"Are you okay? You're not hurt anywhere?"

"Head rush... my ankles hurt... has there always been two of you?"

"... Think you hit your head a little too hard... can you walk?"

"I just said my ankles hurt,"

"I know, I know, but- here, let me help you up."

 
 
    Mono slowly woke up, his head still pounding. Feeling of warmth lingered to the right of him, an oddly lumpy and not-so-comfortable ground was under him. His eyes felt heavy, and after a bit of reluctance, he opened his good eye.

The only light was a small campfire just a little bit away from him, a person too blurry to make out next to it. Mono slowly pushed himself off of what seemed to be a makeshift bed for him, scrapped peices of cloths being a thin layer between him and some trash. They seemed to be tucked into an alleyway, a knocked over dumpster behind them and blocking the other side of the alley.

His head suddenly shot with a thundering pain, making him press his hand to his head, the pounding getting worse behind his eyes. His good eye stung when he tried to see again, only to close it, hissing through his teeth as he could feel the pain with each heartbeat.

Tears lined his eyes, dampening his hands as he pressed against them to try and help the pain. The boy gave a small whimper, biting his tongue to hold back on even more noises from escaping. He had to remind himself of being in the city wasn't a place most kids that made noise usually survived in.

The sound of soft footsteps came to his ears, getting closer to him. Slowly, he opened his bad eye, the fuzzy outline of the person coming closer.

"Migraine?"

Rain

Mono looked up, eyes twitching from the pain and strain as his head continued with its wild throbbing. He could make out her yellow sweater like coat, dirty from her time in the old rabbit warren. She got down on her knees, fishing into her pockets for something.

"Here, these normally help you," Rain mumbled softly. Mono tried to see what she had, but was left to closing his eyes again.

"Open your mouth," Rain said. The boy did as told, feeling something be placed to his tongue. It was small, like pill of some kind. Where did Rain get a pill? Had they already been to the Hospital?

"Place it under your tongue, and let it dissolve, until then don't swallow it, okay?" Mono gave a small hum of acknowledgement, not risking nodding his head at the other.

Mono continued to hold the small pill under his tongue, vision still covered in darkness as he pressed his palms to his eyelids. Rain didn't move or shift from her place, but he could feel the tension surrounding them.

It was awkward, better yet, unnerving, like the weight of... whatever happened between them was waving over their heads. What it was, he didn't know. Even if he did, he doubted it would make him feel better about it.

I hurt her... somehow...

"Seven and Squeaks will be back soon with something to eat, they left a little bit ago..." Rain muttered. Mono tilted his head slightly to her, but didn't mutter a word.

"I hope they can come back with something sweet, but I know they probably won't..."

The words brought a small chuckle from the boy. Rain always had a sweet tooth, no matter how hard she normally tried to hide it. He remembered watching her sneak to the honeysuckle containers during dinner with Five and Scarf, saying she was "only making sure they didn't have the whole container", when secretly, she would sneak her some.

Wait... who was Five and Scarf?

The pill in his mouth grew smaller and smaller, and after a minute, the pulsing pain slowly started to decline. It became tolerable to open his eyes, though a bit of squinting was involved to see.

He could see Rain better, she had her knees drawn up to her chest, resting her chin on them. She looked over to him, pretty ghastly pale green eyes glinting with hesitant and unspoken conflict. He could tell by her body language she was ready to jump away from him, which hurt more than it should have to him.

Rain really was afraid of him, but she helped him... why?

Mono slowly got to his rear, properly seating down, scooting a bit away from the Oracle. She looked at him in a slightly confused manner, but didn't try to come closer to him, eyes watching him like a hawk.

Neither one spoke, which only seem to worse the slowly building tension between them, but neither seemed to know what to say. Should he apologize? No, no, that might freak her out if he apologized for something he didn't remember doing and make her more scared of him than now.

He could hug her, and if she tried to squirm away or start crying for help, he could just hug her tighter.

Hugs sounded nice. He knew Rain liked hugs.

Slowly, he scooted closer to her, the other now watching him closely. He moved over a little more, before slowly reaching a hand out to grab the other's shoulder. Rain pulled away, scooting away from him, green eyes staring and watching for his next move.

What was wrong? It's just a hug. He got closer again, reaching out again, Rain getting farther away from him. "Mono, stop."

It's Commander.

He got up, shaky, but up. Rain crawled back a bit, eyes widening. It's just a hug.

