Arc 3 - Chapter 25: Side By Side

(Reverence 3, 59 / 12:58AM)

Through the paved road, a van broke through the dark.

Plowing dirt in all directions, its headlights lit up the red dirt to the sides of the road. Two bright moons giving them light, the driver had his head rested on the headrest. Luke and everyone couldn’t bring any words, not even thoughts. That was, until a single man spoke through dried lips.

“I have something to tell you all…”

His voice startled him. Turning his head toward the center hole, he tried to take a glance at Sean.

“I read the paper. You know, the one Doug guarded.”

“What does it say?”

Sean scratched his cheek with his right hand, as he held the small paper with his left. Small droplets of smell arising from his temples, he softly chuckled, before turning his head toward the hole.

“It tells us the location of the family’s treasure. One of their big stashes of wealth.”

“Uh… and?”

“Why should we care?”

Christian unfolded his arms.

Speaking up, he had both of his boots pressing firm onto the metallic ground. Feeling the van rumble from underneath, he furrowed his brow, and pinned his eyes solely on Sean.

“We robbed the richest family on the planet, all for a single paper? No no no … a paper that’ll lead to some giant treasure hunt; right?”

“When you put it like that…”

“Just give me the damn note.”

Holding his breath, Sean passed the note toward Christian, who gripped it with iron fingers. Opening up the little note, he allowed his irises to scan, and it didn’t take long before he widened them. Hunching his back, it looked like he read it twice, before squinting his eyes.

“Uhh … Terra to Christian?”

Sean’s hands tightened against each another, as he felt his eyes pierce into his soul. Smiling wryly, all of his soul grew in abysmal darkness the more he waited an answer

“You … you weasel…”

“Hey what’s going on?” Asked Luke.

“H-Here.”

With Christian being the nearest to the hole, he stuck out his hand. Once Luke was within reach, he grabbed it, and scanned the—

He opened it and read it. Doing it once, he put on a deadpan face, and then poked his head out through the hole. Without giving it back to him, he and Christian stared at Sean.

“Sean.”

“Look, I pulled my ass off to get that paper! I can’t let this opportunity go to—”

—““We’re talking about robbing a train!””—

Right as they yelled, Jack slammed his boot on the brake. Putting the van to a screeching halt, burnt rubber chiseled their noses, while everyone else swayed with the motion.

Once the van ceased total motion, Miles slowly woke up with a hefty yawn. Rubbing his eyes, so did everyone else.

“Yawn … alright, what’s going on? Where are we?”

“Are we at the adobe?” Asked Hope.

“The hell?! What kind of man breaks like that?!” Yelled Pacifica.

“Who disturbed my sleep…” Muttered Luna.

Miles turned his eyes originally toward Jack, but he soon turned them toward Luke. With Christian and Luke having their eyes on Sean, he redirected them finally toward the elf.

His eyes sluggish, and his brain too slow for critical thinking, he swept strands of his hair from his forehead.

“Hey, so what’s the deal?”

“Miles … buddy … you can go back to—”

“We might rob a train.”

Miles straightened his back, and softened his cheeks and chin. Like he was receiving a grace of information, it was all a blur, all a way to hold what he truly felt. Until he spoke with a furrowed brow to his right eye.

“What?”

“Look, you don’t have to go with us. In fact, we could—”

That simple denial was cleansed. Getting up from his seat, he walked straight where Sean was, with a great hunch to his back. Staring down at the elf, his fingers twitched in an arithmetic pattern.

“Just who do you think I am?”

“Now hold on, let me—”

Without warning, he grabbed his collar. With no help from anybody, all of the strength from his right shoulder made him arch his arm. And then he threw him like some football, as he barged through the van’s doors.

Rolling out, a hard clamp to the ground ached his back. Feeling the cement sore his muscles, and his arms and legs, he hissed air through his lips. Groaning, he balled himself, but it wasn’t long before he heard a pair of boots clamp on the ground.

“I should’ve done this a long time ago.”

“M-M-M-Miles buddy?”

Grabbing his collar, he lifted his body up to the air. Despite Sean being six foot and two inches, Miles was six foot and five inches. Being the tallest out of everybody, his strength was second highest.

Everyone else began to assemble out from the van, as the tension skyrocketed.

“I never wanted to raid that ranch in the first place. After that shit show we pulled, you want us to dig an even deeper hole!?”

“H-Hey! Timeout!”

Luke and Jack both got out of their doors. Slamming them shut, they both walked toward the commotion, as everyone else began to gather.

Hope pressed her hands on Miles’ shoulder, her fingers tugging deep into his jacket.

“M-Miles. Don’t hurt him…”

“Let him go!” Yelled Chris.

“Now hold on now. Let’s let Luke decide.” Said Christian.

Luke and Jack were the last to reach them, as they all looked toward Miles. Luke, who had his hands low to his waist, walked right up toward Miles’s right shoulder. Patting his shoulder, it was light, as his fingers were soft yet stern.

“Sean. What’s your deal with the Zirardges? You know robbing a train wouldn’t do any good.”

“I know that, but please … listen to me.”

Sean felt Miles’s hand tighten, making him squirm under the strain his cloth was in. All of his hands and arms growing numb, he couldn’t even chuckle, as he felt like his eyes were stabbing into him. Unable to move his feet or legs, he gulped dry saliva down his throat.

“We’re poor. Dirt poor. Ever since you guys became criminals, have you realized our fate as soldiers?”

If they were dubbed as sinners, they sinners they are. But why were they dubbed as such?

