Malaki drug me out of the water, his warm arms wrapped around my waist. I could feel his labored breath against my back as he stumbled in the brown slush along the river. He laid me down on the bank, coughing for air in fits that shook his whole body.

All I could see was a sky full of stars, twinkling from the heavens onto my face. Or, was it ash? Cold, dying soot of vengeful debris?

My stomach heaved and my nostrils flared as I gasped for air but was met only with smoke. I rolled onto my knees, coughing as my sides strained and stitched together. I saw my black hands, covered in mud and ash that tarnished my fingers and knuckles. It was ugly and vicious; I hated my hands this way.

Matilda's quivering hands ran along my back as she cooed to me. "It's going to be ok, Kate. It's going to be ok." Her arms were trembling against my sides, her voice soft as if she were far away. And that's when I became to sob, tears flooding out of my eyes faster than I could stop them. My lungs began to burn and I couldn't see anything clearly any longer, not even the merciless flames that licked the river bank on the other side.

"Sh..." Matilda pulled me into her arms, rocking me back and forth. I wrapped my arms around her neck as I poured everything I had out. My entire body hurt, my chest pounding against my heart so hard that I thought my ribs were going to break. All I could do was cry, choking on air when I tried to silence my tears. Everything burned... My feet, my arms, my head, my heart.

Why does everything want to rip me apart? Why does the world tear everything in half over and over again? Doesn't it realize that there is a limit to how much you can destroy a thing before it becomes nothing?

"Malaki!" The voices felt so far away. Was anyone here? Were the voices safe while we suffered?

"Leighton, what are you all doing here?"

"We saw the fire building across the river... We were coming for you."

Matilda released me and slid away, leaving me in the mud. I was alone and it made my heart twist in pain as I stood to my feet. All I could see was fire, vicious and calm, as Andrew's voice beckoning me to cross the river again

"I want to come home to you..." My voice broke and I felt my body sway backwards. Maybe I'd land in the river; it would protect me and take me away.

Darkness clouded my vision as I rocked backwards, accepting the sweet sleep that coaxed me to slip away. I let the wind blow against me as I hit the ground, the world going still still. The pain and fear left my body as my eyes focused on the sheet of brilliant stars above the fire.

Stars and soot; such beauty in a single moment.

I awoke warm and dry, but something heavy was weighing down on my chest. It was suffocating and panic flared in my stomach.

It's drowning me!

I kicked violently, flinging everything off of me as I sat up straight. I was in a bed, and I'd just dumped my blankets on the floor. I let out a breathe, relaxing back onto the mattress. It wasn't my bed, but it felt oddly familiar. As I scanned the plain bedroom, my entire body froze. Leighton. I was in Leighton's room. In his bed.

I leapt up, rolling off the mattress in distress. I landed awkwardly, nearly falling on my face but I grabbed the side of the bed frame to steady myself before I fell. I couldn't be in here.

The room was dark, curtains pulled over each window. Two sole candles flickered, casting long and jagged shadows like skeleton fingers across the floor. The air was pleasant even though it was musky with hint of smoke.

Smoke?

I touched the edges of my hair, bringing strands to my nose. White ash covered my hair, a breeze of fire's breath in my nose. I felt my entire body stiffen as I took in my black hands. The bandage around my hand was as black as coal.

The fire! East Sector is gone! My chest seized up. Andrew...

My brother was dead. We'd left him to die. The realization nearly made me collapse all over again. I needed to get out of this room. The darkness felt heavier and the candles threatened to die out. I was suffocating above the water.

My dirty hands latched around the door knob, yanking it open. I was greeted by an empty hall, a flood of light pooling along the staircase at the end. The muscles in my legs felt sore as I walked forward. Everything was quiet and still like the dead.

I reached the banister running along the staircase. The main entryway was empty, one solemn candle standing guard at the foot of the stairs. But the silence was disrupted; I could hear the faint mutter of voices and deep hushes and a slap or two.

The kitchen was empty when I got there, but I could hear the words more clearly. They were in the living room.

