[In The Way Of] Life and Death • Sweet Pea [1]

Brave New World

Warning: smut ahead in the chapter so if that's not your thing- skip over it.
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It's been weeks since riot night. Riverdale, as we know it, will never be the same. The night of Jughead's sacrifice led to a war between the Serpents and Ghoulies like never before. Our fight was strong, and it looked like we were gonna win the day, but in the end we were outnumbered. Though it was the exact opposite of what Jughead would have wanted, everyone was hellbent on revenge. Not only for Jughead, but for Fangs; to which we found out was a ploy- from none other than Hiram Lodge. To lead the Serpents into a fight we couldn't win.

The loss of that day took an epic toll on the state of the Serpents. Some joined the Ghoulies, some were arrested. Others either went into hiding or left town. The Serpents don't really exist anymore.

Despite the fact he would never admit it, Sweet Pea was almost glad. Now that there wasn't a gang for me to join, it meant no initiation. It mended some things between us -but I wasn't happy which is why he never brought it up; and why I never brought it up either. It was weird, we hadn't talked about it to spare the others' feelings, afraid of what the outcome of our relationship would be after the discussion. It was like we had a mutual agreement to not bring it up but there was this void that needed to be filled.

"So this is how it ends, huh?" Jughead shook his head from the front of the classroom that used to be our excuse of a Serpent-only club. But now the room was only ever filled with Jughead, Toni, Sweet Pea, and I. "Not with a whimper, but with a memo from Weatherbee."

"Riverdale High is now suddenly 'overcrowded.'" Toni made air quotations with a roll of her eyes, "So, starting next week, all former Southside High students will be bussed to Seaside High- which is two hours away." She spoke disapprovingly before crumpling the paper in her hands she had read off of.

"Meaning, he blames us for trashing the school during riot night." Sweet Pea translated with a cross of his arms.

"Can you blame him?" I questioned softly, sitting on top of a desk with my arms crossed as well. I wasn't angry- just tired of the way things were. "I mean, that's exactly what you did."

Sweet Pea sighed, knowing I was right and hanging his head low for a moment before looking up towards Jughead, "What's our play, Jones? Do we have one?"

Jughead sighed, leaning off of the desk and pacing the front of the classroom, "I don't know anymore, guys." He sounded broken, "We can't keep fighting for a gang that doesn't exist."

I looked away, suddenly fascinated by the patterns in the wood of the desk I was sitting on. Jughead was right, the odds weren't in our favor and it was heartbreaking.

"Well what about us?" Toni chimed in causing my head to snap up, "Or any of the other Serpents at the Wyrm?"

Jughead looked over curiously, obviously not knowing that since most of the trailers in Sunnyside trailer park had been burned down, Serpents had no place to turn; instead crashing at the Whyte Wyrm. "What Serpents at the Wyrm?"

...

"This is so sick." I shook my head with a whisper, glancing around at all the homeless Serpents covered in blankets and eating from cans. It disappointed me that we once stood tall and strong and now we were hiding out from the dangers outside. "And twisted."

"I don't understand." Jughead murmured lowly, eyes grazing over the bodies in the room.

Toni shifted in her position, placing her hands in her pockets, "You saw what the Ghoulies did to most of Sunnyside."

"A lot of Serpents couldn't afford to leave Riverdale." Sweet Pea added with a swallow, "So we came here."

I broke my trance with the spiritless individuals, not being able to see them in such a feeble state. I headed for the exit to the Wyrm, feeling a hand on my arm as soon as I stepped outside. It was Sweet Pea, who must've been trailing me, "Bird-"