If there was a reason for doing that, Doug wouldn’t tell them without death. That bridge being burned, scorched wood, how would they get the truth? Luke himself felt it swivel in his heart, and he felt it rummage his stomach the more he thought about it.

“We have no income, no way to secure funds. That train job will feed us until we grow wrinkles. Don’t you get it?”

Sean didn’t need to push himself away, or surrender to Miles. Instead, he stared forth with eyes not furrowed, not glared, but stained with casualness.

“We could live in Paradise.”

Luke blinked.

Doing it only once, he raised his right hand up to the side of his head. Scratching it with dull finger nails, he felt all of his jaws ache, and his eyes to swell.

He remembered a certain woman’s speech, or rather a goal she explained to him and everyone. Wanting to go to such a place, was it an actual location, or a metaphor? If it was the latter, why would she want such a goal? Was what the endgame that was persuaded within her mind?

It all boiled down to Luke, who tightened his knuckles.

—Paradise won’t be achieved if we’re on the run.

Luke looked down to the ground, and saw both paved asphalt and red dirt. To his right being dirt, and his left being asphalt, both eyes captured both. Two paths, one to follow, he knew both would mean the point of no return … no…

He could stay in one door, one path, but in the end…

—The government will get us eventually, and when that day comes …

Flashes of memories flashed before him.

All of those years training, not just by himself, he grew friendships that were molded in iron. And every single one of them was like Luke … for the fact that they had no other family left.

Which doubled their bond.

—It’ll probably be when we grow wrinkles.

Luke let go of Miles’s shoulder. Stepping forward, he placed himself in between Miles and Sean, making him let go of Sean. The two of them stepping back, Miles loosened the frustration he held, but his eyes were furrowed and crinkled.

“Luke. Don’t be an idiot.”

“I’m not defending Sean Miles …”

“Then tell me right now. What are we going to do? Are you really going to help that bastard rob a train?”

Miles couldn’t thrust his hand outward, let alone grab Luke’s collar. Laying them on his sides, he felt his voice quiver, as he couldn’t brush out coherent syllables. Unable to expose his thoughts into words, it led Luke to lower his head.

And have his eyes stare at his boots.

“Listen Miles…”

“Listen to what? You know this is stupid. Idiotic even. He’s going to get everybody killed!”

Luke remained silent.

In the end, one of them would get killed. Being realistic, the greatest scenario would be that nobody died. But this was a train they were talking about, not a ranch. Fast-moving, untrackable, it would be difficult to pinpoint the location of a moving locomotive.

“So we won’t go in blind.”

Luke wiggled his fingers, and creaked the knuckles of his right hand. With his left, he stalled it with no motion, all the while his eyes glimmered with a sense of purpose. All the while he smiled, his lips creating a sense of warmth and soothing.

“We’ll get details from an inside force, someone who knows the ins and outs in that family.”

“You’re riding this … all on intel?”

“On intel that could save all of us. If the job looks way too cruel, or too harsh … I will call it off.”

“But you won’t.”

Hope didn’t dare to tug Miles’s shoulder, as she knew it would be of no use. But Luna took a step forward, her eyes not glared, not furrowed, but perplexed with a mixture of emotion.

They all were questioning their trust in Luke. If he would throw their lives for money, for greed, would they feel safe in his hands? Nobody would, regardless of how much charisma one man has.

“From the ranch raid to this, I don’t feel safe. All of it … all of this … this leading, it feels like you’re just using—”

“I don’t see you as soldiers Miles …”

But Luke wasn’t like that.

Luke took out his right hand. Letting it stall in the air, Miles didn’t take a step back or a step forward. Buckling his knees on the sight of his hand, there were no twitching nerves of cold fingers.

“We’re friends. No matter where the wind blows, or when it dies down; we’ll be standing side by side at the very end.”

Miles huffed air through his nose, making his upper lip parch with his breath. Raising his right hand up toward his forehead, he swayed strands of his hair.

Relaxing his body entirely, all of his nerves turned down to total zero. Slugging his eyes, his lower eyelids darkened, making himself look exhausted.

“... promise me you won’t be an idiot.”

“I won’t.”

“Because if this goes sideways, I’m blaming you. We all will.”

Luke nodded, before dribbling a bit of sweat from his right temple. With Miles now tamed, Luke turned toward Sean, who still had that paper note in his hand. Looking like it was wrinkled, all by his fingers, the elf finally sprang his arm outward.

“Just take it…”

Taking the paper from his hand, Luke opened it up again with little hardship. Scanning the lines again, he analyzed it thoroughly, just in case he had missed something.

But then a thought occurred to him.

—A train must have some sort of schedule, or checkpoints that are needed to load and unload.

By just having that thought, he noticed one city named amongst the many lines.

Keeping that name in mind, he pulled his head away from the note, and closed it neatly. Passing the note back to Sean, the elf slightly smiled, with his face still riddled in nervousness.

“So…”

“One of the cities it stops in is Ridgemente. The capital of Haxouburg.”

“Wait what? That’s a ten hour drive!” Yelled Jack.

“Hehe … it’s going to be a long night.” Said Sean.

“More like a long morning.” Rebutted Jack.

Using both hands, he pushed back his hair that was already slicked back. His hair thickened in dryness, he looked up toward the night sky.

With more driving to do, more hours on the road, a long exhale blew free from his mouth. His eyes mostly focused on a particular star, his irises didn’t glimmer, before returning them to Luke.

“If we’re going to the capital, we need to lie low. The first thing we should do is call in on that intel.”

“Why?”

“So that way we don’t rob a train … in broad daylight … in a big city. Unless by some miracle, it can’t be done.”