Night at the River

At midnight, Leo and Drago set out towards the river surrounding the Bog. At this time, everyone had wrapped up their businesses and were sound asleep. The narrow alleyways and mud roads were filled only with the stillness and quiet of the night.
It was the ideal time to hide a body.

After cleaning the blood, Leo had wrapped Drago's father's body in an old rag he found in his shack and tied it up with a rope to keep the body from falling out. He planned to cremate the body and disperse the ashes in the river. For this purpose, Drago carried with him a few sticks of dry wood, a small can of oil and a fire starter.

In the Bog, if someone went missing, it was usually attributed to the work of loan sharks or street thugs, who had control over different parts of the Bog. So nobody would notice if one man just disappeared out of the blue, in fact, it would be advantageous for most people, since it left a shack unpopulated. Unfortunately for Leo and Drago, this meant they couldn't live in the shack afterward, since that would cause suspicion. They had to figure out a new means of accommodation.

Half an hour past midnight, Leo and Drago arrived at the river. The river was a narrow body of water separating the Bog from a large forest nearby, which stretched into a mountain range a short distance away. The river had a large bank surrounded with thick overgrowth, an ideal place to cremate a body. Without saying a word, the boys got to work. Drago arranged the wood and Leo carefully placed the body on it. He took the oil and poured it over the rag which wrapped the body. Once he was done, Leo took the fire starter in his hand and paused for a moment before starting to speak.

"Drago, do you want to say anything? Words of prayer, perhaps."

Drago shook his head in denial.

"May the higher beings judge this man fairly."

Saying this, Leo lit the body on fire. The fire spread to the wood and soon, the fire was raging, lighting up the darkness of the night. Drago just stared into the fire, emotionless. He felt numb, like he didn't quite understand what was going on, but still accepted it anyway. All the events that had taken place seemed absurd and impossible, but they were reality. And someone like him had no part to play in their occurrence.

Leo noticed Drago's demeanor and sighed before speaking.

"I know there's no way to justify what I did. However much I look out for you and try to help you, the fact remains that I took the life of your father."

Leo bent down and picked up a sharp rock from the ground, handing it to Drago.

"You can kill me right here if you wish. I won't object to it. Whether you have vengeance on your mind or not, it's your call to make."

"...I can't do it. I can't influence anything. Not someone like me," said Drago in a low voice.

"Drago. Listen to me."

Drago looked up at Leo.

"You are not who you think you are. You are not a powerless entity. You are a human being, in control of your life and your decisions. Whether they're good or bad, they are YOUR decisions and you should stand up for them."

Drago, without saying anything, took the rock in his hands.

"My life is in your hands now. Make your decision.Do you want to kill me as revenge for your father, or do you want to let me liv-"
THUD!!
Leo fell over as Drago hit him straight to the chin, with the blunt end of the rock, inflicting a non-lethal wound by dislocating his jaw. Leo exclaimed in pain on the ground.

"FUCK! THAT HURTS LIKE A BITCH!"

Drago started to laugh. As he went on, the laughter became louder and louder until he was struggling to breathe. Seeing this, Leo began to laugh too. The boys were laughing at the top of their lungs, breaking the silence of the night.
After Drago started to fade down, Leo smirked at him with his dislocated jaw.

"You're crazy, you know that?" Remarked Leo.

"Yeah, but not as much as yo-"

Drago was interrupted by a punch to the gut by Leo. Drago spat blood as he fell over to the ground.

"Now THAT'S a sweet revenge!" Exclaimed Leo.

"I'll ge- wait, what's that noise?"

Drago looked over to the direction it was coming from. It was the noise of people talking. Leo slammed a hand to his head.

"Fuck, why didn't it occur to me? It's probably some thugs who heard the noise we were making while standing guard outside. If they see us burning a body of someone they were previously extorting, they'll definitely kill us."

Drago stood up, trembling.

"Leo, what do we do? Should we run?"

"No, they've probably notified other members. We're probably surrounded at this point. But first, quick, put out the fire with the river water! We can't let them see it."

Drago quickly did what he was told. Leo stood watch all the while. When he was done, he rushed over to Leo.

"Leo, are we going to die?"

Leo didn't answer this question. He looked towards Drago and barely managed a smile with his busted jaw.

"Drago, give me the rock."