Ignorance (BEING REWRITTEN. SEE 'THE REVOLT')

Chapter Thirteen

“I have to be sure that you all understand the risk that you are taking.” We stand or sit around the Belt, the new recruits stand together, displaying different emotions. “This isn’t just a refuge for runaways like it used to be,” He glances at Artie and at Tim and May, “When you come here, yes, we offer you a place of safety and a place of relative freedom but you need to understand the danger.” Zed holds his hands behind his back and looks coldly at everyone here. “Recent events,” He looks at me and then the space next to Tim, “have caused things to change. We are no longer just spray-paint-wielding runaways and that is something you have to understand. You can leave now if you want to, no one here will judge you. However, if you do, you cannot tell anyone about this place, you will be putting all of our lives in danger if you do and probably, your own. I’m not saying you have to stay, you are under no obligation. But, if you choose to stay, we will teach you how to fight, we will arm you and protect you. Bad things are going to happen in this city and that is not necessarily something that won’t affect you if you leave. I just need to know that you all understand the risks; you could die, people here have died.” I feel my eyes glance over to Tim against my will. His jaw is locked tautly but I can see the tremble of his hands as they’re balled into tight fists. “Choose whichever you want to choose, do not feel pressured to stay or to leave, that is not what we are about here.” There is a silence in the room as no one is sure who is going to stay and who isn’t. I lock eyes with Puck across the room and we exchange what seems like a thousand words in a few glances. I stare at the five figures, they can’t be much older than me and they stand with their backs straight and hands seemingly steady and it seems as though none of them will leave. Honestly, if I was one of them and I had just heard what Zed had said, I don’t know whether or not I would have had the strength to stay. 

It’s the boy on the far left that makes the first move; he opens his mouth to speak but no words come out. He swallows hard and gathers his composure again, “I’ll stay.” He says, the words seem out of place in his trembling voice. Two more say the same thing, the girl sounding much more definite than the others. One girl and one boy remain silent, I think we can all see the turmoil in their heads as they have to choose whether or not to stay. The girl says she will and the boy says he won’t. He picks up his bag and Ash leads him out of HQ; we can only hope that he doesn’t say anything, if he does, we’re all in danger. 

“I’m Luca.” I say to the four people sitting around the table in ‘AR BKS’, they each tell me their names in turn; Oscar, Josh, Emi, Eve.

“You’re that runaway kid, aren’t you? The one that people were talking about?” Oscar says, he looks about two years younger than me.

“What do you mean?”

“At school? They said you ran away from home because you were unstable or something.” I hadn’t realised I vaguely recognised him until now, I hadn’t exactly made it my business to know anyone at school.

“What’s up with that Puck girl’s hair? And her name, it’s a bit weird don’t you think?” Eve says with naivety reminiscent of my own only weeks ago.

“One thing I’m pretty sure you’ll learn here is that not everything is worth knowing.”

“Isn’t that what the whole point of this is? That the government keep things from us? Shouldn’t we be entitled to know things?”

“Not everything.” Puck is behind me and she puts her knife on the table reasonably gently, I can sense a sudden tension in the room. “Who wants to lean to fight?” No one moves, it’s easy to tell that they're either scared or intimidated by her. “Well you better all get your arses off your seats and follow me then. Yeah, you didn't really get a choice, you learn to fight or you probably get yourself killed. Didn’t think it would be too much of a tough choice.”