"M-Mono, stop,"

It's just a hug

"Stop, stop it,"

It's just a hug

"M-Mono!"

It's just a hug

"Hey, we're back."

The sound of a voice snapped the former scout to his senses, turning to the campfire. Past it, Seven and the feral came around the corner. Seven froze as he spotted them, Squeaks not stopping from coming inside, though she did carefully circle away from the other boy.

Seven looked to Rain, a quite question going between them. Mono felt his blood freeze, stepping away from the Orcale, and towards the pyrotech. Seven glared at him, making him stop, now standing in place, nervous beginning to fiddle with his wrists.

"Rain, are you okay?" Seven asked. Mono glanced to the girl, who he now realized was red faced and seemed to be trying to recover what seemed like lost air, gasping softly as she tried to calm down.

The weight of what he did suddenly hit him, he didn't see the fear on her face. She looked terrified, her grip on her sleeve lossening only after Seven spoke to her, a hand noticeable going to her chest over her heart a second later.

She gave a small nod to her brother, looking over to the side as Squeaks came over to her. The feral sniffed her arm, before pressing her head against her, curling close to her.

Rain reached out, petting the other's raven colored hair. Squeaks looked to the boy in the trenchcoat from the shadows od her bangs, fire light glinting off of her dark irises.

Seven watched for a few more heartbeats, before looking to Mono, the two making eye contact. Mono could feel the anger burning into him, looking away from him after a brief moment.

"Met me outside the alley," Seven stated. Without another word, he turned, standing by the brick, making sure the other left first. Nervously, Mono took the lead, walking passed the pyrotech.

Out of the alleyway, Mono could see the dark streets around them. No adults were out, which was a good sign. If there weren't any adults, it meant there wouldn't be any danger. He remembered from scouting and running errands with other, the quieter and darker the city, the more cover you'll have. However, you can easily break it if you aren't carefully.

Seven passed him, making his way to under a window to what look to be an abandoned house or some small store. A silver trashcan was too the side, knocked over with trash littering around it. Puddles covered the ground from a recent rain shower, the smell of old rotting food and the faint scent of blood could be smelled.

Mono came to the other, standing next to him under the window ledge, shielding them slightly from any eyes overhead.

"You have three seconds to tell me what the hell you did to her before I rip your lungs from your chest," Seven snapped, a low congested sounding growl coming from him again as he threatened the other.

Mono was taken aback, he never saw the other so defensive of his sister (but seeing as he hurt her, he could understand why he was so angry and protective of her). Seven took a step closer, Mono taking a step back to try and keep a small space between them.

"I just wanted to give her a hug. She looked upset," Mono answered. The answer didn't seem to make the other happy, more upset than anything.

"The last thing she needs is a hug from you of all people. What part of 'she is scared to be around you' do you not fucking understand? Stars above, I can't leave you alone unconscious with her watching to make sure you and your concussed rotting peanut of a brain didn't wonder off and wind up killing yourself."

"Seven, watch your tongue,"

"No, you listen here you rancid dickwad, after the bullshit you made us go through, you don't tell me what to do. You're lucky you might be our key to getting inside the Tower, or else I would have killed you back when we first found your brain damaged ass in the school,"

Shut it, you disease ridden rat.

Before Mono could snap at the other, a voice caught them off guard. It was gruff and low, almost rusty sounding.

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Not sure, I thought I heard whispering,"

"Out here? Everyone is at home sleeping, what kind of crazy person would be out this late at night?"

"You never know, maybe a junkie or drunk. Could be worse and be those forest kids. Remember, the Tower was hijacked the other day and that kid with the bag calling 'war' on us,"

"Ah, that kid. Man, that ruined my day. Wonder why they wore that bag,"

"Probably to keep their identity a secret, or to hide some freakish scar or something. Anyways, I'm gonna go try and see if I can find it. C'mon."

From the far end of the alley, shadows could be seen moving, getting larger against concrete walls. Mono froze for a heartbeat, before realization of what could happen in just a few minutes made him jump into action.

He grabbed Seven's hand, snapping the boy out of his own small shock. They raced back to their makeshift campsite, seeing Rain and Squeaks eating whatever Seven and the feral brought back. They looked up as the boys neared, Rain stop eating what looked to be a peice of bread to watch them.

"Sev? What's wrong?" Rain asked. Squeaks got to her hands and feet, noticing the sudden feeling of urgency around them.