"... attack this sector next! If you want to sit here like a fucking idiot with a 'please fireball me' sign, you can do it alone! They aren't talking about having a drink!" Ethan's voice was strangled as it mingled with his rage.

"We don't know for sure that we'd be the next to go. East Sector was a warning, a bloody one. I'm not saying I agree with Tron, but if we stay and continue to keep our heads low..."

"We, the Benton Brothers, smuggling vigilantes and black market extraordinaries, continue to keep our fucking heads low? What shit are you smoking to think we can play it cool?" Ethan snapped.

"It would only take one sell out and all of you would be in chains by breakfast." Matilda countered. "All I know for sure is that I can't go back to East Sector and nowhere else is safe either."

She sighed and was greeted by silence. The air was thick with a melancholy that wilted the shoulders and made your throat choke up. I had to break it.

"Hello?" I cleared my throat and stepped into the living room. All eight were clustered around the living room table, and each pair of eyes landed on me.

"Morning." Vulcan sighed with a shrug. "Ready for a hell of a day?"

"Kate." Matilda pushed through the boys, wrapping her arms around me. She pulled me into her, holding onto me as though I'd slip away like a cloud in the breeze. Or maybe she saw a timer that was almost out of sand.

I felt heat on my cheeks. Is she really trying to baby me in front of them? In front of Leighton? I was old enough to be treated like an adult. I always had to be responsible for her, and now she wanted to act like she had to be my mother? She might have taken care of me before, but she'd lost that reputation long ago.

It all rubbed the wrong way against my skin and I snapped.

"Stop acting like I'm fragile, Matilda." I wiggled out of her hold. "You act like I'm a toddler. You don't have to act like you have to take care of me."

To be fair, I had broken down, but I wasn't going to take back my statement now. It was already out. She stepped back, eyes flickering dark before her eyes fell downcast. My stomach twisted and I bit my lip.

"Now that you're up, I'm going to give it to you fast and loud." Vulcan's voice snapped and my eyes darted to him. He was covered in soot and black ash up to his elbows as he cracked his knuckles. I wondered where he'd been; maybe he done some fire foraging or somehow snuck across to East Sector for a second look. "Tron has hit the self destruct button on the sectors. Your's was second after Northwest but he's going to start working his way to us. He's killing anyone that doesn't agree to pay the citizenship tax bullshit and sends a select number of women to the Capital City. I don't think I need to explain what use they might have to him."

"I've got it." I hissed through clenched teeth. Disgusting and vile.

"Our options are run like banshees and blow up some shit on the way to cover our tracks or stay here and fight like fucking mortal combat soldiers while blowing up some bigger shit. That's the debate at the moment anyway." Vulcan said as he shrugged his shoulders with a dangerous glimmer in his eye.

"Is everything always about blowing up shit?" Gryffin snorted.

"Not that we're opposed. There's some stuff I've been dying to light on fire." Ethan added with a smirk.

"I don't know about you delinquents but I'd rather die like a fucking assassin than give Tron a show of my ass before getting shot in the back." Vulcan furrowed his eyebrows, swinging his arms around to all of us. "I plan to die a spectacular death, and I can do a lot of damage here."

"This is suicide!" Cayson's face had turned a ghostly white and his lips were colorless.

"Not all of us are ready to give all or nothing." Griffyn rolled his eyes and Matilda played with her hair, eyes glancing nervously around the room in all other corners except where we stood.

Ethan cleared his throat, "I kinda want to live longer too. I mean, dying like a hero sounds cool... but I mean not dying sounds like the better of the two. I still haven't gotten to eat those famous waffles in that city down the road..."

"Fuck, then what's the point? Tron's going to sizzle our home like fresh bacon. You want to be the eggs, Ethan? Maybe they can cook your castrated balls instead." Vulcan roared, fingers shaking with his rage.

"Fuck you!"

"I propose we make a split." Bodhi interjected, drawing all eyes to his firm gaze. "Those who wish to join the rebellion may do so while those ready to find refugee in another city can take a separate path."

