The People's Alpha ✔

38: The Night Is Still Young

Roman led us deeper into the sewers, past huge sluice gates and shallow pools of fetid water. The rest of his people followed in our wake, without missing a beat. The smell became stronger and stronger. Insects and rodents scuttled away at our footfall.

Passing through yet another sluice gate, we arrived at a hole in the side of the tunnel. Roman stopped. The concrete around the hole was a different texture and showed signs of water damage. Parts of it had cracked and been swept away, revealing the rebar beneath. It had obviously been a rush job, put in later.

I put my ear to the pipe, ignoring the smell, and listened for any signs of people coming down. Nothing other than the faint dripping of water. I leaned in and yelled. I heard my voice echo repeatedly, but no other voices returned my call.

I waited for a minute, then tried again, aware of the hundreds of eyes following my every move. This time, there was a faint reply. My heart almost skipped a beat.

The first figure to crawl out, several minutes later, was Kaden. The rest of the Salmon Creek people came after him. Then it was Thurgood's pack. Then Thurber, clutching a briefcase, accompanied by Wethermore. Then it was my pack's turn. Lister. Old man Anderson. Laura. Keith, carrying Tim on his back. Gerta. The others.

People continued to stream out of the tunnel entrance. They were covered in filth and they looked haggard. But they were alive.

Laura wrapped me in an embrace. "Jim. Thank Monagh you're safe. How's Brian?""He's just behind you. He's fine."

"That's good." Then she noticed the people behind us. "Jim. What the hell?"

"The Alphas," Roman hissed behind us, contempt in his voice. "Stand up and come here. And Wethermore, too." 

***

Once Roman had us assembled, he stared us down. We hung our heads, like a bunch of rogues kneeling before an Alpha.

Then he let fly.

"You corrupt sons of bastards," he spat. "You thieves and liars."

He paused for a moment. "Maybe we shouldn't be the ones judging you. Many of us stole and lied to our packs too. We broke their trust. But we were chased out, exiled, excommunicated. Meanwhile, you lie and steal from your packs every waking day, and you get away with it. Why is that so? How is that fair?"

Nobody answered. We just hung our heads in shame.

"If we killed you and left your stinking bodies for those Thunder Falls goons to find," Roman continued, "it would be no great loss to society. Name one reason we shouldn't do that. One."

Nobody uttered a word. I could hear the faint echo of dripping water. Behind me, someone burst into tears.

"Look at things rationally," Wethermore broke the silence, his voice even, trying to mediate. "That is not going to solve anything. If anything you should be thank-"

"You should be thankful to us," Roman retorted. "Do you know why they stormed the OPLU headquarters?" One of the wolves behind him passed him a thick sheaf of papers, which he held up. "They were looking for the blueprints to the sewers. If we hadn't broken in ourselves and taken these, you would've been torn into pieces the moment you stepped out of that tunnel."

"So I take it that you intend lure the Thunder Falls forces into the tunnels and ambush them?" A voice yelled from the other group. Lister. He had been listening in on our conversation.

Roman was silent. He nodded, very slightly.

"That's a very risky plan," Lister said. "You do have the element of surprise, but they are better equipped, better trained, and numerically superior. Even if you did defeat them, it would be a pyrrhic victory."