City of Suits (not completed) By Reid H and Mira H

Chapter 23: Leo

I was just about to reach the oak tree, but I saw that Jamie was behind me by only a little bit, so I let him pass me. I got up once I saw he finished, and then helped Mr. Louise stand up while I was at it. I walked over to Georgia, where I saw her staring, puzzlingly, at a bush.
        “What are you looking at?” I asked her, trying to follow her unmoving gaze. All I saw, thought, was a big, green bush.
        “It was a, uhh, kid. A little boy, I think. He looked scared when I got a glimpse of his eyes, but then he hid again.” she explained to me as she knelt down to get a better angle of where the child hid.
        I crawled around the plant to see a big hole in the ground where I saw the kid hiding. He looked to be around seven years old, but he was scrawny for his age. His clothes were dirty, and his hair was a mess.
        “Hey there little buddy. Are you ok? Where are your parents?” I asked him quietly, almost whispering. I’ve never really been good with kids, especially younger ones, but I know that Georgia is great with them, so I stepped to the side when I didn't hear the boy respond.
        “Hello there young man! My name is Georgia, what’s yours?” she asked kindly with a soft tone in her voice. It even comforted me in a way. This time, the kid actually responded in a quiet, barely audible tone.
        “My, umm, my name is Lucas. Who are those three people?” the little kid asked her softly.
        “These are my friends,” Georgia responded, continuing to talk in the same comforting tone.
        Lucas took a small step back glancing around at everyone.
        “It’s okay,” Georgia said, reaching out to hold his hand. “They won’t hurt you.”
        I could see Lucas calmly put his hand in Georgia’s.
        “Hey, Leo?” Georgia whispered.
        “Yeah?” I moved closer trying to get close enough to hear but not close enough to scare Lucas.
        “Can you lead Jamie and my dad farther along? I want to talk to Lucas,” Georgia asked.
        “Yeah sure,” I said, walking away to get Jamie and Mr. Louise.
        I could hear Georgia whispering to Lucas, but I couldn’t quite make out what they were saying.
        “Come on. Let’s go this way,” I said, leading them away from Georgia.
        “Why is he here?” Jamie asked, rudely.
        I could see Georgia’s soft, kind face she used when talking to Lucas quickly shift into a fierce glare when she heard Jamie.
        I grabbed Jamie’s hand and pulled him farther away from them. Mr. Louise followed.
        We walked in silence for a little while longer when Georgia and Lucas came running from behind us. A look of fear on both of their faces.
        “What’s happening?? Why do you look so frightened?” I asked, my hands instinctively grabbing my daggers out of their sheathes.
        “More guards are after us, is ‘what's happening’. Now come on, we need to go NOW!!” Georgia quickly exclaimed raspily, already starting to run into the thicket of trees and underbrush.
I almost forgot about the guards behind us, being that I was too distracted by the beauty of the red and orange giant oak and maple trees. As we got more and more into the forest, it started to get thicker and more cramped with trees.
“Agh! Help me!!” Mr. Louis shouted out.
I looked up to see him on the ground, holding his knee. It looked as if he tripped over a big root, and hurt his knee
“Come on Leo, let’s get him up,” Georgia interjected. I ran over to them, making sure I didn’t trip like he did. I got to his left side, putting his arm over my shoulders, while Georgia took the right side. Jamie tried to help him up too, but with his slight build, he didn’t do much.
We could hear the guards yelling, so we knew we needed to get him up as fast as possible. Just as we started moving again, a tree blew up behind us, sending loads of debris of big branches and smaller -but no less painful- twigs at our backs.
My god!! When will we get a break? We’ve been running for weeks, and just me and Georgia longer. When will we finally get to the Clubs?? I swear it feels like me and Georgia have been running for almost a month now.
But then it hit me.
We HAVE been on the run for about three weeks now, which is close enough to a month! We’ve encountered mysterious creators in the waters below, thugs and thieves, Georgia’s long lost friend, Georgia’s family, a literal child, and so much more. We’ve had to fight and flee; attack and retreat; do all of this to get to the Hearts. Then we find out that it isn't even the Hearts in control, but the Clubs. Now we are on our way to do more fighting and more fleeing; more attacking and more retreating; all for the sake of simple human rights for our people, and mankind as a whole! What godforsaken world are we even living in??
The fire raged inside of me like never before.
If the people before us were able to create a whole new way of living after the epidemic, why can’t we do the same thing after we flip the switch of who’s holding all the power?
Then an idea hatched inside me.



*sorry that the story isn't done; Im waiting on my co-author to write the next chapter**