the alternatives ⇒ tmr trilogy & newtmas au ⇒ COMPLETED

Chapter Two

The group of boys began to climb out of the dumpster to join Thomas. Newt clapped him on the back, and Alby and Minho did the same. Thomas smiled; a real, genuine grin.

An audible sigh sounded behind Thomas, and he turned to face a boy with uneven black hair and a bulbous, crumpled nose.

"Nice shuck ceremony. They call me Gally, by the way." he snarled. "While ya perform his initiation, just wanted to let ya know that the shuck Syndicate is here."

"What?" Alby yelped, whipping around. Sure enough, at the end of the alleyway stood what looked like another gang, this one made up of both boys and girls.

"We've gotta make some bloody tracks!" Newt motioned to the rest of the boys in the group.

They took off running, but the other gang, the Syndicate, was blocking the Alternatives' way out. And they wouldn't budge.

"So we meet again." a teenaged boy with a pointed nose smirked.

"Janson." Alby narrowed his eyes at the boy. "Have I told you have much I shucking hate ya?"

"Yes, many times actually." Janson chuckled.

"When I smash the brew bottle, we fight." a sharp whisper sounded in Thomas's right ear, and he turned to face Newt. Thomas could sense the strong determination in his words, and when he looked down, Newt was still clutching the cracked beer bottle, his knuckles white.

"I'll pass it on." Thomas said.

Once every boy had gotten the message, and Alby and Janson were at a lull in coversation, Newt flung the bottle to the ground and it instantly shattered. Each Alternative attacked the dueling group, each performing a different tactic. Alby punched Janson, Minho had knives in both hands, fighting a Syndicate member, and Newt waved around a glass shard, daring to pierce anyone who came close to him.

Only Thomas faltered.

He had no weapon. If he did, he would've used it to defend himself last night. He wildly looked around, hoping he would make it out alive.

Thomas's eyes fell on a girl, who, like him, was not fighting. She had long, shiny black hair and bright blue eyes.

The girl noticed him looking at her and backed away. She wouldn't make eye contact with Thomas, no matter how hard he tried.

"C'mon! Let's go!" Alby cried, and the Alternatives ran.
...
As they raced against the roaring wind, away from danger, Thomas came to some conclusions. Alby seemed to be the leader, Newt his second-in-command. Minho joined them in the higher ranks. Gally didn't seem to like him very much, and he wasn't sure of the other members' thoughts about him. Thomas just hoped he was safe with these boys, and this wasn't just a trick like everything else in his life.

When the group slowed down, he fell into step with Newt. The older boy rolled his eyes.

"Nice job fighting the bloody Syndicate." he scoffed.

"Sorry. I didn't have a weapon." Thomas shrugged.

"I can fix that for ya." Newt held his hand out, revealing a small but deadly sharp knife. Thomas gratefully took the object, sliding it into his jeans pocket.

"You like?" Newt asked.

"Neato." Thomas grinned.

They rounded a corner onto a busy street, bustling with life.

"Wanna get some grub?" Alby called to the group. He pointed to the door of a diner, and they responded with a collective cheer.

"Been cravin' a maltshake for too shuck long." Minho groaned, patting his stomach.

Alby pulled open the door, and once every Alternative was inside, they sat in a long line at the counter. Thomas perched on a stiff, red stool between Newt and Minho.

"So, Greenie, where'd ya come from?" Minho asked Thomas.

"What's a 'Greenie'?" Thomas shot back.

"Oh, it's just somethin' we call the newest member of the group. Short for Greenbean."

"Okay..." Thomas raised his eyebrows, but Minho motioned for him to start talking.

"Well, so... I came from a house up Redwall Street over there, y'know, behind the forest..."

"No, slinthead. I mean, why were you runnin' around in the middle of the shuck night?" Minho pressed.

Thomas swallowed a rising lump in his throat and began to talk. "My mom... she doesn't like havin' me around. She hurts me. Inside and out. She tore me up, that skuzz. And now I'm here. Hoping you guys won't do the same."

Minho was silent for a moment, and then he spoke. "It's happened to all of us. You're not the only shank that gets beat up by his parents." To Thomas's surprise, he jabbed a thumb at Newt.

Thomas opened his mouth, about to say something, but Minho spat, "Slim it. He's touchy about it."

Thomas nodded, making a mental note not to bring it up anymore. He remembered Newt holding tightly to the beer bottle, as if it was more than garbage.

A sudden realization hit Thomas.

Drinking was Newt's escape from reality.

Thomas hated the idea of it. He hated alcohol after what it had done to his brother.

"You alive?" Minho waved his hand in front of Thomas's face, startling him.

"Yeah, yeah." Thomas nodded. "Hey, Minho?"

"What?"

"What about you? Where did you come from?" Thomas wondered.

"Um..." Minho said a little too loudly. "Well..."

Thomas waited.

"Would ya look at that! There's the waitress." exclaimed Minho, obviously relieved. "I'm shuck starving."

They ordered their meal, and Minho explained, "We don't get to eat much. Always on the move."

A few minutes later, once every Alternative was choking down food like they hadn't eaten for a week, Thomas asked to no one in particular, "Who's the Syndicate?"

Alby, Newt, and Minho looked at each other.

"Don't shuck scream like that." Alby said finally. "They might have a spy here."

"Oh." Thomas looked ashamed. "But who are they?"

"They're klunky, good-for-nothin' soshes, that's what they are." Minho snorted.

"That's a shuck accurate description." Alby sniggered. "But besides that, they're basically a bunch of shanks with a death wish. They keep comin' back to fight us. It's a feud that's been goin' on for a while now."

"Who's that fine girl with the black hair and dreamy blue eyes?" Thomas looked down at the floor and smiled.

"Ooh, Tommy's got a crush." teased Newt.

"I don't know any girl like that. She might've been new." Alby said.

"Slim it, Newt." Thomas tested out the unfamiliar vocabulary.

"You sound like a ditz." Minho laughed.

A figure sauntered up to where Thomas was sitting. It was a girl. The same girl that he saw during the fight.

Thomas let out a short gasp.

"It's nice to know that you're still thinking about me." she smiled, a radiant burst of sunlight. The girl dropped a slip of paper in Thomas's lap and walked away.

Teresa Agnes
334-357-1239

"I told you they had a bloody spy." Newt grumbled.