hoax | kaz brekker

five. it lives in me

Kaz looks back at Malakai whose chest heaves with anxiety. He catches the glisten of fear in her eyes. Her warm honey eyes looked darker in this light.

From the dark fog, Arken wheels what looks to be some sort of large, metal, carriage? "So, goat, jurda... Now we're just waiting on..."

Right on cue, a succession of gunshots split through the still air and a voice travels through the wind. "Wait for me!"

Jesper.

Jesper with a group of men chasing him with fire and guns a blazing. The Crows didn't expect anything less from the Gunslinger.

Arken quickly pushes his own torch into the sand, plunging them into darkness. "They can't see the train."

Kaz grits his teeth, shouting out to the tall top hat. "Jesper, get here now!"

The boy skids to a stop at the sign. "Landmines!" Before a gunshot barely misses him. Without a second thought he drops the lantern and sprints into the unknown. "Oh, wait for me! Don't you go without me!"

Arken, Inej and Kaz quickly board the train. Malakai follows close behind, throwing the goat in first who bleats in protest. She crouches on her hands and knees on the floor of the train, her head sticking out of the door. For the first time, they hear her shout.

"Hurry up, Jesper Fahey!"

The boy clambers in, a sack thrown over his shoulder. Leaning out, Malakai quickly shuts the door, before turning to Jesper.

Still sitting in the floor, she signs furiously at him. "You stupid, stupid boy!" Leaning her head back against the wall in exasperation.

"Please tell me you have twenty pounds of alabaster coal." Arken scrambles around the tight metal box, flicking switches and turning lights on.

"Slight snag in the plan. Turns out the kid who was helping me buy the coal didn't exactly know how to, uh, buy the coal."

Malakai looked up at him with a confused face, her eyes squinted. Kaz stood face to face with him.

"We know you gambled it away."

A guilty look washed over Jesper's face. "I lost a little bit of money." Kaz now squinted at him too. "Okay, I lost all of the money. Uh, but I managed to steal twenty pounds of alabaster coal."

Arken looked down at the bag. "No, no, no. This is only sixteen pounds!"

"Sixteen pounds of alabaster coal." Jesper corrected himself, tearing off his over coat.

The blonde girl in the corner banged her head slightly against the metal. "Can we do it on sixteen?"

"Never been done before." The Conductor answered honestly.

"Great. Just great. Good going, Jesper."

Arken pushed Jesper onto a small wooden seat. "Sit here. Never shift your weight."

Inej sits down on a bench, Malakai stands to sit on the bench opposite her. Malakai's entire body shakes leaning forward with her hands gripping the edge of the seat. Her head overwhelmed my the loud noises surrounding her and the thought of their impending doom. Pulling his coat off, Kaz drapes it around her trembling body, taking a seat beside her. He nudges her shoulder with his reassuringly.