a saint either. If you want to sleep on the ground, I won't stop you."

With frightening honesty, Chase got up from the table and threw the used plates into the trash, completely oblivious to her puzzled expression, as she couldn't tell if he was joking, sarcastic, friendly, or just plain rude.

"By the way, my name is Chase Termiane."

"Rousset Onslow..."

"Jevo!" Chase suddenly shouted. "You're staying in that room with Earlene."

"That's what I was thinking," he replied, peeking through the door for a moment.

There was no need to warn Earlene as well. She was already falling asleep on the small but soft bed; it fit her small body perfectly. She straightened her school uniform, dusting herself off and checking her pockets before lying down.

"I wanted the hammock…" she said.

"Doesn’t seem like it... You resemble a marshmallow," Jevo gave a short laugh, watching her wrap herself in the thick sheets. "Chase, what about our newest companion...?"

"Well, he's taken a liking to the bathroom..."

Jevo went to knock on the door, but no one came out.

Brawell Lesford, the stranger inside, kept repeating that he was fine, that they shouldn't worry, and that he'd be out in a little while. Jevo reminded him that there were still some sheets for him, and the situation didn't escalate further.

"I'll go check on that room," Chase warned. "I'm not used to going to bed early..."

Night had finally fallen, and the starry sky was covered with a thin blanket of clouds.

For some reason, the distant noises had ceased. The neighborhood returned to that murky silence they'd found since they'd set foot in Matria. Even in a place so far from the center of the capital, it was inexplicable to be able to hear only your own footsteps.

Despite the distance, the tiny drops of rain that characterized the province could still be heard.

Sensing such a breeze in the morning, Earlene approached the balcony.

“Ouch ouch...”

She did it as carefully as possible; her body ached. Her first thought was that it was due to the connection between her deplorable physical condition and the exercise she'd recently undergone.

Upon arriving, she saw the equally fat Vines Pall, lying on a shelf above her. No one could decipher how he got there, but it didn't matter; the hammock was free.

Without delay, Earlene lay down in it.

“Ah... … … …How uncomfortable.”

The hammock had been overstretched by its last user. It was barely possible to see the homes in the distance, and her short stature didn't help.

It was 9 in the morning. She also didn't know how she'd slept so long, and surprisingly, the others hadn't woken up yet. For someone who arrived at the San Rafael Institute every day from the far away province of Loa, it was a luxury and a privilege.

During that leisure time, she rummaged in her pockets to find the white dove feather she always carried with her and began to play with it, pointing it at the sun.

Slowly, she approached the balcony railing and inadvertently caught a glimpse of a huge settlement rising in the distance, imposing compared to the humble homes around her, and it looked familiar. It was then that she put her pen back in her pockets and exchanged it for a crumpled piece of paper, which she checked with a puzzled expression.

Distracted by her thoughts, she was about to turn around and return to her room when something prevented her from taking another step.

From that balcony, she looked down. And what she found astonished her.

The musty fragrance of the air, the warmth of the gusts of wind, the peculiar silence of the neighborhood, the homes miles away… She perceived it all, but she didn't notice something else, right under her very nose. Between the rays of the sun and the shadows they cast, dozens of bodies lay scattered in the streets, motionless to the naked eye.

They surrounded the settlement they occupied.

“U-Um Ch-Chase... ...”

To be continued…