Running On The Line

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Mason

I took the cloth away from Meg's forehead. It had been there all night and was now burning up. "Hey, kiddo, wake up." She opened her dark blue eyes to peer at me. "Mase, I want to sleep." I sighed. She had already missed 1 week of work because of RED. I had used up all my treatment payments. They had worked for a little while but now... now I was running low. I could only lean on Aless so many times before I needed to steal again. I didn't want to. It had been exactly 5 years since I had to steal to provide for me and my 13 year old sister, Meg. Food was not a problem. It could be hunted down. It could be picked from trees. But the only way to save Meg from dying was to give her the treatments. If I could get 25 shots of the antidote in one week, I could heal her in three days! It took exactly 25 shots to cure RED but they had to be given all at once. It was impossible though. Or it seemed to be. I was only payed 3 shots a week and Aless had the same salary. No one else would help me, they had their own problems. And it's not as if I could save up... by then she would already be dead. "Are you sure?" I could see tears starting to pool. I knew she wanted to go to work; she wanted to help me take care of everything. Other people in our shared home were getting dressed, not bothering to cover up. Most of them stayed away from Meg now... she was contagious. Sure, you could say 'let her die, Mason, or else you will catch it!' but she's my sister. She's all I've ever had and I would never leave her. She nodded sadly. I sighed. I had to get to work... but it was hard to leave her. It was hard every morning. I was terrified to come home one morning and find her dead body in our dorm. Just the thought sent shivers down my spine. "Alright, kiddo, but take a walk alright? Gotta keep the blood flowing." She bit her lip. I could see her fight different thoughts through her eyes. "Mason, I... I can't. I can't walk. My legs feel too weak."

It was like being slapped in the face.  The air felt like it was sucked out in the air. It was taking over. My efforts were going nowhere. She was sinking under the water of death and I couldn't save her. I had to I had to I had to I had to

I

Had

To.

She was NOT sinking. Not while I was here. Not ever. I grabbed her arms. "Mason?!" She looked at me confused. "Get up!" I screamed at her. She tried to pull back but was too weak to really make a difference. "Stand up, Meg!" She looked terrified. In the back of my mind I knew I should stop but I couldn't. It was like a veil of fury and terrifying images of her, dead. I couldn't handle it. I pulled her up to me, forcing her on her feet. She immediately needed me to lean on, her knees buckled under her. I let her fall and she hit the floor hard. She gasped and groaned in pain. I saw her turn her head to me, terrified but with this haunted look in her eyes. The grim reaper was staring her in the face and she wasn't even scared anymore! I backed up, scared I was going to hurt her more than I already had. The wall beside me got the brunt of my anger, I punched in the wall and a huge whole opened up. My knuckles were cut open and stinging but I paid it no mind. I turned towards my little sister. Blood was trickling down her nose, another nosebleed. She gets them often because of RED. But this was NOT the time.  I stepped closer and she tried to scramble back but she was choking on her own blood. "GET. UP. GET UP!" I lifted my fist.

A hand too familiar grabbed my arm before it made contact. I felt their fingers wrap around my bicep and my fist. The familiar voice whispered in my ear menacingly. "Don't fight back. I will beat you and you know it." The anger evaporated. Aless. I pulled free from her grip and sat down on the floor, putting my head between my knees. What had I done? What had I done? I felt like I was going to throw up. I wasn't like this. I was NOT like my father. I was not. I felt Aless move around me to Meg who was trembling on the ground in front of me. "What the FUCK Mason?! Here, Hon, grab my hand." I opened my eyes at them. Aless had grabbed Meg's hands and was lifting her up slowly. Meg couldn't use her legs to support herself so the woman who had become like my sister had to scoop her up and gently put her back on the couch. I forced myself to stand up. The second I did, Aless' hands wrapped around my neck, choking me. I knew I deserved it so I didn't fight back. I had attacked my little sister. She spit in my face. "You asshole. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! I come to pick you up for work so we could walk together and avoid looters but when I find you, where are you? ATTACKING MEG. Get your shit together!" I nodded frantically. My face was turning blue and black dots clouded my vision. She released me and I gasped for air, drinking it in like water. Aless was average height but her personality could take up an entire world. She had a small scar above her right eyebrow and one that goes straight down her lower back from being whipped as a child. She had long dark hair that she always tied in a braid and brown eyes that were filled with ice from all the years of practicing not being able to feel. But she had a heart. Meg and I were like her family, the only ones who got to see her soft side. Her real name was Sharon Alessio and she went by it until she was thirteen. She started calling herself Aless to attract attention. She started killing people who hurt her. She started working.  Anyone who sees her runs. Except us. She's funny and has a heart of gold that's hidden under all that steal. She gives me her pay in meds sometimes when her mother is on her good days. She also had a head over heels crush on a co-worker, Emy.

Emy was blond and the same height as Aless but she hid her potential well. If she wanted too, Emy could take down the entire city and probably barely break a sweat. She led the rebellion against the Haveners, which was still under way, and when we first met, she punched me in the face for 'having a stupid idea'. To the Havener Guards, she looked so innocent. She had that kind of sweet face... but in real life, even though she was a good person and super sweet if you knew her, she was lethal. If she's mad at you, run. The rebellion she was leading was called Royalty. It symbolized that we wanted to have the same rights as the Haveners. We wanted a RED-free city. A city without having to work all day. One where we don't have to hunt for our own food. The Royals, were the rebels like Meg and I. Even though Meg hasn't been to a meeting in weeks because of RED, Emy still says she's a Royal. The Generals, Aless and another guy named Roland, were the executers, sent to kill important people. They often crossed over to the rich to kill people on the other side. The Queen well... that was Emy. She led the WHOLE thing. She once snuck into the Haven, killed the president and then ran out. They never caught her and we learned from out spies that they told the Haveners he had died from old age. But we knew he didn't. And if we could kill the president, then we could also take over.

Aless gave Meg some water and a new cloth and then pulled me out the small dorm. I tried to give her one last fleeting look of how sorry I was but she wasn't looking at me, just trying to bend her legs and failing. Her bones were turning to blood too fast. I needed my pay. I needed... I just needed her to stay alive. Time to go to work.