Seven grabbed a small stack of soaked newspaper from the ground, throwing it onto the campfire, fanning the smoke that came. Mono came to help Rain up, though it did catch the Oraclw off guard and make her give a small yelp.

"Adults are coming, we got to go," Mono answered.

He held onto Rain's wrists gently, pulling her behind him as they went to the one way entrance and exit of their hiding spot. The shadows got bigger, the sound of footsteps now being heard.

Seven poked his head around the corner, giving a small groan. "They're right outside," he whispered. Mono carefully looked, seeing the two adults.

Both looked to be young men, probably just re-entering the city and its inhabitants. They were tall and gangly, arms long and thin, perhaps already being effected by the transmission from the Tower. One had hair the color of tar, dark eyes being seen under choppy bangs.

The other was almost a walking skeleton, thin skinny frame uselessly hidden by a poorly button white shirt and dark creased trousers. His hair was black, just like the other's, only it was much longer, obscuring his face and going down to his elbows.

"Hear anything?" Choppy Bangs asked, looking around at the silver trashcans littered around the long alleyway. Skeleton shook his head, before he crouched down, beginning to scurry on the ground on all fours at a frighteningly fast pace.

He zoomed past them, a white blur in the darkness. The sound of his hands and feet plopping against the rubbled cobblestone path being the only think Mono could hear (that and his quickening heartbeat).

Mono cursed under his breath as the Skeleton ran past, realizing that now both of the exits were blocked. Choppy Bangs blocked their exit to the streets on one side, while Skeleton was busy scouting the other end, both slowly making their way towards the middle of the alley, closer to them.

They couldn't go back into their hideaway space they were in, seeing as the dumpster blocked the end of it. Not matter which way, they were trapped.

"Way to go, Seven," Mono whispered under his breath. The boy in blue glared at him, before looking up. He pointed up, Mono following to where he was pointing. The rooftops?

Mono looked back to the other, raising a brow in a silent question as to how they would get up there. Skeleton turned, creeping closer to them, the group stepping farther into the shadows to hide from him.

"There's a funny smell," the crawling man hissed, "like smoke and blood, mixed together."

"Glad it's only you smelling it," Choppy Bangs muttered.

Rain tugged on Mono's sleeve, catching his attention. She pointed across from them, Mono having to squint to see what it was. There, hidden in the shadows of a rain drain, was a small ladder leading up.

Was it possible that they're were kids hiding in the City?

"Someone has been here... the scent is fresh," Skeleton grumbled, his voice low and rusty, despite him only seeming to be twenty or so years old. Had the Transmission mangled him that much?

Possibly a rehabilitated feral by his mannerisms, but... being a feral, also meant he had a stronger sense of smell and hearing...

"So you're saying the person is still here?"

"People, more than one, children," Skeleton hissed.

Mono stepped closer to the brick wall, towards the shadows where he couldn't be seen. If they were going to go for it, it have to be soon, very soon.

"Think we might be able to get something out of it if we catch them?" Choppy Bangs asked, the sound of a kicked over trashcan making the four jump back in surprise.

"We need to go," Mono whispered.

"If it's those forest kids, we'll definitely get something out of it."

Seven nodded his head to the other, quietly patting his leg, Squeaks coming to him. Mono looked down, realization dawning on him.

"Can she even climb a ladder?" Mono asked in a whisper.

"They are probably still around here," Sketelon hissed, the found of feet and hands slapping on the ground, getting closer with each step.

Seven looked down at the feral, a look of worry on his face as the reality was given to him. Mono took it as a 'no', and idea rapidly forming in his head.

"Seven, take Squeaks and run down the street, Choppy Bangs might not catch you compared to ground slapper over there. Me and Rain can go to the rooftops, and we'll meet up at the Hospital," Mono said, voice his plan in a quick whisper to avoid being heard.

"Why the hell would I leave her with you," Seven growled. Mono glared at him.

"How do you expect me to change if I don't have your trust?" Mono shot back. The statement seemed to stick to the other, who looked to Rain behind the boy in the trenchcoat.

Mono's grip was loose on her wrist, and if she wanted to, she could have easily broke away from him earlier. Seven seemed to notice that too, and after a moment, he gave a nod.

"We'll meet you at the Hospital then," Seven muttered back. The sound of the footsteps coming closer got louder.

"C'mon, Squeaks," Seven whispered, the feral giving a small squeak back, before they took off around the corner.

"Hey, there they go!" Choppy Bangs cried.

