I wish I had known sooner.

  If I did, I coulda lived my life different. But life had other plans for us, didn’t it? One thing I know for sure is that you’re the best thing to happen to me. You gave my life new meanin’. Sorry it had to be this way.

  - Alex

  “Alex!”

  My arm was stretched from being pulled again. Could have popped it right out of the socket. There was no sleeping when Lemley was awake, which seemed to be every second these days. I tried to roll onto my side away from her, but quickly regretted it. A sharp stabbing pain pricked at my chest where a Supra’s boot struck me just the night before.

  Some people don’t like when you mind your own. Supra don’t. The light under the porch didn’t either. What I’d give for a good night’s sleep.

  “Alex?” Lemley said again, but more quietly, shaking my body.

  She didn’t need to explain. My ears twitched, or at least it felt like they did and chills crept over me the instant I heard the boards creak from the porch. Above our crawlspace, heavy steps made the wood planks groan from the weight of bodies as they walked across the floor.

  There was nothing to see here at this broken house. Just me and Lemley. I was really careful so no one would follow us back to our crawlspace too. The only problems we had were wild animals and rats that would try to steal the food we brought in. No people. Not until now.

  “What do we—?”

  “Shhhh,” I cut her off. I rolled onto my stomach and put my arm around her, keeping her low to the ground like it would help make her less noticeable. She covered her head just how I taught her. They wouldn’t be able to see us down here, but it kept her quiet, so it was probably best she stay that way.

  Through slits in our boarded ceiling, I could just barely make out their tall black boots and matching blue uniforms. How did Supra manage to find us? This was our safe haven. They usually only came to this side of town to pass through and kick down Inerts that were in their way for fun. They didn't stick around. Not like this.

  They were talking. “Inerts,” “clean,” “Supremacy,” I couldn't really make out everything. Their footsteps got louder then they stopped just above us. There was a hole in the floor that was a little too big so I had a pretty good view of the Supra’s face. Hadn't seen this one before. He had a long pointy nose with dark nostrils, stubble on his chin, and short black hair.

  “Kid thought he could pull a fast one on me, but he had poik on the back of his neck under all that hair.” He paused for a moment. “Have to be really careful with these kids pretending to be clean. Wanting a free ride to something they didn’t earn. Some kids don’t have poik on their faces anymore, but they’re hiding it somewhere else. I’m starting to think these clean kids we’re trying to save don't exist.”

  “Nah, it’s real. My niece doesn't have poik.”

  “Did you see for yourself? Or are you just taking your sister’s word?”

  “Fucking hell, Crosk. No, I haven’t. I’m taking my sister’s word, but she wouldn’t have told me that if it wasn’t true. Emma, my niece, she's seven and doesn't have a patch on her… all of her friends her age are clean too.”

  My shoulder started to shake, and Lemley was scratching her head under my arm. Not now. The Supra stopped talking and Lemley was still scratching her head like a crazy person. I caught my hand on my head too. Hadn’t even realized I was scratching. It was just habit ever since we found these tiny bugs on our heads. I quickly grabbed Lemley’s hand to stop her from scratching and held it to the ground so she couldn't move it.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “What was that?” the black-haired Supra called Crosk said.

  “What was what?”

  Lemley started to whine, so I covered her mouth with my other hand to quiet her. Believe me, there was nothing I want to do more than scratch like mad too, but this was the worst time and possibly the worst Supra to cross. These ones were looking for clean kids. I wasn’t one of them. I had some ugly spotting on my shoulders, but Lemley—she was clean. Years had gone by and Lemley didn't have the scars or spots everyone else started to get as babies. Perfect. Just like this guy’s niece. Mom called her a miracle. I thought so too at first—until we met other kids that looked the same.

  “That sound. Kind of a rustling noise.”

  “Rats?”

  “Maybe.”

  The Supra called Crosk stepped away and then went quiet. Neither said anything, just walked across the floor, probably looking into piles of rubble, broken furniture, and shelves I wanted to use but thought risky. Glad I chose not to after all.

  Lemley’s breath warmed my hand. My palm got wet and tickled for a second—I’m pretty sure she licked it.

  A rumbling came from above—

  CRASH.

  “What the hell?” one of the Supra said.

  One loud thud after another shook the whole house.

  “What’s going on?” Lemley asked. I must have removed my hand at some point because Lemley had her elbows to the ground, ready to crawl away. We still didn’t know what was going on out there. Was the house was coming down? if it was, it could fall to pieces on us at any moment and we could get stuck, hurt or die. We could end up in the hands of Supra if we tried to escape. If only Mom were here. Uncle Van. Even the fruit seller. Anyone—anyone—I have no idea what I’m doing. No idea. What if I do the wrong thing and lose Lemley because of it?

  “Get out of there. It’s coming down!” a Supra was yelling to another. A sudden grating and sliding, like something was being pulled down, ended in another loud crash. What was left of the house sounded like it was caving in, pieces sliding inside it.

  “They’re distracted,” I told Lemley. “Let’s make a run for it.” I was already making my way, crawling through the dirt and dust to the outside. It was hard to be quiet, shifting my elbows and shoes over rocks, but I tried. The Supra were still yelling curse words and storming on the floor on top of us.

  Outside, the area was bright. Nothing looked any different. Same dead yard of scraps and waste, same busted houses surrounding it, same trees only as tall as the houses. I looked around at every angle I could before I came all the way out to make sure I wouldn't be spotted.

  I slowly crept out of the crawlspace and kept close to the wall around it. I peeked over the edge of the porch floor. Supra were lifting and dropping pieces of wood and overturning them like they were looking for something.

  “Hey!”

  I quickly ducked into the corner of the steps. Where did that voice come from? It wasn't any of the Supra, in fact, it had come from a distance away.

  On top of a house with crumbling walls on the opposite side of the yard, someone was holding his hands over his mouth to make his voice louder. The guy seemed steady even though he was standing on an uneven rooftop. He was pretty scrawny and didn’t look like an adult. He was probably only a few years older than me.

  “Do Supra always take breaks together to gossip like a bunch of babbling babies?” the older boy yelled.

  What was he doing? There were two Supra or more up there that were just waiting for an Inert to cross them so they could hurt them for entertainment.

  “It’s that fucking kid.”

  Crunch. A Supra jumped down from the porch and started walking through gravel toward the house where the boy was. I was too exposed. I quickly ducked and hid in the corner of the steps and the wall. It barely helped.

  “He’s just going to jump to another roof or something. He always does that. I’ll head him off on the other side,” the Supra called Crosk said from the porch.

  Crosk leapt down onto the gravel too. He was too close, just feet in front of me.

  “You going to team up on me? Talk about unfair. Is this because I destroyed your little house? All it took was a rock, you know.”

  Crosk bent down and picked up some gravel while the other Supra started to chase the boy.

  "I'll make him eat rocks" the Supra called Crosk said to no one but himself and then ran off in the other direction to presumably head him off.

  Lemley joined me in hiding behind the steps, holding my arm. Just like they said, that boy ran from one side of the roof to the other—then jumped, flying through the air to another rooftop. When he landed he kept going, weaving around chimneys and avoiding getting hit by rocks from Supra’s sling guns like it was something he did every day.

  “Is that the Kid Crusader?” Lemley asked.

  In my head I kept counting the feet between houses, replaying his run and leap over the gap again and again.

  I closed my mouth—I hadn’t even noticed it was open.

  “Yeah,” I said. “I think it was.”