Formation

Formation: Chapter 2

This world is...fractured.

There's nothing left in it that is pure. Only gritty darkness that fills you with murky morals, and determination. No one wants to die out here, I've noticed, but barely anyone wants to live either.

If there's even such a thing any more; living.

All I've ever known is survival, and maybe that'll never change. For me, that's fine. I've never expected anything else than to fight. Truthfully, I have no idea what use I'd even be in a world without violence.

It's part of me now. Almost innate.

"Six!" Theo barks, his grip on me unrelenting. I don't even recognise the direction we run in, "Through the markets! Move!"

Behind us, shots were still being fired. Precise from what could only be years of practice, and a good eye. Whoever was pulling the trigger was experienced, and they were not playing either. Every shot they took, a bullet buried itself in something closer, and closer to us.

Suddenly, I wondered if this is how Alchemy felt.

I  heard his heart race, but not like mine was. No, fear chorused through him. A human sort that I would never understand. There was a time when I would have wanted to, but I think it's gone now. They aren't all what I thought they were.

Not at all.

"I can't catch a scent!" I snapped, trying to slow down. Yet, the Splice was determined to drag me at his own pace, "Three! I need to get their scent!"

Needed to know when they were nearby. He was too far to catch it, but I knew I could. All I needed to do was focus, it's hard to do when I'm this distracted. Ahead of us, I could already smell the smoke from cooked meats in the market.

Nighttime feasts out to seduce drunken minds. Homemade ale bittering the air, and foul breath's hollering in barely understandable slurs.

Theo speared me with an infuriated glare, "I'm not dying for an attempt, and you're not dying for a damn scent!" He growled, leaving no room for action. He knew in the market, I'd have no chance, "Besides, I'm sure we'll meet whoever it is again!"

Yeah, I had to agree there.

Whoever was after us, were determined. Why else would they kill Alchemy like that? Goddamn, he warned us. said someone would come, and I ignored it. A plain clue right in the open, maybe a key to unlock this maze of secret trap doors.

A furious snarl suddenly burst from Theo. His swift stride broke for a second, and blood hit the air. Alarm spread through me at the distinct sharpness of something else; chemical.

"Theo!" His name was the first thing on my tongue. Dressed in panic, dripping with dread, "Where are you hit?"

Marble features hardened dauntingly. The skin square shape of his jaw clenched tight, and I swore I heard his teeth crack. Felt the fury rumble through his throat, as his grip on me tightened even more.

"Just keep moving!" He demanded, brows pinching in the middle. Strong arm slipping over my shoulders, "Or do I need to get shot a second time to encourage you!?"

My lips pressed together in annoyance. Releasing the stubborn grip demanding someone's scent, I quickened my pace. Cursing all the words I'd learned the closer we came to the market. Feeling a punch in the gut when my nose was overwhelmed, and I knew the chance was gone.

The city becomes a strange place in the dark.

Fires are set in trash cans because the electric goes out after hours. Siphoned by the glimmering metropolis no one here could ever afford to step foot into. Everyone here knows they are at the bottom of the food chain, the south may have scarcely anything, but they get by.