The Runaways

Chapter Thirty-Eight - Sifting Through Lies

Elias

It half the day had passed and we were still left tied to the poles. I was starving and thirsty. I had been thinking non-stop about what had happened earlier. I've experienced my fair share of racism. Though it's not as often now a days since I used to live so secluded with just Remington, Corban, and Reece for so long I guess I forgot that I'm still a person of color living in the Midwest. It made me think of my brother. Which made me more upset. Just before I had met Remington my brother had been killed. Ever since the bombings we only had each other. In school when kids would mock us for being Filipino he would always remind me of how special we were. I remember he used to say how the white kids were only jealous because they wanted to be tan like us but would burn up whenever they stood in the sun.

The bombings had taken away our parents and our little sister for so long we only had each other. I think we both would've lost ourselves in the cruelty of a ruleless world if we didn't have each other— well I would've lost myself sooner.

I miss you Elijah.

But after thinking about my brother, it got me thinking about Remington. The fact one Syndicate called Remington a Syndicate. Sure Remington shook it off like it was nothing but it's Remington he could lie to anyone and would show nothing of indication if he had to cover something up that important. He wouldn't even leave a hint in his body language. What if Remington was a Syndicate? It would pull a lot of pieces together. When you become a Syndicate you can never leave, it's a lifelong commitment. You leave you die. Remington being a Syndicate would explain why everyones after him, sure Remington says it's for money reasons and so do the Syndicates but he could've easily taken money or resources when he left or destroyed it as a final "fuck you". It wouldn't be out of character for him to do something petty like that.

Oh my God.

He... he might actually be an ex Syndicate.

Not only would that explain Remington knowing a suspiciously large amount of gang leaders, selective paranoia, the reason we've been getting hunted down, possibly why he's so secretive of his burn scar, but it would also explain the incredibly strange and suspicious circumstances I met Elias under.

It was the middle of winter and my brother had been killed over a fight over money and food. Winter in the Midwest were brutal, more than ever now that there were no more supermarkets or stores to buy food from. You were all on your own. I was starving it had probably been the closest I've ever been to dying besides the bombings. I was struggling to adapt with the loss of my brother and living alone with no one to help. I remember one night it was snowing out and I hadn't eaten in a day and a half. If I had wanted anything strength I had to get food before I went to bed. I had traps laid out for any small animals that were around. Rabbits were always the easiest to find from their extremely distinctive tracks they left in the snow.

I was following a rabbit trail when out of nowhere I saw him. It was Remington, laying face first in the snow. I could tell he had been there for awhile because of all the snow from the snowfall that had piled onto his back. The snow around him was splattered with blood. Seeing the blood got me worried and I had walked over to him to see if I could help him out. When I pushed all the snow off him I could see his clothes were ripped so badly I couldn't even tell what he was wearing. Along every hole and cut in his clothes was a slash in his skin. Remington literally looked like he walked through a revolving door full of knives tapped to the walls.

But a detail about that, the one that I never thought of much til now. There was a dagger sticking out of his back, I eventually pulled it out but the knife was used only by Syndicates, it had their symbol in the blade and everything. Remingtons story from when he first woke up was that he had been mugged and he was just a loner who had barely any money. But now that I think of it, what if Remington had been caught trying to leave? What if while he was leaving he destroyed a large amount of resources or money as his petty revenge? And what if they caught up to him, roughed him up and left him for dead? What if they realized Remington they made a deal that he'd be kept alive if he could repay them for all he took from them?

Oh my God.

This makes more sense than I'd like it too.

Ever since I've met Remington I've clung to him, not because I like him, because he's all I have, and though he may be very stupid he's incredibly street smart and knows how to play people and it wouldn't be completely out of character for him to have been playing me for the past four years...