"So they fought us while we were at each other's throats?" Austin summarized, realizing something.
Basically, Austin heard Reya's voice in his head. Turning to face her so quickly, he felt his neck pop. "What about Alyssa? Did she make it?"
Reya looked to Cleo, both their faces down crested as silence passed between them. Austin had a feeling Alyssa didn't make it but hearing it out loud didn't do anything to dull the grief. He barely knew the girl, but it was still sad to see someone else die in this hellish place, especially when she unexpected saved him.
"About what you found?" Cleo asked, changing the subject. "Care to share?"
"It means the monsters we've been livin' in fear of in this holed-up hellhole have some form of intellect in their noggin'," Aaroon answered, grimancing.
"It makes you wonder what else they're capable of," Reya finished. "Or aybe they're being controlled by someone somewhere else somehow."
"But they're capturing our own, sentencing them… our friends" Austin said, feeling overwhelmed. "to fates worse than death if they aren't killing them as we speak… This is… ugh! So frustrating. How is everyone else coping with what's happening?"
"Not well," Reya answered, admittedly. "Morality was already low when Stryker was injured. Now he's captured along with other Meadower, everyone's jumping at every slightest sound, vigilant to the point of paranoia and are just barely getting the work done around the Meadows. We're low on supplies and we're barely staying afloat. Everyone is just waiting for the final shoe to drop. Its bad, Austin; very bad. And, seeing as it's only a matter of time until the logs we're using to barricade the Gates shatter and that the Gates themselves have yet to close and probably won't close any time soon, fear and panic is running rampant inside the Meadows."
"Worse, yet, newbie, is what my scouts reported to me early before pretty much quittin' this morning'," Aaroon spoke up next. "The Annihilators and them Savagerss have pretty much migrated to that spot you found the other day. I'mma scout the place myself tomorrow, tho I hate doin' it by myself; Someone has to do something."
As he sighed in despair, Austin's gaze fell onto Cleo - she was quiet - Losing Atlanna and Alyssa - her friends - must've been as hard as losing her brother, Zether, who was taken by the Annihilators.
Gaze shifting to Reya, Austin knew Reya had lost her brother in her mind with no way of convincing herself he's alive and, well, wherever the Annailators go, without realizing that if he were alive, he would be far from well.
His gaze suddenly shifted back to Caesar, who was glaring at the far distance, lost in thought. He seemed to notice someone staring and shifted his glare to Austin. Austin quickly shifted his gaze back to Aaroon, who he knew lost many friends even before Austin came around; Losing Tervor seemed to add to his weighted shoulders, causing him to tense at every sound, every thought running through his head, and every face of a friend - a Meadower - he'd ever lost flashing in his skull.
"No, Aaroon," Austin suddenly felt confidence surge through him, as he realized self-pity would not get anything done. "No, you aren't going there alone. We're all going with you, because, if the Annihilators are migrating to that spot, it must be the way out! And I have a plan to do it, too. I just need to see Scareleteye…"
"OH HELL NO," Caesar snapped, getting into Austin's face, anger back to directing at him suddenly. "You want us to release that bitch? Have you lost your mind? She's the reason why we're here. That and because you didn't warn us of your connection to her! You're at fault here, too, Austin. You have no right barking orders to us. For all I know, you're trying to set her free and get the rest of us kill!"
"That's hardly fair," Reya snapped, but Alyssa cut her off.
"It's not about what's fair, Reya" interrupted Caesar, glaring at both Reya and Austin. "If you two weren't so secretive of Austin's identity, we'd never be in this position in the first place."
"Hey!" Austin exclaimed. "That's not even tru-."
"No, you're right, Austin," Caesar glared, interrupting Austin "If we hadn't taken you in, we wouldn't be here in this position is what is true. You were the only one to break the Taboo and force your way into the Labyrinth and killed an Annihilator; This is their retaliation."
"Hey, Caesar," Aaroon stepped forward. "Shut it now."
"Hell, no. Why should I? He came here to kill us and he's killed so many of us, just like Scarketeye did. They're working for the Overseers and you know it," and, to prove his anger and point, he threw a fist right at Austin's right eye so fast, Austin could barely register the blur before he felt a sudden blaring of pain on the right side of his face. Grasping his right eye with his hand, Austin gasped in surprise. What happened next he could only barely process in the split seconds of it happening.
Aaroon moved so fast, leaping at Ceasar, tackling the boy to the wood floor, bamming down his fists to the boy's equally enraged face. But, just as quickly, Caesar shoved Aaroon off of him and leaped at Austin, who, shaking from his shocked state, parried the tackled by stepping sideways just as Aaroon jumped right back atop the boy. "Get off of me, Aaroon!"
"You'll regret that, Caesar," Aaroon snapped back, blasting down more punches to Caesar's already messed up face.
"Regret what?" Cesar suddenly kicked Aaroon from atop him, but did not move. Instead, they both just eyed one another, daring the other to attack with Ceasar glaring at Austin even more intensely than Aaroon. "He's had our end in mind since the day he got here, Aaroon! Even when Reya and Caesar had received news of someone trapped in the Labyrinth - of him trapped in the Labyrinth - I knew he was trouble! He ain't' good for any of us! He's not one of us! He'll be the cause of our deaths - He's the reason that Stryker had beem taken; of all our friends being taken!" Caesar's eyes were wild and beedy and the pupil, tiny, as he spoke. " and now he wants to talk to the enemy! Look at what's happenin' here! Am I the only one who sees it? He's destroyin' us from the inside!"
Aaroon looked at Austin then at Ceasar, then eyed Reya, who nodded. "Man, I don't give a fuck about your stupid conspiracies, but the Taboo says not to harm another Meadower and this one is my most talented Scouts, so imma have to kick your ass n-."
"Ugh! Have ya not heard a word I just said?" exclaimed Cesar, pointing his fingers at Austin, accusingly. "You! You aren't a Meadower! You aren't one of us! Imma kill you-!"
Suddenly, Aaroon punched Cesasar in the back of his head, causing the boy to jump forward, barely catching himself from falling down. "You know what? I don't like your tone!"
Ceasar eyed Aaroon again, then shifted his gaze to Austin. "Alright, I'm leaving then. If you can't see it, then I refuse to for you to."
"Uh, where you going?" Reya asked, her eyes glowing violet. "You-."
"You do not control me, Raven girl!" snapped Ceasar on his rush out. Aaroon tried to follow, but Reya put up her hand, saying "Let him go. We'll worry about him later. We're the Overseers - the adults of this place. Let's act like it."
When Aaroon let out a shaky breath, calming down slowly, still evidently angry from being punched by Ceasar, Reya continued speaking. "Austin, what is your plan? And what do you need from us?"
Austin looked between the two, and just smiled sheepishly, as he began to explain the first part of his barely thought-up plan. "Okay, so, I need-."