Doves

Chapter 9

 He grabbed me by the wrist, ignoring my protests and struggles. We left the mall and hurried down the streets. It would be getting dark soon, we'd be safer when the sun went down. He dragged me absentmindedly towards downtown, where just days ago we would've been two normal kids shooting the breeze. Funny how everything can be ripped away so quickly. We ducked into an alley. At this point he didn't have to drag me anymore.

 We silently walked the maze between apartment complexes, coming to a building where the fire escape had been built into the wall. We silently climbed the rusty rungs of the ladder. We used to go up when we still thought we had a chance at learning parkour. We stepped to the edge of the roof. Beneath us there was a another building, a two or three foot drop from where we were now.

 We hung our legs over the edge. Eight stories down streets latticed the ground and cars streamed around the squares of road. A dog barked somewhere. It felt like old times. Then Auto spoke.

 "So do you want to tell me what you're doing here? And why you aren't ...y'know..."

 "Dead?" we both finished at the same time.

 "...Yeah." he confirmed.

 "Well, it's a bit of a long story, but since neither of us have any where to go...I'm gonna tell it."

 Auto grunted his permission.

 I proceeded to recount my adventure since he had so unceremoniously left me to die. I informed him of Viper itself and the reason we had been framed this way. I also explained that, in case he hadn't guessed, the people who had murdered his parents weren't Viper or any form of government officials, that those people were the terrorists Viper had spoken about. 

 I told him about Scarface and the Jittermen, filling him in on everything up until when he found me in the mall. He sat quietly, processing everything. "So we're doing the secret government's dirty work?"

 "Basically..."He was silent again. "Well that makes me feel fantastic." he stated. I nodded."Why can't they do it themselves?"

 "In case something like this happens again. It sure does seem like it would make things easier if Viper would go ahead and handle it though. I mean, they know what they're talking about. But instead they got a couple of noobs like us."

 We mulled things over in silence for a little bit longer before I broke the final question.

 "Why'd you leave?"I kind of expected it to be met with silence. It was. Car horns blared below. A few police cars wailed up the street and around the corner. The sun was setting, the sky blazing orange in front of us. It seemed like the whole atmosphere was on fire. I looked at Auto. He stared into the sun, unblinking. Through the reflection of the sunset I could see mixed emotions flashing through his eyes.

 "I needed someone to blame." It came out sounding like an apology. I didn't push him for more. The sun slid down behind the city buildings. Pink and purple flooded the sky, overtaking the red-golden clouds. We sat in silence as the last of the light faded from the sky. Streetlights came on below us.

 "We're gonna need to tell some people," I muttered. My phone buzzed in my pocket. Without looking at it, I took it in my hand like a rock. Auto gave me a look. I chucked the phone out over the apartments, watching as it rushed down to the streets below.

 "Yeah. It's gonna be tricky." Auto confirmed.

 "You sure you don't want to back out?"

 "Nah, man."

 A pained smile crossed his face. It really wasn't like we had much of a choice. Either we tell people and we live to tell the tale, we tell people and we die, or we don't tell people and we die. Well, either we choose to do it or we choose to do it, right? We could have any life we wanted as long as it was a life as a fugitive.

 Auto chucked his phone. "How're we gonna go about doing this thing?"

 "I dunno," I began, pondering, "What if we put it all on a website?"

 "Don't you think that's too slow?"

 "What else could we do?"

 "We could tell the newspapers..."

 "Would people buy that? I mean, that it's real, not the paper. Of course people buy the paper."

 Auto climbed down onto the lower roof. He sat with his back against the wall. I sprawled along the rim of the roof, ending up laying on my back, staring up at the stars that were starting to peek through the orange.

 "I'm just spit-balling here, but what if we got a press member or something." Auto suggested, "Like, what if we called HPN anonymously or something and asked for them to send a reporter out and then we meet up with 'em or something. Or maybe we do the whole thing over the phone."

 I pondered it. That could work. If we told a reporter, it'd be the top story for weeks. If we were to call in and tell her some tidbits and then tell her who we were at the very end. Then people would have to hear about it.

 "Do you know any news ladies?"

 Auto looked at me, awaiting a response.

 "As a matter of fact...Nope."

 "Lucius, you little..."