"You want to end the Benton Brotherhood?" Gryffin's mouth hung open in disbelief as he ruffled his blue streaked hair. Cayson's fingers were twitching as even Vulcan ran out of steam to argue, perplexed and even daunted. There was a haunting silence as they all stared at one another.

"Holy shit."

"But... We... Guys?"

I gazed around the room, an air heavy with fraternity and love that was beautiful, almost too lovely. My skin crawled as though it were not meant to come in contact with the atmosphere.

I leaned into Matilda, who gazed at the floor. "Want to step outside?" Her eyes flickered up to me full of relief as she nodded and we stepped back from the circle. None seemed to notice as the two of us left the kitchen and descended out the front door, taking a seat on the front steps. We weren't their brothers, and this didn't concern us.

Matilda cradled her head between her hands, resting her blackened arms on her knees. I gazed at the ashes still sprinkled in her dark hair that resembled snow, appearing almost whimsical and lovely instead of reeking a sense of disaster and chaos.

She rubbed her tired eyes and we both sat in a remorseful silence; we never said it out loud but I knew we both thought of Andrew and even deeper, Mom and Dad.

I took her hand in my own, tracing circles along the knuckles and bones that jutted out like a mountain ridge up her thin wrist. I gazed at the pale grey tone her skin held, covered in a sprinkling of soot.

I looked out over the street, noticing the tall spouts of smoke that still rose high over the dingy buildings towards East Sector. I could even smell the haunting effluvium of fire that rested in both the air and my clothes. No one was on the street any longer and the houses looked empty, except they had always looked empty and lifeless even before the fires.

Perhaps many had fled the city if they even could. That made my stomach lurch; what if escape wasn't even an option? Tron wanted us dead; escape would become his goal's antagonist. Where could we go on a planet that he could control? He was powerful, and if he demanded it, the other kingdoms would turn over refugees without second thought.

Maybe blowing up a ton of shit here is the only other option. That or waiting for this sector to burn up.

I rubbed my eyes, unable to think any longer. Our end was inevitable no matter which way we broke the bread.

"Kate," Matilda finally spoke, her voice hoarse from the smoke and maybe even from tears.

"Hm?" I stared at the cement, unable to form words.

"I think the two of us can make it through this." Her eyes flashed up to mine, a dangerous look in them. They scared me, and I couldn't pinpoint what emotion drove this fear.

"What do you mean, Matilda? Of course we are all going to make it through this."

"No, you don't understand. Just us."

This was unexpected. My eyes involuntary narrowed as I stared at her. These guys had been her friends before they had become mine, and yet she was ready to desert them?

"I still don't understand."

"They said Tron was taking women into the Capital City. Maybe if we get taken, we can live. I know it's not ideal..."

I shot up onto my feet, walking back towards the front door.

"Kate! Wait! Please listen to me!"

"You seriously think that turning ourselves over as sex toys for Tron is the best option?" I hissed, anger boiling inside me. "What were you planning on telling them, the Brothers? You just wanted to take me and run off in the night, leaving them to die? You seriously want to live as that man's... possession?"

Matilda narrowed her eyes. "Don't talk to me like that. We aren't a part of the Brotherhood. We aren't thieves. You realize what could happen to us if a connection is drawn between them and the two of us? And you know both of their options are either die fighting or die running. I don't want to die, Kate. You can't be angry with me for not being willing to sacrifice everything for their cause when I don't believe in it."

I bit my lip, staring still at her eyes that beat out an obvious beacon of fear and nothing else. "Have you already forgotten that Malaki saved our lives? Can't you remember all the other times they did favors for us: feeding us when we had no money, offering up their home during the winter when our heat would be shut off, and walking us home at night to make sure we were safe? They may be thieves, but they are good people. After all they have done for me, I'm going to stay and help them in return. They are my friends, and they should be yours too."

I stepped back inside the house as Matilda broke down into tears outside. I rubbed my eyes, feeling tears trail down my cheeks as I left her to think alone.