"Catch them!" Skeleton shouted back, springing forward to the entrance, stopping right outside of the alley space Mono and Rain were still hiding in.

With their finally enemy right outside of there hideaway, Mono felt his heart race. He never stood so close to possible death before (well, as far he could remember).

They had to go, if they waited any longer, they risked getting caught in a place with no escape. Mono tugged Rain's wrist, the Oracle looking away from the Skeleton and nodding her head.

With the nod of readiness, the two quietly snuck past the feral adult, avoiding a puddle of water in and attempt to make no noise.

They came to the other side, the ladder now in their reach. Mono let Rain climb up first, the Oracle quietly going up the ladder. Mono followed behind, eyes glued down at the Skeleton, watching with as keen as a half blind boy could be.

Every breath he took felt like it was too loud, that the adult below them would head and jump up to grab them.

Rain was halfway up the ladder when one of the bars broke under her, making her let out a small yelp from surprise and fear. The noise made the Skeleton's head snap upwards to them, Mono meeting bloodshot blueish white eyes.

Terror and adrenaline shot through the boy's veins as he stared into the eyes for what felt like minutes. The look of sudden bloodlust that flooded inside the eyes of the adult made Mono freeze.

If he didn't get out of reach soon, he was dead. No reward big enough for catching a child would stop this adults from killing him, him being of age to catch or not.

The Skeleton let out an angered roar like noise, snapping Mono from the frozen mental state that consumed him.

He had to go, go now-

Mono hurried up the ladder, the sound of the cobblestone being hit right behind him. He was just out of reach with the monstrous adult reached up to grab him, but he knew it would be useless if he were to jump to grab him.

He was only able to get a little higher, before the Sketelon jumped up, Mono jumping to the side as a clawed hand ripped the ladder railing from the bricks.

The boy in the trenchcoat was able to grab onto the rain drain next to him, barely standing on the metal band that held the parts together. He wrapped his body around the metal, watching the thin metal rails flying down as the hand slashed into the wall.

Mono shook his head, knowing he couldn't stay there, and forced himself to climb higher. Although the metal was slick from the recent rain, he was able to get high up enough to grab onto the rest of the ladder, continuing to climb up.

Rain was already at the top, looking over the edge of the ledge to the ground below. Mono finally got to the top, angry  roaring below them.

Carefully looking over the side, Mono could see the Skeleton pacing below, seeming to try and find a way up. The adult stopped at the bottom, reaching a hand out to the drain pipe, shaking it slightly to see if it could seemingly hold his weight. With only a groan of disapproval, the Sketelon jumped onto it, beginning to climb up the pipe.

The two rebellion members jumped back as the monster started to scurry up. They needed to start running, but one the adult got to the top, it would already be useless to run.

Rain hurried to the top of the drain. She pushed against it, old worn out bolts creaking in disapproval. Mono came to her side, pushing against it and knocking it even more loose.

The metal creaked as the Skeleton climbed up at a quick pace, the sound of it growling as it climbed to them making the former scout's heart race.

With one more shove, the bolts gave way, the pipe now much more shaky. The Skeleton was far closer now, the pipe rattling and shaking as he neared.

"Push it!" Rain shouted, pushing on the pipe as hard as she could, Mono helping her. The pipe gave way from their combined strength.

The Sketelon roared angrily as he came to the top, blueish white eyes flashed through dark hair. A clawed hand reached up, but before it could have slashed down at them, the pipes creaked and gave way under the monster.

The Skeleton grabbed onto the drain pipe as it fell backwards, trying to stop from falling to his death.

The rest of the pipe was ripped from the walls, making the possibility of it stopping and saving the monster impossible.

Loud crashing and rattling sounded from down below, Mono covering his ears at the horribly loud noises. Silence followed after, eerie and quiet, the adrenaline in their veins started to subside, leaving them shaking.

The two didn't look over at the edge, instead looking over behind. Mono couldn't really describe the feeling in his chest as he saw a bright glow farther into the City.

The Signal Tower's light shined brightly, thick and heavy clouds hanging above the City, a rather beautiful but unsettling sight.

Rain looked over to him. "We need to get going to the Hospital. You remember the way there?"

Mono nodded his head. "Yeah, it's just that way."

"Let's get going than."

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Finished - Oct. 4th, 2021

Finally finished with almost 4,000 words!

Hope it was somewhat worth the wait,  or at least just a little bit.

Hope you all enjoyed!

Take care!